June 14, 2022 • 50 mins
Sophia Dorothea of Celle was forced to marry a cousin she loathed. Stuck alone in restrictive Hanoverian court, her one happiness was the affair she began with a dashing visiting Count. But royal affairs almost always lead to tragedy, and though her husband's position in the courts of Europe would continue to rise, Sophia Dorothea would suffer only tragedy.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. Hi,
this is Dana. Thank you so much for listening to
Noble Blood. Just a quick personal note, if you want
to support the show, you can subscribe on Patreon, by
some merch or by a copy of my book Anatomy,
(00:22):
A Love Story, which is a novel about nineteen century
historical surgery. All of those have links in the bio,
but of course, as always, the best possible support is
just that you listen to the show. So thank you
so much, And a brief warning before we begin. This
episode contains some domestic violence, so if that's specifically triggering
(00:43):
to you, you might want to skip this episode. Seventeen
century princesses had childhoods that, as this podcast has shown,
have veered at best lonely, at worst tragic, but Sophia
(01:04):
Dorothea of Cell had a remarkably idyllic childhood. As an
only child, Sophia Dorothea was doated on by her parents,
the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick Lunenburg, who unusually for
the time, had married for love. Little Sophia Dorothea wanted
for nothing. Her parents wealth and affection for her meant
(01:26):
that she simply had to ask for something and she
would receive it. She was a happy, vivacious child who
inherited her mother's shining brown eyes and glossy dark hair.
From the windows of her bedroom in her family's castle,
Sophia Dorothea could look out at the lime trees surrounding
the moat, or she could trace her fingers over the
(01:49):
carved cupids that supported her mantlepiece. Life was sunny for
Sophia Dorothea, but she was a seventeenth century prince, says,
and like any other seventeenth century princess, Sophia Dorothea's life
was not her own. No matter the love that her
parents had for her, they had larger political and familial obligations,
(02:15):
and so when an opportunity presented itself in the form
of a strategic betrothal, an opportunity for a year's long
feud to be ended for the family line to be strengthened,
her parents took the opportunity, even though the price was
their beloved daughter's happiness, and like many other political engagements,
(02:39):
it would lead to great sorrow and not just sorrow
but scandal. The marriage of Sophia Dorothea and her husband
George Louis would be marked by betrayals, punishment, and finally murder.
Forty years after their marriage, the two spouses would find
(03:01):
themselves in vastly different positions. One would sit on the
throne of England while the other would die alone after
decades of imprisonment. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood.
(03:27):
The series of strange events that would eventually lead to
the unhappy engagement of Sophia Dorothea to her cousin George Louis,
actually began with the death of a man named Frederick,
Duke of Brunswick Lundberg, in nearly twenty years before Sophia
Dorothea was even born. Now for your brief European history
(03:51):
geography lesson. At that time, the Duchy of Brunswick Lundberg
consisted of two principalities situated in the north of what
is now Germany. Throughout the course of the seventeenth and
then early eighteenth centuries, these principalities would be known by
a number of different names, but to keep things simple,
(04:11):
I'll refer to them as Hanover and Sell, as they
were commonly known around the end of the seventeenth century
after their capital cities. When Frederick died, he had ruled Cell,
the wealthier of the two principalities. Dying childless, he bequeathed
the title to his nephew, Christian Ludwig, who was already
(04:32):
ruling the principality of Hanover. Christian Ludwig was happy to
take the promotion of ruling Cell, and so he passed
Hanover to his younger brother, gay Org Wilhelm. Gay Org
Wilhelm is Sophia Dorothea's father, but we'll get to that later.
The responsibilities of ruling and the monotony of court life
(04:54):
chafed against gay Org Wilhelm's fun, loving, adventurous spirit. He
left Hanover as often as possible, traveling around Europe and
spending time in Italy and France with his younger brother,
Ernst August. His court was not amused, and they wished
that their dilettante prince would settle down and maybe barren
(05:16):
air or two. Eventually, Hanoverian court officials threatened to cut
back Georg Wilhelm's allowance if he did not marry. They
even suggested a suitable bride Princess Sophia of the Palatine.
I know there are a ton of George's and Georgs
and Sophia's in this episode. This isn't our Sophia Dorothea yet.
(05:38):
We're still on back story, but it is important, I promise.
Twenty eight year old Princess Sophia of the Palatine came
from a noble and well connected family. She was a
granddaughter of King James of England, but her family's fortunes
had suffered during the Thirty Years War and a number
of matches for Sophia had fallen through Before gay Org
(06:01):
Wilhelm's offer came through. She eagerly accepted, but gay Org
himself was having doubts. He had no wish to be
tied down to a woman he didn't love, nor to
be tied down to a court he found boring and provincial.
Returning to Venice for one last pre wedding trip in
sixteen fifty eight, he thought over his situation and he
(06:24):
arrived at an unorthodox solution. He would get his younger brother,
the penniless Ernst August, to be his substitute. After all,
one brother could provide an air just as well as another.
As a younger brother, Ernest August, was all too happy
to take the deal. The brothers drew up a deed
(06:45):
in exchange for financial compensation, Ernst August would take over
gay Org Wilhelm's princely duties, and he would marry Sophia
in his stead. Gay Org Wilhelm additionally swore that he
would never marry, meaning that he would never have legitimate
children who could inherit his estates or titles. All of
(07:08):
that would instead go to Ernst August and Sophia's family.
Sophia was given no input on the decision, but when
the new arrangement was presented to her, she agreed no doubt,
hiding her resentment at being traded like an object for
the sake of her future children's inheritance. It would not
(07:29):
be the last time that you would have to make
such sacrifices. But with this little problem settled, gay Org
Wilhelm was free to return to his beloved role of
seventeenth century international playboy. Sophia and Ernst August, conversely lived
a simpler life. Welcoming their first child, George Louis, in
(07:52):
sixteen sixty. The couple was actually well matched. Both were
highly ambitious, cultured, and intelligent, and they quickly began to
work together to secure a more prestigious position for their
young family than the somewhat modest principality of Hanover. As
a note, I know there are many George's and Georg's
(08:14):
in this story. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer
to Geeorg Wilhelm, Sophia Dorothea's father by his German name.
For Sophia and Ernst August's young son, who was technically
born Geyorg Ludwig, I'll use his English name, by which
he's most well known today, George Louis. Sometime in the
(08:35):
sixteen sixties man about town, Geyorg Wilhelm met a beautiful
French noblewoman named Eleanor doul Rue. Eleanor's Protestant family had
recently been expelled from France during the prosecution of the Huguenots,
and they were now reliant on the generosity of their
wealthy noble friends abroad. It was in the home of
(08:59):
one of those wealthy friends that gay Org Wilhelm and
Eleanor first met. For gay Org Wilhelm, it was love
at first sight, Eleanor, where that a good marriage was
her only chance to regain financial and social security, refused
to become his mistress, even though she romantically fell for
(09:20):
the prince as well. But because of the whole no marriage,
no legitimate children agreements that gay Org Wilhelm had signed
with his younger brother, he legally couldn't marry her. Eleanor
was reluctant to accept anything less than marriage, but she
did love gay Org Wilhelm, and she hoped to create
a happy life with him. In the fall of sixteen
(09:43):
sixty five, the couple returned to settle in Cell, which
gay Org Wilhelm had inherited that spring, and the two
signed a document pledging their fidelity to one another, a
marriage in spirit but not in the eyes of the law. Thus,
when the couple's first child, Sophia Dorothea, was born on
September sixteen sixty six, she was technically illegitimate, the child
(10:08):
of unwed parents, but her parents were determined to ensure
that her status didn't dictate the course of her life.
From the moment of her birth, they demanded that she
be treated as heiress of Cell, even if technically she wasn't.
Gay Org Wilhelm and Eleanor adored their daughter, who would
(10:31):
be their only child. They also began the lengthy, politically
delicate process of trying to legitimize her. They began with
a campaign to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, the first
sending letters to him full of praise and providing troops
for his various campaigns whenever he needed them, and lo
(10:51):
and behold, it worked. Leopold became increasingly friendly with the couple,
even referring to Eleanor by the title Duchess Over in Hanover.
Younger brother, Ernst Augus and his wife Sophia, were a
little worried by these developments. Cell was an enormously wealthy principality,
(11:12):
and the Hanovers worried that should Sophia Dorothea become legitimate,
she would inherit, sell and then possibly claim and win
control over their territory. They grew even more concerned as
Georg Wilhelm began buying up property and gifting it to
his quote unquote wife and daughter, giving them status and
(11:36):
wealth in their own right. Ernst August, always money minded,
was mad that his brother had begun to channel wealth
away from him. He was supposed to be his older
brother's heir. That was the whole point of marrying in
his stead. Sophia, the wife that ernst Augus had married
in his stead, though a sharply intelligent and cultured woman,
(11:58):
was a stickler for etiquette, and she found it insulting
that the unmarried mother of her niece, a nobody, a
woman that she regularly referred to as a clot of dirt,
could possibly be gaining power and prestige that Sophia, herself,
granddaughter of a king, felt she truly deserved. It was
(12:19):
the beginning of a long period of tension between the
two couples, attention that grew alongside the fortune and status
of little Sophia Dorothea. In July six seventy four, when
Sophia Dorothea was eight, the Emperor officially legitimized her and
granted both her and her mother the title of Countess
(12:41):
of Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Following further machinations, Sophia Dorothea was
made a princess and the formal air of cell. The Hanovers,
realizing the danger that their legacy was in, hurried to
renegotiate the contract that the two brothers had signed in
sixteen fifty eight. This new contract allowed for the marriage
(13:05):
of gay Org, Wilhelm and Eleanor and for the rights
of inheritance of Sophia Dorothea, though it denied those rights
to any future children who might be born to gay Org,
Wilhelm and Eleanor, a compromise granted for Ernest, August and Sophia.
