Elisabeth of Denmark (25 August 1573 – 19 June 1626) was duchess consort of Brunswick-Lüneburg as married to Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She was regent of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1616-1622.

She was the eldest daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark

Frederick II of Denmark

Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he...

 and his spouse Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. First raised with her maternal grand parents, she returned to Denmark in 1579.

Scottish ambassadors had at first concentrated their suit on Elisabeth as a prospective wife for King James VI of Scotland

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

, but King Frederick betrothed Elisabeth to the Duke of Brunswick, promising the Scots instead that "for the second daughter Anna

Anne of Denmark

Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...

, if the King did like her, he should have her".

She was married in 1590 to Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg and had ten children:

1. Frederick Ulrich (15 April 1591 – 21 August 1634)
2. Sophia Hedwig (20 February 1592 – 23 January 1642), married Ernest Casimir, Prince of Nassau-Dietz
3. Elisabeth (23 June 1593 – 25 Mar 1650), married Augustus, Duke of Saxony, and Johann Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
4. Hedwig (19 February 1595 – 26 June 1650), married Ulrich, Duke of Pomerania
5. Dorothea (8 July 1596 – 1 September 1643), married Christian William, Margrave of Brandenburg, son of Joachim Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg
6. Heinrich Julius(7 October 1597 – 11 July 1606)
7. Christian (20 September 1599 – 16 July 1626)
8. Rudolph (15 June 1602 – 13 June 1616)
9. Heinrich Karl (4 September 1609 – 11 June 1615)
10. Anna Augusta (19 May 1612 – 17 February 1673), married George Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg

When her future spouse first arrived for the wedding in 1590, he disguised himself as a jeweler; he presented her with jewelry, and stated that prize was her body. As a result, he was thrown in jail until he could prove his identity and explain that it had been a joke. As duchess, she remained in close correspondence with her brother, the Danish monarch.

After the death of her husband in 1613, she reigned in her dowry. After three years she removed her son, Friederich Ulrich, from the government together with her brother, Christian IV of Denmark

Christian IV of Denmark

Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...

, and she remained in charge for the next six years. She received a visit from her brother Christian in 1616. In 1617 she founded the Retreat for the Poor with a chapel (Elisabeth Stift).
During the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) the castle was raided and was not repaired until 1654.

Ancestry