Sophia (German: Sophie, [zoˈfiː]; 14 October [O.S. 3 October] 1630 – 8 June [O.S. 28 May] 1714) was Electress of Hanover from 1692 to 1698 as the consort of Prince-Elector Ernest Augustus. She was later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England (later Great Britain following the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707), and Ireland under the Act of Settlement 1701, as she was the granddaughter of King James VI and I. Sophia died less than two months before she would have become Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Consequently, her son George succeeded her first cousin once removed, Queen Anne, to the British throne. The succession to the throne has since been composed entirely of, and legally defined as, Sophia's legitimate Protestant descendants.
Sophia was born in The Hague to Frederick V, formerly Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James VI and I. She grew up in the Dutch Republic, where her family had sought refuge after the sequestration of their Electorate during the Thirty Years' War. During this time, the English Stuarts also went into exile and Sophia was courted by her cousin, Charles II of England.
Sophia instead married Prince Ernest Augustus, her third cousin, in 1658. Despite his temper and frequent absences, Sophia loved him and bore him seven children who survived to adulthood. Born a landless cadet, Ernest Augustus succeeded in having the House of Hanover raised to electoral dignity in 1692. As a result, Princess Sophia became Electress of Hanover, the title by which she is best remembered. A patron of the arts, Sophia commissioned Herrenhausen Palace and its gardens and sponsored philosophers, such as Gottfried Leibniz and John Toland.
Sophia was born on 14 October 1630 at her family home, the Wassenaer Hof in The Hague, Dutch Republic. She was the twelfth child and fifth daughter of Frederick V of the Palatinate and Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James VI and I of Scotland and England. The couple were known as the 'Winter King and Queen', as they were forced to abdicate and flee Bohemia after ruling for only a year. Sophia's birth was overshadowed by the deaths of her siblings Frederick Henry and Charlotte. She was christened on 30 January 1631, three days after both siblings were laid to rest. As was custom, Sophia was granted an annuity of 40 thalers by the Estates of Friesland, and three noble ladies, also named Sophia, were appointed as her godmothers.
Sophia's father died when she was only two, and she was raised away from her mother in Leiden with her siblings. However, when her brother Gustavus died in 1641, the eleven-year-old Sophia was brought to join her mother and older sisters Henriette, Louise, and Elisabeth at the Hague. The girls' marriage prospects were significantly diminished due to their lack of dowries and the family's precarious political situation. However, in 1649, Sophia was courted by her cousin, Charles II of England, who was living in exile at the Hague during the Second English Civil War. Sophia rebuffed his advances, believing that he was attempting to use her to get money from her mother's supporter, Lord William Craven. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia brought the 30 Years War to a close, and the Rhine Palatine was restored to Sophia's brother Charles. In 1650, Sophia left the Hague and settled with her brother and his wife Charlotte, whom she disliked, in Heidelberg. The same year, Sophia fell ill with smallpox, which she believed greatly diminished her beauty: pockmarked skin was another deterrent to potential suitors. However, the family continued to recover what had been lost in the war; Charles was confirmed as Arch-Treasurer of the Empire, and the family was given audience with the Emperor and Empress in early 1653.
In her twenties, Sophia began to receive marriage proposals, including from Adolf Johann of Zweibrüken, the brother of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. Sophia's brother, Charles, was flattered by the proposal, and sent an envoy to negotiate with the Swedish king. However, when George William, Duke of Brunswick, and his brother Ernest Augustus came to inquire about Sophia's potential marriage, Charles instead signed a marriage contract between George and Sophia. George and Ernest then continued on to Venice, where the duke appeared to have second thoughts. George called off the marriage, and instead proposed that Sophia marry Ernest; in exchange, he would never marry, and upon his death, all his lands and property would go to the new couple. The new marriage contract was drawn up and signed on 5 June 1658.
Before her marriage, Sophia was styled as 'Sophie, Princess Palatine of the Rhine', or as 'Sophia of the Palatinate'. The Electors of the Palatinate were the Calvinist senior branch of House of Wittelsbach, whose Catholic branch ruled the Electorate of Bavaria.
On 30 September 1658, Sophia married Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, at Heidelberg, who in 1692 became the first Elector of Hanover. Ernest Augustus was a second cousin of Sophia's mother Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, as they were both great-grandchildren of Christian III of Denmark.
Sophia became a friend and admirer of Gottfried Leibniz while he was librarian at the Court of Hanover. Their friendship lasted from 1676 until her death in 1714. This friendship resulted in a substantial correspondence, first published in the 19th century (Klopp 1973), that reveals Sophia's exceptional intellectual ability and curiosity. She was well-read in the works of René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza. Together with Ernest Augustus, she greatly improved the Herrenhausen Palace, and she guided the creation of the Herrenhausen Gardens surrounding the palace, where she died.
In 1680, during another long visit to Italy by her husband, Sophia wrote her memories of her first fifty years of life.
Sophia was renowned across Europe as a writer, placed among Madame de Sevigne and Cardinal de Retz as chroniclers of history in royal and princely courts.
Her sister Elisabeth of the Palatinate and brother Karl Ludwig died when she was about fifty years old, and she began writing her memoirs as therapy.
Sophia had ten children, of whom seven survived childbirth:
George I, King of Great Britain and Ireland (7 June 1660 – 22 June 1727)
Frederick Augustus (3 October 1661 – 10 June 1691), Imperial General
Stillborn twin sons (February 1664)
Maximilian William of Brunswick-Lüneburg (13 December 1666 – 27 June 1726), field marshal in the Imperial Army
Stillborn son (13 December 1666)