The negotiations over this new document had been contentious, and
(13:25):
by the time all was resolved in the summer of
sixteen seventy six, the two couples were barely speaking to
one another. Things continued that way until sixteen eighty two.
Sophia Dorothea grew up in the loving, care free home
created by her adoring parents, indulged in all ways. A
free spirited, outgoing young woman, her parents pursued an alliance
(13:49):
with another branch of the Brunswick family, the Brunswick Wolfinbuttles,
while Ernest August and Sophia schemed to regain the inheritance
they felt they had lost, installing spies in the court Atsel.
It was one of these spies in September of sixty
two who delivered the devastating news to the Hanovers, Sophia
(14:11):
Dorothea was to be betrothed to August Wilhelm, the heir
to Brunswick Wolfenbuttle. An alliance between those two families would
spell certain doom for the Hanover's ambitions. It would push
them completely to the side. The combined wealth and political
power of the new young couple would mean they would
(14:34):
occupy the prominent place in German society that Ernst August
and Sophia felt should be theirs. They had to do something,
and what could be a more royal solution than a
strategic betrothal to their own child, George Louis. George Louis,
the Hanover's eldest son, was only six years older than
(14:57):
Sophia Dorothea and still single following a bungled attempt at
wooing the English Princess Anne. If George Louis and Sophia
Dorothea Mary, Ernst August and Sophia could secure their family
line and all the resources of cell, there was the
problem of status. Of course, Sophia had spent nearly twenty
(15:19):
years disparaging Eleanor and Sophia Dorothea as commoners, but she
swallowed her pride and traveled to Sell to sell Georg
Wilhelm on the plan. Gay Org Wilhelm had never been
too happy with the proposed engagement to August of Brunswick,
Wolf and Buddle, and he had grown increasingly tired of
the animosity between his wife and sister in law. He
(15:43):
hated being estranged from his brother, and so it didn't
take much on Sophia's part to convince him that this
engagement was what was best for their families. Eleanor, however,
was another story. She pleaded with Georg Wilhelm not to
sacrifice their precious daughter to the snobbish court of the Hanovers,
(16:04):
not to bind their beloved child to a young prince
who was said to be awkward and obtuse. But Georg Wilhelm,
who had rejected the Hanover court himself and then spent
a lifetime defying the duties bestowed on him by noble birth,
finally felt that he must bend to obligation, and he
(16:25):
insisted resigned. Eleanor went to Sophia Dorothea's room to break
the news to her daughter. Sophia Dorothea did not take
it well. She was accustomed to a level of control
in her life now in one swift move, her independence
had been taken from her in the worst way imaginable,
(16:48):
through betrothal to a cousin she had been raised to revile.
She was inconsolable, sobbing on her bed as Eleanor held her.
When her father entered it, he nervously presented her with
a birthday present from her estranged aunt. It was a
miniature of George Louis, framed in jewels. Sophia Dorothea threw
(17:11):
the portrait against the wall, sending diamonds flying. At her
birthday banquet that evening. She hid her tear stained face
as the engagement was formally announced. As courtiers congratulated her,
she kept her eyes downcast and did all that she
could to hold sobs at bay. Spending time with her
(17:34):
future husband did not reassure her. The two heartily could
have been more different. Sophia Dorothea was vivacious, sharp tongued,
pampered and affectionate. She was a skilled dancer and sparkling conversationalist,
prone to flights of fancy. George Louis preferred the battlefield
(17:55):
to the ballroom. He was a courageous soldier with a
practical mind, but a somewhat unimaginative man, deeply concerned with
propriety and duty. As the boy's mother, Sophia herself put
it somewhat hyperbolically that her niece would find in George
Louis quote the most pig headed, stubborn boy who ever lived,
(18:20):
who has round his brains such a thick crust that
I defy any man or woman ever to discover what
is in them nothing like motherly love. Not only was
the marriage not a love match, it also stripped Sophia
Dorothea of everything her parents had given her over her
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young life. George Louis would receive one hundred thousand dollars
a year for her dowry, an enormous son, as well
as all of Sophia Dorothea's estates. Sophia Dorothea would receive
an allowance, but it would be controlled by her husband
and future in laws. She would have enough thing to
call her own, but there was nothing she could do,
(19:04):
and so Sophia Dorothea and George Louis were married at
the chapel at the Castle of Cell on November one two.
It was a gloomy, chill morning and wind racked the
castle walls. It was in inauspicious beginning to the marriage,
(19:25):
and things would only get worse. The early days of
Sophia Dorothea and George Louise marriage were the best days.
Sophia Dorothea quickly charmed the people of Hanover with her
personality and beauty, and even her haughty mother in law
began to feel more kindly about her. The court of
(19:46):
Hanover was modeled after Versailles buildings, and courtiers alike dripped
with diamonds, bowls lasted until the wee hours, and women
dressed in the latest most fashionable styles. Sophia Dorothea with
her love for fashion and her natural exuberance shown. But
like the real Versailles, it was also a highly regimented
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environment steeped in protocol, and Sophia Dorothea, raised in the
much more casual environment itself, frequently stumbled over the seemingly
meaningless rules of court etiquette, prompting mockery behind her back.
But the greatest struggles in these early days were loneliness
and boredom. Each day followed the same routine, mornings spent
(20:33):
in bed, writing letters or in the garden taking a walk,
dress for lunch, a very formal affair, a nap, a
visit with other ladies of the court, dress for supper, eat,
then play cards or perhaps dance, and retire to bed
day after day after day. At most hours, the vibrant
(20:55):
young princess, trapped by the rituals of court, could be
found cloistered in her apartments, with only one true friend
by her side, the one lady in waiting who had
accompanied her from cell. On October six, three, seventeen year
old Sophia Dorothea gave birth to a son, George Augustus.
(21:17):
The family was overjoyed. Their line was secure. Sophia Dorothea
too was delighted. She adored her baby, and his birth
meant that she had fulfilled her wifely duties. Slowly she
began to gain some freedom. Finally she was allowed to
travel to Sell. She began spending more time with her
(21:37):
own beloved parents. Her in law softened even further toward her,
as did George Louis. Their son gave them for once
a common interest and something to talk about, but their
connection would not have time to develop. George Louis was
keen to continue his military success and win a claim
for Hanover, and so he spent most of sixteen eighty
(22:00):
four and sixteen eighty five on military campaigns. When he
returned to Hanover, the couple bickered frequently. George Louis admonished
his wife for being disrespectful of the court's customs, while
Sophia Dorothea accused her husband of being a British stick
in the mud. She felt neglected, he felt haragned. The
(22:22):
arguments worsened, became louder and more public, but the couple
still managed to conceive another child, a daughter they named
Sophia Dorothea, who was born in March sixty seven. Sorry
again for the confusing name repetition. The older mother, Sophia
Dorothea adored her children, finding them an escape from the
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dramatic intrigues of the court that bored her so much.
Throughout his marriage, George Louis had had affairs, but never
anything particularly serious, but that changed when he met Melissine
van der Schloenberg, the woman he would spend the rest
of his life with. However, unofficially, though Sophia Dorothea didn't
(23:09):
love her husband, she was devastated by how public the
affair was. George Louis began to take Melansine to dinner
as his companion, or she would show off the luxurious
dresses and radiant jewels that her lover had gifted her. Humiliated,
Sophia Dorothea wrote letters to her parents about the situation.
(23:31):
Her mother was sympathetic, her father was less so, writing
that she must simply accept her lot with a brave face.
The young princess, now only twenty four, felt more alone
than ever, and that's when she met Count Philip von
Koenig's Mark, or rather she re met him. Koenig's Mark,
(23:52):
a dapper, dashing Swedish nobleman, had in fact come into
her life once before, when he had gone to Sell
as a preteen to receive military training. The two had
actually been friends then, and years later, seeing him at
a festival in Hanover, Sophia Dorothea was delighted to reminisce
about the happy days of their childhood, but that reunion
(24:15):
was brief and relatively uneventful, and they did not see
much of one another for the next year, as koenigs
Mark tried to establish himself at court, and while Sophia
Dorothea tried to repair her marriage in those two missions,
koenigs Mark was more successful than she was. While koenigs
Mark dazzled the nobility with stories of his travels, Sophia
(24:38):
Dorothea's attempts to win back George Louis just seemed to
drive the two further apart. The married couple would sometimes
not see each other for weeks. He practically lived with
his mistress, Melansine. In six George and Sophia Dorothea had
a vicious argument. It's alleged that George Louis was physically
(25:03):
abusive towards her. The situation was so bad that even Sophia,
who had never been Sophia Dorothea's champion, intervened on her
daughter in law's behalf, taking her and her children to
their family's country residence to restore her spirits while reprimanding
her own son George Louis so forcefully that he reluctantly
(25:25):
began to spend more time with his wife. It was
then that Koenig's Mark re entered Sophia Dorothea's life. He
had been in and out of Hanover over the past year,
but he had decided to purchase a large estate nearby
and settle for a time in the region, His wealth
and charisma had won him acclaim, and he had quickly
(25:46):
been accepted into the highest echelons of Hanoverian society. Some
of his closest friends were Sophia Dorothea's brothers in law,
the young Princes, and it was through them that Koenig's
Mark came back into the press of the Princess. They
were only friends at first, brought together by their inherent similarities.
