Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian; 6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was
King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the
House of Oldenburg
The House of Oldenburg is a German dynasty with links to Denmark since the 15th century. It has branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Schleswig, Holstein, and Oldenburg. The c ...
and the last
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...
of
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establishe ...
to rule as an absolute monarch. During his reign, he signed a
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
that established a Danish parliament and made the country a
constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies di ...
. Frederick's
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mo ...
was ''Folkets Kærlighed, min Styrke'' (
Danish for ''the People's Love, my Strength'').
Family
Frederick was born at
Amalienborg Palace to
Christian VIII of Denmark and
Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His maternal grandparents were
Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and
Luise,
Duchess of
Saxe-Gotha.
Marriages
The king's first two marriages both ended in scandal and divorce. He was first married in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
on 1 November 1828 to his second cousin
Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, a daughter of King
Frederick VI of Denmark
Frederick VI ( Danish and no, Frederik; 28 January 17683 December 1839) was King of Denmark from 13 March 1808 to 3 December 1839 and King of Norway from 13 March 1808 to 7 February 1814, making him the last king of Denmark–Norway. From 1784 ...
. They separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837. On 10 June 1841 he married for a second time to Duchess
Caroline Charlotte Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Duchess Caroline Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (10 January 1821 – 1 June 1876) was a member of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who became The Crown Princess of Denmark as the second spouse of the future k ...
, whom he divorced in 1846.
On 7 August 1850 in
Frederiksborg Palace, he
morganatically married
Louise Christina Rasmussen, whom he created
Landgravine Danner in 1850 ( da, Lensgrevinde Danner), a
milliner and former
ballet dancer who had for many years been his
acquaintance or
mistress, the natural daughter of Gotthilf L. Køppen and of Juliane Caroline Rasmussen. This marriage seems to have been happy, although it aroused great moral indignation among the nobility and the
bourgeoisie. Countess Danner, who was denounced as a vulgar
gold digger by her enemies, but viewed as an unaffected daughter of the people by her admirers, seems to have had a stabilizing effect on him. She also worked at maintaining his popularity by letting him meet the people of the provinces.
Extramarital relations and possible offspring
The expectation that Frederick would not likely produce offspring, despite numerous affairs, was widespread, but sources rarely state the reasons. Some speculate that Frederick was infertile. During the reign of Frederick's father,
Christian VIII, the succession question was already being brought forward. ''(See below:
Succession crisis)''
It has recently been claimed that the king did indeed father a son, Frederik Carl Christian Poulsen, born on 21 November 1843, as a result of his relationship with Else Maria Guldborg Pedersen (also referred to as Marie Poulsen), which took place after his first two unhappy marriages. This was brought forward in a book published in 1994 and again in a book published in 2009. According to an article in the Danish newspaper ''
Politiken
''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indep ...
'', the author of the latter book, who believes herself to be the great-granddaughter of Frederick VII, is in possession of four letters from the King to Marie Poulsen in which he acknowledged paternity. The letters are quoted in the book.
[Margrethe could be your Queen](_blank)
Politiken
''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indep ...
, 2 October 2009 (in Danish) In all cases, however, extramarital offspring were and still are barred from the
line of succession.
It has been claimed Frederick had a same-sex relationship with his friend,
Carl Berling Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
(1812–1871),
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and owner of the newspaper
Berlingske Tidende. The
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...
Berling had an illegitimate child with Louise Rasmussen,
Carl Christian (1841–1908) who was much liked by the King, to the extent that he insisted on signing the new constitution on Carl Christian's 8th birthday on 5 June 1849. To retain a tinge of decency, the King married Louise Rasmussen and the trio then moved into the royal castle where Berling was appointed
Chamberlain and remained until 1861. The public indignation within higher circles over Frederick's morganatic marriage is well-known, but reasons have rarely been explained in detail.
Reign
Frederick, who was the last king of the older branch of the
Oldenburg dynasty, had a rather neglected childhood after the divorce of his parents. His youth was marked by private scandals and for many years he appeared as the problem child of the royal family.
