1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. Hi, this 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: is Dana. Thank you so much for listening to Noble Blood. 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: Just a quick personal note. If you want to support 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: the show, you can subscribe on Patreon by some merch 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: or buy a copy of my book Anatomy, A Love Story, 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: which is a novel about nineteenth century historical surgery. All 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: of those have links in the bio, but of course, 9 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: as always, the best possible support is just that you 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,959 Speaker 1: listen to the show. So thank you so much, And 11 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: a brief warning before we begin. This episode contains some 12 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: domestic violence, so if that's specifically triggering to you, you 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: might want to skip this episode. Seventeenth century princesses had 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: childhoods that, as this podcast has shown, have veered at 15 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: best lonely, at worst tragic, but Sophia Dorothea of Cell 16 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: had a remarkably idyllic childhood. As an only child, Sofia 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: Dorothea was doated on by her parents, the Duke and 18 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: Duchess of Brunswick Lundberg, who unusually for the time, had 19 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: married for love. Little Sophia Dorothea wanted for nothing. Her parents' 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: wealth and affection for her meant that she simply had 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: to ask for something and she would receive it. She 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: was a happy, vivacious child who inherited her mother's shining 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: brown eyes and glossy dark hair. From the windows of 24 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: her bedroom in her family's castle, Sofia Dorothea could look 25 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: out at the lime trees surrounding the moat, or she 26 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: could trace her fingers over the carved cupids that supported 27 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: her mantlepiece. Life was sunny for Sophia Dorothea, but she 28 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: was a seventeenth century prince, and like any other seventeenth 29 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: century princess, Sophia Dorothea's life was not her own. No 30 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: matter the love that her parents had for her, they 31 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 1: had larger political and familial obligations, and so when an 32 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: opportunity presented itself in the form of a strategic betrothal, 33 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: an opportunity for a year's long feud to be ended 34 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: for the family line to be strengthened, her parents took 35 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: the opportunity, even though the price was their beloved daughter's happiness, 36 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: and like many other political engagements, it would lead to 37 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: great sorrow and not just sorrow but scandal. The marriage 38 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: of Sophia Dorothea and her husband George Lewis would be 39 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: marked by betrayals, punishment, and finally murder. Forty years after 40 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: their marriage, the two spouses would find themselves in vastly 41 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:07,239 Speaker 1: different positions. One would sit on the throne of England 42 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: while the other would die alone after decades of imprisonment. 43 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 1: I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. The series 44 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: of strange events that would eventually lead to the unhappy 45 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: engagement of Sophia Dorothea to her cousin George Louis, actually 46 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: began with the death of a man named Frederick, Duke 47 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: of Brunswick Lundberg, in sixteen forty eight, nearly twenty years 48 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: before Sophia Dorothea was even born. Now for your brief 49 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: European history geography lesson. At that time, the Duchy of 50 00:03:54,920 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: Brunswick Lundberg consisted of two principalities situated in the north 51 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: of what is now Germany. Throughout the course of the 52 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: seventeenth and then early eighteenth centuries, these principalities would be 53 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: known by a number of different names, but to keep 54 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: things simple, I'll refer to them as Hanover and Sell, 55 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: as they were commonly known around the end of the 56 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: seventeenth century after their capital cities. When Frederick died, he 57 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: had ruled Cell, the wealthier of the two principalities. Dying childless, 58 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: he bequeathed the title to his nephew, Christian Ludwig, who 59 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: was already ruling the principality of Hanover. Christian Ludwig was 60 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: happy to take the promotion of ruling Cell, and so 61 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: he passed Hanover to his younger brother, Georg Wilhelm. Georg 62 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: Wilhelm is Sophia Dorothea's father, but will get to that later. 63 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: The responsibilities of ruling and the monotony of court life 64 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: chafed against Georg Wilhelm's fun, loving, adventurous spirit. He left 65 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: Hanover as often as possible, traveling around Europe and spending 66 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: time in Italy and France with his younger brother Ernst August. 67 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: His court was not amused, and they wished that their 68 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: dilettante prince would settle down and maybe bar an air 69 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: or two. Eventually, Hanoverian court officials threatened to cut back 70 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: Gaeorg Wilhelm's allowance if he did not marry. They even 71 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: suggested a suitable bride, Princess Sophia of the Palatine. I 72 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: know there are a ton of Georgia's and Gaeorgs and 73 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: Sophia's in this episode. This isn't our Sophia Dorothea yet. 74 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: We're still on backstory, but it is important, I promise. 75 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: Twenty eight year old Princess Sophia of the Palatine came 76 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: from a noble and well connected family. She was a 77 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: granddaughter of King James of England, but her family's fortunes 78 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,559 Speaker 1: had suffered during the Thirty Years War and a number 79 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: of matches for Sophia had fallen through Before Gayorg Wilhelm's 80 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: offer came through. She eagerly accepted, but Gayorg himself was 81 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: having doubts. He had no wish to be tied down 82 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,039 Speaker 1: to a woman he didn't love, nor to be tied 83 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: down to a court he found boring and provincial. Returning 84 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: to Venice for one last pre wedding trip in sixteen 85 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: fifty eight, he thought over his situation and he arrived 86 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: at an unorthodox solution. He would get his younger brother, 87 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 1: the penniless Ernst August, to be his substitute. After all, 88 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: one brother could provide an air just as well as another. 