1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. Hi, 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: this is Dana. Thank you so much for listening to 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Noble Blood. Just a quick personal note, if you want 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: to support the show, you can subscribe on Patreon, by 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: some merch or by a copy of my book Anatomy, 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: A Love Story, which is a novel about nineteen century 8 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: historical surgery. All of those have links in the bio, 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: but of course, as always, the best possible support is 10 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: just that you listen to the show. So thank you 11 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: so much, And a brief warning before we begin. This 12 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: episode contains some domestic violence, so if that's specifically triggering 13 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: to you, you might want to skip this episode. Seventeen 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: century princesses had childhoods that, as this podcast has shown, 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: have veered at best lonely, at worst tragic, but Sophia 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: Dorothea of Cell had a remarkably idyllic childhood. As an 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: only child, Sophia Dorothea was doated on by her parents, 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick Lunenburg, who unusually for 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: the time, had married for love. Little Sophia Dorothea wanted 20 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: for nothing. Her parents wealth and affection for her meant 21 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: that she simply had to ask for something and she 22 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: would receive it. She was a happy, vivacious child who 23 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: inherited her mother's shining brown eyes and glossy dark hair. 24 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: From the windows of her bedroom in her family's castle, 25 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea could look out at the lime trees surrounding 26 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: the moat, or she could trace her fingers over the 27 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: carved cupids that supported her mantlepiece. Life was sunny for 28 00:01:55,080 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea, but she was a seventeenth century prince, says, 29 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: and like any other seventeenth century princess, Sophia Dorothea's life 30 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: was not her own. No matter the love that her 31 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: parents had for her, they had larger political and familial obligations, 32 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: and so when an opportunity presented itself in the form 33 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: of a strategic betrothal, an opportunity for a year's long 34 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: feud to be ended for the family line to be strengthened, 35 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: her parents took the opportunity, even though the price was 36 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: their beloved daughter's happiness, and like many other political engagements, 37 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: it would lead to great sorrow and not just sorrow 38 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: but scandal. The marriage of Sophia Dorothea and her husband 39 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: George Louis would be marked by betrayals, punishment, and finally murder. 40 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: Forty years after their marriage, the two spouses would find 41 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:05,959 Speaker 1: themselves in vastly different positions. One would sit on the 42 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: throne of England while the other would die alone after 43 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: decades of imprisonment. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. 44 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: The series of strange events that would eventually lead to 45 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: the unhappy engagement of Sophia Dorothea to her cousin George Louis, 46 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: actually began with the death of a man named Frederick, 47 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: Duke of Brunswick Lundberg, in nearly twenty years before Sophia 48 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: Dorothea was even born. Now for your brief European history 49 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: geography lesson. At that time, the Duchy of Brunswick Lundberg 50 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: consisted of two principalities situated in the north of what 51 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: is now Germany. Throughout the course of the seventeenth and 52 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: then early eighteenth centuries, these principalities would be known by 53 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: a number of different names, but to keep things simple, 54 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: I'll refer to them as Hanover and Sell, as they 55 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: were commonly known around the end of the seventeenth century 56 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: after their capital cities. When Frederick died, he had ruled Cell, 57 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: the wealthier of the two principalities. Dying childless, he bequeathed 58 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: the title to his nephew, Christian Ludwig, who was already 59 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: ruling the principality of Hanover. Christian Ludwig was happy to 60 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: take the promotion of ruling Cell, and so he passed 61 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: Hanover to his younger brother, gay Org Wilhelm. Gay Org 62 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,799 Speaker 1: Wilhelm is Sophia Dorothea's father, but we'll get to that later. 63 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: The responsibilities of ruling and the monotony of court life 64 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: chafed against gay Org Wilhelm's fun, loving, adventurous spirit. He 65 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: left Hanover as often as possible, traveling around Europe and 66 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,559 Speaker 1: spending time in Italy and France with his younger brother, 67 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: Ernst August. His court was not amused, and they wished 68 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: that their dilettante prince would settle down and maybe barren 69 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: air or two. Eventually, Hanoverian court officials threatened to cut 70 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: back Georg Wilhelm's allowance if he did not marry. They 71 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: even suggested a suitable bride Princess Sophia of the Palatine. 72 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: I know there are a ton of George's and Georgs 73 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: and Sophia's in this episode. This isn't our Sophia Dorothea yet. 74 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: We're still on back story, but it is important, I promise. 75 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: Twenty eight year old Princess Sophia of the Palatine came 76 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: from a noble and well connected family. She was a 77 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,799 Speaker 1: granddaughter of King James of England, but her family's fortunes 78 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: had suffered during the Thirty Years War and a number 79 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: of matches for Sophia had fallen through Before gay Org 80 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: Wilhelm's offer came through. She eagerly accepted, but gay Org 81 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: himself was having doubts. He had no wish to be 82 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: tied down to a woman he didn't love, nor to 83 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: be tied down to a court he found boring and provincial. 84 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: Returning to Venice for one last pre wedding trip in 85 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty eight, he thought over his situation and he 86 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: arrived at an unorthodox solution. He would get his younger brother, 87 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: the penniless Ernst August, to be his substitute. After all, 88 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: one brother could provide an air just as well as another. 89 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: As a younger brother, Ernest August, was all too happy 90 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: to take the deal. The brothers drew up a deed 91 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: in exchange for financial compensation, Ernst August would take over 92 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: gay Org Wilhelm's princely duties, and he would marry Sophia 93 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: in his stead. Gay Org Wilhelm additionally swore that he 94 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: would never marry, meaning that he would never have legitimate 95 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: children who could inherit his estates or titles. All of 96 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: that would instead go to Ernst August and Sophia's family. 