Dynasty, Politics, Piety and the Consort’s Library: Queen Charlotte Amalie of Denmark (1650–1714) and her Calvinist Inheritance

Abstract

Confessional difference in dynastic marriages was fraught with problems for all concerned, as was the case with Queen Charlotte Amalie of Hessen-Kassel (1650–1714), Denmark’s first non-Lutheran consort in post-Reformation history and the founder of Copenhagen’s Reformed Church. Taking the example of the Danish queen, this essay presents the broader context of her inheritance of her mother’s books in 1683 and reflects on the role of personal book collections for the early modern consort. Book ownership has not figured prominently enough in studies of material culture at court and cultural exchange, but as a bride set out from her native court, the books she took with her or later received from her natal court were meant to strengthen her position in her new surroundings just as much as the more precious items she took with her. Her books could be an expression of confessional allegiance and an instrument of dynastic identity retention. Examples of how in this particular case books were inherited through several generations of female owners of the Reformed faith highlights the importance of examining the role of women’s networks in the creation and maintenance of dynastic and confessional memory.