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Sophia, the heartless Queen.

My first attempt of a timeline I welcome feedback.



Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow Queen of Denmark-Norway was a able adminstrator, but she was close to end up a failure in politic, her attempt to fight her son Christian IV of Denmark regency counsel and split up his ducal possesions among all her sons, not just the oldest one, resulted in her ending up banished to Nykjöbing Falster castle on Falster. It may have been a exile but she was still a Queen, she would rule Laaland-Falster as her own private fiefdom until her death of old age. Her exile was also sweeten by her reconciliation with her eldest son in 1596, where he promised to take care of his sibling, and put her former supporter Hans Blomme back in grace. This visit would also change Denmark in a rather subtle way, while Christian was visiting he was on a hunt, when he returned to the castle Sophia overheard one of her sons hunting companions say how the nature reminded him of his native Holland and how only the peasants was different. Sofia became quite inspired of the comparison between her poor domain and rich Holland, she had little compassion for the peasants of her domain which she saw as lazy and dishonest, while she remembered the industrious and wealthy Dutch peasants of Amager*. So she thought what if she could import Dutch peasant to improve farming and drain much of wetland which both Falster and Laaland was full of. Inspiration had stuck.



After her son had left her to continue home, she spoke with her advicers about it, and while most of them was somewhat sceptical of the idea, they still thought it a interesting idea. Sophie was a woman with a love of knowledge, so she studied how Christian II had gotten the Dutch settlers to Amager. From these her and her advicers decided, what they could give the Dutch of priviliges:
A tax exception until the 1. januar 1700, ownership of the land they settled on, beside that other privilge was secured for them, including the permanent monopol on sealhunt South of the isles.
The King was contacted and he ended up giving a royal guarantee for the priviliges, while he wasn’t positive of it, he had just reconsile with Sophie and had little interest in alienate her over such a minor matter.

Sophie contracted a Dutch middeman, whom would attempt to contract Dutch farmers to emigrate to Denmark. It was hard at first because they needed to convert to Lutheranism, but in the end a 107 people moved to Sophies domain in the first wave, they was given land north and west of Böta Nor, where they arrived maj 1599. Beside that Dutch expertise was also hired to drain some of wetland primary Böta Nor. Over the next decade 576 Dutch settlers emigrated to her domains.
With her Danish serfs** corvée, paid farmhands and Dutch expertise she began to drain Böta Nor a process which ended in 1615, which gave her several thousand new Tønder land***, much of which was bought by the Dutch settlers to their second and third sons, through several serf villages was placed in the south end of the former wetlands, these new serf was mostly former Danish farmhands on the Dutch farms, which resulted in the Dutch cultivated plants and methods being used.

What method and plants did the Dutch bring with them, if we look at the two primary plants, it was Spanish clover and potatoes. Spanish clover was a interesting plant it introduced nitrats into the soil (undomestic clover also does that, but it grow slower), shorting the fallow periode and it was excellent cattle fodder, which resulted in a growth of cheese and meat production, beside that because of clovers needs of pollination, it also increased the production of honey, and the greater commoness of bees, resulted in a greater pollination of fruit trees, the result was a greater and more diverse food production. The potato at first was the redhead stepson, while it was grown and thrieved in the soil of the isles, people only ate them in dire need, so it was mostly used as animal food and by the poor farmhands which grew it in their small kitchen gardens.

The results of these new methods was a lowering of child mortality among all groups of society, but especially the poorest the farmhands, leading to a population boom. The increase in population resulted in many leaving the isles to other parts of Denmark, but also a increase Nykjöbing Falsters population, in 1624 the town hit 1000 inhabbitants, but also that the draining technics become to good use other places on the two isles. Sophia also saw a increase in her income but it was only by 1620 that the increase began to become obvious. Sophie already a rich woman also oversaw some of Denmarks richest peasant, and the large landowners (herremænd) began to take notice, much of the technics was taken up by her neighbours and lesser vassal sometime by farmhands getting a farms or jobs in anothers domain and taking the technics with them, a interesting example of this was Julius Nielsen, which left his home as 13 year old in 1614, and through his own intelligence ended up as steward of a manor on southen Fuen, whom helped this manor prosper by import the new methods. By 1620 the use of both clover and potatoes had spread been spread to much southen Zealand and enclaves on southen Fuen. Sophie with her large wealth had also begun to dable both in trade and money-lending (no difference from OTL except she has more money), which increased her power and enourmous wealth to unheard dimension. She would die the richest woman in Europe.

But a war was on the way which would change the European balance of power forever, and diminish Denmark position for generations.

*Immigrants of the early 16th Century.

**Danish serfs (fæstebonde) was only renter of the land, and is as such free, but some of the rent was paid in corvee, while farmhands (husmænd) was just landless fæstebønder (plural).

***Danish agricultural units, it’s more or less equal with 0,0055 Km2.
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