Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark

Princess Sophia Hedwig of Denmark and Norway (28 August 1677 – 13 March 1735) was a Danish princess, the daughter of King Christian V and his queen-consort, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel. Biography Sophia Hedwig became the object of marriage prospects early on and was betrothed three times. As a child, she became engaged to her cousin, John George IV, Elector of Saxony. This was in line with the traditional policy of dynastic marriage between Denmark and Saxony which had at that point become a tradition. In 1689, it was decided that the marriage was to take place two years later. When John George succeeded his father in 1691, he broke the engagement. In 1692, and later in 1694 to 1697, a marriage to the future Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, was suggested. However, Sophia Hedwig refused to convert to Catholicism despite considerable pressure to do so by her father. Between 1697 and 1699, Denmark sought an alliance with Sweden, which would be formalized by a double wedding of Sophia Hedwig to Charles XII of Sweden, and her younger brother Charles to Charles XII's sister Hedvig Sophia (after the marriage of Hedvig Sophia in 1698, she was replaced by another sister, Ulrika Eleonora). However, though somewhat receptive to the idea of a Danish match, Charles XII did in fact not wish to marry at all, and the Danish-Swedish alliance was very unpopular in Sweden.