SOPHIA CHARLOTTE OF HANOVER

'Sophia Charlotte of Hanover' was born on October 30, 1668, at Schloss Iburg in Bad Iburg near Osnabrück. She was the daughter of Ernst August, Elector of Hanover and Sophia of the Palatinate. Her eldest brother Georg Ludwig would succeed to the British throne in 1714 as King George I. She was once rumoured to be marrying the widower Louis XIV. By marrying Frederick I of Prussia, she became Queen in Prussia. Their only child to reach maturity became Frederick William I of Prussia.
Sophia Charlotte is mainly remembered for her friendship and correspondence with Gottfried Leibniz, whose avowed disciple she became. He was her mother's good friend and tutor. Sophia Charlotte's death of pneumonia on January 21, 1705 (o.s.; February 1 n.s.), when she was 36 years of age, devastated him.

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References

★ MacDonald Ross, George, 1999, "Leibniz and Sophie-Charlotte" in Herz, S., Vogtherr, C.M., Windt, F., eds., ''Sophie Charlotte und ihr Schloß''. München: Prestel: 95–105. English translation.