97 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: Sophia was given no input on the decision, but when 98 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: the new arrangement was presented to her, she agreed no doubt, 99 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: hiding her resentment at being traded like an object for 100 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: the sake of her future children's inheritance. It would not 101 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: be the last time that you would have to make 102 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: such sacrifices. But with this little problem settled, gay Org 103 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: Wilhelm was free to return to his beloved role of 104 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: seventeenth century international playboy. Sophia and Ernst August, conversely lived 105 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: a simpler life. Welcoming their first child, George Louis, in 106 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty. The couple was actually well matched. Both were 107 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: highly ambitious, cultured, and intelligent, and they quickly began to 108 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: work together to secure a more prestigious position for their 109 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: young family than the somewhat modest principality of Hanover. As 110 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 1: a note, I know there are many George's and Georg's 111 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: in this story. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer 112 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: to Geeorg Wilhelm, Sophia Dorothea's father by his German name. 113 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: For Sophia and Ernst August's young son, who was technically 114 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: born Geyorg Ludwig, I'll use his English name, by which 115 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: he's most well known today, George Louis. Sometime in the 116 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: sixteen sixties man about town, Geyorg Wilhelm met a beautiful 117 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: French noblewoman named Eleanor doul Rue. Eleanor's Protestant family had 118 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: recently been expelled from France during the prosecution of the Huguenots, 119 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: and they were now reliant on the generosity of their 120 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: wealthy noble friends abroad. It was in the home of 121 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: one of those wealthy friends that gay Org Wilhelm and 122 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: Eleanor first met. For gay Org Wilhelm, it was love 123 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: at first sight, Eleanor, where that a good marriage was 124 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: her only chance to regain financial and social security, refused 125 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: to become his mistress, even though she romantically fell for 126 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: the prince as well. But because of the whole no marriage, 127 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: no legitimate children agreements that gay Org Wilhelm had signed 128 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: with his younger brother, he legally couldn't marry her. Eleanor 129 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: was reluctant to accept anything less than marriage, but she 130 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: did love gay Org Wilhelm, and she hoped to create 131 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,119 Speaker 1: a happy life with him. In the fall of sixteen 132 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: sixty five, the couple returned to settle in Cell, which 133 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: gay Org Wilhelm had inherited that spring, and the two 134 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: signed a document pledging their fidelity to one another, a 135 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: marriage in spirit but not in the eyes of the law. Thus, 136 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: when the couple's first child, Sophia Dorothea, was born on 137 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: September sixteen sixty six, she was technically illegitimate, the child 138 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: of unwed parents, but her parents were determined to ensure 139 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: that her status didn't dictate the course of her life. 140 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: From the moment of her birth, they demanded that she 141 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: be treated as heiress of Cell, even if technically she wasn't. 142 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: Gay Org Wilhelm and Eleanor adored their daughter, who would 143 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,559 Speaker 1: be their only child. They also began the lengthy, politically 144 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: delicate process of trying to legitimize her. They began with 145 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: a campaign to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, the first 146 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: sending letters to him full of praise and providing troops 147 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:51,559 Speaker 1: for his various campaigns whenever he needed them, and lo 148 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: and behold, it worked. Leopold became increasingly friendly with the couple, 149 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: even referring to Eleanor by the title Duchess Over in Hanover. 150 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: Younger brother, Ernst Augus and his wife Sophia, were a 151 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: little worried by these developments. Cell was an enormously wealthy principality, 152 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 1: and the Hanovers worried that should Sophia Dorothea become legitimate, 153 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 1: she would inherit, sell and then possibly claim and win 154 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: control over their territory. They grew even more concerned as 155 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: Georg Wilhelm began buying up property and gifting it to 156 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 1: his quote unquote wife and daughter, giving them status and 157 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: wealth in their own right. Ernst August, always money minded, 158 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: was mad that his brother had begun to channel wealth 159 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: away from him. He was supposed to be his older 160 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: brother's heir. That was the whole point of marrying in 161 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: his stead. Sophia, the wife that ernst Augus had married 162 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: in his stead, though a sharply intelligent and cultured woman, 163 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: was a stickler for etiquette, and she found it insulting 164 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: that the unmarried mother of her niece, a nobody, a 165 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: woman that she regularly referred to as a clot of dirt, 166 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: could possibly be gaining power and prestige that Sophia, herself, 167 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: granddaughter of a king, felt she truly deserved. It was 168 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: the beginning of a long period of tension between the 169 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: two couples, attention that grew alongside the fortune and status 170 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: of little Sophia Dorothea. In July six seventy four, when 171 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea was eight, the Emperor officially legitimized her and 172 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: granted both her and her mother the title of Countess 173 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: of Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. Following further machinations, Sophia Dorothea was 174 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: made a princess and the formal air of cell. The Hanovers, 175 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: realizing the danger that their legacy was in, hurried to 176 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: renegotiate the contract that the two brothers had signed in 177 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty eight. This new contract allowed for the marriage 178 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,079 Speaker 1: of gay Org, Wilhelm and Eleanor and for the rights 179 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: of inheritance of Sophia Dorothea, though it denied those rights 180 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: to any future children who might be born to gay Org, 181 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: Wilhelm and Eleanor, a compromise granted for Ernest, August and Sophia. 