Sophie of Pomerania (1498–1568) was

Queen of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

as the spouse of Frederick I. She is known for her independent rule over her

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitan ...

and

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in

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 ...

as queen.

Life

Born in Stettin (Szczecin) into the

House of Pomerania The House of Griffin or Griffin dynasty (german: Greifen; pl, Gryfici, da, Grif) was a dynasty ruling the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637. The name "Griffins" was used by the dynasty after the 15th century and had been tak ...

, she was the daughter of Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania and the Polish princess

Anna Jagiellon Anna Jagiellon ( pl, Anna Jagiellonka, lt, Ona Jogailaitė; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587. Daughter of Polish King Sigismund I the Old and Italian duchess Bona ...

. After the death of his first spouse Anna of Brandenburg in 1514, she married the future Frederick I of Denmark. Not much is known about her personality. She is not known to have played any political role. She is thought to have been interested in religion: a German psalm, "Gott ist mein Heil, mein Hülf und Trost", is believed to have been written by her. Sophie became queen consort of Denmark and Norway upon the ascension of her spouse to the throne of Denmark in 1523 and Norway in 1524. She was crowned Queen of Denmark on 13 August 1525 (but never crowned Queen of Norway). At her coronation, she was granted

and

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

, the castles in Kiel and Plön, and several villages in

for her income. In 1526,

Anne Meinstrup Anne Meinstrup (1475–1535) was a politically active Danish noblewoman, lady-in-waiting and county administrator. Daughter of noble riksråd Henrik Meinstrup (d.1496) and Margrethe Christiansdatter Daa (d. 1497), she was married to nobleriksråd ...

was appointed head

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

for her court. Queen Sophie did not live at the Danish court as queen, but resided separated from her spouse on her property in Kiel, and treated her estates as her private independent fiefs, which caused disagreements with her spouse during his reign. The conflicts continued during the reign of his successors and until her death. In 1533, she became a widow and moved to

Gottorp Castle Gottorf Castle (german: Schloss Gottorf, da, Gottorp Slot, Low German: ''Gottorp'') is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein, and ...

with her children, awaiting the outcome of the election of the new king. During the Count's Feud 1533–36, her estates was occupied. In 1538, the new king, Christian III, asked her to leave Gottorp because of the costs and reside in Kiel. She demanded the right to rule independently over her fiefs, but was in 1540 forced to accept the superiority of the king.

Issue

She had six children: # Duke John of Holstein-Haderslev (28 June 1521 – 2 October 1580) # Elizabeth (14 October 1524 – 15 October 1586), married: ## on 26 August 1543 to Duke

Magnus III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Magnus III of Mecklenburg (July 4, 1509 in Stargard – January 28, 1550 in Bützow) was a member of the House of Mecklenburg who was the first Lutheran administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin, nevertheless referred to as Prince-Bishop. ...

## on 14 February 1556 to

Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg or Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (5 March 1527 – 14 March 1603) was Duke of Mecklenburg ( -Güstrow) from 1555-56 to 1603. Early life Ulrich was the third son of Duke Albrecht VII and Anna of Brandenburg. U ...

Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Adolf of Denmark or Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (25 January 1526 –1 October 1586) was the first Duke of Holstein-Gottorp from the line of Holstein-Gottorp of the House of Oldenburg. He was the third son of King Frederick I of Denmark and h ...

(25 January 1526 – 1 October 1586) # Anne (1527 – 4 June 1535) # Dorothea (1528 – 11 November 1575), married on 27 October 1573 to Duke Christof of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. # Frederick, Bishop of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

and Schleswig (13 April 1532 – 27 October 1556).

Ancestry

Literature

*''Politikens bog om Danske monarker'', af Benito Scocozza, 1997 *''Danske dronninger i tusind år'', af Steffen Heiberg, 2000

References

Dansk biografisk Lexikon / XVI. Bind. Skarpenberg - Sveistrup
(in Danish)

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie of Pomerania 1498 births 1568 deaths 16th-century Danish people 16th-century Norwegian people Danish royal consorts House of Griffins Norwegian royal consorts People from Szczecin People from the Duchy of Pomerania 16th-century Danish women Danish Roman Catholic hymnwriters