Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick

Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick ~ Wife of George I

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Sophia Dorothea was born on 15 September 1666, the daughter of George William, Duke of Brunswick-Luneberg, and his mistress, Eleonore desire d'Olbreuse, an exiled French Protestant aristocrat.

In 1674 Sophia Dorothea was legitimised and Éléonore became the Duchess of Wilhelmsburg.

Two years later her parents were married.

Discussions took place regarding a marriage between the pretty, lively and charming Sophia, to her cousin George Louis of Hanover.

Sophia Dorothea rebelled strongly against it, shouting "I will not marry the pig snout!", she hurled a miniature of George Louis presented to her, against the wall.

Forced by her unrelenting father to accept the marriage, she fainted in her mother's arms on her first meeting with her future mother-in-law, Sophia, Electress of Hanover.

She fainted again when presented to her future husband......

On 22nd November 1682, the sixteen year old Sophia Dorothea was married to her cousin, George Louis in the Chapel of Celle Castle.

The marriage of George Louis and Sophia Dorothea would turn out to be an unhappy and tempestuous one.

The couple formally resided at the Leine Palace in Hanover, George Louis' family, especially his mother, hated and despised Sophia Dorothea.

His mother's feelings of contempt were shared by George himself, Sophia Dorothea was frequently scolded for the lack of etiquette she displayed at the Hanoverian court, and the couple had loud and bitter arguments.

The marriage nevertheless, produced two children, a son, George Augustus (the future George II) born in 1683 and a daughter, also named Sophia Dorothea in 1686.

George Louis took a mistress, and pointedly neglected his young wife.

His parents asked that he be more discreet with his mistress, but he responded by going out of his way to treat his wife brutally.

The unhappy and neglected Sophia Dorothea took an interest in the tall and handsome Swedish count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck.

They indulged in flirtations, and traced their names on the palace windows with the words "Forget me not".

He remained in Hanover for two years, but left to take part in a military expedition to the Peloponnese in 1690.

On his return to Hanover, Count Phillip and Sophia Dorothea exchanged passionate and lurid love letters.

In 1692, these letters were brought to the attention of her father-in-law, Elector Ernest Augustus, who sent Königsmarck to fight with the Hanoverian army against Louis XIV.

George Louis railed at his wife over her affair, and she reacted by pointing out his adulterous activities.

A violent argument ensued, George threw himself on Sophia Dorothea and started tearing out her hair and strangling her, leaving purple bruise marks on her neck.

Her attendants managed to pull him off her.

The unhappy Sophia Dorothea and Königsmarck planned to elope, however, the mistress of Ernest Augustus, discovered the plan and reported it to her lover.

Ernest Augustus had his guards arrest Königsmarck, the count fought back, but in the process was killed.

Sophia Dorothea was divorced by her husband, citing she was found guilty of "malicious desertion" and imprisoned at the Castle of Ahlden, she was twenty-eight years old at the time.

Sophia Dorothea was separated from her children who were raised by their paternal grandmother.

Her mother was the only visitor permitted to see her and correspondence with her children was forbidden.

Sophia Dorothea remained in captivity until her death from liver failure, more than 30 years later, on 13th November 1726.

On her deathbed she wrote a letter to George Louis, denouncing him for his incessant cruelty to her and cursing him from beyond the grave.

George Louis refused to allow mourning in Hanover or England, for his divorced wife, and was infuriated when he heard that their daughter Sophia's Prussian court, had decided to wear black in her honour.

George Louis would go on to inherit the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland.

He became George I through his mother, the Electress Sophia, a granddaughter of the Stuart King, James I.

Sophia Dorothea was always remembered fondly by her children, neither of whom saw their mother again, which left the young George Augustus extremely resentful of his father.

This resentment would begin the painful spiral of the breakdown of the relationship with his father.

Sophia Dorothea's Son, George Augustus, would go on to become George II, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death in 1760.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Dorothea_of_Celle

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Portrait of Sophia circa 1670-1699~By Unknown artist~Residenzmuseum Celle.