Christian IV and his family

[Zanthia]

The only explanation must be that she truly loved him. I don't know how religious she was, but she certainly stood by him for better and for worse as she had promised God and the world. If she had'nt felt anything for him, she would probably had let him sail his own lake when things took a turn for the worse.

[Yseult]

The heart have its reasons, I think...

Do you know what happened to all the Leonora´s daughters all these years, while his parents were living dangerously? The girls were at their first youth, so they needed to be under the care of trustful relatives or friends.

By the way, Kmerov, if you read this...I was searching for more portraits of Leonora Christina. I know that there are a collection of portraits...you have post some of them, but I wish to see the others if you can post...

[Zanthia]

I don't know what become of her children after she was locked in the Blue Tower, but some of them must have been in Germany, since the sons came to get their fathers body and bury it a secret place. (There was still a bounty on him; 20.000 rigsdaler to the one who came with Corfitz alive, and 10.000 if he was dead.) But I do know that only two daughters and one son were alive when Leonora was released in 1685. It was the eldest daughter, Anna Cathrine, who came to live with her mother at Maribo convent in 1688, and the youngest daughter, Leonora Sophie, who was married in Skaane in Sweden. She often came to visit. The youngest son, Leo, barely knew his mother. He was only 12 when his parents were arrested, and he was 40 when he was reunited with his mother. They only saw each other twice. He lived in Austria, and his descendants can still be found there. It was him who inherited her autobiography. It was only published in 1869, and after the defeat to Preussia and Austria in 1864, the patriotism was very strong, so Leonora immediatly got her status as a heroine and innocent victim, while Sophie Amalie almost became the very image of evil, especially because she was a german. The original manuscript was given back to Denmark on the 8th of July 1921, the 300 year for Leonora's birth. The church bells were ringing the same tones as they had did when she was born.

[Yseult]

It was only published in 1869, and after the defeat to Preussia and Austria in 1864, the patriotism was very strong, so Leonora immediatly got her status as a heroine and innocent victim, while Sophie Amalie almost became the very image of evil, especially because she was a german.

And it sounds like a great joke of destiny...because, as you have said, Sophie Amalie was really a courageous and brave queen when the sweedish occupied almost all the danish country. She encouraged danish people to fight against the sweedish. Just the opposite to Leonora, who was by her husband´s side...

[Zanthia]

Fate is of a fickle nature, with a huge ironic sense of humour 

When the swedes came, Frederik III uttered his famous words: "I will die in my nest", meaning that he refused to flee Copenhagen. Sophie stood by him, and both of them was seen walking among the soldiers, even during attacks, and encourage the soldiers. They both became extremely popular. Later their daughter-in-law was also seen riding along side Christian V during time of war, dressed as an amazone, not caring if she was in danger for being shot.

Another little ironi of fate is that when Frederik was to be crowned, the crown, orb and sceptor had to be bought back from Germany. Christian IV had at a time been in so much need of money, that he had to pawn it all to a jeweller in Hamborg. And it was Corfitz who paid of his own pocket to get the crown back to the man who, a couple of years later, would condemn him to death and take all his wealth from him.

[Yseult]

Leonora Christina in her days of glory:



I have found this in a virtual encyclopedia:

" (...) she married the later Steward of the Realm Corfitz Ulfeldt, and from then on she followed him to through thick and thin. She shared his outstanding social position both at home and abroad. During most of the 1640s she was, in many ways, the first lady of the Danish court, that had no queen, and she was the centre of admiration and political interest. (...) At the succession of 1648 her position was severely weakened by the presence of the new queen, Sophia Amelia of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who soon became her most bitter enemy. This situation might have been caused both by Leonora’s inability to give up her leading position in the court, and by some forms of malice to which she exposed the queen."

I´m insteresting in the last paragraph. It stated that was Leonora who started the long-standing struggle with Sophia. Do you know more about this?.

Thanks in advance

[Zanthia]

Leonora was behaving very arrogant towards Sophie from the beginning, when she and Frederik was just a poor duke and duchess in Bremen. Leonora had a good dress sense, good looking and had a witty repartee. Sophie had none of the two last. She had a good dress sense, but could not afford the same expensive gowns and fabrics like Leonora could, so it was easy for Leonora to outrun her at court. Sophie felt humiliated by this, and her dislike for Leonora increased. She also felt that she should be the woman with the highest rank after the crownprincess, since she was a princess by blood, and Leonora just a left-hand offspring. Leonora and her sisters was titled miss or lady (don't quite know how to translate it to get the meaning correct, but today you say miss) by order of their father, and at that time is was the same as princess.
Sophie and Leonora's tensed relationship took a turn for the worse, when Leonora refused to step back for Sophie, and the crown affair put an efficient stop for every possible reconciliation between the two ladies. But they both wanted to be leader, and there was only room for one at the court. But Leonora should have stepped back for Sophie, and supported her and Frederik instead of opposing them. If Corfitz had'nt been blinded by his greed for money and power, and instead behaved proberly and always do what would be best for Denmark, he would probably have maintained his position and been the king's most trusted advisor.

[kmerov]

I also think that the feud was largely due to Leonora Christina. Sophie Amalie only joined the court when Frederik became king. Before that she as stated lived a life of relative poverty away from Copenhagen, and the Prince Elect Christian and his wife, Magdalena Sibylla (not Crown princess, since the title didn't exist) also lived away from the court. That gave leonora Christina the chance to act as the first lady, and she mistakenly thought it would continue to be so. She was wrong!

Here are two portraits from the collection dedicated to Leonora Christina after the publication of her autobiography.
A small one of her in the first years in The Blue Tower.


And one lighter painting of her later years in the tower.

[Zanthia]

I know the title did'nt existed, but I thought it was to wierd to call her "the chosen princess" or "wife of the chosen prince". If I just wrote princess, she could be anyone, so to call her crownprincess leaves no doubt of who she was.