(26:07):
In Koenig's Mark, Sophia Dorothea found the opposite of her
staid husband. She discovered a man who matched her in liveliness, humor,
and impulsivity. The two shared a love for life and
a disregard for rules that made their time together exhilarating
but also dangerous. Once they ran into one another in
(26:30):
the palace gardens, where Sophia Dorothea was playing with her daughter.
The little girl was tired and refused to climb the
steps back up to their apartment. Instead of having a
servant carry her daughter, Sophia Dorothea picked up her own
daughter and began to walk up the stairs. It sounds normal,
but in a court as etiquette obsessed as Hanover, this
(26:54):
was a grave impropriety. Surely a princess should not be
carrying a child as a servant might. But things only
escalated when koenigs Mark teased her about the way to
her burden, and he took the tired child into his
own arms, delivering her to the top of the stairs.
For Sophia Dorothea and koenigs Mark, the act was natural
(27:17):
as well, a mother caring for her child. But for
court observers, who watched the couple laugh at the entrance
to the royal apartments, it was the first sign that
something was not quite right, and though their reasoning in
this instance might have been jumping the gun a little,
they're larger point was correct. By the end of Koenig's
(27:42):
Mark and Sophia Dorothea were engaged in a full fledged affair. Miraculously,
a number of letters between the two have survived, letters
that were sent to relatives for safekeeping, so now three
hundred years later, we can witness their love firsthand. Koenig's
(28:04):
Mark sealed his letters with a wax stamp bearing the
image of a small heart inside of a larger one
and the motto quote so is yours within mine. The
two wrote in French, using codes and nicknames, hastily scrawling
passionate letters to one another whenever they had a moment alone.
(28:24):
Koenig's marks letters read like the template for romance novel speeches. Quote.
I shall embrace tonight, the loveliest of women. I shall
kiss her charming mouth. I shall worship her eyes, those
eyes that enslave me. I shall hear from her very
lips that she loves me. I shall have the joy
(28:44):
of embracing her knees. My tears will chase down her
incomparable cheeks. I will hold in my arms the most
beautiful body in the world. Verily, Madam, I shall die
of joy. Sophia Dorothea's letters back are no more restrained. Quote.
If you but knew how intense is my love, she wrote,
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you would pity me. It increases every moment. Absence does
not lessen it, without change or swerving. I love you
and everything that touches you so tenderly, so perfectly, so
delicately that imagination fails to tell. Their letters were full
of such declarations, alternating with heart's reproaches. If they felt
(29:29):
the other had gone too long without writing or had
flirted with another, all of that was sprinkled in with
observations about daily life, but mostly they wrote of each other,
the devotion they had to one another, the pain they
felt in the other's absence, the burning desire with which
they yearned to be together. For the next two years,
(29:51):
they wrote frequently, as koenigs Mark fought for Handover abroad
and Sophia Dorothea traveled between Hanover and Sell. The two
saw each other whenever they could. Unlike George Lewis's affair
with melicine, they were not public about it. They knew
they had to operate in secrecy, that the consequences of
discovery might be harsh, but they didn't know just how
(30:16):
deadly those consequences would be. If Ernest August and Sophia,
the ever proper in laws, had been paying closer attention
to matters of the court, they might have seen earlier
what was going on between the Swedish count and the princess,
but they were occupied with enormous political developments, ones which
(30:38):
would dramatically raise the Hanoverian profile. For years, the couple
had been campaigning for their family to become members of
the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire. The electoral
College made up of prince electors were in charge of
electing the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon
the death of the old one. It was an extraordinarily
(31:02):
powerful and exclusive group, and Ernst August and Sophia yearned
it to join. In six two, their wish came true,
and poor Leopold the First made Hanover an elector in
thanks for Ernest August's assistance during the Nine Years War.
From that point on, Ernst August would be known as
(31:23):
the Elector of Hanover, Sophia would be the Electress, George
Louis the electoral Prince, and Sophia Dorothea was the electoral Princess.
The family was overjoyed and the entire court celebrated. Sophia
Dorothea was happy to but she was also aware of
the eyes of the empire turning toward Hanover. It was
(31:46):
a new level of public scrutiny that didn't sit well
with a princess with something to hide. At least two
people within the royal circle were aware of the princess's
affair by autumn of sixteen ninety two. Sophia Dorothea's mother, Eleanor,
had caught on quickly and frequently tried to persuade her
(32:07):
daughter to end the relationship, knowing that it could only
spell ruin. But more ominously, the couple had also caught
the attention of Countess Clara von Platten, Ernst August's long
time mistress. Von Platten, a proud, striking woman who ruled
over a hedonistic circle of Hanoverian nobles, was alleged to
(32:31):
have once had an affair with Koenig's Mark herself. News
of the princess's affair slowly began to make its round
to court, and the royal family felt compelled to try
to put an end to it. Ernst August made it
known to Koenig's Mark that his military service might be
better appreciated in another state, and then he sent him
(32:53):
back to the battlefield. Koenigs Mark's sister Aurora, who had
sometimes helped facilitate message is between the couple, was told
politely but firmly that she ought to stay away from
Hanover for the time being. Koenig's Market and Sophia Dorothea
were heartbroken at being forced to part. If grief could kill,
(33:14):
Sophia Dorothea wrote Koenig's Mark in early October, I should
surely be dead. Convinced that his maybe ex lover von
Platton was behind Ernest August's interference, which she very possibly was,
Koenig's market wrote furious screeds against the countess, like this
one from mid October quote, if I were Lord of Creation,
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I would offer a sacrifice of her and give her
to the bear steat. The lions should suck her devil's blood,
the tigers tear her cowardly heart out. I would spend
day and night seeking new torments to punish her for
her black infamy in separating a man who loves to
distraction from the object of his love. As six dawn
(34:00):
and the couple increasingly began to feel threats on all sides,
and yet despite the warnings they received from friend and
foe alike, they would not seemingly could not break things off,
even as they were sent far from one another, even
as they were closely watched, they carried on, even arranging
(34:22):
a brief tryst in June at Brockhausen, the country house
of Sophia Dorothea's parents. By July, Sophia Dorothea had come
to a decision she could no longer bear to be
without her love. She could no longer pretend to be
a dutiful princess, could no longer stomach the sideways glances
of cordiers and the heavy handed advice from her family.
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She had to get away. To run away, and she
would take Koenig's Mark with her. She began to petition
her father, the Duke of Zell, for an allowance independent
of that which the Hanovers gave her. In men a ways,
this was only fair. All of her money and property
had been taken away from her as part of her
(35:06):
marriage settlement. Unfortunately, though her father's finances were tight at
the moment, Hanover and cel were on the precipice of
war with Denmark and Sweden, and the price of raising
troops had left Georg Wilhelm with little to give his daughter.
Koenigs Mark two was struggling. Though he came from an
enormously wealthy family, he had lost much of his personal
(35:29):
wealth to gambling, and the King of Sweden was threatening
to confiscate his estates because of the military service he
was doing in Hanover, an enemy state. The love birds
were increasingly determined to run off together, but without the
money to do so, they were stuck and all around
them the whispers were growing louder. Events reached a boiling
(35:54):
point in May of sixteen ninety four, mainly due to
koenigs Mark's reckless behavior. In April, a longtime friend became
elector of Saxony. The elector owed Koenig's Mark a debt,
and now as an elector, he could afford to pay it.
Koenigs Mark traveled to Saxony. His friend didn't have the
(36:14):
money on hand, but gave him a post in the
military and bid him to stay awhile and celebrate his coronation.
Koenig's Mark was happy to, as the historian W. H.
Wilkins rights quote, While the princess was eating her heart
out in the palace at Hanover, weeping and wailing, quarreling
with her husband, importuning her parents, moving heaven and earth
(36:38):
to advance her pet scheme, Koenig's Mark was reveling in
the wanton halls of Saxony, drunk and happy to be
free from the pressures of Hanover. Koenigs Mark forgot himself
and he began to regale the Saxon court with his
salacious Hanoverian gossip. No one was spared. He spoke of
(36:59):
Countess and Platton, the Elector and Electress, George Louis, and Melansine,
even Sophia Dorothea, he said to have openly bragged of
the affair. Word of what Koenig's Mark had said quickly
got back to Hanover and the court was furious. George Louis,
particularly incensed, burst into Sophia Dorothea's chambers and began to
(37:22):
berate her for her now very public affair. Sophia Dorothea
retorted that George Louis had behaved just as flagrantly with
his own mistress. The argument escalated until suddenly, furious George
Louis allegedly sprang at his wife, grabbing her by the
throat and threatening to strangle her. Attendant quickly rushed in,
(37:45):
and George Louis threw the half conscious Sophia Dorothea to
the ground, swearing that he would never see her again.
