--- id: e2aa8e3e-d1b7-47a9-a523-602c39a0ae89 title: 'Dina Vinhofvers: Danish Silk Worker and Political Conspiracy Figure' abstract: "Dina Vinhofvers (1620\u20131651) was a Danish silk worker and alleged prostitute\ \ who became historically significant due to her involvement in the Corfitz Ulfeldt\ \ affair. She reported a conspiracy to assassinate King Frederick III of Denmark,\ \ implicating the statesman Corfitz Ulfeldt. Her testimony played a key role in\ \ the political turmoil of 1650\u20131651 in Denmark." classification: primary: '94' secondary: - '32' - '345' udc_main_class: '9' tags: - Dina Vinhofvers - Danish history - Corfitz Ulfeldt - Frederick III - political conspiracy - 17th century topics: - History - Politics - Biography author: '' created_at: '2026-06-01T00:26:00.964708' updated_at: '2026-06-01T02:13:25.946747' sources: - type: url uri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dina_Vinhofvers format: url_fetch udc_label: European history version: '1' --- ## Card: Dina Vinhofvers: Danish Silk Worker and Political Conspiracy Figure Dina Vinhofvers (1620–1651) was a Danish silk worker and alleged prostitute who became historically significant due to her involvement in the Corfitz Ulfeldt affair. She reported a conspiracy to assassinate King Frederick III of Denmark, implicating the statesman Corfitz Ulfeldt. Her testimony played a key role in the political turmoil of 1650–1651 in Denmark. ## Classification Primary: 94 | Secondary: 32, 345 | Tags: Dina Vinhofvers, Danish history, Corfitz Ulfeldt, Frederick III, political conspiracy, 17th century | Topics: History, Politics, Biography ## Content Dina Vinhofvers - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 Background 2 Corfitz affair 3 In literature 4 References 5 Related reading Toggle the table of contents Dina Vinhofvers 5 languages Dansk Deutsch Norsk bokmål Русский Svenska Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fantasy illustration of Dina Vinhofvers from 1795 Dina Vinhofvers (1620 – 7 July 1651) was a Danish silk worker who became famous because of her involvement in an alleged conspiracy of Danish statesman Corfitz Ulfeldt (1606–1664) against King Frederick III of Denmark in 1650–51. [ 1 ] Copenhagen Castle Background [ edit ] She was born in Copenhagen to German parents. Her mother, Margrethe Vinhofvers, is known to have had a position at the work house 's staff. She married David Schumacher (d. 1650) in Holstein , had a daughter in 1640 and returned to Denmark in the late 1640s with her lover Lieutenant Jørgen Walter (d. 1670). She, her mother and daughter lived with the silk manufacturer Samson Gertzen and supported herself by silk ironing, but was also pointed out as a prostitute . [ 2 ] Corfitz affair [ edit ] In 1650, she reported a plan to assassinate the king. She pointed out Corfitz Ulfeldt as the father of the child she expected. She also claimed to have overheard a conversation between Ulfeldt and his wife Leonora Christina Ulfeldt (1621–1698) in which them reportedly spoke of their plans to poison King Frederick III (1609–1670). Leonora Christina Ulfeldt was an illegitimate daughter of King Christian IV of Denmark (1577–1648), and half-sister of Frederick III [ 3 ] Jørgen Walter, the probable father of her child, who had become a favorite of the king and became ennobled in 1649, presented her accusations before the monarch. Walter is also believed to have been the one who instigated her to put forward her accusation to limit the influence of Ulfeldt, whose position was already risky because of his tense relationship with the king: Walter was close to the Danish-Holstein nobleman Christian Rantzau (1614–1663), who was an opponent of Ulfeldt. The accusation was put forward at a point when Ulfeldt's professional conduct was already under investigation. However, the accusations were kept secret by the king, who wished to examine them quietly. In 1651, Walter was appointed councillor, which can be seen as a sign that the king had taken the accusations seriously. Vinhofvers now met Leonora Christina and Ulfeldt's priest and confessor Simon Hennings (d. 1661) and told them that Walter had plans to assassinate the Ulfeldt couple. Ulfeldt informed the king, who had Vinhofvers imprisoned at Copenhagen Castle and made the affair public. She retracted her former accusation against Ulfeldt during questioning, and claimed that the accusations had been fabricated by Walter. Ulfeldt was freed by the court and secretly left Denmark (14 July 1651) with his family. But Dina Vinhofvers was sentenced to death for her first accusation. She was decapitated in the summer of 1651 outside Copenhagen Castle . [ 4 ] In literature [ edit ] The entire affair is the subject of Maria Edgeworth 's story "The Conspiracy," first published in her Tales of Real Life (1810). Dina Vinhofvers was the subject of Dina , a tragic play written in 1842 by Adam Oehlenschläger (1779–1850). Danish author Ebbe Kløvedal Reich (1940-2005) also included portions of her story in his publication Rejsen til Messias (Copenhagen: Gyldendal. 1974). [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] References [ edit ] ^ Dina Vinhofvers (ca. 1620 - 1651)Vinhofvers, Dina (Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon) ^ "Walter, Jørgen –1670" . Dansk biografisk Lexikon . Retrieved August 1, 2018 . ^ "Leonora Christina Ulfeldt" . Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon. Archived from the original on October 26, 2010 . Retrieved August 1, 2018 . ^ "Simon Hennings" . Dansk Biografisk Leksikon . Retrieved August 1, 2018 . ^ " Adam Oehlenschläger (Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs)" . Archived from the original on 2006-09-11 . Retrieved 2011-02-18 . ^ "Ebbe Kløvedal Reich (1940-2005)" . Danske Litteraturpriser . Retrieved August 1, 2018 . ^ "Corfitz Ulfeldt" . Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. 20 March 2014 . Retrieved August 1, 2018 . Related reading [ edit ] Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, translated by F. E. Bunnètt (1872) Memoirs of Leonora Christina: Daughter of Christian IV. of Denmark; Written During Her Imprisonment in the Blue Tower at Copenhagen 1663-1685 (London:Henry S. King & Co.) Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dina Schumacher . Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat People Deutsche Biographie Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dina_Vinhofvers&oldid=1304405315 " Categories : 1620 births 1651 deaths 17th-century Danish people Executed Danish women People executed by Denmark by decapitation 17th-century executions by Denmark 17th-century Danish women Hidden category: Commons category link is on Wikidata This page was last edited on 5 August 2025, at 21:29  (UTC) . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. , a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Legal & safety contacts Code of Conduct Developers Statistics Cookie statement Mobile view Search Search Toggle the table of contents Dina Vinhofvers 5 languages Add topic ## Source - url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dina_Vinhofvers