Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430/1431 – 10 November 1495) was a Hohenzollern princess who became a Scandinavian queen by marriage under the Kalmar Union. She was Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from her marriage to King Christopher III in 1445 until Christopher died in 1448. As the wife of King Christian I, Dorothea was Queen of Denmark from their marriage in 1449 and Queen of Norway from 1450 until Christian's death in 1481. She was also Queen of Sweden during Christian's reign in that kingdom from 1457 to 1464. She served as interim regent during the interregnum in 1448, and as regent in the absence of her second spouse during his reign. She was the mother of two future kings of Denmark: John (r. 1481–1513) and Frederick I (r. 1523–1533).
Early life
Dorothea was born in 1430 or 1431 to John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, and Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg (1405–1465). She had two sisters: Barbara (1423–1481), who became Marchioness of Mantua, and Elisabeth (14??-1451), who became Duchess of Pomerania. From about the age of eight, she lived in Bayreuth, where her father was ruler. In 1443, Christopher of Bavaria, the newly elected King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, inherited Oberpfalz close to Bayreuth, and a marriage was suggested between Christopher and Dorothea to secure her father's support for Christopher's power over his German domain. The engagement was proclaimed prior to the application of Papal dispensation for affinity in February 1445, which was approved 10 March.
Marriage to Christopher of Bavaria
On 12 September 1445, the wedding ceremony was conducted between Christopher and Dorothea in Copenhagen, followed by the coronation of Dorothea as queen. The King had financed it with a special tax in all three Kingdoms, and the occasion is described as one of the most elaborate in Nordic Medieval history. The festivities lasted for eight days and was attended by the Princes of Braunschweig, Hesse and Bavaria and envoys of the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Order as well as the nobility of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Dorothea made her entrance in the city escorted by noblemen from all three Kingdoms dressed in gold riding on white horses, and crowned Queen of Denmark, Sweden and Norway by bishops from all three Kingdoms with the golden crown from the Vadstena Abbey. On 15 September, she was granted dowers in all three Kingdoms: Roskilde, Ringsted, Haraldsborg and Skioldenses in Denmark; Jämtland in Norway, and Örebro, Närke and Värmland in Sweden. Should she chose to live outside of Scandinavia as a widow, she would instead be given a fortune of 45,000 Rhine guilders, one third from each Kingdom.
Queen Dorothea left for Sweden with the King in January 1446, where they visited Vadstena Abbey and her dower Örebro. During this visit, she met her future antagonist Charles, Lord High Constable of Sweden. According to the chronicle Karlskrönikan, their meeting was a good one during which Charles presented her and her ladies-in-waiting with many gifts. The couple returned to Denmark in September. The marriage between Dorothea and Christopher was politically favorable: her father governed Christopher's German domain and was a loyal supporter and adviser. It did not result in any offspring, however, and according to Ericus Olai, the marriage was in fact not sexually active.
In January 1448, King Christopher died childless, which resulted in a succession crisis that immediately broke the Kalmar Union of the three Kingdoms. Queen dowager Dorothea, being the only royal in Denmark, was proclaimed interim regent of Denmark until a new monarch could be elected. In Sweden, however, the Lord High Constable was elected as King Charles VIII, who was soon elected king of Norway as well. In September, Christian of Oldenburg was elected monarch as Christian I of Denmark and the queen dowager turned over the power to him upon his election.
Marriage to Christian I of Denmark
Queen Dorothea was given a proposal from king Casimir IV of Poland and Albert VI, Archduke of Austria, but she chose to remain in Denmark and marry the newly elected king, Christian I of Denmark. The wedding ceremony was conducted 26 October 1449, followed by the coronation of Christian and herself as king and queen of Denmark. She renounced her existing dower lands in Denmark and Norway, which were replaced with Kalundborg and Samsø in Denmark, and Romerike in Norway, but refused to renounce her Swedish dower lands. The election of Charles as king in Sweden and Norway deprived her of her dower lands in these kingdoms. The newly married couple’s ambition was to have Christian crowned in Sweden and Norway as well, and thereby reunite the shattered Kalmar Union.