Sophia Hedwig of Denmark
| Sophia Hedwig | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Denmark | |
Portrait by Benoît Le Coffre
|
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| Born |
28 August 1677 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 13 March 1735 (aged 57) Charlottenborg, Copenhagen |
| Burial | Roskilde Cathedral |
| House | House of Oldenburg |
| Father | Christian V of Denmark |
| Mother | Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel |
Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark (28 August 1677 – 13 March 1735) was a Danish princess, the daughter of King Christian V and his queen-consort, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel).
Sophia Hedwig was betrothed three times - first to John George IV, Elector of Saxony, then Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, and finally to her first cousin Charles XII, King of Sweden. However, none of the three marriages suggested for her transpired. The first groom broke the engagement, the second demanded she convert to Catholicism and the third did not wish to marry.
She became the object of marriage prospects early on. As a child, she became engaged to her cousin, John George IV, Elector of Saxony. This was in line with the traditional policy of dynastic marriage between Denmark and Saxony which had at that point become a tradition. In 1689, it was decided that the marriage was to take place two years later. When John George succeeded his father in 1691, he broke the engagement. In 1692, a marriage to the future Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, was suggested, and from 1694 to 1697, this plan was the object of considerable negotiations. However, Sophia Hedwig refused to convert to Catholicism despite considerable pressure to do so by her father, which terminated the negotiations. Between 1697 and 1699, there was a Danish policy to create an alliance with Sweden through a double wedding between Charles XII of Sweden and Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark, and Prince Charles of Denmark and Hedvig Sophia of Sweden (after the marriage of Hedvig Sophia in 1698, she was replaced by Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden). However, though somewhat encouraging to the idea of a Danish match if he would marry, Charles XII did in fact not wish to marry at all, and the Danish-Swedish alliance was further more met with great resistance by the Gottorp Party in Sweden. Sophia Hedwig remained officially unwed, although they were rumors that she entered a secret marriage with her courtier, the noble Carl Adolph von Plessen.
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