89 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: As a younger brother, Ernst August was all too happy 90 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: to take the deal. The brothers drew up a deed 91 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: in exchange for financial compensation, Ernst August would take over 92 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: Gayiorg Wilhelm's princely duties, and he would marry Sophia in 93 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: his stead. Gayorg Wilhelm additionally swore that he would would 94 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: never marry, meaning that he would never have legitimate children 95 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: who could inherit his estates or titles. All of that 96 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: would instead go to Ernst August and Sophia's family. Sophia 97 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: was given no input on the decision, but when the 98 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: new arrangement was presented to her, she agreed no doubt, 99 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: hiding her resentment at being traded like an object for 100 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: the sake of her future children's inheritance. It would not 101 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: be the last time that she would have to make 102 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: such sacrifices. But with this little problem settled, gayor G 103 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: Wilhelm was free to return to his beloved role of 104 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: seventeenth century international playboy. Sophia and Ernst August, conversely, lived 105 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: a simpler life, welcoming their first child, George Louis, in 106 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty. The couple was actually well matched. Both were 107 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: highly ambitious, cultured, and intelligence, and they quickly began to 108 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: work together to secure a more prestigious position for their 109 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: young family than the somewhat modest principality of Hanover. As 110 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: a note, I know there are many Georges and Gayorg's 111 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: in this story. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer 112 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: to Georg Wilhelm, Sophia Dorothea's father by his German name. 113 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: For Sophia in Ernst Auguste's young son, who was technically 114 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: born Georg Ludwig, I'll use his English name, by which 115 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: he's most well known today, George Lewis. Sometime in the 116 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: sixteen sixties man about town, Georg Wilhelm met a beautiful 117 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: French noblewoman named Eleanor Delbrue. Eleanor's Protestant family had recently 118 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: been expelled from France during the prosecution of the Huguenots, 119 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: and they were now reliant on the generosity of their 120 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: wealthy noble friends abroad. It was in the home of 121 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: one of those wealthy friends that Georg Wilhelm and Eleanor 122 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: first met. For geiorg Gwilhelm. It was love at first sight. Eleanor, 123 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: ware that a good marriage was her only chance to 124 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: regain financial and social security, refused to become his mistress, 125 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: even though she romantically fell for the prince as well. 126 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 1: But because of the whole no marriage, no legitimate children 127 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: agreements that Geyiorg Wilhelm had signed with his younger brother, 128 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: he legally couldn't marry her. Eleanor was reluctant to accept 129 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: anything less than marriage, but she did love Geiorg Wilhelm, 130 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: and she hoped to create a happy life with him. 131 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: In the fall of sixteen sixty five, the couple returned 132 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: to settle and sell, which Geiorg Wilhelm had inherited that spring, 133 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: and the two signed a document pledging their fidelity to 134 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: one another, a marriage in spirits but not in the 135 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: eyes of the law. Thus, when the couple's first child, 136 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea, was born on September fifteenth, sixteen sixty six, 137 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: she was technically illegitimate, the child of unwed parents, but 138 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: her parents were determined to ensure that her status didn't 139 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: dictate the course of her life. From the moment of 140 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: her birth, they demanded that she be treated as heiress 141 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: of Cell, even if technically she wasn't. Gaeor. Wilhelm and 142 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: Eleanor adored their daughter, who would be their only child. 143 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: They also began the lengthy, politically delicate process of trying 144 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: to legitimize her. They began with a campaign to the 145 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, the first, sending letters to him 146 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: full of praise and providing troops for his various campaigns 147 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: whenever he needed them, and lo and behold, it worked. 148 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: Leopold became increasingly friendly with the couple, even referring to 149 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: Eleanor by the title Duchess Over in Hanover. Younger brother, 150 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: Ernst August and his wife Sophia, were a little worried 151 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: by these developments. Cell was an enormously wealthy principality, and 152 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 1: the Hanovers worried that should Sophia Dorothea become legitimate, she 153 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: would inherit Cell and then possibly claim and win control 154 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,319 Speaker 1: over their territory. They grew even more concerned as Georg 155 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: Wilhelm began buying up property and gifting it to his 156 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: quote unquote wife and daughter, giving them status and wealth 157 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: in their own right. Ernst August, always money minded, was 158 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: mad that his brother had begun to channel wealth away 159 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: from him. He was supposed to be his older brother's heir, 160 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,239 Speaker 1: that was the whole point of marrying in his stead. Sophia, 161 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: the wife that Ernst August had married in his stead, 162 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: though a sharply intelligent and cultured woman, was a stickler 163 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: for etiquette, and she found it insulting that the unmarried 164 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: mother of her niece, a nobody, a woman that she 165 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: regularly referred to as a clot of dirt, could possibly 166 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: be gaining power and prestige that Sophia, herself, granddaughter of 167 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: a king, felt she truly deserved. It was the beginning 168 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: of a long period of tension between the two couples, 169 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: a tension that grew alongside the fortune and status of 170 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: little Sophia Dorothea. In July sixteen seventy four, when Sophia 171 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 1: Dorothea was eight, the Emperor officially legitimized her and granted 172 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: both her and her mother the title of Countess of 173 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Following further machinations, Sophia Dorothea was made 174 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,959 Speaker 1: a princess and the formal heir of Cell. The Hanovers, 175 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: realizing the danger that their legacy was in hurried to 176 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: renegotiate the contract that the two brothers had signed in 177 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty eight. This new contract allowed for the marriage 178 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: of Gayorg, Wilhelm and Eleanor and for the rights of 179 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: inheritance of Sophia Dorothea, though it denied those rights to 180 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: any future children who might be born to Gayorg, Wilhelm 181 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: and Eleanor, a compromise granted for Ernest August and Sophia. 