Once she recovered, Sophia Dorothea fled to sell announcing that
she was seeking her parents protection and that she would
never never return to Hanover. But when she arrived in
(38:05):
cell she was met with a mixed reception. Eleanor was
horrified and vowed to protect her daughter. Georg Wilhelm, concerned
about what this could do with his relationship with his
brother in Hanover, was less sympathetic, but even he could
not deny the pain his daughter was in, and so
he allowed her to spend some months at cell. By June,
(38:29):
he and the Hanovers hoped tempers had cooled enough for
a reconciliation between the prince and princess, and Georg Wilhelm
told his daughter that she had to return to her husband.
She was devastated, and the two argued so grievously that
they would not reconcile for the rest of their lives.
(38:51):
By the time Sophia Dorothea returned it to Hanover later
that month, she was a shell of herself, rung dry
by the ordeal of the past few months, alienated from
her parents and in laws alike, and separated even from
Koenig's Mark, who was still in Saxony. She had to leave,
she thought, and she had to leave soon. Her only option,
(39:15):
given her lack of resources, was to flee to the
court of Wolfenbutle, whose heir she had once been engaged to.
Anthony Ulrich, the Duke of Wolfenbudle, was happy to assist.
He had long been a close friend of Eleanor's and
saw in Sophia Dorothea's request for help a chance to
both support his friend's daughter and also to strike at
(39:38):
the Hanover's longtime rivals. It was a dangerous plan. It
would be seen as treason on Sophia Dorothea's part and
might even lead to consequences for her parents, but her
resolve was strengthened when koenigs Mark returned from Saxony in
late June to help make preparations to flee. On July one,
(40:01):
Koenig's Mark snuck out from his house and made his
way towards line Schloss, the Hanover Castle, where he was
set to meet the princess. He was in disguised, dressed
in the shabby clothes of a laborer, and he kept
to the shadows until he reached the palace. It's not
known whether he ever made it to Sophia Dorothea's chambers.
(40:23):
Unbeknownst to Koenig's Mark, he had been followed. Spies sent
by Countess von Platten had tracked him to Linechlass before
reporting back to her, and she quickly ran to Ernst
August telling him what was happening. Ernst August was furious.
He had warned the couple time and time again, welcomed
(40:44):
Sophia Dorothea back into the fold, over and over, even
as the courts of Europe whispered about the cuckold at
George Louis, and now still the couple was still brazenly meeting.
Something had to be done. It's not clear exactly what
happened in the hallways of Linschloss on that balmy summer night,
(41:04):
whether the assailants who gathered there and only to arrest
Koenig's Mark or to scare him, or whether they did
in fact planned to kill him, and if so, on
whose orders. But in any case, the end result was
the same. Koenig's Mark was ambushed by the men, A
bloody fight ensued, and at its end Koenig's Mark lay dead,
(41:30):
Whether it was planned or not. Once Koenig's Mark was dead,
the mechanisms of royal scandal suppression were quickly put into action.
Sophia Dorothea was kept in her chambers, Her rooms and
those of Koenig's Mark were searched, and any evidence of
their affair was quickly gathered up and brought to Ernest
(41:51):
August and Sophia. Sophia Dorothea, still ignorant of Koenig's Mark's fate,
was sent to Alden Castle and sell Ernst DoD ist
In Georg Wilhelm met to privately confer. Both felt deeply
betrayed and humiliated by the princess's actions and by the
contents of the letters that were seized from her and
(42:12):
koenigs Mark's chambers, which had revealed their plans to ally
with wolfenbutle The letters also made fun of the Hanover's
and Georg Wilhelm. The Hanoverians decided that a divorce was
the best course of action. Sophia Dorothea quickly agreed, in part,
it's alleged because she believed that Koenig's Mark was still
(42:34):
alive and that the divorce would free her to marry him.
The divorce was finalized in December of six Outside of
the personal considerations of the proud royals, there were important
political stakes to the affair. Though Leopold had declared hanover
An electorate in sixteen ninety four, this position wouldn't be
(42:55):
official until seventeen o eight. In the meantime, those who
had opposed the state looked for anything they could use
to discredit it. An embittered, estranged princess was a good
source of ammunition, so the families needed to keep her quiet.
It was decided that Sophia Dorothea would be kept on
(43:16):
house arrest at Alden, with a little to no contact
with the outside world. We don't have letters from Sophia
Dorothea from this period, so it's hard to know what
exactly was going through her mind, but she most certainly
was devastated. In one night, she had lost not only
her beloved koenigs Mark, but also her freedom. Sophia Dorothea
(43:42):
spent the rest of her life imprisoned at Alden Castle
and cell. She was kept comfortable by an allowance provided
in equal parts by her former husband and her father,
neither of whom she would ever see again. Her children, too,
were kept away, but sides her small court of attendance
chosen for their loyalty to Hanover, her only visitor was
(44:06):
her beloved mother. Eleanor mounted a tireless but ultimately unsuccessful
campaign to free her daughter. After Eleanor's death in seventeen
twenty two, Sophia Dorothea was deeply lonely, and she began
to care less about those things that had kept her
happy even in her darkest days. Her pride in her
(44:27):
appearance melted away, her love for fine clothes and extravagant
hairstyles faded, and she grew reclusive and unhealthy. In early
seventeen twenty six, she had a stroke, and though in
ill health, from that point on, she refused all care.
She died November thirteenth, seventeen twenty six, at the age
(44:51):
of sixty, and she was buried at night with no ceremony,
in a small grave near her parents in cell As.
For George Louis, fate had a very different path for him.
In seventeen o one, the British Parliament passed the Act
of Settlement, which declared that no Roman Catholic could inherit
(45:13):
the throne of England. The same act named the closest
Protestant successor to the throne as Sophia, Electress of Hanover,
grand daughter of King James the First of England. Sophia, however,
had died shortly before the British Queen Anne in the
summer of seventeen fourteen meaning that the next King of
(45:34):
England would be her oldest son, George Lewis. Despite speaking
little English, George became the King of England on August first,
seventeen fourteen. King George the First, Sophia Dorothea's son would
become King George the Second. Though George Lewis could have remarried,
(45:58):
he didn't. Though he did maintain a relationship with Melansine
von Schollenberg for the rest of his life, the divorce
was a forbidden subject in his presence. It was long
supposed that George himself was responsible for koenigs Mark's death
and for Sophia Dorothea's imprisonment, but that's not really correct.
(46:19):
He most definitely was not involved in koenigs Mark's death,
having been absent from Hanover at the time, And as
for Sophia Dorothea, though his behavior to her was certainly
cold and occasionally absolutely reprehensible, he was in fact not
actually involved in the initial decision to keep her prisoner,
(46:41):
and he even advocated for fewer restrictions on her movements
during the later years. That didn't keep the English people
from composing bodies, songs and poems about their foreign king.
His mistress and his imprisoned ex wife. Those taunts would
haunt George for his entire your reign. When Sophia Dorothea
(47:02):
died in seventeen twenty six, George forbade morning in the
courts of England and Hanover. George spent nearly a fifth
of his thirteen year reign as King of England back
in Hanover, which served as his royal retreat. It was
on a visit there in June seventy seven that he
(47:22):
suffered a stroke, dying on the eleventh of June in
lane Schloss, the exact same castle where thirteen years earlier
Koenig's Mark had been killed. The castle ware Sophia Dorothea's
life as she had known it had also ended. That's
(47:51):
the tragic life of Sophia Dorothea. But keep listening after
a brief sponsor break to hear how archaeology maybe or
maybe didn't solve one of the mysteries of the story.
In August, workers on a construction project at lane Schloss,
(48:15):
now the seat of state government for the state of
Lower Saxony, made a startling discovery on castle grounds, a
buried jumble of human bones. Analysis by Researchers at Hanover's
Medical School determined that the bones were likely hundreds of
years old human bones buried under the palace. Hundreds of
(48:38):
years old too many, It added up to one conclusion,
Surely these were the remains of Count Philip von Koenig's Mark.
Historical sources had always been shaky on what exactly happened
to koenigs Mark's body after his death. Some say his
body was thrown in the Line River, others that his
(48:58):
body was covered in quick climb and buried underneath the palace.