When he succeeded to the throne in January 1848, he was almost at once met by the demands for a constitution. The Schleswig-Holsteiners wanted an independent state while the Danes wished to maintain South Jutland as a Danish area. The king soon yielded to the Danish demands, and in March he accepted the end of
absolutism
Absolutism may refer to:
Government
* Absolute monarchy, in which a monarch rules free of laws or legally organized opposition
* Absolutism (European history), period c. 1610 – c. 1789 in Europe
** Enlightened absolutism, influenced by the E ...
, which resulted in the June Constitution of 1849. During the
First War of Schleswig against the German powers in 1848–51, Frederick appeared as ”the national leader” and was regarded almost as a war hero, despite having never taken any active part in the struggles.
During his reign, Frederick on the whole behaved as a constitutional monarch. He did not, however, quite give up interfering in politics. In 1854, he contributed to the fall of the strongly conservative
Ørsted cabinet, and in 1859–60, he accepted a liberal government appointed on the initiative of his wife. During the crisis in the Duchies in 1862–63, shortly before his death, he spoke openly for an inter-Scandinavian military co-operation. Those minor crises created frictions and maintained some permanent insecurity, but did not damage his general popularity. In some of these affairs, he overstepped the mark beyond any doubt; on the other hand, the first Danish constitution was somewhat vague as regards to the limits of royal power.
Frederick's rule also witnessed the heyday of the
National Liberal Party, which was in office from 1854. This period was marked by some political and economic reforms, such as the beginning of the demolition of the walls around Copenhagen and, in 1857, the introduction of
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold ...
. The constant quarrels with the opposition regarding the
Schleswig-Holstein Question and German demands that Denmark not try to unite with Schleswig (South Jutland) led to some changes to the constitution in order to fit the foreign political situation, which created frustration in Denmark. The National Liberals therefore at last favored a more resistant course against the Germans, which led to the
Second War of Schleswig in 1864. The king wholeheartedly supported this course and just before his sudden death he was prepared to sign a new special constitution for Denmark and Schleswig (the so-called
November Constitution
The history of Schleswig-Holstein consists of the corpus of facts since the pre-history times until the modern establishing of the Schleswig-Holstein state.
Early history
The Jutland Peninsula is a peninsula in Northern Europe with modern-day ...
).
Succession crisis
Frederick was married three times, but produced no legitimate issue. The fact that he reached middle age without producing an heir meant that his second cousin Prince Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906), the paternal descendant of
Christian III, was chosen as his
heir-presumptive in 1852. When Frederick died in 1863, Christian took the throne as
Christian IX.
Nationalism in the German-speaking parts of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
meant that there was no consensus to keep the duchies united under the Danish crown, internationally or within the duchies themselves. The duchies were inherited according to
Salic law among the descendants of a past heiress,
Helvig of Schauenburg, whose heir according to primogeniture after King Frederick VII was Frederick,
Duke of Augustenburg (who proclaimed himself
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein after Frederick VII's death). This Frederick of Augustenburg had become the symbol of the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
German independence movement in
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
since the time that his father, in exchange for compensation, had renounced his claims as first in line to inherit the twin Duchies of
Schleswig and
Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...
following the
London Protocol of 8 May 1852, which concluded the
First War of Schleswig. Because of his father's renunciation, Frederick was regarded as ineligible to succeed.
Denmark was (up until
1953) also under Salic Law, but only among descendants of
Frederick III (who was the first
hereditary monarch of Denmark; previously the kingdom had been, officially, elective). But Frederick VII was the last of Frederick III's male line, therefore, his nearest kinsmen in the male-line, the Schleswig-Holstein ducal lines of Augustenborg and Glücksburg (
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets—realm, ti ...
es of Denmark's earlier, non-hereditary kings), were not entitled to succeed to Denmark's throne, although they retained hereditary claims to the duchies of
Schleswig and
Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...
. Upon Frederick VII's death, Denmark's throne could devolve to or through a female heir according to "
semi-Salic" succession. There were, however, conflicting interpretations of that provision and of Denmark's claim to its applicability to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, held theretofore in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more State (polity), states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some e ...
by the kings of Denmark. The question was solved by an election and a separate law to confirm Denmark's new successor.