182 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: The negotiations over this new document had been contentious, and 183 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: by the time all was resolved in the summer of 184 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy six, the two couples were barely speaking to 185 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: one another. Things continued that way until sixteen eighty two. 186 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea grew up in the loving, carefree home created 187 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: by her adoring parents, indulged in all ways a free spirited, 188 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: outdoing young woman, Her parents pursued an alliance with another 189 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,839 Speaker 1: branch of the Brunswick family, the Brunswick Wolfenbuttels, while Ernst 190 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: August and Sophia schemed to regain the inheritance they felt 191 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,719 Speaker 1: they had lost, installing spies in the Court Etsel. It 192 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: was one of these spies in September of sixteen eighty two, 193 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: who delivered the devastating news to the Hanovers. Sophia Dorothea 194 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: was to be betrothed to August Wilhelm, the heir to 195 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: Brunswick Wolfenfuddel. An alliance between those two families would spell 196 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: certain doom for the Hanover's ambitions. It would push them 197 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: completely to the side. The combined wealth and political power 198 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: of the new young couple would mean they would occupy 199 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: the prominent place in German society that Ernst August and 200 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: Sophia felt should be theirs. They had to do something, 201 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: and what could be a more royal solution than a 202 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: strategic betrothal to their own child, George Lewis. George Lewis, 203 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: the Hanover's eldest son, was only six years older than 204 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea and still single, following a bungled attempt at 205 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: wooing the English Princess Anne. If George Louis and Sophia 206 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: Dorothea Mary, Ernst August and Sophia could secure their family 207 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: line and all the resources of Cell, there was the 208 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: problem of status. Of course, Sophia had spent nearly twenty 209 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: years disparaging Eleanor and Sophia Dorothea as commoners, but she 210 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: swallowed her pride and traveled to Sell to sell Gayorg 211 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: Wilhelm on the plan. Gaeorg Wilhelm had never been too 212 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: happy with the proposed engagement to August of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, 213 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: and he had grown increasingly tired of the animosity between 214 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,479 Speaker 1: his wife and sister in law. He hated being estranged 215 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: from his brother, and so it didn't take much on 216 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: Sophia's part to convince him that this engagement was what 217 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: was best for their families. Eleanor, however, was another story. 218 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: She pleaded with Gayorg Wilhelm not to sacrifice their precious 219 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: daughter to the snobbish court of the Hanovers, not to 220 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: bind their beloved child to a young prince who was 221 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: said to be awkward and obtuse. But Gaeorg Wilhelm, who 222 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: had rejected the Hanover court himself and then spent a 223 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: lifetime defying the duties bestowed on him by noble birth, 224 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: finally felt that he must bend to obligation, and he 225 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: insisted resigned. Eleanor went to Sophia Dorothea's room to break 226 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: the news to her daughter. Sophia Dorothea did not take 227 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: it well. She was accustomed to a level of control 228 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: in her life. Now, in one swift move, her independence 229 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: had been taken from her in the worst way imaginable, 230 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: through betrothal to a cousin she had been raised to revile. 231 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: She was inconsolable, sobbing on her bed as Eleanor held her. 232 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: When her father entered, he nervously presented her with a 233 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: birthday present from her estranged aunt. It was a miniature 234 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: of George Louis, framed in jewels. Sophia Dorothea threw the 235 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: portrait against the wall, sending diamonds flying. At her birthday 236 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: banquet that evening, she hid her tear stained face as 237 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: the engagement was formally announced. As courtiers congratulated her, she 238 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: kept her eyes downcast and did all that she could 239 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: to hold sobs at bay. Spending time with her future 240 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: husband did not reassure her. The two heartily could have 241 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: been more different. Sophia Dorothea was vivacious, sharp tongued, pampered 242 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: and affectionate. She was a skilled dancer and sparkling conversationalist, 243 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: prone to flight to fancy. George Louis preferred the battlefield 244 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: to the ball room. He was a courageous soldier with 245 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: a practical mind, but a somewhat unimaginative man, deeply concerned 246 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: with propriety and duty. As the boy's mother, Sophia herself 247 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: put it somewhat hyperbolically that her niece would find in 248 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: George Louis, quote, the most pig headed, stubborn boy who 249 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: ever lived, who has round his brains such a thick 250 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: crust that I defy any man or woman ever to 251 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: discover what is in them nothing like motherly love. Not 252 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 1: only was the marriage not a love match, it also 253 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: stripped Sophia Dorothea of everything her parents had given her 254 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: over her young life. George Louis would receive one hundred 255 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year for her dowry, an enormous son, 256 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: as well as all of Sophia Dorothea's estates. Sophia Dorothea 257 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: would receive an allowance, but it would be controlled by 258 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: her husband and future in laws. She would have nothing 259 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: to call her own, but there was nothing she could do, 260 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,919 Speaker 1: and so Sophia Dorothea and George Louis were married at 261 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: the chapel at the Castle of Cell on November twenty first, 262 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: sixteen eighty two. It was a gloomy, chill morning and 263 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: wind racked the castle walls. It was an inauspicious beginning 264 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: to the marriage, and things would only get worse. The 265 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: early days of Sophia Dorothea and George Louise's marriage were 266 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: the best days. Sophia Dorothea quickly charmed the people of 267 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: Hanover with her personality and beauty, and even her haughty 268 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: mother in law began to feel more kindly about her. 269 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: The court of Hanover was modeled after Versailles buildings, and 270 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: courtiers alike dripped with diamonds, bowls lasted until the wee hours, 271 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: and women dressed in the latest most fashionable styles. Sofia Dorothea, 272 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: with her love for fashion and her natural exuberance, shone. 