But with this new discovery, it was hoped that the
mystery could finally be solved. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Further research eventually revealed that the bones came from at
least five human skeletons, as well as some animals, and
(49:20):
they were not, after all the right age to be
those of Koenig's Mark. So the mystery continues. The final
resting place of Sophia Dorothea's lover is lost to time,
just as he was lost to her on that fateful
July evening more than three hundred years ago. Noble Blood
(49:55):
is a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and
Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me
Danish Wortz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston,
hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The
show is produced by rema Il Kali, with supervising producer
Josh Thayne and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and
(50:20):
Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. Hi,
this is Dana. Thank you so much for listening to
Noble Blood. Just a quick personal note, if you want
to support the show, you can subscribe on Patreon, by
some merch or by a copy of my book Anatomy,
(00:22):
A Love Story, which is a novel about nineteen century
historical surgery. All of those have links in the bio,
but of course, as always, the best possible support is
just that you listen to the show. So thank you
so much, And a brief warning before we begin. This
episode contains some domestic violence, so if that's specifically triggering
(00:43):
to you, you might want to skip this episode. Seventeen
century princesses had childhoods that, as this podcast has shown,
have veered at best lonely, at worst tragic, but Sophia
(01:04):
Dorothea of Cell had a remarkably idyllic childhood. As an
only child, Sophia Dorothea was doated on by her parents,
the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick Lunenburg, who unusually for
the time, had married for love. Little Sophia Dorothea wanted
for nothing. Her parents wealth and affection for her meant
(01:26):
that she simply had to ask for something and she
would receive it. She was a happy, vivacious child who
inherited her mother's shining brown eyes and glossy dark hair.
From the windows of her bedroom in her family's castle,
Sophia Dorothea could look out at the lime trees surrounding
the moat, or she could trace her fingers over the
(01:49):
carved cupids that supported her mantlepiece. Life was sunny for
Sophia Dorothea, but she was a seventeenth century prince, says,
and like any other seventeenth century princess, Sophia Dorothea's life
was not her own. No matter the love that her
parents had for her, they had larger political and familial obligations,
(02:15):
and so when an opportunity presented itself in the form
of a strategic betrothal, an opportunity for a year's long
feud to be ended for the family line to be strengthened,
her parents took the opportunity, even though the price was
their beloved daughter's happiness, and like many other political engagements,
(02:39):
it would lead to great sorrow and not just sorrow
but scandal. The marriage of Sophia Dorothea and her husband
George Louis would be marked by betrayals, punishment, and finally murder.
Forty years after their marriage, the two spouses would find
(03:01):
themselves in vastly different positions. One would sit on the
throne of England while the other would die alone after
decades of imprisonment. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood.
(03:27):
The series of strange events that would eventually lead to
the unhappy engagement of Sophia Dorothea to her cousin George Louis,
actually began with the death of a man named Frederick,
Duke of Brunswick Lundberg, in nearly twenty years before Sophia
Dorothea was even born. Now for your brief European history
(03:51):
geography lesson. At that time, the Duchy of Brunswick Lundberg
consisted of two principalities situated in the north of what
is now Germany. Throughout the course of the seventeenth and
then early eighteenth centuries, these principalities would be known by
a number of different names, but to keep things simple,
(04:11):
I'll refer to them as Hanover and Sell, as they
were commonly known around the end of the seventeenth century
after their capital cities. When Frederick died, he had ruled Cell,
the wealthier of the two principalities. Dying childless, he bequeathed
the title to his nephew, Christian Ludwig, who was already
(04:32):
ruling the principality of Hanover. Christian Ludwig was happy to
take the promotion of ruling Cell, and so he passed
Hanover to his younger brother, gay Org Wilhelm. Gay Org
Wilhelm is Sophia Dorothea's father, but we'll get to that later.
The responsibilities of ruling and the monotony of court life
(04:54):
chafed against gay Org Wilhelm's fun, loving, adventurous spirit. He
left Hanover as often as possible, traveling around Europe and
spending time in Italy and France with his younger brother,
Ernst August. His court was not amused, and they wished
that their dilettante prince would settle down and maybe barren
(05:16):
air or two. Eventually, Hanoverian court officials threatened to cut
back Georg Wilhelm's allowance if he did not marry. They
even suggested a suitable bride Princess Sophia of the Palatine.
I know there are a ton of George's and Georgs
and Sophia's in this episode. This isn't our Sophia Dorothea yet.
(05:38):
We're still on back story, but it is important, I promise.
Twenty eight year old Princess Sophia of the Palatine came
from a noble and well connected family. She was a
granddaughter of King James of England, but her family's fortunes
had suffered during the Thirty Years War and a number
of matches for Sophia had fallen through Before gay Org
(06:01):
Wilhelm's offer came through. She eagerly accepted, but gay Org
himself was having doubts. He had no wish to be
tied down to a woman he didn't love, nor to
be tied down to a court he found boring and provincial.
Returning to Venice for one last pre wedding trip in
sixteen fifty eight, he thought over his situation and he
(06:24):
arrived at an unorthodox solution. He would get his younger brother,
the penniless Ernst August, to be his substitute. After all,
one brother could provide an air just as well as another.
As a younger brother, Ernest August, was all too happy
to take the deal. The brothers drew up a deed
(06:45):
in exchange for financial compensation, Ernst August would take over
gay Org Wilhelm's princely duties, and he would marry Sophia
in his stead. Gay Org Wilhelm additionally swore that he
would never marry, meaning that he would never have legitimate
children who could inherit his estates or titles. All of
(07:08):
that would instead go to Ernst August and Sophia's family.
Sophia was given no input on the decision, but when
the new arrangement was presented to her, she agreed no doubt,
hiding her resentment at being traded like an object for
the sake of her future children's inheritance. It would not
(07:29):
be the last time that you would have to make
such sacrifices. But with this little problem settled, gay Org
Wilhelm was free to return to his beloved role of
seventeenth century international playboy. Sophia and Ernst August, conversely lived
a simpler life. Welcoming their first child, George Louis, in
(07:52):
sixteen sixty. The couple was actually well matched. Both were
highly ambitious, cultured, and intelligent, and they quickly began to
work together to secure a more prestigious position for their
young family than the somewhat modest principality of Hanover. As
a note, I know there are many George's and Georg's
(08:14):
in this story. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer
to Geeorg Wilhelm, Sophia Dorothea's father by his German name.
For Sophia and Ernst August's young son, who was technically
born Geyorg Ludwig, I'll use his English name, by which
he's most well known today, George Louis. Sometime in the
(08:35):
sixteen sixties man about town, Geyorg Wilhelm met a beautiful
French noblewoman named Eleanor doul Rue. Eleanor's Protestant family had
recently been expelled from France during the prosecution of the Huguenots,
and they were now reliant on the generosity of their
wealthy noble friends abroad. It was in the home of
(08:59):
one of those wealthy friends that gay Org Wilhelm and
Eleanor first met. For gay Org Wilhelm, it was love
at first sight, Eleanor, where that a good marriage was
her only chance to regain financial and social security, refused
to become his mistress, even though she romantically fell for
(09:20):
the prince as well. But because of the whole no marriage,
no legitimate children agreements that gay Org Wilhelm had signed
with his younger brother, he legally couldn't marry her. Eleanor
was reluctant to accept anything less than marriage, but she
did love gay Org Wilhelm, and she hoped to create
a happy life with him. In the fall of sixteen
(09:43):
sixty five, the couple returned to settle in Cell, which
gay Org Wilhelm had inherited that spring, and the two
signed a document pledging their fidelity to one another, a
marriage in spirit but not in the eyes of the law. Thus,
when the couple's first child, Sophia Dorothea, was born on
September sixteen sixty six, she was technically illegitimate, the child
(10:08):
of unwed parents, but her parents were determined to ensure
that her status didn't dictate the course of her life.
From the moment of her birth, they demanded that she
be treated as heiress of Cell, even if technically she wasn't.
Gay Org Wilhelm and Eleanor adored their daughter, who would
(10:31):
be their only child. They also began the lengthy, politically
delicate process of trying to legitimize her. They began with
a campaign to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, the first
sending letters to him full of praise and providing troops
for his various campaigns whenever he needed them, and lo
(10:51):
and behold, it worked. Leopold became increasingly friendly with the couple,
even referring to Eleanor by the title Duchess Over in Hanover.
Younger brother, Ernst Augus and his wife Sophia, were a
little worried by these developments. Cell was an enormously wealthy principality,
(11:12):
and the Hanovers worried that should Sophia Dorothea become legitimate,
she would inherit, sell and then possibly claim and win
control over their territory. They grew even more concerned as
Georg Wilhelm began buying up property and gifting it to
his quote unquote wife and daughter, giving them status and
(11:36):
wealth in their own right. Ernst August, always money minded,
was mad that his brother had begun to channel wealth
away from him. He was supposed to be his older
brother's heir. That was the whole point of marrying in
his stead. Sophia, the wife that ernst Augus had married
in his stead, though a sharply intelligent and cultured woman,
(11:58):
was a stickler for etiquette, and she found it insulting
that the unmarried mother of her niece, a nobody, a
woman that she regularly referred to as a clot of dirt,
could possibly be gaining power and prestige that Sophia, herself,
granddaughter of a king, felt she truly deserved. It was
(12:19):
the beginning of a long period of tension between the
two couples, attention that grew alongside the fortune and status
of little Sophia Dorothea. In July six seventy four, when
Sophia Dorothea was eight, the Emperor officially legitimized her and
granted both her and her mother the title of Countess
(12:41):
of Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Following further machinations, Sophia Dorothea was
made a princess and the formal air of cell. The Hanovers,
realizing the danger that their legacy was in, hurried to
renegotiate the contract that the two brothers had signed in
sixteen fifty eight. This new contract allowed for the marriage
(13:05):
of gay Org, Wilhelm and Eleanor and for the rights
of inheritance of Sophia Dorothea, though it denied those rights
to any future children who might be born to gay Org,
Wilhelm and Eleanor, a compromise granted for Ernest, August and Sophia.