182 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: The negotiations over this new document had been contentious, and 183 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: by the time all was resolved in the summer of 184 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy six, the two couples were barely speaking to 185 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: one another. Things continued that way until sixteen eighty two. 186 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea grew up in the loving, care free home 187 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: created by her adoring parents, indulged in all ways. A 188 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:49,479 Speaker 1: free spirited, outgoing young woman, her parents pursued an alliance 189 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: with another branch of the Brunswick family, the Brunswick Wolfinbuttles, 190 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: while Ernest August and Sophia schemed to regain the inheritance 191 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: they felt they had lost, installing spies in the court Atsel. 192 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: It was one of these spies in September of sixty 193 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: two who delivered the devastating news to the Hanovers, Sophia 194 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: Dorothea was to be betrothed to August Wilhelm, the heir 195 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: to Brunswick Wolfenbuttle. An alliance between those two families would 196 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: spell certain doom for the Hanover's ambitions. It would push 197 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: them completely to the side. The combined wealth and political 198 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: power of the new young couple would mean they would 199 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: occupy the prominent place in German society that Ernst August 200 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: and Sophia felt should be theirs. They had to do something, 201 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: and what could be a more royal solution than a 202 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: strategic betrothal to their own child, George Louis. George Louis, 203 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: the Hanover's eldest son, was only six years older than 204 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea and still single following a bungled attempt at 205 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: wooing the English Princess Anne. If George Louis and Sophia 206 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: Dorothea Mary, Ernst August and Sophia could secure their family 207 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: line and all the resources of cell, there was the 208 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: problem of status. Of course, Sophia had spent nearly twenty 209 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: years disparaging Eleanor and Sophia Dorothea as commoners, but she 210 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: swallowed her pride and traveled to Sell to sell Georg 211 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: Wilhelm on the plan. Gay Org Wilhelm had never been 212 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: too happy with the proposed engagement to August of Brunswick, 213 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: Wolf and Buddle, and he had grown increasingly tired of 214 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: the animosity between his wife and sister in law. He 215 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: hated being estranged from his brother, and so it didn't 216 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: take much on Sophia's part to convince him that this 217 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: engagement was what was best for their families. Eleanor, however, 218 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: was another story. She pleaded with Georg Wilhelm not to 219 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: sacrifice their precious daughter to the snobbish court of the Hanovers, 220 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: not to bind their beloved child to a young prince 221 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: who was said to be awkward and obtuse. But Georg Wilhelm, 222 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: who had rejected the Hanover court himself and then spent 223 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: a lifetime defying the duties bestowed on him by noble birth, 224 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: finally felt that he must bend to obligation, and he 225 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: insisted resigned. Eleanor went to Sophia Dorothea's room to break 226 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: the news to her daughter. Sophia Dorothea did not take 227 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: it well. She was accustomed to a level of control 228 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: in her life now in one swift move, her independence 229 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: had been taken from her in the worst way imaginable, 230 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: through betrothal to a cousin she had been raised to revile. 231 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: She was inconsolable, sobbing on her bed as Eleanor held her. 232 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: When her father entered it, he nervously presented her with 233 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:06,399 Speaker 1: a birthday present from her estranged aunt. It was a 234 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 1: miniature of George Louis, framed in jewels. Sophia Dorothea threw 235 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: the portrait against the wall, sending diamonds flying. At her 236 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: birthday banquet that evening. She hid her tear stained face 237 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: as the engagement was formally announced. As courtiers congratulated her, 238 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: she kept her eyes downcast and did all that she 239 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: could to hold sobs at bay. Spending time with her 240 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: future husband did not reassure her. The two heartily could 241 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: have been more different. Sophia Dorothea was vivacious, sharp tongued, 242 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: pampered and affectionate. She was a skilled dancer and sparkling conversationalist, 243 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: prone to flights of fancy. George Louis preferred the battlefield 244 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 1: to the ballroom. He was a courageous soldier with a 245 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: practical mind, but a somewhat unimaginative man, deeply concerned with 246 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: propriety and duty. As the boy's mother, Sophia herself put 247 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: it somewhat hyperbolically that her niece would find in George 248 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: Louis quote the most pig headed, stubborn boy who ever lived, 249 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: who has round his brains such a thick crust that 250 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: I defy any man or woman ever to discover what 251 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: is in them nothing like motherly love. Not only was 252 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: the marriage not a love match, it also stripped Sophia 253 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 1: Dorothea of everything her parents had given her over her 254 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: young life. George Louis would receive one hundred thousand dollars 255 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: a year for her dowry, an enormous son, as well 256 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: as all of Sophia Dorothea's estates. Sophia Dorothea would receive 257 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: an allowance, but it would be controlled by her husband 258 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,439 Speaker 1: and future in laws. She would have enough thing to 259 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,640 Speaker 1: call her own, but there was nothing she could do, 260 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: and so Sophia Dorothea and George Louis were married at 261 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: the chapel at the Castle of Cell on November one two. 262 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: It was a gloomy, chill morning and wind racked the 263 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: castle walls. It was in inauspicious beginning to the marriage, 264 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:30,439 Speaker 1: and things would only get worse. The early days of 265 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea and George Louise marriage were the best days. 266 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea quickly charmed the people of Hanover with her 267 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: personality and beauty, and even her haughty mother in law 268 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 1: began to feel more kindly about her. The court of 269 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: Hanover was modeled after Versailles buildings, and courtiers alike dripped 270 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: with diamonds, bowls lasted until the wee hours, and women 271 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: dressed in the latest most fashionable