Sophia Charlotte of Hanover

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Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
Queen consort in Prussia
Tenure	18 January 1701 – 21 January 1705
Spouse	Frederick I
Issue
Frederick William I
Father	Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover
Mother	Electress Sophia
Born	30 October 1668(1668-10-30) Bad Iburg, Osnabrück
Died	1 February 1705 (aged 36) Hanover

Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (30 October 1668, at Schloss Iburg in Bad Iburg near Osnabrück – 1 February 1705 in Hanover) was the daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover and Sophia of the Palatinate. Her eldest brother Georg Ludwig would succeed to the British throne in 1714 as King George I. She was once rumoured to be marrying the widower Louis XIV. By marrying Frederick I of Prussia, she became Queen in Prussia. Their only child to reach maturity became Frederick William I of Prussia. Her husband was so much in love with her that while he had an official mistress at his palace -- in imitation of Louis XIV -- he never made use of her services.

Sophia Charlotte is mainly remembered for her friendship and correspondence with her mother's good friend and tutor Gottfried Leibniz, whose avowed disciple she became. She was such a formidable personage that when Tsar Peter the Great first met her and her mother on his Great Embassy in 1697, he was so overwhelmed and intimidated that he could not speak. Both women made him feel at ease and he reciprocated with his natural humor and trunkfuls of brocade and furs. Sophia Charlotte's death of pneumonia on 21 January 1705 (OS; 1 February NS), when she was 36 years of age, devastated both of them.

[edit] Ancestors

v • d • e Ancestors of Sophia Charlotte of Hanover

16. Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg               8. William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       17. Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               4. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                             18. Christian III of Denmark               9. Dorothea of Denmark                       19. Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg               2. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover                                   20. George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt               10. Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt                       21. Magdalene of Lippe               5. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt                             22. John George, Elector of Brandenburg               11. Margravine Magdalene of Brandenburg                       23. Princess Elizabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst               1. Sophia Charlotte of Hanover                                         24. Louis VI, Elector Palatine               12. Frederick IV, Elector Palatine                       25. Elisabeth of Hesse               6. Frederick V, Elector Palatine                             26. Prince William I of Orange               13. Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau                       27. Charlotte of Bourbon               3. Sophia, Princess Palatine of the Rhine                                   28. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley               14. James I of England                       29. Mary I of Scotland               7. Princess Elizabeth Stuart of Scotland                             30. Frederick II of Denmark               15. Anne of Denmark                       31. Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

[edit] References

• MacDonald Ross, George, 1999, "Leibniz and Sophie-Charlotte" in Herz, S., Vogtherr, C.M., Windt, F., eds., Sophie Charlotte und ihr Schloß. München: Prestel: 95–105. English translation.

Sophia Charlotte of Hanover House of Hanover Cadet branch of the House of Welf Born: 30 October 1668 Died: 21 January 1705
Regnal titles
Preceded by Sophia Dorothea of Holstein	Electress of Brandenburg 1688 – 1705	Succeeded by Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Preceded by Sophia Dorothea of Holstein	Duchess of Prussia 1688 – 1701	Succeeded by Last of title
Preceded by New title	Queen in Prussia 1701 – 1705	Succeeded by Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

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