The negotiations over this new document had been contentious, and
(13:25):
by the time all was resolved in the summer of
sixteen seventy six, the two couples were barely speaking to
one another. Things continued that way until sixteen eighty two.
Sophia Dorothea grew up in the loving, care free home
created by her adoring parents, indulged in all ways. A
free spirited, outgoing young woman, her parents pursued an alliance
(13:49):
with another branch of the Brunswick family, the Brunswick Wolfinbuttles,
while Ernest August and Sophia schemed to regain the inheritance
they felt they had lost, installing spies in the court Atsel.
It was one of these spies in September of sixty
two who delivered the devastating news to the Hanovers, Sophia
(14:11):
Dorothea was to be betrothed to August Wilhelm, the heir
to Brunswick Wolfenbuttle. An alliance between those two families would
spell certain doom for the Hanover's ambitions. It would push
them completely to the side. The combined wealth and political
power of the new young couple would mean they would
(14:34):
occupy the prominent place in German society that Ernst August
and Sophia felt should be theirs. They had to do something,
and what could be a more royal solution than a
strategic betrothal to their own child, George Louis. George Louis,
the Hanover's eldest son, was only six years older than
(14:57):
Sophia Dorothea and still single following a bungled attempt at
wooing the English Princess Anne. If George Louis and Sophia
Dorothea Mary, Ernst August and Sophia could secure their family
line and all the resources of cell, there was the
problem of status. Of course, Sophia had spent nearly twenty
(15:19):
years disparaging Eleanor and Sophia Dorothea as commoners, but she
swallowed her pride and traveled to Sell to sell Georg
Wilhelm on the plan. Gay Org Wilhelm had never been
too happy with the proposed engagement to August of Brunswick,
Wolf and Buddle, and he had grown increasingly tired of
the animosity between his wife and sister in law. He
(15:43):
hated being estranged from his brother, and so it didn't
take much on Sophia's part to convince him that this
engagement was what was best for their families. Eleanor, however,
was another story. She pleaded with Georg Wilhelm not to
sacrifice their precious daughter to the snobbish court of the Hanovers,
(16:04):
not to bind their beloved child to a young prince
who was said to be awkward and obtuse. But Georg Wilhelm,
who had rejected the Hanover court himself and then spent
a lifetime defying the duties bestowed on him by noble birth,
finally felt that he must bend to obligation, and he
(16:25):
insisted resigned. Eleanor went to Sophia Dorothea's room to break
the news to her daughter. Sophia Dorothea did not take
it well. She was accustomed to a level of control
in her life now in one swift move, her independence
had been taken from her in the worst way imaginable,
(16:48):
through betrothal to a cousin she had been raised to revile.
She was inconsolable, sobbing on her bed as Eleanor held her.
When her father entered it, he nervously presented her with
a birthday present from her estranged aunt. It was a
miniature of George Louis, framed in jewels. Sophia Dorothea threw
(17:11):
the portrait against the wall, sending diamonds flying. At her
birthday banquet that evening. She hid her tear stained face
as the engagement was formally announced. As courtiers congratulated her,
she kept her eyes downcast and did all that she
could to hold sobs at bay. Spending time with her
(17:34):
future husband did not reassure her. The two heartily could
have been more different. Sophia Dorothea was vivacious, sharp tongued,
pampered and affectionate. She was a skilled dancer and sparkling conversationalist,
prone to flights of fancy. George Louis preferred the battlefield
(17:55):
to the ballroom. He was a courageous soldier with a
practical mind, but a somewhat unimaginative man, deeply concerned with
propriety and duty. As the boy's mother, Sophia herself put
it somewhat hyperbolically that her niece would find in George
Louis quote the most pig headed, stubborn boy who ever lived,
(18:20):
who has round his brains such a thick crust that
I defy any man or woman ever to discover what
is in them nothing like motherly love. Not only was
the marriage not a love match, it also stripped Sophia
Dorothea of everything her parents had given her over her
(18:40):
young life. George Louis would receive one hundred thousand dollars
a year for her dowry, an enormous son, as well
as all of Sophia Dorothea's estates. Sophia Dorothea would receive
an allowance, but it would be controlled by her husband
and future in laws. She would have enough thing to
call her own, but there was nothing she could do,
(19:04):
and so Sophia Dorothea and George Louis were married at
the chapel at the Castle of Cell on November one two.
It was a gloomy, chill morning and wind racked the
castle walls. It was in inauspicious beginning to the marriage,
(19:25):
and things would only get worse. The early days of
Sophia Dorothea and George Louise marriage were the best days.
Sophia Dorothea quickly charmed the people of Hanover with her
personality and beauty, and even her haughty mother in law
began to feel more kindly about her. The court of
(19:46):
Hanover was modeled after Versailles buildings, and courtiers alike dripped
with diamonds, bowls lasted until the wee hours, and women
dressed in the latest most fashionable styles. Sophia Dorothea with
her love for fashion and her natural exuberance shown. But
like the real Versailles, it was also a highly regimented
(20:09):
environment steeped in protocol, and Sophia Dorothea, raised in the
much more casual environment itself, frequently stumbled over the seemingly
meaningless rules of court etiquette, prompting mockery behind her back.
But the greatest struggles in these early days were loneliness
and boredom. Each day followed the same routine, mornings spent
(20:33):
in bed, writing letters or in the garden taking a walk,
dress for lunch, a very formal affair, a nap, a
visit with other ladies of the court, dress for supper, eat,
then play cards or perhaps dance, and retire to bed
day after day after day. At most hours, the vibrant
(20:55):
young princess, trapped by the rituals of court, could be
found cloistered in her apartments, with only one true friend
by her side, the one lady in waiting who had
accompanied her from cell. On October six, three, seventeen year
old Sophia Dorothea gave birth to a son, George Augustus.
(21:17):
The family was overjoyed. Their line was secure. Sophia Dorothea
too was delighted. She adored her baby, and his birth
meant that she had fulfilled her wifely duties. Slowly she
began to gain some freedom. Finally she was allowed to
travel to Sell. She began spending more time with her
(21:37):
own beloved parents. Her in law softened even further toward her,
as did George Louis. Their son gave them for once
a common interest and something to talk about, but their
connection would not have time to develop. George Louis was
keen to continue his military success and win a claim
for Hanover, and so he spent most of sixteen eighty
(22:00):
four and sixteen eighty five on military campaigns. When he
returned to Hanover, the couple bickered frequently. George Louis admonished
his wife for being disrespectful of the court's customs, while
Sophia Dorothea accused her husband of being a British stick
in the mud. She felt neglected, he felt haragned. The
(22:22):
arguments worsened, became louder and more public, but the couple
still managed to conceive another child, a daughter they named
Sophia Dorothea, who was born in March sixty seven. Sorry
again for the confusing name repetition. The older mother, Sophia
Dorothea adored her children, finding them an escape from the
(22:46):
dramatic intrigues of the court that bored her so much.
Throughout his marriage, George Louis had had affairs, but never
anything particularly serious, but that changed when he met Melissine
van der Schloenberg, the woman he would spend the rest
of his life with. However, unofficially, though Sophia Dorothea didn't
(23:09):
love her husband, she was devastated by how public the
affair was. George Louis began to take Melansine to dinner
as his companion, or she would show off the luxurious
dresses and radiant jewels that her lover had gifted her. Humiliated,
Sophia Dorothea wrote letters to her parents about the situation.
(23:31):
Her mother was sympathetic, her father was less so, writing
that she must simply accept her lot with a brave face.
The young princess, now only twenty four, felt more alone
than ever, and that's when she met Count Philip von
Koenig's Mark, or rather she re met him. Koenig's Mark,
(23:52):
a dapper, dashing Swedish nobleman, had in fact come into
her life once before, when he had gone to Sell
as a preteen to receive military training. The two had
actually been friends then, and years later, seeing him at
a festival in Hanover, Sophia Dorothea was delighted to reminisce
about the happy days of their childhood, but that reunion
(24:15):
was brief and relatively uneventful, and they did not see
much of one another for the next year, as koenigs
Mark tried to establish himself at court, and while Sophia
Dorothea tried to repair her marriage in those two missions,
koenigs Mark was more successful than she was. While koenigs
Mark dazzled the nobility with stories of his travels, Sophia
(24:38):
Dorothea's attempts to win back George Louis just seemed to
drive the two further apart. The married couple would sometimes
not see each other for weeks. He practically lived with
his mistress, Melansine. In six George and Sophia Dorothea had
a vicious argument. It's alleged that George Louis was physically
(25:03):
abusive towards her. The situation was so bad that even Sophia,
who had never been Sophia Dorothea's champion, intervened on her
daughter in law's behalf, taking her and her children to
their family's country residence to restore her spirits while reprimanding
her own son George Louis so forcefully that he reluctantly
(25:25):
began to spend more time with his wife. It was
then that Koenig's Mark re entered Sophia Dorothea's life. He
had been in and out of Hanover over the past year,
but he had decided to purchase a large estate nearby
and settle for a time in the region, His wealth
and charisma had won him acclaim, and he had quickly
(25:46):
been accepted into the highest echelons of Hanoverian society. Some
of his closest friends were Sophia Dorothea's brothers in law,
the young Princes, and it was through them that Koenig's
Mark came back into the press of the Princess. They
were only friends at first, brought together by their inherent similarities.