273 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: But like the real Versailles, it was also a highly 274 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:14,399 Speaker 1: regimented environment steeped in protocol, and Sofia Dorothea, raised in 275 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: the much more casual environment itself, frequently stumbled over the 276 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:24,440 Speaker 1: seemingly meaningless rules of court etiquette, prompting mockery behind her back. 277 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: But the greatest struggles in these early days were loneliness 278 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: and boredom. Each day followed the same routine. Mornings spent 279 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 1: in bed, writing letters or in the garden, taking a walk, 280 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: dress for lunch a very formal affair, a nap, a 281 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: visit with other ladies of the court, dress for supper, eat, 282 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: then play cards or perhaps dance, and retire to bed, 283 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: day after day after day. At most hours, the vibrant 284 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: young princess, trapped by the rituals of court, could be 285 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: found cloistered in her apartments, with only one true friend 286 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: by her side, the one lady in waiting who had 287 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: accompanied her from cell. On October thirtieth, sixteen eighty three, 288 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: seventeen year old Sophia Dorothea gave birth to a son, 289 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: George Augustus. The family was overjoyed. Their line was secure. 290 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:25,640 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea too was delighted. She adored her baby, and 291 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: his birth meant that she had fulfilled her wifely duties. 292 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: Slowly she began to gain some freedom. Finally she was 293 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: allowed to travel to Sell. She began spending more time 294 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,200 Speaker 1: with her own beloved parents. Her in law softened even 295 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,200 Speaker 1: further toward her, as did George Louis. Their son gave 296 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: them for once a common interest and something to talk about, 297 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: but their connection would not have time to develop. George 298 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: Louis was keen to continue his military success and win 299 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: acclaim for Hanover, and so he spent most of sixteen 300 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: eighty four and sixteen eighty five on military campaigns. When 301 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:09,679 Speaker 1: he returned to Hanover, the couple bickered frequently. George Louis 302 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: admonished his wife for being disrespectful of the court's customs, 303 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: while Sophia Dorothea accused her husband of being a priggish 304 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: stick in the mud. She felt neglected, he felt haraigned. 305 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: The arguments worsened, became louder and more public, but the 306 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: couple still managed to conceive another child, a daughter they 307 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: named Sophia Dorothea, who was born in March sixteen eighty seven. 308 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: Sorry again for the confusing name repetition. The older mother, 309 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea, adored her children, finding in them an escape 310 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: from the dramatic intrigues of the court that bored her 311 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:53,959 Speaker 1: so much. Throughout his marriage, George Louis had had affairs, 312 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,679 Speaker 1: but never anything particularly serious, but that changed when he 313 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 1: met Melissine van der Schlewenberg, the woman he would spend 314 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: the rest of his life with However, unofficially, though Sophia 315 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,360 Speaker 1: Dorothea didn't love her husband, she was devastated by how 316 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: public the affair was. George Louis began to take Melosine 317 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: to dinner as his companion, or she would show off 318 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: the luxurious dresses and radiant jewels that her lover had 319 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: gifted her. Humiliated, Sophia Dorothea wrote letters to her parents 320 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: about the situation. Her mother was sympathetic, her father was 321 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 1: less so, writing that she must simply accept her lot 322 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,920 Speaker 1: with a brave face. The young princess, now only twenty four, 323 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: felt more alone than ever, and that's when she met 324 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 1: Count Philip von Koenigsmark, or rather she re met him. Koenigsmark, 325 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: a dapper, dashing Swedish nobleman, had in fact come into 326 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: her life once before, when he had gone to Sell 327 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: as a preteen to receive military training. The two had 328 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: actually been friends then, and years later, seeing him at 329 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: a festival in Handover, Sofia Dorothea was delighted to reminisce 330 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: about the happy days of their childhood. But that reunion 331 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,200 Speaker 1: was brief and relatively uneventful, and they did not see 332 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: much of one another. For the next year, as Koenigsmark 333 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: tried to establish himself at court and while Sofia Dorothea 334 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: tried to repair her marriage. In those two missions, Koenigsmark 335 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: was more successful than she was. While Koenigsmark dazzled the 336 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: nobility with stories of his travels, Sophia Dorothea's attempts to 337 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: win back George Louis just seemed to drive the two 338 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: further apart. The married couple would sometimes not see each 339 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: other for weeks. He practically lived with his mistress Melasine. 340 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: In sixteen eighty eight, George and Sophia Dorothea had a 341 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: vicious argument. It's alleged that George Louis was physically abusive 342 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: towards her. The situation was so bad that even Sophia, 343 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:12,159 Speaker 1: who had never been Sophia Dorothea's champion, intervened on her 344 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: daughter in law's behalf, taking her and her children to 345 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: their family's country residents to restore her spirits while reprimanding 346 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:25,120 Speaker 1: her own son George Louis so forcefully that he reluctantly 347 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: began to spend more time with his wife. It was 348 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: then that Koenigsmark re entered Sophia Dorothea's life. He had 349 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: been in and out of Hanover over the past year, 350 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: but he had decided to purchase a large estate nearby 351 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: and settle for a time in the region. His wealth 352 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: and charisma had won him acclaim, and he had quickly 353 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: been accepted into the highest echalons of Hanoverian society. Some 354 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: of his closest friends were Sophia Dorothea's brothers in law, 355 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: the young Princes, and it was through them that Koenigsmark 356 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: came back into the present of the Princess. They were 357 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 1: only friends at first, brought together by their inherent similarities. 