The Love of An Uncrowned Queen: Sophie Dorothea, Consort of George I, and her Correspondence with Philip Christopher, Count Königsmarck
9781465535115
418 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
Sophie Dorothea of Celle, the uncrowned queen of the first of our Hanoverian kings, came of the ancient and illustrious family of Brunswick, which was descended from Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who, it is interesting to note, married Matilda, eldest daughter of King Henry II. of England. It is not necessary to dwell upon the glories of the House of Brunswick, but the immediate ancestry of Sophie Dorothea may be of interest. After the Treaty of Westphalia, which was somewhat disastrous to the Brunswick princes who took part in the Thirty Years War, this family was divided into two branches, Augustus Duke of Brunswick representing one, and Frederick Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg representing the other. On the death of Augustus, his territories were divided amongst his three sons, with only one of whom we are concerned, Duke Antony Ulrich of Wolfenbüttel. It is necessary to mention him, as he played a not unimportant part in the life of his cousin, Sophie Dorothea of Celle. From this branch of the family the Dukes of Brunswick are descended, and it gave another uncrowned queen to England in the person of the unfortunate Caroline, consort of George IV. Frederick Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg died in 1649, leaving the four sons of his brother, Duke George, his heirs. Of these, the eldest son, Christian Louis, was given the sovereign principality of Celle, then the most important; the second son, George William, subsequently the father of Sophie Dorothea, was given the sovereign principality of Hanover. The two younger sons, John Frederick and Ernest Augustus, had no territory at first. When the four ducal brothers, all young men, entered upon their inheritance, changes took place in the sedate and simple courts of Hanover and Celle. Hitherto they had been typical of the petty German courts in the Middle Ages, untouched as yet by foreign influences. According to Vehse, at the schloss of Celle meals were served daily in the great hall, at nine in the morning and at four in the afternoon. The retainers were summoned to meals by a trumpeter on the tower, and if they did not appear punctually they had to go without. As they ate, a page went round “bidding every one be quiet and orderly, forbidding all swearing, and rudeness, or throwing about of bread, bones, or roast, or pocketing of the same”. The butler was warned not to permit noble or simple to enter the cellar; the squires were allowed beer and “sleep-drinks,” but wine was only served at the Duke’s high table. All accounts were carefully kept, and bills paid weekly.
