Hedwig of Schleswig-Holstein (15 July 1626 – 5 October 1678) was the daughter of king

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...

and

Kirsten Munk Kirsten Munk (sometimes "Christina Munk"; 6 July 1598 19 April 1658) was a Danish noble, the second spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark, and mother to twelve of his children. Early life and morganatic marriage Kirsten Munk was the daughter o ...

. She was the

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

of her sister Christiane Sehested. She shared the title ''Countess of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

'' with her mother and siblings. As with her siblings, she was raised by her grandmother Ellen Marsvin and the royal governess Karen Sehested. She and her twin sister, Christiane, were both married in Copenhagen royal palace in 1642: she to the noble

Ebbe Ulfeldt Jacob Mogensen, or Ebbe Ulfeldt (c. 1600 – c. 1670), was the brother of the Danish naval officer Corfits Ulfeldt, and became a landscape painter in Delft. According to the RKD he was a registered pupil of Jacob Vosmaer. He is probably the ...

. She and her sister

Leonora Christina Ulfeldt Leonora Christina, Countess Ulfeldt, born "Countess Leonora Christina Christiansdatter" til Slesvig og Holsten (8 July 1621 – 16 March 1698), was the daughter of King Christian IV of Denmark and wife of Steward of the Realm, traitor Count Cor ...

were the only siblings present at her father's deathbed in 1648. In 1652, her spouse was deposed from his position on Bornholm, and the couple left for the Swedish court. The marriage was unhappy: Ulfeldt abused her - she called him "the damned creature" - and she had an affair with his servant. She separated from him in 1655 and joined her sister Leonora in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

. She was present at her mother's funeral in 1658. She was ruined by her husband's debts, and moved to his estate in Skåne in 1664 out of poverty. She visited her sister Leonora during her imprisonment, corresponded with her and worked for her release.

Ancestry

References

Dansk biografisk Lexikon / VII. Bind. I. Hansen - Holmsted
(in Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulfeldt, Hedevig 1626 births 1678 deaths 17th-century Danish nobility 17th-century Danish people Danish twins Daughters of kings Ulfeldt family Children of Christian IV of Denmark