Sophia of Hanover
1630 – 1714 · Generation XXVII · Electress of Hanover
Sophia of Hanover (1630–1714). Electress of Hanover. Married Ernest Augustus of Hanover in 1658. One of their children is recorded in this archive. Named heir by the Act of Settlement; died weeks before Queen Anne — her son sailed for England instead. Born at The Hague to the exiled “Winter King and Queen” of Bohemia, she was a granddaughter of James VI and I and grew up in the Dutch Republic, where she rebuffed the attentions of her exiled cousin Charles II. Her marriage came about when George William of Brunswick backed out of his own contract with her and passed her to his brother Ernest Augustus, who won electoral rank for Hanover in 1692. Seven of her children survived birth, and her daughter Sophia Charlotte became queen in Prussia. A friendship with Leibniz, begun while he was librarian at the Hanoverian court, produced a substantial correspondence, and she wrote memoirs of her first fifty years. She oversaw the laying-out of the gardens at Herrenhausen, where, at 83, she collapsed and died after running for shelter from a sudden downpour.
Place in the family
- Sophia of Hanover was a 4× great-grandmother of Queen Victoria.
- The archive records 95 of her descendants, across 13 generations.
Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → Elizabeth Stuart → Sophia of Hanover.
Parents
- Frederick V of the Palatinate (1596 – 1632)
- Elizabeth Stuart (1596 – 1662)
Partners
- Married Ernest Augustus of Hanover (1629 – 1698) in 1658 — one child together
Children
- King George I (1660 – 1727)
Life
- 1630 — Born
- 1658 — Married Ernest Augustus of Hanover
- 1714 — Died