358 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: In Koenig's Mark, Sophia Dorothea found the opposite of her 359 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: staid husband. She discovered a man who matched her in liveliness, humor, 360 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: and impulsivity. The two shared a love for life and 361 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: a disregard for rules that made their time together exhilarating 362 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 1: but also dangerous. Once they ran into one another in 363 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: the palace gardens, where Sophia Dorothea was playing with her daughter, 364 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: The little girl was tired and refused to climb the 365 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: steps back up to their apartment. Instead of having a 366 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: servant carry her daughter, Sophia Dorothea picked up her own 367 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: daughter and began to walk up the stairs. It sounds normal, 368 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: but in a court as etiquette obsessed as Hanover, this 369 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 1: was a grave impropriety. Surely a princess should not be 370 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: carrying a child as a servant might. But things only 371 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: escalated when Koenigsmark teased her about the weight of her burden, 372 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: and he took the tired child into his own arms, 373 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: delivering her to the top of the stairs. For Sophia 374 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 1: Dorothea and Koenigsmark, the act was natural as well, a 375 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,360 Speaker 1: mother caring for her child. But for court observers, who 376 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: watched the couple laugh at the entrance to the royal apartments, 377 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 1: it was the first sign that something was not quite right, 378 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: and though their reasoning in this instance might have been 379 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 1: jumping the gun a little, their larger point was correct. 380 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: By the end of sixteen ninety one, Koenigsmark and Sophia 381 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: Dorothea were engaged in a full fledged affair. Miraculously, a 382 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,919 Speaker 1: number of letters between the two have survived, letters that 383 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: were sent to relatives for safekeeping, so now three hundred 384 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: years later, we can witness their love firsthand. Koenigsmark sealed 385 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,919 Speaker 1: his letters with a wax stamp bearing the image of 386 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,399 Speaker 1: a small heart inside of a larger one and the 387 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: motto quote so is yours within mine. The two wrote 388 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: in French, using codes and nicknames, hastily scrawling passionate letters 389 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: to one another whenever they had a moment alone. Koenigsmark's 390 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,199 Speaker 1: letters read like the template for romance novel speeches. Quote. 391 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: I shall embrace tonight, the loveliest of women. I shall 392 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 1: kiss her charming mouth. I shall worship her eyes, those 393 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: eyes that enslave me. I shall hear from her very 394 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: lips that she loves me. I shall have the joy 395 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: of embracing her knees. My tears will chase down her 396 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 1: incomparable cheeks. I will hold in my arms the most 397 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: beautiful body in the world. Verily, Madam, I shall die 398 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: of joy. Sophia Dorothea's letters back are no more restrained. 399 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: If you but knew how intense is my love, she wrote, 400 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: you would pity me. It increases every moment. Absence does 401 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: not lessen it, without change or swerving. I love you 402 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: and everything that touches you so tenderly, so perfectly, so delicately, 403 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: that imagination fails to tell. Their letters were full of 404 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: such declarations, alternating with heart's reproaches if they felt the 405 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: other had gone too long without writing or had flirted 406 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: with another. All of that was sprinkled in with observations 407 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: about daily life, But mostly they wrote of each other, 408 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: the devotion they had to one another, the pain they 409 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: felt in the other's absence, the burning desire with which 410 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: they yearned to be together. For the next two years, 411 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: they wrote frequently, as Koenigsmark fought for handover abroad and 412 00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea traveled between Hanover and cell. The two saw 413 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: each other whenever they could. Unlike George Louis's affair with Melasine, 414 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: they were not public about it. They knew they had 415 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: to operate in secrecy, that the consequences of discovery might 416 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 1: be harsh, but they didn't know just how deadly those 417 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: consequences would be. If Ernest August and Sophia the ever 418 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: proper in laws, had been paying closer attention to matters 419 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: of the court, they might have seen earlier what was 420 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: going on between the Swedish count and the princess, but 421 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 1: they were occupied with enormous political developments, ones which would 422 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: dramatically raise the Hanoverian profile. For years, the couple had 423 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: been campaigning for their family to become members of the 424 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire. The Electoral College, 425 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: made up of prince electors, were in charge of electing 426 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: the new Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon the 427 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: death of the old one. It was an extraordinarily powerful 428 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: and exclusive group, and Ernst August and Sophia yearned it 429 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: to join. In sixteen ninety two, their wish came true, 430 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 1: and Peror Leopold the First made Hanover an elector in 431 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: thanks for Ernst August's assistance during the Nine Years War. 432 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: From that point on, Ernst August would be known as 433 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 1: the Elector of Hanover, Sofia would be the Electress, George 434 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: Louis the electoral Prince, and Sophia Dorothea was the electoral Princess. 435 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: The family was overjoyed and the entire court celebrated. Sophia 436 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: Dorothea was happy to but she was also aware of 437 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: the eyes of the empire turning toward Hanover. It was 438 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: a new level of public scrutiny that didn't sit well 439 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: with a princess with something to hide. At least two 440 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: people within the royal circle were aware of the princess's affair. 441 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: By autumn of sixteen ninety two. Sophia Dorothea's mother, Eleanor 442 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,479 Speaker 1: had caught on quickly and frequently tried to persuade her 443 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: daughter to end the relationship, knowing that it could only 444 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: spell ruin. But more ominously, the couple had also caught 445 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: the attention of Countess Clara von Platten, Ernst August's longtime mistress. 