styles. Sophia Dorothea with 272 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 1: her love for fashion and her natural exuberance shown. But 273 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: like the real Versailles, it was also a highly regimented 274 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: environment steeped in protocol, and Sophia Dorothea, raised in the 275 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:19,959 Speaker 1: much more casual environment itself, frequently stumbled over the seemingly 276 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 1: meaningless rules of court etiquette, prompting mockery behind her back. 277 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: But the greatest struggles in these early days were loneliness 278 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: and boredom. Each day followed the same routine, mornings spent 279 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: in bed, writing letters or in the garden taking a walk, 280 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: dress for lunch, a very formal affair, a nap, a 281 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: visit with other ladies of the court, dress for supper, eat, 282 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: then play cards or perhaps dance, and retire to bed 283 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: day after day after day. At most hours, the vibrant 284 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: young princess, trapped by the rituals of court, could be 285 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: found cloistered in her apartments, with only one true friend 286 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,719 Speaker 1: by her side, the one lady in waiting who had 287 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: accompanied her from cell. On October six, three, seventeen year 288 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 1: old Sophia Dorothea gave birth to a son, George Augustus. 289 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: The family was overjoyed. Their line was secure. Sophia Dorothea 290 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: too was delighted. She adored her baby, and his birth 291 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: meant that she had fulfilled her wifely duties. Slowly she 292 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: began to gain some freedom. Finally she was allowed to 293 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: travel to Sell. She began spending more time with her 294 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 1: own beloved parents. Her in law softened even further toward her, 295 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: as did George Louis. Their son gave them for once 296 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,640 Speaker 1: a common interest and something to talk about, but their 297 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: connection would not have time to develop. George Louis was 298 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: keen to continue his military success and win a claim 299 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: for Hanover, and so he spent most of sixteen eighty 300 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: four and sixteen eighty five on military campaigns. When he 301 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 1: returned to Hanover, the couple bickered frequently. George Louis admonished 302 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: his wife for being disrespectful of the court's customs, while 303 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea accused her husband of being a British stick 304 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: in the mud. She felt neglected, he felt haragned. The 305 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,159 Speaker 1: arguments worsened, became louder and more public, but the couple 306 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: still managed to conceive another child, a daughter they named 307 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea, who was born in March sixty seven. Sorry 308 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: again for the confusing name repetition. The older mother, Sophia 309 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: Dorothea adored her children, finding them an escape from the 310 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: dramatic intrigues of the court that bored her so much. 311 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: Throughout his marriage, George Louis had had affairs, but never 312 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:00,920 Speaker 1: anything particularly serious, but that changed when he met Melissine 313 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: van der Schloenberg, the woman he would spend the rest 314 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: of his life with. However, unofficially, though Sophia Dorothea didn't 315 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: love her husband, she was devastated by how public the 316 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: affair was. George Louis began to take Melansine to dinner 317 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: as his companion, or she would show off the luxurious 318 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: dresses and radiant jewels that her lover had gifted her. Humiliated, 319 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea wrote letters to her parents about the situation. 320 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 1: Her mother was sympathetic, her father was less so, writing 321 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: that she must simply accept her lot with a brave face. 322 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,640 Speaker 1: The young princess, now only twenty four, felt more alone 323 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: than ever, and that's when she met Count Philip von 324 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 1: Koenig's Mark, or rather she re met him. Koenig's Mark, 325 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: a dapper, dashing Swedish nobleman, had in fact come into 326 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: her life once before, when he had gone to Sell 327 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: as a preteen to receive military training. The two had 328 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: actually been friends then, and years later, seeing him at 329 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: a festival in Hanover, Sophia Dorothea was delighted to reminisce 330 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: about the happy days of their childhood, but that reunion 331 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,160 Speaker 1: was brief and relatively uneventful, and they did not see 332 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 1: much of one another for the next year, as koenigs 333 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,960 Speaker 1: Mark tried to establish himself at court, and while Sophia 334 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 1: Dorothea tried to repair her marriage in those two missions, 335 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: koenigs Mark was more successful than she was. While koenigs 336 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: Mark dazzled the nobility with stories of his travels, Sophia 337 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: Dorothea's attempts to win back George Louis just seemed to 338 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: drive the two further apart. The married couple would sometimes 339 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 1: not see each other for weeks. He practically lived with 340 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: his mistress, Melansine. In six George and Sophia Dorothea had 341 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: a vicious argument. It's alleged that George Louis was physically 342 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: abusive towards her. The situation was so bad that even Sophia, 343 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:12,119 Speaker 1: who had never been Sophia Dorothea's champion, intervened on her 344 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: daughter in law's behalf, taking her and her children to 345 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: their family's country residence to restore her spirits while reprimanding 346 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: her own son George Louis so forcefully that he reluctantly 347 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,439 Speaker 1: began to spend more time with his wife. It was 348 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: then that Koenig's Mark re entered Sophia Dorothea's life. He 349 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: had been in and out of Hanover over the past year, 350 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: but he had decided to purchase a large estate nearby 351 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: and settle for a time in the region, His wealth 352 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: and charisma had won him acclaim, and he had quickly 353 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: been accepted into the highest echelons of Hanoverian society. Some 354 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: of his closest friends were Sophia Dorothea's brothers in law, 355 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,359 Speaker 1: the young Princes, and it was through them that Koenig's 356 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: Mark came back into the press of the Princess. They 357 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 1: were only friends at first, brought together by their inherent similarities. 