Sophia of Hanover

Born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate in The Hague, Dutch Republic, Sophia became Electress of Hanover through her marriage to Ernest Augustus. Her early life was marked by her family’s exile during the Thirty Years’ War. Sophia was a well-read individual, fostering a significant correspondence with philosopher Gottfried Leibniz and showing great intellectual curiosity. As a patron of the arts, she commissioned the Herrenhausen Palace and its gardens, and she supported various philosophers. Sophia married Ernest Augustus in 1658, and the couple had seven children who survived to adulthood. Sophia was later designated as the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland under the Act of Settlement 1701, due to her descent from King James VI and I.