(26:07):
In Koenig's Mark, Sophia Dorothea found the opposite of her
staid husband. She discovered a man who matched her in liveliness, humor,
and impulsivity. The two shared a love for life and
a disregard for rules that made their time together exhilarating
but also dangerous. Once they ran into one another in
(26:30):
the palace gardens, where Sophia Dorothea was playing with her daughter.
The little girl was tired and refused to climb the
steps back up to their apartment. Instead of having a
servant carry her daughter, Sophia Dorothea picked up her own
daughter and began to walk up the stairs. It sounds normal,
but in a court as etiquette obsessed as Hanover, this
(26:54):
was a grave impropriety. Surely a princess should not be
carrying a child as a servant might. But things only
escalated when koenigs Mark teased her about the way to
her burden, and he took the tired child into his
own arms, delivering her to the top of the stairs.
For Sophia Dorothea and koenigs Mark, the act was natural
(27:17):
as well, a mother caring for her child. But for
court observers, who watched the couple laugh at the entrance
to the royal apartments, it was the first sign that
something was not quite right, and though their reasoning in
this instance might have been jumping the gun a little,
they're larger point was correct. By the end of Koenig's
(27:42):
Mark and Sophia Dorothea were engaged in a full fledged affair. Miraculously,
a number of letters between the two have survived, letters
that were sent to relatives for safekeeping, so now three
hundred years later, we can witness their love firsthand. Koenig's
(28:04):
Mark sealed his letters with a wax stamp bearing the
image of a small heart inside of a larger one
and the motto quote so is yours within mine. The
two wrote in French, using codes and nicknames, hastily scrawling
passionate letters to one another whenever they had a moment alone.
(28:24):
Koenig's marks letters read like the template for romance novel speeches. Quote.
I shall embrace tonight, the loveliest of women. I shall
kiss her charming mouth. I shall worship her eyes, those
eyes that enslave me. I shall hear from her very
lips that she loves me. I shall have the joy
(28:44):
of embracing her knees. My tears will chase down her
incomparable cheeks. I will hold in my arms the most
beautiful body in the world. Verily, Madam, I shall die
of joy. Sophia Dorothea's letters back are no more restrained. Quote.
If you but knew how intense is my love, she wrote,
(29:06):
you would pity me. It increases every moment. Absence does
not lessen it, without change or swerving. I love you
and everything that touches you so tenderly, so perfectly, so
delicately that imagination fails to tell. Their letters were full
of such declarations, alternating with heart's reproaches. If they felt
(29:29):
the other had gone too long without writing or had
flirted with another, all of that was sprinkled in with
observations about daily life, but mostly they wrote of each other,
the devotion they had to one another, the pain they
felt in the other's absence, the burning desire with which
they yearned to be together. For the next two years,
(29:51):
they wrote frequently, as koenigs Mark fought for Handover abroad
and Sophia Dorothea traveled between Hanover and Sell. The two
saw each other whenever they could. Unlike George Lewis's affair
with melicine, they were not public about it. They knew
they had to operate in secrecy, that the consequences of
discovery might be harsh, but they didn't know just how
(30:16):
deadly those consequences would be. If Ernest August and Sophia,
the ever proper in laws, had been paying closer attention
to matters of the court, they might have seen earlier
what was going on between the Swedish count and the princess,
but they were occupied with enormous political developments, ones which
(30:38):
would dramatically raise the Hanoverian profile. For years, the couple
had been campaigning for their family to become members of
the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire. The electoral
College made up of prince electors were in charge of
electing the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon
the death of the old one. It was an extraordinarily
(31:02):
powerful and exclusive group, and Ernst August and Sophia yearned
it to join. In six two, their wish came true,
and poor Leopold the First made Hanover an elector in
thanks for Ernest August's assistance during the Nine Years War.
From that point on, Ernst August would be known as
(31:23):
the Elector of Hanover, Sophia would be the Electress, George
Louis the electoral Prince, and Sophia Dorothea was the electoral Princess.
The family was overjoyed and the entire court celebrated. Sophia
Dorothea was happy to but she was also aware of
the eyes of the empire turning toward Hanover. It was
(31:46):
a new level of public scrutiny that didn't sit well
with a princess with something to hide. At least two
people within the royal circle were aware of the princess's
affair by autumn of sixteen ninety two. Sophia Dorothea's mother, Eleanor,
had caught on quickly and frequently tried to persuade her
(32:07):
daughter to end the relationship, knowing that it could only
spell ruin. But more ominously, the couple had also caught
the attention of Countess Clara von Platten, Ernst August's long
time mistress. Von Platten, a proud, striking woman who ruled
over a hedonistic circle of Hanoverian nobles, was alleged to
(32:31):
have once had an affair with Koenig's Mark herself. News
of the princess's affair slowly began to make its round
to court, and the royal family felt compelled to try
to put an end to it. Ernst August made it
known to Koenig's Mark that his military service might be
better appreciated in another state, and then he sent him
(32:53):
back to the battlefield. Koenigs Mark's sister Aurora, who had
sometimes helped facilitate message is between the couple, was told
politely but firmly that she ought to stay away from
Hanover for the time being. Koenig's Market and Sophia Dorothea
were heartbroken at being forced to part. If grief could kill,
(33:14):
Sophia Dorothea wrote Koenig's Mark in early October, I should
surely be dead. Convinced that his maybe ex lover von
Platton was behind Ernest August's interference, which she very possibly was,
Koenig's market wrote furious screeds against the countess, like this
one from mid October quote, if I were Lord of Creation,
(33:37):
I would offer a sacrifice of her and give her
to the bear steat. The lions should suck her devil's blood,
the tigers tear her cowardly heart out. I would spend
day and night seeking new torments to punish her for
her black infamy in separating a man who loves to
distraction from the object of his love. As six dawn
(34:00):
and the couple increasingly began to feel threats on all sides,
and yet despite the warnings they received from friend and
foe alike, they would not seemingly could not break things off,
even as they were sent far from one another, even
as they were closely watched, they carried on, even arranging
(34:22):
a brief tryst in June at Brockhausen, the country house
of Sophia Dorothea's parents. By July, Sophia Dorothea had come
to a decision she could no longer bear to be
without her love. She could no longer pretend to be
a dutiful princess, could no longer stomach the sideways glances
of cordiers and the heavy handed advice from her family.
(34:46):
She had to get away. To run away, and she
would take Koenig's Mark with her. She began to petition
her father, the Duke of Zell, for an allowance independent
of that which the Hanovers gave her. In men a ways,
this was only fair. All of her money and property
had been taken away from her as part of her
(35:06):
marriage settlement. Unfortunately, though her father's finances were tight at
the moment, Hanover and cel were on the precipice of
war with Denmark and Sweden, and the price of raising
troops had left Georg Wilhelm with little to give his daughter.
Koenigs Mark two was struggling. Though he came from an
enormously wealthy family, he had lost much of his personal
(35:29):
wealth to gambling, and the King of Sweden was threatening
to confiscate his estates because of the military service he
was doing in Hanover, an enemy state. The love birds
were increasingly determined to run off together, but without the
money to do so, they were stuck and all around
them the whispers were growing louder. Events reached a boiling
(35:54):
point in May of sixteen ninety four, mainly due to
koenigs Mark's reckless behavior. In April, a longtime friend became
elector of Saxony. The elector owed Koenig's Mark a debt,
and now as an elector, he could afford to pay it.
Koenigs Mark traveled to Saxony. His friend didn't have the
(36:14):
money on hand, but gave him a post in the
military and bid him to stay awhile and celebrate his coronation.
Koenig's Mark was happy to, as the historian W. H.
Wilkins rights quote, While the princess was eating her heart
out in the palace at Hanover, weeping and wailing, quarreling
with her husband, importuning her parents, moving heaven and earth
(36:38):
to advance her pet scheme, Koenig's Mark was reveling in
the wanton halls of Saxony, drunk and happy to be
free from the pressures of Hanover. Koenigs Mark forgot himself
and he began to regale the Saxon court with his
salacious Hanoverian gossip. No one was spared. He spoke of
(36:59):
Countess and Platton, the Elector and Electress, George Louis, and Melansine,
even Sophia Dorothea, he said to have openly bragged of
the affair. Word of what Koenig's Mark had said quickly
got back to Hanover and the court was furious. George Louis,
particularly incensed, burst into Sophia Dorothea's chambers and began to
(37:22):
berate her for her now very public affair. Sophia Dorothea
retorted that George Louis had behaved just as flagrantly with
his own mistress. The argument escalated until suddenly, furious George
Louis allegedly sprang at his wife, grabbing her by the
throat and threatening to strangle her. Attendant quickly rushed in,
(37:45):
and George Louis threw the half conscious Sophia Dorothea to
the ground, swearing that he would never see her again.