358 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 1: In Koenig's Mark, Sophia Dorothea found the opposite of her 359 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:16,959 Speaker 1: staid husband. She discovered a man who matched her in liveliness, humor, 360 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: and impulsivity. The two shared a love for life and 361 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 1: a disregard for rules that made their time together exhilarating 362 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: but also dangerous. Once they ran into one another in 363 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: the palace gardens, where Sophia Dorothea was playing with her daughter. 364 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: The little girl was tired and refused to climb the 365 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,679 Speaker 1: steps back up to their apartment. Instead of having a 366 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: servant carry her daughter, Sophia Dorothea picked up her own 367 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: daughter and began to walk up the stairs. It sounds normal, 368 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: but in a court as etiquette obsessed as Hanover, this 369 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,479 Speaker 1: was a grave impropriety. Surely a princess should not be 370 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: carrying a child as a servant might. But things only 371 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: escalated when koenigs Mark teased her about the way to 372 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: her burden, and he took the tired child into his 373 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: own arms, delivering her to the top of the stairs. 374 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: For Sophia Dorothea and koenigs Mark, the act was natural 375 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: as well, a mother caring for her child. But for 376 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,479 Speaker 1: court observers, who watched the couple laugh at the entrance 377 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: to the royal apartments, it was the first sign that 378 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: something was not quite right, and though their reasoning in 379 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: this instance might have been jumping the gun a little, 380 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: they're larger point was correct. By the end of Koenig's 381 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: Mark and Sophia Dorothea were engaged in a full fledged affair. Miraculously, 382 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: a number of letters between the two have survived, letters 383 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 1: that were sent to relatives for safekeeping, so now three 384 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: hundred years later, we can witness their love firsthand. Koenig's 385 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: Mark sealed his letters with a wax stamp bearing the 386 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,919 Speaker 1: image of a small heart inside of a larger one 387 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: and the motto quote so is yours within mine. The 388 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: two wrote in French, using codes and nicknames, hastily scrawling 389 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: passionate letters to one another whenever they had a moment alone. 390 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: Koenig's marks letters read like the template for romance novel speeches. Quote. 391 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,520 Speaker 1: I shall embrace tonight, the loveliest of women. I shall 392 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: kiss her charming mouth. I shall worship her eyes, those 393 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: eyes that enslave me. I shall hear from her very 394 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: lips that she loves me. I shall have the joy 395 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: of embracing her knees. My tears will chase down her 396 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 1: incomparable cheeks. I will hold in my arms the most 397 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: beautiful body in the world. Verily, Madam, I shall die 398 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: of joy. Sophia Dorothea's letters back are no more restrained. Quote. 399 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: If you but knew how intense is my love, she wrote, 400 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: you would pity me. It increases every moment. Absence does 401 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: not lessen it, without change or swerving. I love you 402 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:19,840 Speaker 1: and everything that touches you so tenderly, so perfectly, so 403 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: delicately that imagination fails to tell. Their letters were full 404 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: of such declarations, alternating with heart's reproaches. If they felt 405 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: the other had gone too long without writing or had 406 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: flirted with another, all of that was sprinkled in with 407 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: observations about daily life, but mostly they wrote of each other, 408 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: the devotion they had to one another, the pain they 409 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: felt in the other's absence, the burning desire with which 410 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 1: they yearned to be together. For the next two years, 411 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: they wrote frequently, as koenigs Mark fought for Handover abroad 412 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: and Sophia Dorothea traveled between Hanover and Sell. The two 413 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: saw each other whenever they could. Unlike George Lewis's affair 414 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: with melicine, they were not public about it. They knew 415 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: they had to operate in secrecy, that the consequences of 416 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: discovery might be harsh, but they didn't know just how 417 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: deadly those consequences would be. If Ernest August and Sophia, 418 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 1: the ever proper in laws, had been paying closer attention 419 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: to matters of the court, they might have seen earlier 420 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: what was going on between the Swedish count and the princess, 421 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 1: but they were occupied with enormous political developments, ones which 422 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: would dramatically raise the Hanoverian profile. For years, the couple 423 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,440 Speaker 1: had been campaigning for their family to become members of 424 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire. The electoral 425 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: College made up of prince electors were in charge of 426 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,240 Speaker 1: electing the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire upon 427 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: the death of the old one. It was an extraordinarily 428 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: powerful and exclusive group, and Ernst August and Sophia yearned 429 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: it to join. In six two, their wish came true, 430 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,239 Speaker 1: and poor Leopold the First made Hanover an elector in 431 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: thanks for Ernest August's assistance during the Nine Years War. 432 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: From that point on, Ernst August would be known as 433 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: the Elector of Hanover, Sophia would be the Electress, George 434 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: Louis the electoral Prince, and Sophia Dorothea was the electoral Princess. 435 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:39,040 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 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: the eyes of the empire turning toward Hanover. It was 438 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: a new level of public scrutiny that didn't sit well 439 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:54,959 Speaker 1: with a princess with something to hide. At least two 440 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,719 Speaker 1: people within the royal circle were aware of the princess's 441 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: affair by autumn of sixteen ninety two. Sophia Dorothea's mother, Eleanor, 442 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,479 Speaker 1: had caught on quickly and frequently tried to persuade her 443 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: daughter to end the relationship, knowing that it could only 444 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: spell ruin. But more ominously, the couple had also caught 445 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: the attention of Countess Clara von Platten, Ernst August's long 446 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: time mistress. Von Platten, a proud, striking woman who ruled 447 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: over a hedonistic circle of Hanoverian nobles, was alleged to 448 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: have once had an affair with Koenig's Mark herself. News 449 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: of the princess's affair slowly began to make its round 450 