Biography Princess Sophia of Sweden

1 biography

1.1 marriage
1.2 later life
1.3 issue

biography

during childhood, she, siblings in royal nursery, under care of mother queen s trusted nurse, brigitta lars anderssons, mother s cousin lady margareta, , noble widow ingrid amundsdotter.

after death of mother in 1551, , siblings placed in care of christina gyllenstierna, , under aunts brita , martha leijonhufvud before father s remarriage catherine stenbock. during northern 7 years war, danish queen dowager dorothea of saxe-lauenburg suggested peace treaty marriage between younger son, danish monarch, , sophia. however, made suggestion without son s knowledge, , did not support idea.

in march 1566, sophia became engaged duke magnus ii of saxe-lauenburg, had long been in service of eric. marriage took place in double wedding when half brother king eric xiv married karin månsdotter on 4 july 1568. eric may have arranged marriage of sophia , magnus because needed support controversial marriage karin månsdotter. possible feared not have wedding guests wanted unless had sophia s wedding conducted in parallel.

in negotiations, magnus promised defend karin månsdotter. sophia did not want marriage—she refused , stalled preparations wedding, prevented taking place in june 1567 first planned when eric married karin first time. eric therefore ordered that, since sophia refused prepare wedding, preparations should made her—and wedding take place own second, public wedding ceremony karin.

marriage

at wedding in stockholm in july 1568, sophia walked in procession sister elizabeth—after karin, walked first queen dowager catherine stenbock, considered unsuitable rank. neither sophia nor sister elizabeth attended karin s following coronation. during deposition of eric xiv, sophia, magnus evacuated elizabeth , catherine stenbock boat, , took them rebellious john in uppsala. john officially claimed, eric had planned give them hostages russia, in place of john s own consort, had tried before.

the marriage became extremely unhappy. reports describe magnus typical brutal german mercenary, notorious abuse of subordinates. on, became known subjected sophia spousal abuse—apparently motivated severe jealousy. according chronicle of aegidius girs, sophia became insane treatment given magnus, who: ...showed princess unkindness, spit , shameful slander, of sorrow caused great weakness of head.

in 1571, magnus pawned jewelry finance conquest of sachsen-lauenburg. spent money, , sophia forced ask family finance ambitions. in 1575, brother king john iii granted magnus swedish fief sonnenburg on Ösel make him leave sweden, cast out Ösel because of brutal rule. magnus became unpopular sophia s family because of how treated her.

he came in conflict john iii in 1576 when forbid subjects in sophia s fief paying taxes , executing working duty crown. in 1577, reports said magnus prevented sophia receiving letters family , accepting invitations, , isolated outside world.

later life

in 1578, john iii had magnus arrested, imprisoned, , exiled country. forced magnus leave , sophia s son in care, , put sophia s fiefs in sole name. john iii granted fiefs ekolsund castle , venngarn castle. in 1581, reports had magnus spreading rumors in germany sophia. john had emperor ban magnus making slanders against sophia blacken name , endanger son s inheritance , right dower lands.

sophia devoted later life son gustav. worked ensure rights in sachsen-lauenburg , future. kept gustaf rather send him away custom, , said spoil him point character destroyed.

in 1595, came conflict when gustaf persuaded grant him half of fief—which retracted assistance of brother charles.

floor hatch in strängnäs cathedral leading brother charles ix s family crypt, sophia s remains interred

sophia lived rest of life @ ekolsund castle. in contrast siblings, supported marriage between john iii , gunilla bielke in 1585. sophia said have suffered mental illness of kind. aside chronicle of aegidius girs, not mentioned much. however, correspondence siblings asks several times not mourn much, prevent getting ill.

in contrast brother magnus, acknowledged mentally ill , isolated because of it, sophia participated in court life, such when participated in public dinner royal family in kalmar @ easter 1586. not described efficient administrator of estate , court: forced ask economical assistance because of misused lands, , court unstable frequent changes of staff: changed head butler twenty-one times , housekeeper twenty-three times during these years. in 1597, granted fiefs lagunda , håbo. became widow when absent husband died in 1603.

issue

sophia had 6 children, 1 of them lived past infancy:

gustav of saxe-lauenburg, (31 august 1570- 11 november 1597), governor of kalmar, unmarried had issue




^ tegenborg falkdalen, karin, margareta regina: vid gustav vasas sida : [en biografi över margareta leijonhufvud (1516-1551)], setterblad, stockholm, 2016
^ karin tegenborg falkdalen (2010). vasadöttrarna (the vasa daughters). falun: historiska media. isbn 978-91-85873-87-6 (in swedish)