446 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: Von Platten, a proud, striking woman who ruled over a 447 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: hedonistic circle of Hanoverian nobles, was alleged to have once 448 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:36,960 Speaker 1: had an affair with Koenigsmark herself. News of the princess's 449 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: affair slowly began to make its rounds at court, and 450 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: the royal family felt compelled to try to put an 451 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: end to it. Ernst August made it known to Koenigsmark 452 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: that his military service might be better appreciated in another state, 453 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: and then he sent him back to the battlefield. Koenigsmarck's 454 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: sister Aurora, who had sometimes helped facilitate message between the couple, 455 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: was told politely but firmly that she ought to stay 456 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: away from Hanover for the time being. Koenigs Mark and 457 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: Sofia Dorothea were heartbroken at being forced apart. If grief 458 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: could kill Sofia Dorothea wrote Koenigsmark in early October, I 459 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 1: should surely be dead. Convinced that his maybe ex lover 460 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: von Platten was behind Ernest August's interference, which she very 461 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: possibly was, koenigs Mark wrote furious screeds against the countess, 462 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: like this one from mid October quote. If I were 463 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: lord of creation, I would offer a sacrifice of her 464 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,240 Speaker 1: and give her to the bears to eat. The lions 465 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,120 Speaker 1: should suck her devil's blood, the tigers tear her cowardly 466 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 1: heart out. I would spend day and night seeking new 467 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: torments to punish her for her black infamy in separating 468 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: a man who loves to distraction from the object of 469 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,760 Speaker 1: his love. As sixteen ninety three, Dawn and the couple 470 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: increasingly began to feel threats on all sides, and yet 471 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 1: despite the warnings they received from friend and foe alike, 472 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 1: they would not seemingly could not break things off, even 473 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,359 Speaker 1: as they were sent far from one another, even as 474 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:22,759 Speaker 1: they were closely watched, they carried on, even arranging a 475 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:26,799 Speaker 1: brief tryst in June at Brockhausen, the country house of 476 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea's parents. By July, Sophia Dorothea had come to 477 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: a decision. She could no longer bear to be without 478 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: her love. She could no longer pretend to be a 479 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:42,319 Speaker 1: dutiful princess, could no longer stomach the sideways glances of 480 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: courtiers and the heavy handed advice from her family. She 481 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,680 Speaker 1: had to get away. To run away, and she would 482 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: take Koenig's Mark with her. She began to petition her father, 483 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,839 Speaker 1: the Duke of Cell, for an allowance independent of that 484 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 1: which the Hanovers gave her. In many anyways, this was 485 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,839 Speaker 1: only fair. All of her money and property had been 486 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,920 Speaker 1: taken away from her as part of her marriage settlement. Unfortunately, 487 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:13,320 Speaker 1: though her father's finances were tight at the moment, Hanover 488 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: and Zell were on the precipice of war with Denmark 489 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,760 Speaker 1: and Sweden, and the price of raising troops had left 490 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: Gayorg Wilhelm with little to give his daughter. Koenigsmark, too 491 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: was struggling. Though he came from an enormously wealthy family, 492 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: he had lost much of his personal wealth to gambling, 493 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,560 Speaker 1: and the King of Sweden was threatening to confiscate his 494 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,000 Speaker 1: estates because of the military service he was doing in Hanover, 495 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 1: an enemy state. The love birds were increasingly determined to 496 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: run off together, but without the money to do so, 497 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,399 Speaker 1: they were stuck, and all around them the whispers were 498 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 1: growing louder. Events reached a boiling point in May of 499 00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:00,800 Speaker 1: sixteen ninety four, mainly due to Koenigsmark's reckless behavior. In April, 500 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: a longtime friend became elector of Saxony. The elector owed 501 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: Koenigsmark a debt, and now as an elector, he could 502 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 1: afford to pay it. Koenigsmark traveled to Saxony. His friend 503 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,680 Speaker 1: didn't have the money on hand, but gave him a 504 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 1: post in the military and bid him to stay awhile 505 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: and celebrate his coronation. Koenigsmark was happy to, as the 506 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:28,960 Speaker 1: historian W. H. Wilkins writes, quote, while the princess was 507 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: eating her heart out in the palace at Hanover, weeping 508 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: and wailing, quarreling with her husband, importuning her parents, moving 509 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,359 Speaker 1: heaven and earth to advance her pet scheme, Koenigsmark was 510 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: reveling in the wanton halls of Saxony, drunk and happy 511 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:50,480 Speaker 1: to be free from the pressures of Hanover. Koenigsmark forgot himself, 512 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,839 Speaker 1: and he began to regale the Saxon court with his 513 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 1: salacious Hanoverian gossip. No one was spared. He spoke of 514 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:04,200 Speaker 1: Countess by Plattin, the Elector and Electress, George Louis, and Melosine, 515 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 1: even Sophia Dorothea, he said to have openly bragged of 516 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,919 Speaker 1: the affair. Word of what Koenigsmark had said quickly got 517 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:17,440 Speaker 1: back to Hanover, and the court was furious. George Louis, 518 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:22,799 Speaker 1: particularly incensed, burst into Sophia Dorothea's chambers and began to 519 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:27,200 Speaker 1: beerate her for her now very public affair. Sophia Dorothea 520 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:31,000 Speaker 1: retorted that George Louis had behaved just as flagrantly with 521 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 1: his own mistress. The argument escalated until suddenly, furious George 522 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: Louis allegedly sprang at his wife, grabbing her by the 523 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: throat and threatening to strangle her. Attendant quickly rushed in, 524 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:49,080 Speaker 1: and George Louis threw the half conscious Sophia Dorothea to 525 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,320 Speaker 1: the ground, swearing that he would never see her again. 526 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:57,600 Speaker 1: Once she recovered, Sophia Dorothea fled to Sell, announcing that 527 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 1: she was seeking her parents' protection and that she would never, 528 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,920 Speaker 1: never return to Hanover. But when she arrived in Cell, 529 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:11,319 Speaker 1: she was met with a mixed reception. Eleanor was horrified 530 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:16,120 Speaker 1: and vowed to protect her daughter. Gayorg Wilhelm, concerned about 531 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,720 Speaker 1: what this could do with his relationship with his brother 532 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: in Hanover, was less sympathetic, but even he could not 533 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,640 Speaker 1: deny the pain his daughter was in, and so he 534 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,680 Speaker 1: allowed her to spend some months at Cell. By June, 535 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:33,719 Speaker 1: he and the Hanovers hoped tempers had cooled enough for 536 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 1: a reconciliation between the prince and princess, and Gayorg Wilhelm 537 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,720 Speaker 1: told his daughter that she had to return to her husband. 