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,240 Speaker 1: to court, and the royal family felt compelled to try 451 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: to put an end to it. Ernst August made it 452 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: known to Koenig's Mark that his military service might be 453 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 1: better appreciated in another state, and then he sent him 454 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: back to the battlefield. Koenigs Mark's sister Aurora, who had 455 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: sometimes helped facilitate message is between the couple, was told 456 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: politely but firmly that she ought to stay away from 457 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: Hanover for the time being. Koenig's Market and Sophia Dorothea 458 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: were heartbroken at being forced to part. If grief could kill, 459 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea wrote Koenig's Mark in early October, I should 460 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: surely be dead. Convinced that his maybe ex lover von 461 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: Platton was behind Ernest August's interference, which she very possibly was, 462 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: Koenig's market wrote furious screeds against the countess, like this 463 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: one from mid October quote, if I were Lord of Creation, 464 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: I would offer a sacrifice of her and give her 465 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: to the bear steat. The lions should suck her devil's blood, 466 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: the tigers tear her cowardly heart out. I would spend 467 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: day and night seeking new torments to punish her for 468 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: her black infamy in separating a man who loves to 469 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: distraction from the object of his love. As six dawn 470 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 1: and the couple increasingly began to feel threats on all sides, 471 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,919 Speaker 1: and yet despite the warnings they received from friend and 472 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: foe alike, they would not seemingly could not break things off, 473 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,080 Speaker 1: even as they were sent far from one another, even 474 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: as they were closely watched, they carried on, even arranging 475 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: a brief tryst in June at Brockhausen, the country house 476 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: of Sophia Dorothea's parents. By July, Sophia Dorothea had come 477 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,640 Speaker 1: to a decision she could no longer bear to be 478 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 1: without her love. She could no longer pretend to be 479 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: a dutiful princess, could no longer stomach the sideways glances 480 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,720 Speaker 1: of cordiers and the heavy handed advice from her family. 481 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 1: She had to get away. To run away, and she 482 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: would take Koenig's Mark with her. She began to petition 483 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,359 Speaker 1: her father, the Duke of Zell, for an allowance independent 484 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,440 Speaker 1: of that which the Hanovers gave her. In men a ways, 485 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 1: this was only fair. All of her money and property 486 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,600 Speaker 1: had been taken away from her as part of her 487 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: marriage settlement. Unfortunately, though her father's finances were tight at 488 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,319 Speaker 1: the moment, Hanover and cel were on the precipice of 489 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: war with Denmark and Sweden, and the price of raising 490 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,280 Speaker 1: troops had left Georg Wilhelm with little to give his daughter. 491 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,879 Speaker 1: Koenigs Mark two was struggling. Though he came from an 492 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,920 Speaker 1: enormously wealthy family, he had lost much of his personal 493 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: wealth to gambling, and the King of Sweden was threatening 494 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: to confiscate his estates because of the military service he 495 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,880 Speaker 1: was doing in Hanover, an enemy state. The love birds 496 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: were increasingly determined to run off together, but without the 497 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,600 Speaker 1: money to do so, they were stuck and all around 498 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:53,960 Speaker 1: them the whispers were growing louder. Events reached a boiling 499 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: point in May of sixteen ninety four, mainly due to 500 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 1: koenigs Mark's reckless behavior. In April, a longtime friend became 501 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 1: elector of Saxony. The elector owed Koenig's Mark a debt, 502 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: and now as an elector, he could afford to pay it. 503 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,640 Speaker 1: Koenigs Mark traveled to Saxony. His friend didn't have the 504 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,200 Speaker 1: money on hand, but gave him a post in the 505 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: military and bid him to stay awhile and celebrate his coronation. 506 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: Koenig's Mark was happy to, as the historian W. H. 507 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:29,719 Speaker 1: Wilkins rights quote, While the princess was eating her heart 508 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,880 Speaker 1: out in the palace at Hanover, weeping and wailing, quarreling 509 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: with her husband, importuning her parents, moving heaven and earth 510 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:42,360 Speaker 1: to advance her pet scheme, Koenig's Mark was reveling in 511 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: the wanton halls of Saxony, drunk and happy to be 512 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:50,480 Speaker 1: free from the pressures of Hanover. Koenigs Mark forgot himself 513 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: and he began to regale the Saxon court with his 514 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 1: salacious Hanoverian gossip. No one was spared. He spoke of 515 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 1: Countess and Platton, the Elector and Electress, George Louis, and Melansine, 516 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:08,600 Speaker 1: even Sophia Dorothea, he said to have openly bragged of 517 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:12,640 Speaker 1: the affair. Word of what Koenig's Mark had said quickly 518 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:17,360 Speaker 1: got back to Hanover and the court was furious. George Louis, 519 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 1: particularly incensed, burst into Sophia Dorothea's chambers and began to 520 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:27,160 Speaker 1: berate her for her now very public affair. Sophia Dorothea 521 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:31,000 Speaker 1: retorted that George Louis had behaved just as flagrantly with 522 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 1: his own mistress. The argument escalated until suddenly, furious George 523 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:40,560 Speaker 1: Louis allegedly sprang at his wife, grabbing her by the 524 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 1: throat and threatening to strangle her. Attendant quickly rushed in, 525 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: and George Louis threw the half conscious Sophia Dorothea to 526 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:52,280 Speaker 1: the ground, swearing that he would never see her again. 527 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,600 Speaker 1: Once she recovered, Sophia Dorothea fled to sell announcing that 528 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,520 Speaker 1: she was seeking her parents protection and that she would 529 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: never never return to Hanover. But when she arrived in 530 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:10,520 Speaker 1: cell she was met with a mixed reception. Eleanor was 531 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:15,759 Speaker 1: horrified and vowed to protect her daughter. Georg Wilhelm, concerned 532 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:18,279 Speaker 1: about what this could do with his relationship with his 533 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 1: brother in Hanover, was less sympathetic, but even he could 534 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,439 Speaker 1: not deny the pain his daughter was in, and so 535 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 1: he allowed her to spend some months at cell. By June, 536 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:33,760 Speaker 1: he and the Hanovers hoped tempers had cooled enough for 537 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:38,920 Speaker 1: a reconciliation between the prince and princess, and Georg Wilhelm 538 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,720 Speaker 1: told his daughter that she had to return to her husband. 