Frederick IV (18 October 1671 – 19 July 1702) was the reigning

Duke of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (german: Herzogtum Holstein, da, Hertugdømmet Holsten) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had hi ...

Gottorp Gottorf Castle (german: Schloss Gottorf, da, Gottorp Slot, Low German: ''Gottorp'') is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein, and ha ...

. He was born in

Gottorf Castle Gottorf Castle (german: Schloss Gottorf, da, Gottorp Slot, Low German: ''Gottorp'') is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is one of the most important secular buildings in Schleswig-Holstein, and ha ...

as the elder son of Duke Christian Albert of Holstein-Gottorp and Princess Frederica Amalia of Denmark. He was married on 12 May 1698 to Princess

Hedwig Sophia of Sweden Hedvig Sophia Augusta of Sweden (26 June 1681 – 22 December 1708), Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, was the eldest child of Charles XI of Sweden and Ulrike Eleonore of Denmark. She was heir presumptive to the Swedish throne until her death and the ...

and they had an only child, Charles Frederick, who eventually fathered the future Tsar

Peter III of Russia Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, therefore making Frederick a patrilineal ancestor to all Russian emperors after

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. He took part in the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

and was killed by artillery fire in the

Battle of Kliszów The Battle of Kliszów (also spelled Klissow or Klezow) took place on July 19, 1702, near Kliszów in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Great Northern War. A numerically superior Polish–Saxon army led by king Augustus II the Str ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. According to Robert Massie's ''

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

: His Life and World'', Duke Frederick arrived in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

to marry his cousin, Princess Hedwig Sophia, soon befriending his first cousin and new brother-in-law,

King Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...

(their respective mothers, Frederica Amalia and

Ulrika Eleonora Ulrika Eleonora or Ulrica Eleanor (23 January 1688 – 24 November 1741), known as Ulrika Eleonora the Younger, was Queen of Sweden, reigning in her own right from 5 December 1718 until her abdication on 29 February 1720 in favour of her husband ...

, being daughters of

Frederick III of Denmark Frederick III ( da, Frederik; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bi ...

). His visit made such an impression on Swedish society that the excesses surrounding him and the King earned him "the

Gottorp Fury The Gottorp Fury ( sv, Gottorpska raseriet or ''Holsteinska raseriet'') was the name given to the wild excesses when the 16-year-old king Charles XII of Sweden and his cousin Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Frederick IV (18 October 1671 & ...

" as a nickname. Duke Frederick and King Charles regularly participated in wild festivities, drinking binges, and outlandish pranks. Generally, Duke Frederick's influence was the blame for the King's "reckless" lifestyle. There were even rumors at the time that the Duke sought to kill the King and usurp the throne. As it happened, according to Massie in the aforementioned book, the 17-year-old King Charles, in the summer of 1699, pushed himself to an unbearable point of excess and vowed never to touch another drop of liquor again. Apparently, writes Massie, the King stuck to beer thereafter, and even just drank beer when he was either wounded or post-battle. As for his relationship with his cousin Frederick, they remained on good terms, so much that King Charles gave him military assistance to defend

Holstein-Gottorp Holstein-Gottorp or Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp () is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, also known as Ducal Holstein, that were ruled by the dukes of Schlesw ...

from

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

invasion.

Ancestry

Notes and references

See also