Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow

Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Queen consort of Denmark and Norway
Reign 25 August 1699 - 15 March 1721
Born (1667-08-28)28 August 1667
Güstrow
Died 15 March 1721(1721-03-15) (aged 53)
Copenhagen
Burial Roskilde Cathedral
Spouse Frederick IV of Denmark
Issue Christian VI of Denmark
Princess Charlotte Amalie
House Mecklenburg
Father Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Mother Magdalene Sibylle of Holstein-Gottorp
Religion Lutheran

Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (28 August 1667 – 15 March 1721) was Queen consort of Denmark and Norway as the first spouse of the King Frederick IV of Denmark.

Life

She was born in Güstrow in the family of Duke Gustav Adolph of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Magdalene Sibylle of Holstein-Gottorp as a great-great-granddaughter of Frederick II of Denmark. Her maternal grandparents were Duke Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp and Marie Elisabeth of Saxony. Louise grew up into a tiny court characterized by pietistic feelings and rigid religiosity led by her father who wrote religious songs in pietistic spirit. When Louise was chosen as consort to the Danish-heir it received wholehearted acceptance from the royal house, while the Crown Prince himself, despite the promise of greater choice, in fact, had no other choice than the Duke's daughters, Louise was the one chosen by Frederick as he expected her to accept his affairs without protests.

On 5 December 1695, Louise married Crown Prince Frederik at Copenhagen Castle and became Queen consort of Denmark in 1699. Their only children who reached maturity were King Christian VI of Denmark and Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark.

Louise's sarcophagus at Roskilde Cathedral

Louise lived quietly at the Danish Court. Unlike Frederick IV she never gained popularity with the population. Louise figured in her role as queen at official ceremonies, but was otherwise ignored at court, and her isolated and quiet life has made her less known in history. Her passive attitude did not gain her any respect from the royal house. It is mentioned that she caused embarrassing scenes at court during Frederick's affairs and that she had a bad temperament.

Queen Louise suffered because of her husband's infidelity. Frederick even entered two morganatic marriages; in 1703, he committed bigamy with Elisabeth Helene von Vieregg, and in 1712 with Anna Sophie Reventlow. The day after Queen Louise's funeral Frederick IV married Anna Sophie Reventlow again and less than two months later he raised her to the status of Queen. Despite his bigamous relationships, the queen, ever mindful of duty, continued to bear him children, the children Frederick had with his morganatic wives all died after one year of life. Queen Louise was close to her son Christian, who would later increase the cause of his mother into the Danish court. She was strongly influenced by Pietism and she sought solace in religion. Her main interest was reading religious books. After her death, her interest in religion was praised by the clergy, who compared her with the legendary Queen Esther. Her collection of 400 books, which was donated to the royal library after her death, was mainly composed of ascetic religious literature in German. In 1708–09, she was regent during her husband's trip to Italy.

Rosenborg was completely abandoned as a Royal residence while Louise was Queen. The building of a new summer residence, Frederiksborg Palace, began in 1699 and was ready for occupation in 1703.

She died in Copenhagen and was buried in the Roskilde Cathedral.

Children

NameBirthDeathNotes
Christian 28 June 16971 October 1698died in infancy
Christian VI of Denmark10 December 16996 August 1746married, margravine Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach; had issue
Frederik Charles23 October 17017 January 1702died in infancy
George 6 January 170312 March 1704died in infancy
Charlotte Amalie6 October 1706 28 October 1782unmarried

Bibliography

Ancestry

References

Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
Cadet branch of the House of Mecklenburg
Born: 28 August 1667 Died: 15 March 1721
Danish royalty
Preceded by
Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel		 Queen consort of Denmark and Norway
1699–1721 		Succeeded by
Anne Sophie Reventlow
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