539 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:47,319 Speaker 1: She was devastated, and the two argued so grievously that 540 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,600 Speaker 1: they would not reconcile for the rest of their lives. 541 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: By the time Sophia Dorothea returned it to Hanover later 542 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,800 Speaker 1: that month, she was a shell of herself, rung dry 543 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 1: by the ordeal of the past few months, alienated from 544 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,920 Speaker 1: her parents and in laws alike, and separated even from 545 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,959 Speaker 1: Koenig's Mark, who was still in Saxony. She had to leave, 546 00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:15,400 Speaker 1: she thought, and she had to leave soon. Her only option, 547 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,759 Speaker 1: given her lack of resources, was to flee to the 548 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,799 Speaker 1: court of Wolfenbutle, whose heir she had once been engaged to. 549 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:27,840 Speaker 1: Anthony Ulrich, the Duke of Wolfenbudle, was happy to assist. 550 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: He had long been a close friend of Eleanor's and 551 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:35,000 Speaker 1: saw in Sophia Dorothea's request for help a chance to 552 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,839 Speaker 1: both support his friend's daughter and also to strike at 553 00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:43,960 Speaker 1: the Hanover's longtime rivals. It was a dangerous plan. It 554 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:47,799 Speaker 1: would be seen as treason on Sophia Dorothea's part and 555 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:51,399 Speaker 1: might even lead to consequences for her parents, but her 556 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:55,400 Speaker 1: resolve was strengthened when koenigs Mark returned from Saxony in 557 00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:01,280 Speaker 1: late June to help make preparations to flee. On July one, 558 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,719 Speaker 1: Koenig's Mark snuck out from his house and made his 559 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:08,640 Speaker 1: way towards line Schloss, the Hanover Castle, where he was 560 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,800 Speaker 1: set to meet the princess. He was in disguised, dressed 561 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,719 Speaker 1: in the shabby clothes of a laborer, and he kept 562 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:19,120 Speaker 1: to the shadows until he reached the palace. It's not 563 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,560 Speaker 1: known whether he ever made it to Sophia Dorothea's chambers. 564 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:28,239 Speaker 1: Unbeknownst to Koenig's Mark, he had been followed. Spies sent 565 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,360 Speaker 1: by Countess von Platten had tracked him to Linechlass before 566 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,480 Speaker 1: reporting back to her, and she quickly ran to Ernst 567 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:40,280 Speaker 1: August telling him what was happening. Ernst August was furious. 568 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:44,200 Speaker 1: He had warned the couple time and time again, welcomed 569 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,680 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea back into the fold, over and over, even 570 00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,400 Speaker 1: as the courts of Europe whispered about the cuckold at 571 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:55,400 Speaker 1: George Louis, and now still the couple was still brazenly meeting. 572 00:40:56,120 --> 00:41:00,279 Speaker 1: Something had to be done. It's not clear exactly what 573 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:04,160 Speaker 1: happened in the hallways of Linschloss on that balmy summer night, 574 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: whether the assailants who gathered there and only to arrest 575 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:12,000 Speaker 1: Koenig's Mark or to scare him, or whether they did 576 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,440 Speaker 1: in fact planned to kill him, and if so, on 577 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:19,400 Speaker 1: whose orders. But in any case, the end result was 578 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:23,840 Speaker 1: the same. Koenig's Mark was ambushed by the men, A 579 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:29,520 Speaker 1: bloody fight ensued, and at its end Koenig's Mark lay dead, 580 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,760 Speaker 1: Whether it was planned or not. Once Koenig's Mark was dead, 581 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:39,920 Speaker 1: the mechanisms of royal scandal suppression were quickly put into action. 582 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,400 Speaker 1: Sophia Dorothea was kept in her chambers, Her rooms and 583 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:47,759 Speaker 1: those of Koenig's Mark were searched, and any evidence of 584 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,000 Speaker 1: their affair was quickly gathered up and brought to Ernest 585 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:56,440 Speaker 1: August and Sophia. Sophia Dorothea, still ignorant of Koenig's Mark's fate, 586 00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:00,279 Speaker 1: was sent to Alden Castle and sell Ernst DoD ist 587 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:05,120 Speaker 1: In Georg Wilhelm met to privately confer. Both felt deeply 588 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:09,400 Speaker 1: betrayed and humiliated by the princess's actions and by the 589 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:12,279 Speaker 1: contents of the letters that were seized from her and 590 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:16,320 Speaker 1: koenigs Mark's chambers, which had revealed their plans to ally 591 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:20,839 Speaker 1: with wolfenbutle The letters also made fun of the Hanover's 592 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:26,239 Speaker 1: and Georg Wilhelm. The Hanoverians decided that a divorce was 593 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:31,280 Speaker 1: the best course of action. Sophia Dorothea quickly agreed, in part, 594 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:34,279 Speaker 1: it's alleged because she believed that Koenig's Mark was still 595 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:37,960 Speaker 1: alive and that the divorce would free her to marry him. 596 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:43,080 Speaker 1: The divorce was finalized in December of six Outside of 597 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:47,759 Speaker 1: the personal considerations of the proud royals, there were important 598 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:52,080 Speaker 1: political stakes to the affair. Though Leopold had declared hanover 599 00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,799 Speaker 1: An electorate in sixteen ninety four, this position wouldn't be 600 00:42:55,840 --> 00:43:00,120 Speaker 1: official until seventeen o eight. In the meantime, those who 601 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,480 Speaker 1: had opposed the state looked for anything they could use 602 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:08,000 Speaker 1: to discredit it. An embittered, estranged princess was a good 603 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:12,080 Speaker 1: source of ammunition, so the families needed to keep her quiet. 604 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 1: It was decided that Sophia Dorothea would be kept on 605 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,400 Speaker 1: house arrest at Alden, with a little to no contact 606 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,920 Speaker 1: with the outside world. We don't have letters from Sophia 607 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:27,000 Speaker 1: Dorothea from this period, so it's hard to know what 608 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: exactly was going through her mind, but she most certainly 609 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:35,440 Speaker 1: was devastated. In one night, she had lost not only 610 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:42,680 Speaker 1: her beloved koenigs Mark, but also her freedom. Sophia Dorothea 611 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,240 Speaker 1: spent the rest of her life imprisoned at Alden Castle 612 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:50,480 Speaker 1: and cell. She was kept comfortable by an allowance provided 613 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:53,480 Speaker 1: in equal parts by her former husband and her father, 614 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:58,160 Speaker 1: neither of whom she would ever see again. Her children, too, 615 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:02,200 Speaker 1: were kept away, but sides her small court of attendance 616 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:06,400 Speaker 1: chosen for their loyalty to Hanover, her only visitor was 617 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:12,280 