538 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:47,359 Speaker 1: She was devastated, and the two argued so grievously that 539 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:51,000 Speaker 1: they would not reconcile for the rest of their lives. 540 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:55,720 Speaker 1: By the time Sophia Dorothea returned to Hanover later that month, 541 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,360 Speaker 1: she was a shell of herself, rung dry by the 542 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:03,680 Speaker 1: ordeals of the past few months, alienated from her parents 543 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 1: and in laws alike, and separated even from Koenigsmark, who 544 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:11,760 Speaker 1: was still in Saxony. She had to leave, she thought, 545 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:16,000 Speaker 1: and she had to leave soon. Her only option, given 546 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,160 Speaker 1: her lack of resources, was to flee to the court 547 00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:22,840 Speaker 1: of Wolfenbudel, whose heir she had once been engaged to. 548 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,880 Speaker 1: Anthony Ulrich, the Duke of Wolfenbudele, was happy to assist. 549 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: He had long been a close friend of Eleanor's and 550 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:35,080 Speaker 1: saw in Sophia Dorothea's request for help a chance to 551 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:38,880 Speaker 1: both support his friend's daughter and also to strike at 552 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:43,280 Speaker 1: the Hanovers, long time rivals. It was a dangerous plan. 553 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,359 Speaker 1: It would be seen as treason on Sophia Dorothea's part 554 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:51,160 Speaker 1: and might even lead to consequences for her parents, but 555 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,440 Speaker 1: her resolve was strengthened when Koenigsmark returned from Saxony in 556 00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:01,200 Speaker 1: late June to help make preparations to flee. On July first, 557 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 1: Koenigsmark snuck out from his house and made his way 558 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:09,120 Speaker 1: towards Leinschlass, the Hanover Castle, where he was set to 559 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:13,080 Speaker 1: meet the princess. He was in disguise, dressed in the 560 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:15,960 Speaker 1: shabby clothes of a laborer, and he kept to the 561 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 1: shadows until he reached the palace. It's not known whether 562 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:24,640 Speaker 1: he ever made it to Sofia Dorothea's chambers. Unbeknownst to Koenigsmark, 563 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:29,840 Speaker 1: he had been followed. Spies sent by Countess von Platten 564 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 1: had tracked him to Leinschlass before reporting back to her, 565 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:37,000 Speaker 1: and she quickly ran to Ernst August telling him what 566 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:41,360 Speaker 1: was happening. Ernst August was furious. He had warned the 567 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:45,799 Speaker 1: couple time and time again, welcomed Sophia Dorothea back into 568 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,480 Speaker 1: the fold over and over, even as the courts of 569 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:52,400 Speaker 1: Europe whispered about the cuckold at George Louis, and now 570 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:57,120 Speaker 1: still the couple was still brazenly meeting. Something had to 571 00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:01,279 Speaker 1: be done. It's not clear exactly what happened in the 572 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,319 Speaker 1: hallways of Leinschloss on that balmy summer night, whether the 573 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:09,759 Speaker 1: assailants who gathered there and only to arrest Koenigsmark or 574 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,480 Speaker 1: to scare him, or whether they did in fact planned 575 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 1: to kill him, and if so, on whose orders. But 576 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:21,440 Speaker 1: in any case, the end result was the same. Koenigsmark 577 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:25,879 Speaker 1: was ambushed by the men, A bloody fight ensued, and 578 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:32,040 Speaker 1: at its end Koenigsmark lay dead. Whether it was planned 579 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:36,760 Speaker 1: or not. Once Koenigsmark was dead, the mechanisms of royal 580 00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:41,960 Speaker 1: scandal suppression were quickly put into action. Sophia Dorothea was 581 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 1: kept in her chambers. Her rooms and those of Koenigsmark 582 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 1: were searched, and any evidence of their affair was quickly 583 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:53,719 Speaker 1: gathered up and brought to Ernst August and Sophia. Sophia Dorothea, 584 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,320 Speaker 1: still ignorant of Koenigsmark's fate, was sent to Alden Castle 585 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:03,240 Speaker 1: and sell. Ernstadt and Gaeorg Wilhelm met to privately confer. 586 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:08,880 Speaker 1: Both felt deeply betrayed and humiliated by the Princess's actions 587 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,640 Speaker 1: and by the contents of the letters that were seized 588 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:15,719 Speaker 1: from her and Koenigsmark's chambers, which had revealed their plans 589 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:20,040 Speaker 1: to ally with Wolfenbutele. The letters also made fun of 590 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:25,440 Speaker 1: the Hanover's and Gayorg Wilhelm. The Hanoverians decided that a 591 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:30,200 Speaker 1: divorce was the best course of action. Sophia Dorothea quickly agreed, 592 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:34,040 Speaker 1: in part, it's alleged because she believed that Koenigsmark was 593 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:36,880 Speaker 1: still alive and that the divorce would free her to 594 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:40,920 Speaker 1: marry him. The divorce was finalized in December of sixteen 595 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:46,239 Speaker 1: ninety four. Outside of the personal considerations of the proud royals, 596 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:51,000 Speaker 1: there were important political stakes to the affair. Though Leopold 597 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,640 Speaker 1: had declared hanover An electorate in sixteen ninety four. This 598 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:59,280 Speaker 1: position wouldn't be official until seventeen oh eight. In the meantime, 599 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:03,000 Speaker 1: those who had opposed the state looked for anything they 600 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:07,640 Speaker 1: could use to discredit it. An embittered, estranged princess was 601 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:11,120 Speaker 1: a good source of ammunition, so the families needed to 602 00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:16,120 Speaker 1: keep her quiet. It was decided that Sophia Dorothea would 603 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:19,560 Speaker 1: be kept on house arrest at Alden, with little to 604 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:23,320 Speaker 1: no contact with the outside world. We don't have letters 605 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,680 Speaker 1: from Sophia Dorothea from this period, so it's hard to 606 00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:29,880 Speaker 1: know what exactly was going through her mind, but she 607 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: most certainly was devastated. In one night, she had lost 608 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:42,080 Speaker 1: not only her beloved Koenigsmark, but also her freedom. Sophia 609 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:45,800 Speaker 1: Dorothea spent the rest of her life imprisoned at Alden 610 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,960 Speaker 1: Castle and cell. She was kept comfortable by an allowance 611 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,480 Speaker 1: provided in equal parts by her former husband and her father, 612 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:58,200 Speaker 1: neither of whom she would ever see again. Her children, too, 613 00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:03,000 Speaker 1: were kept away. Besides her small court of attendance chosen 614 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:06,600 Speaker 1: for their loyalty to Hanover, her only visitor was her 615 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:12,800 Speaker 1: beloved mother, Eleanor mounted A tireless but ultimately unsuccessful campaign 616 