Edele Jernskjæg was a Danish noble, lady-in-waiting

Lady-in-waiting

A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...

 and royal mistress of King John I of Denmark

John I of Denmark

John, also known as Hans; né Johannes was King of Denmark , Norway and as John II of Sweden in the Kalmar Union, and also Duke of Schleswig and Holstein...

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Daughter of the poor noble Mikkel Andersen Jernskjæg and Margrethe Andersdatter af Særslev, she was made lady-in-waiting of the queen, Christina of Saxony

Christina of Saxony

Christina of Saxony , was a Saxon princess who became Queen consort of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. She was born a granddaughter of Frederick the Gentle of Saxony, and daughter of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and Elisabeth of Bavaria.-Biography:She was married to John, King of Denmark, Norway and...

, in 1496. She followed the queen to Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

in 1499 and in 1501, were her affair with the king drew attention. In 1501, she returned to Denmark with the king, while the queen stayed behind. The monarch married her to the noble Torben Bille and visited her regularly until her death in 1512.