Speaker 1: her beloved mother. Eleanor mounted a tireless but ultimately unsuccessful 618 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:16,839 Speaker 1: campaign to free her daughter. After Eleanor's death in seventeen 619 00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:21,320 Speaker 1: twenty two, Sophia Dorothea was deeply lonely, and she began 620 00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:24,040 Speaker 1: to care less about those things that had kept her 621 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:27,600 Speaker 1: happy even in her darkest days. Her pride in her 622 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:32,440 Speaker 1: appearance melted away, her love for fine clothes and extravagant 623 00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:38,240 Speaker 1: hairstyles faded, and she grew reclusive and unhealthy. In early 624 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,279 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty six, she had a stroke, and though in 625 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:45,840 Speaker 1: ill health, from that point on, she refused all care. 626 00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:51,440 Speaker 1: She died November thirteenth, seventeen twenty six, at the age 627 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:55,279 Speaker 1: of sixty, and she was buried at night with no ceremony, 628 00:44:55,680 --> 00:45:00,560 Speaker 1: in a small grave near her parents in cell As. 629 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:04,759 Speaker 1: For George Louis, fate had a very different path for him. 630 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:09,360 Speaker 1: In seventeen o one, the British Parliament passed the Act 631 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 1: of Settlement, which declared that no Roman Catholic could inherit 632 00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:17,080 Speaker 1: the throne of England. The same act named the closest 633 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:21,680 Speaker 1: Protestant successor to the throne as Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 634 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:26,960 Speaker 1: grand daughter of King James the First of England. Sophia, however, 635 00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:30,400 Speaker 1: had died shortly before the British Queen Anne in the 636 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:34,279 Speaker 1: summer of seventeen fourteen meaning that the next King of 637 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:39,880 Speaker 1: England would be her oldest son, George Lewis. Despite speaking 638 00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:45,120 Speaker 1: little English, George became the King of England on August first, 639 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:52,879 Speaker 1: seventeen fourteen. King George the First, Sophia Dorothea's son would 640 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:57,719 Speaker 1: become King George the Second. Though George Lewis could have remarried, 641 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: he didn't. Though he did maintain a relationship with Melansine 642 00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:05,239 Speaker 1: von Schollenberg for the rest of his life, the divorce 643 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:09,440 Speaker 1: was a forbidden subject in his presence. It was long 644 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:13,960 Speaker 1: supposed that George himself was responsible for koenigs Mark's death 645 00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: and for Sophia Dorothea's imprisonment, but that's not really correct. 646 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:23,640 Speaker 1: He most definitely was not involved in koenigs Mark's death, 647 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:27,560 Speaker 1: having been absent from Hanover at the time, And as 648 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,560 Speaker 1: for Sophia Dorothea, though his behavior to her was certainly 649 00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:37,560 Speaker 1: cold and occasionally absolutely reprehensible, he was in fact not 650 00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:41,000 Speaker 1: actually involved in the initial decision to keep her prisoner, 651 00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:45,200 Speaker 1: and he even advocated for fewer restrictions on her movements 652 00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:48,760 Speaker 1: during the later years. That didn't keep the English people 653 00:46:48,880 --> 00:46:53,040 Speaker 1: from composing bodies, songs and poems about their foreign king. 654 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:58,120 Speaker 1: His mistress and his imprisoned ex wife. Those taunts would 655 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:02,560 Speaker 1: haunt George for his entire your reign. When Sophia Dorothea 656 00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:07,520 Speaker 1: died in seventeen twenty six, George forbade morning in the 657 00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:11,680 Speaker 1: courts of England and Hanover. George spent nearly a fifth 658 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:15,000 Speaker 1: of his thirteen year reign as King of England back 659 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:18,840 Speaker 1: in Hanover, which served as his royal retreat. It was 660 00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:22,840 Speaker 1: on a visit there in June seventy seven that he 661 00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,520 Speaker 1: suffered a stroke, dying on the eleventh of June in 662 00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:32,080 Speaker 1: lane Schloss, the exact same castle where thirteen years earlier 663 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:37,000 Speaker 1: Koenig's Mark had been killed. The castle ware Sophia Dorothea's 664 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:51,480 Speaker 1: life as she had known it had also ended. That's 665 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:55,520 Speaker 1: the tragic life of Sophia Dorothea. But keep listening after 666 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:59,680 Speaker 1: a brief sponsor break to hear how archaeology maybe or 667 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,240 Speaker 1: maybe didn't solve one of the mysteries of the story. 668 00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:15,080 Speaker 1: In August, workers on a construction project at lane Schloss, 669 00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:17,640 Speaker 1: now the seat of state government for the state of 670 00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:22,680 Speaker 1: Lower Saxony, made a startling discovery on castle grounds, a 671 00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:28,520 Speaker 1: buried jumble of human bones. Analysis by Researchers at Hanover's 672 00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:33,040 Speaker 1: Medical School determined that the bones were likely hundreds of 673 00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:38,160 Speaker 1: years old human bones buried under the palace. Hundreds of 674 00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:41,879 Speaker 1: years old too many, It added up to one conclusion, 675 00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:47,520 Speaker 1: Surely these were the remains of Count Philip von Koenig's Mark. 676 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:52,320 Speaker 1: Historical sources had always been shaky on what exactly happened 677 00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,799 Speaker 1: to koenigs Mark's body after his death. Some say his 678 00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:58,719 Speaker 1: body was thrown in the Line River, others that his 679 00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:02,160 Speaker 1: body was covered in quick climb and buried underneath the palace. 680 00:49:02,560 --> 00:49:06,160 Speaker 1: But with this new discovery, it was hoped that the 681 00:49:06,239 --> 00:49:11,320 Speaker 1: mystery could finally be solved. Unfortunately, it was not to be. 682 00:49:11,719 --> 00:49:15,600 Speaker 1: Further research eventually revealed that the bones came from at 683 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:20,600 Speaker 1: least five human skeletons, as well as some animals, and 684 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:23,920 Speaker 1: they were not, after all the right age to be 685 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:28,480 Speaker 1: those of Koenig's Mark. So the mystery continues. The final 686 00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:32,440 Speaker 1: resting place of Sophia Dorothea's lover is lost to time, 687 00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:36,000 Speaker 1: just as he was lost to her on that fateful 688 00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:55,680 Speaker 1: July evening more than three hundred years ago. Noble Blood 689 00:49:55,760 --> 00:49:58,360 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and 690 00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:01,880 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me 691 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:06,400 Speaker 1: Danish Wortz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, 692 00:50:06,719 --> 00:50:11,279 Speaker 1: hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The 693 00:50:11,320 --> 00:50:15,480 Speaker 1: show is produced by rema Il Kali, with supervising producer 694 00:50:15,719 --> 00:50:20,239 Speaker 1: Josh Thayne and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and 695 00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:24,240 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit 696 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:28,000 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 697 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:28,960 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.