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:17,520 Speaker 1: to free her daughter. After Eleanor's death in seventeen twenty two, 617 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:21,879 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea was deeply lonely, and she began to care 618 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:24,799 Speaker 1: less about those things that had kept her happy even 619 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:28,960 Speaker 1: in her darkest days. Her pride in her appearance melted away, 620 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:33,760 Speaker 1: her love for fine clothes and extravagant hair styles faded, 621 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:39,880 Speaker 1: and she grew reclusive and unhealthy. In early seventeen twenty six, 622 00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:43,200 Speaker 1: she had a stroke, and though in ill health from 623 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:48,680 Speaker 1: that point on, she refused all care. She died November thirteenth, 624 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:52,480 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty six, at the age of sixty, and she 625 00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:56,360 Speaker 1: was buried at night with no ceremony, in a small 626 00:44:56,400 --> 00:45:01,680 Speaker 1: grave near her parents in cell As. For George Louis, 627 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:06,160 Speaker 1: fate had a very different path for him. In seventeen 628 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:10,200 Speaker 1: o one, the British Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, 629 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:14,040 Speaker 1: which declared that no Roman Catholic could inherit the throne 630 00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:18,400 Speaker 1: of England. The same act named the closest Protestant successor 631 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: to the throne as Sophia, Electress of Hanover, granddaughter of 632 00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:27,680 Speaker 1: King James the First of England. Sophia however, had died 633 00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:31,000 Speaker 1: shortly before the British Queen Anne in the summer of 634 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:34,960 Speaker 1: seventeen fourteen, meaning that the next King of England would 635 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:40,960 Speaker 1: be her oldest son, George Louis. Despite speaking little English, 636 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:47,160 Speaker 1: George became the King of England on August first, seventeen fourteen. 637 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:53,799 Speaker 1: King George the First. Sophia Dorothea's son would become King 638 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:58,640 Speaker 1: George the Second. Though George Louis could have remarried, he didn't. 639 00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:02,920 Speaker 1: Though he did maintain a relationship with Melissine von Schullenberg 640 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:05,759 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life, the divorce was a 641 00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:10,440 Speaker 1: forbidden subject in his presence. It was long supposed that 642 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:15,280 Speaker 1: George himself was responsible for Koenigsmark's death and for Sophia 643 00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:21,120 Speaker 1: Dorothea's imprisonment, but that's not really correct. He most definitely 644 00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:25,399 Speaker 1: was not involved in Koenigsmark's death, having been absent from 645 00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:29,320 Speaker 1: Hanover at the time, and as for Sophia Dorothea, though 646 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:35,720 Speaker 1: his behavior to her was certainly cold and occasionally absolutely reprehensible, 647 00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:39,440 Speaker 1: he was in fact not actually involved in the initial 648 00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:43,040 Speaker 1: decision to keep her prisoner, and he even advocated for 649 00:46:43,239 --> 00:46:47,040 Speaker 1: fewer restrictions on her movements during the later years. That 650 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:50,960 Speaker 1: didn't keep the English people from composing body songs and 651 00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:55,879 Speaker 1: poems about their foreign king, his mistress, and his imprisoned 652 00:46:55,920 --> 00:47:00,520 Speaker 1: ex wife. Those taunts would haunt George for his entire reign. 653 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:06,600 Speaker 1: When Sophia Dorothea died in seventeen twenty six, George forbade 654 00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:10,520 Speaker 1: mourning in the courts of England and Hanover. George spent 655 00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:13,879 Speaker 1: nearly a fifth of his thirteen year reign as King 656 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:18,120 Speaker 1: of England back in Hanover, which served as his royal retreat. 657 00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:21,760 Speaker 1: It was on a visit there in June seventeen twenty 658 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:25,880 Speaker 1: seven that he suffered a stroke, dying on the eleventh 659 00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:31,239 Speaker 1: of June in Lanschloss, the exact same castle where thirteen 660 00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:36,280 Speaker 1: years earlier Koenigsmark had been killed, the castle where Sophia 661 00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:40,280 Speaker 1: Dorothea's life, as she had known it had also ended. 662 00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:55,200 Speaker 1: That's the tragic life of Sophia Dorothea. But keep listening 663 00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:59,200 Speaker 1: after a brief sponsor break to hear how archaeology may 664 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,680 Speaker 1: bee or baby didn't solve one of the mysteries of 665 00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:13,320 Speaker 1: the story. In August twenty sixteen, workers on a construction 666 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:17,120 Speaker 1: project at Lanschloss, now the seat of state government for 667 00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:21,000 Speaker 1: the state of Lower Saxony made a startling discovery on 668 00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:27,080 Speaker 1: castle grounds, a buried jumble of human bones. Analysis by 669 00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:31,919 Speaker 1: researchers at Hannover's medical school determined that the bones were 670 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:36,680 Speaker 1: likely hundreds of years old human bones buried under the 671 00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:40,719 Speaker 1: palace hundreds of years old. To many, it added up 672 00:48:40,719 --> 00:48:45,640 Speaker 1: to one conclusion, surely these were the remains of Count 673 00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:50,680 Speaker 1: Philip von Koenigsmark. Historical sources had always been shaky on 674 00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:55,359 Speaker 1: what exactly happened to Koenigsmark's body after his death. Some 675 00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:58,480 Speaker 1: say his body was thrown in the Line River, others 676 00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:01,000 Speaker 1: that his body was covered in quick climb and buried 677 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:05,000 Speaker 1: underneath the palace. But with this new discovery, it was 678 00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:10,239 Speaker 1: hoped that the mystery could finally be solved. Unfortunately, it 679 00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:14,239 Speaker 1: was not to be. Further research eventually revealed that the 680 00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:18,799 Speaker 1: bones came from at least five human skeletons, as well 681 00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:22,799 Speaker 1: as some animals, and they were not, after all the 682 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,160 Speaker 1: right age to be those of Koenig's Mark, So the 683 00:49:26,239 --> 00:49:30,959 Speaker 1: mystery continues. The final resting place of Sophia Dorothea's lover 684 00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:34,360 Speaker 1: is lost to time, just as he was lost to 685 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:38,600 Speaker 1: her on that Fateful July evening more than three hundred 686 00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:57,960 Speaker 1: years ago. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and 687 00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:01,640 Speaker 1: Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted 688 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:05,560 Speaker 1: by me Danish Worts. Additional writing and researching done by 689 00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:10,600 Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, Hannah'swick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Laurie Goodman. 690 00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:15,000 Speaker 1: The show is produced by rima il Kyali, with supervising 691 00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:20,160 Speaker 1: producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, 692 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:24,400 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 693 00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:28,279 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 694 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:34,279 Speaker 1: favorite shows.