Once she recovered, Sophia Dorothea fled to sell announcing that
she was seeking her parents protection and that she would
never never return to Hanover. But when she arrived in
(38:05):
cell she was met with a mixed reception. Eleanor was
horrified and vowed to protect her daughter. Georg Wilhelm, concerned
about what this could do with his relationship with his
brother in Hanover, was less sympathetic, but even he could
not deny the pain his daughter was in, and so
he allowed her to spend some months at cell. By June,
(38:29):
he and the Hanovers hoped tempers had cooled enough for
a reconciliation between the prince and princess, and Georg Wilhelm
told his daughter that she had to return to her husband.
She was devastated, and the two argued so grievously that
they would not reconcile for the rest of their lives.
(38:51):
By the time Sophia Dorothea returned it to Hanover later
that month, she was a shell of herself, rung dry
by the ordeal of the past few months, alienated from
her parents and in laws alike, and separated even from
Koenig's Mark, who was still in Saxony. She had to leave,
she thought, and she had to leave soon. Her only option,
(39:15):
given her lack of resources, was to flee to the
court of Wolfenbutle, whose heir she had once been engaged to.
Anthony Ulrich, the Duke of Wolfenbudle, was happy to assist.
He had long been a close friend of Eleanor's and
saw in Sophia Dorothea's request for help a chance to
both support his friend's daughter and also to strike at
(39:38):
the Hanover's longtime rivals. It was a dangerous plan. It
would be seen as treason on Sophia Dorothea's part and
might even lead to consequences for her parents, but her
resolve was strengthened when koenigs Mark returned from Saxony in
late June to help make preparations to flee. On July one,
(40:01):
Koenig's Mark snuck out from his house and made his
way towards line Schloss, the Hanover Castle, where he was
set to meet the princess. He was in disguised, dressed
in the shabby clothes of a laborer, and he kept
to the shadows until he reached the palace. It's not
known whether he ever made it to Sophia Dorothea's chambers.
(40:23):
Unbeknownst to Koenig's Mark, he had been followed. Spies sent
by Countess von Platten had tracked him to Linechlass before
reporting back to her, and she quickly ran to Ernst
August telling him what was happening. Ernst August was furious.
He had warned the couple time and time again, welcomed
(40:44):
Sophia Dorothea back into the fold, over and over, even
as the courts of Europe whispered about the cuckold at
George Louis, and now still the couple was still brazenly meeting.
Something had to be done. It's not clear exactly what
happened in the hallways of Linschloss on that balmy summer night,
(41:04):
whether the assailants who gathered there and only to arrest
Koenig's Mark or to scare him, or whether they did
in fact planned to kill him, and if so, on
whose orders. But in any case, the end result was
the same. Koenig's Mark was ambushed by the men, A
bloody fight ensued, and at its end Koenig's Mark lay dead,
(41:30):
Whether it was planned or not. Once Koenig's Mark was dead,
the mechanisms of royal scandal suppression were quickly put into action.
Sophia Dorothea was kept in her chambers, Her rooms and
those of Koenig's Mark were searched, and any evidence of
their affair was quickly gathered up and brought to Ernest
(41:51):
August and Sophia. Sophia Dorothea, still ignorant of Koenig's Mark's fate,
was sent to Alden Castle and sell Ernst DoD ist
In Georg Wilhelm met to privately confer. Both felt deeply
betrayed and humiliated by the princess's actions and by the
contents of the letters that were seized from her and
(42:12):
koenigs Mark's chambers, which had revealed their plans to ally
with wolfenbutle The letters also made fun of the Hanover's
and Georg Wilhelm. The Hanoverians decided that a divorce was
the best course of action. Sophia Dorothea quickly agreed, in part,
it's alleged because she believed that Koenig's Mark was still
(42:34):
alive and that the divorce would free her to marry him.
The divorce was finalized in December of six Outside of
the personal considerations of the proud royals, there were important
political stakes to the affair. Though Leopold had declared hanover
An electorate in sixteen ninety four, this position wouldn't be
(42:55):
official until seventeen o eight. In the meantime, those who
had opposed the state looked for anything they could use
to discredit it. An embittered, estranged princess was a good
source of ammunition, so the families needed to keep her quiet.
It was decided that Sophia Dorothea would be kept on
(43:16):
house arrest at Alden, with a little to no contact
with the outside world. We don't have letters from Sophia
Dorothea from this period, so it's hard to know what
exactly was going through her mind, but she most certainly
was devastated. In one night, she had lost not only
her beloved koenigs Mark, but also her freedom. Sophia Dorothea
(43:42):
spent the rest of her life imprisoned at Alden Castle
and cell. She was kept comfortable by an allowance provided
in equal parts by her former husband and her father,
neither of whom she would ever see again. Her children, too,
were kept away, but sides her small court of attendance
chosen for their loyalty to Hanover, her only visitor was
(44:06):
her beloved mother. Eleanor mounted a tireless but ultimately unsuccessful
campaign to free her daughter. After Eleanor's death in seventeen
twenty two, Sophia Dorothea was deeply lonely, and she began
to care less about those things that had kept her
happy even in her darkest days. Her pride in her
(44:27):
appearance melted away, her love for fine clothes and extravagant
hairstyles faded, and she grew reclusive and unhealthy. In early
seventeen twenty six, she had a stroke, and though in
ill health, from that point on, she refused all care.
She died November thirteenth, seventeen twenty six, at the age
(44:51):
of sixty, and she was buried at night with no ceremony,
in a small grave near her parents in cell As.
For George Louis, fate had a very different path for him.
In seventeen o one, the British Parliament passed the Act
of Settlement, which declared that no Roman Catholic could inherit
(45:13):
the throne of England. The same act named the closest
Protestant successor to the throne as Sophia, Electress of Hanover,
grand daughter of King James the First of England. Sophia, however,
had died shortly before the British Queen Anne in the
summer of seventeen fourteen meaning that the next King of
(45:34):
England would be her oldest son, George Lewis. Despite speaking
little English, George became the King of England on August first,
seventeen fourteen. King George the First, Sophia Dorothea's son would
become King George the Second. Though George Lewis could have remarried,
(45:58):
he didn't. Though he did maintain a relationship with Melansine
von Schollenberg for the rest of his life, the divorce
was a forbidden subject in his presence. It was long
supposed that George himself was responsible for koenigs Mark's death
and for Sophia Dorothea's imprisonment, but that's not really correct.
(46:19):
He most definitely was not involved in koenigs Mark's death,
having been absent from Hanover at the time, And as
for Sophia Dorothea, though his behavior to her was certainly
cold and occasionally absolutely reprehensible, he was in fact not
actually involved in the initial decision to keep her prisoner,
(46:41):
and he even advocated for fewer restrictions on her movements
during the later years. That didn't keep the English people
from composing bodies, songs and poems about their foreign king.
His mistress and his imprisoned ex wife. Those taunts would
haunt George for his entire your reign. When Sophia Dorothea
(47:02):
died in seventeen twenty six, George forbade morning in the
courts of England and Hanover. George spent nearly a fifth
of his thirteen year reign as King of England back
in Hanover, which served as his royal retreat. It was
on a visit there in June seventy seven that he
(47:22):
suffered a stroke, dying on the eleventh of June in
lane Schloss, the exact same castle where thirteen years earlier
Koenig's Mark had been killed. The castle ware Sophia Dorothea's
life as she had known it had also ended. That's
(47:51):
the tragic life of Sophia Dorothea. But keep listening after
a brief sponsor break to hear how archaeology maybe or
maybe didn't solve one of the mysteries of the story.
In August, workers on a construction project at lane Schloss,
(48:15):
now the seat of state government for the state of
Lower Saxony, made a startling discovery on castle grounds, a
buried jumble of human bones. Analysis by Researchers at Hanover's
Medical School determined that the bones were likely hundreds of
years old human bones buried under the palace. Hundreds of
(48:38):
years old too many, It added up to one conclusion,
Surely these were the remains of Count Philip von Koenig's Mark.
Historical sources had always been shaky on what exactly happened
to koenigs Mark's body after his death. Some say his
body was thrown in the Line River, others that his
(48:58):
body was covered in quick climb and buried underneath the palace.
But with this new discovery, it was hoped that the
mystery could finally be solved. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Further research eventually revealed that the bones came from at
least five human skeletons, as well as some animals, and
(49:20):
they were not, after all the right age to be
those of Koenig's Mark. So the mystery continues. The final
resting place of Sophia Dorothea's lover is lost to time,
just as he was lost to her on that fateful
July evening more than three hundred years ago. Noble Blood
(49:55):
is a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and
Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me
Danish Wortz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston,
hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The
show is produced by rema Il Kali, with supervising producer
Josh Thayne and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and
(50:20):
Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Host
Dana Schwartz
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