Sophia was the daughter of Richeza of Poland, Dowager Queen of Sweden, from her marriage to a man called "Valador" King in Poloni Land. Several speculations have been put forward as to exactly who her father was, but his identity is still uncertain.
lieutenant is guessed to have been Prince Volodar of Minsk or Prince Vladimir of Halicz. Most probably it was Volodar (Valadar in Belarusian) of Minsk, who united the principalities of Minsk, Polotsk, and Hrodna under his rule, and had military interests in the Baltic region (for example, his military campaign in Northern Poland in 1159). Sophia was the half-sister of Canute V of Denmark.
After her mother"s marriage to the Swedish king, she followed her to Sweden and was raised at the Swedish court.
She was betrothed to Valdemar in 1154 as a form of alliance between Denmark and Sweden. As she had no property in Denmark, she was promised 1/8 of Canute"s estates.
She left Sweden and arrived in Denmark at the time of the engagement (1154), but as she was not considered old enough to marry, she was given to the custody of a woman named Bodil. Sophia is described as beautiful, dominant and cruel.
She was widowed in 1182.
She was repudiated in 1190 and returned to Denmark.
