Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of Brabant

Sophie of Thuringia
Duchess of Brabant and Lothier
Statue of Sophie of Thuringia, and her son Henry in Marburg
Spouse(s)	Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier
Issue Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse Elizabeth of Brabant
Noble family	Ludowinger
Father	Ludwig IV of Thuringia
Mother	St. Elisabeth of Hungary
Born	20 March 1224
Died	29 May 1275 (aged 51)
Buried	Villers Abbey, Brabant

Sophie of Thuringia (20 March 1224 – 29 May 1275) was the second wife and only Duchess consort of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier. She was the heiress of Hesse which she passed on to her son, Henry upon her retention of the territory following her partial victory in the War of the Thuringian Succession in which she was one of the belligerents. Sophie was the founder of the Brabant dynasty of Hesse.

Sophie was born in Wartburg Castle, near Eisenach in Thuringia, central Germany on 20 March 1224, the eldest daughter and second child of Louis IV of Thuringia and St. Elisabeth of Hungary, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. The Cronica Reinhardsbrunnensis recorded Sophie's birth: 1224 mensis tercio XX die to beata Elisabeth of filiam Sophiam in castro Wartburg. She had an older brother Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia and a younger sister, Gertrud who was born posthumously; she entered the Church and later became Abbess of Altenberg. When Sophie was three years old, her father embarked for the Sixth Crusade, and died unexpectedly of a fever on his way to the Holy Land. Her brother Hermann succeeded as landgrave; however, their uncle Henry Raspe acted as his regent. Her mother, following the birth of her posthumous daughter, Gertrud, left Wartburg Castle and went to live in Marburg where she founded a Franciscan hospital for the poor and sick. Sophie and her two siblings were sent away on the orders of their mother's manipulative confessor, Konrad of Marburg. They were placed in Bollenstein Castle, under the supervision of their great-uncle Egbert, Bishop of Bamberg. When Sophie was seven, her mother died, leaving her and her siblings orphans. In 1235, Elisabeth was canonised as a saint. Upon Elisabeth's death, which had occurred in 1231, Henry Raspe assumed control of Thuringia, becoming its de facto landgrave; and Sophie's brother eventually died in 1241, never having reigned.