
Queen Charlotte Amalie. Painted in oil on copper, probably by
Jacob d'Agar
'Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel' (
27 April 1650–
27 March 1714) was
queen-consort of
Denmark and
Norway, being the wife of King
Christian V.
She was born in
Kassel,
Hesse,
Germany. Her parents were
Landgrave Wilhelm VI of Hesse-Kassel and his wife
Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg.
Charlotte Amalie was married on
25 June 1667 to Prince Christian and became the Queen of Denmark on his accession in 1670. As well as other children they had a son, later King
Frederik IV, and a daughter
Sophia Hedwig.
Charlotte Amalie was raised in the
Reformed faith, which she stayed loyal to after her marriage to Christian, personally financing the erection, in 1688, of the first Reformed church building in Denmark, to serve a congregation formed three years earlier. She had requested, and had been granted for herself and her court, the right to profess freely the Reformed faith; however the hostility of the
Lutheran clergy was so strong that she was never actually
crowned Queen of Denmark.
She was a popular Queen, and her popularity increased in 1700, when she took part in organising the defence of
Copenhagen after King
Charles XII of Sweden invaded
Zealand.
Charlotte Amalie owned several estates around the country and she administered them skilfully. After the death of Christian V in 1699, she moved to a mansion which she had bought:
Charlottenborg on
Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen, where she lived from 1700 until she died. The mansion, which is named after her, has housed the
Royal Danish Academy of Art since 1754.
She died in
Copenhagen and was buried in
Roskilde Cathedral.
The town of
Charlotte Amalie on
St. Thomas,
U.S. Virgin Islands is named after her.
See also
★
Reformed Synod of Denmark
External links
★
History of the Rosenborg Castle
★
Article in the Dansk biografisk Lexikon