The closest female relatives of Frederick VII were the issue of his paternal aunt,
Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark, who had married a cadet
Hessian prince. However, they were not male-line descendants of Helwig of Schauenburg, and thus were not eligible to succeed in Holstein, and had disputed claims on Schleswig. The semi-Salic heiresses of Frederick VII were
Princess Caroline of Denmark
Princess Caroline of Denmark (28 October 1793 – 31 March 1881), was the eldest surviving daughter of King Frederick VI of Denmark. She was unofficially known as "Kronprinsesse Caroline" (English: Crown Princess Caroline) prior to her marriage, a ...
and Frederick VII's divorced wife Vilhelmine (both childless daughters of the late King Frederick VI). They were followed in the line of succession by
Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, sister of Frederick VI, who had married Frederick, Duke of Augustenburg, Salic heir to Schleswig and Holstein after Frederick VII, but whose wife's claim to Denmark would only come into effect after the deaths of Caroline and Vilhelmine, both still living in 1863.
Some rights also belonged to the Glücksburg line, a more junior branch of the royal clan. They were also semi-Salic heirs of Frederick III through a daughter of
Frederick V of Denmark, and they were more junior agnatic heirs eligible to succeed in Schleswig-Holstein. These dynasts were Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906) and his two elder brothers, the younger of whom had sons and daughters.
Prince Christian of Glücksburg (1818–1906) had been a foster grandson of the sonless royal couple
Frederick VI and
Queen Marie Sophie, and thus was well known at the royal court. Prince Christian was a nephew of Queen Marie Sophie and descended from a first cousin of Frederick VI. He was brought up as a Dane, having lived in Danish-speaking lands of the royal dynasty and never bore arms for German interests against Denmark, as had other princes of the
House of Glücksburg
The House of Glücksburg (also spelled ''Glücksborg'' or ''Lyksborg''), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a collateral branch of the Germans, German House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at vari ...
and the
House of Augustenburg
The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg () was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Like all of the secondary ...
. This made him a relatively attractive royal candidate from the Danish viewpoint since, as a descendant of Frederick III, he was eligible to succeed in Denmark, although not first-in-line. He was also, but separately, eligible to inherit the dual duchies, but was not first-in-line. Christian of Glücksburg also had married Princess
Louise of Hesse-Kassel, second eldest daughter of the closest female relative of Frederick VII. Louise's mother and brothers, princes of Hesse in Germany, renounced their rights in favor of Louise and her husband. Prince Christian's wife thereby became the closest female heiress of Frederick VII. The thorny question of the application of
semi-Salic provision in the succession of Denmark was at that point resolved by legislation, through which Prince Christian of Glücksburg was chosen in 1852 to succeed Frederick VII in Denmark.
Frederick VII died in
Glücksburg in 1863 following an attack of
erysipelas and was
interred in
Roskilde Cathedral
, image = Roskilde Cathedral aerial.jpg
, caption = View from the north-west
, coordinates =
, location = Roskilde
, country = Denmark
, denomination = Church of Denmark
, previous denomination = Catholic Church
, website =
, founded da ...
. Christian took the throne as
Christian IX.
In November 1863, Frederick of Augustenborg claimed the twin-duchies in
succession
Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence.
Governance and politics
*Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...
to Frederick VII of Denmark, who also was the last king of Denmark who, by primogeniture, was also sovereign
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...
of Schleswig and Holstein, but whose death extinguished the
patriline of Denmark's hereditary Oldenburg kings. The resulting divergence of hereditary claims to the duchies eventually developed into the
Second War of Schleswig.
Legacy
Frederick VII managed to make himself one of the most beloved Danish kings of recent times. This was probably due partially to his relinquishment of
absolutism
Absolutism may refer to:
Government
* Absolute monarchy, in which a monarch rules free of laws or legally organized opposition
* Absolutism (European history), period c. 1610 – c. 1789 in Europe
** Enlightened absolutism, influenced by the E ...
and partially to his personality. In spite of many weaknesses documented by his contemporaries — drinking, eccentric behavior, etc. — he also possessed something of a gift as an actor. He could be both folksy and genuinely hearty, able to appear as a ”simple, yet dignified monarch”. During his many travels throughout Denmark, he cultivated contacts with ordinary subjects. He was also a keen
antiquarian and according to the later Danish
archaeologist P.V. Glob
Peter Vilhelm Glob (20 February 1911 – 20 July 1985), also known as P. V. Glob, was a Danish archaeologist.
Glob was most noted for his investigations of Denmark's bog bodies such as the Tollund Man and Grauballe Man, mummified remains of ...
, it was "he, more than anyone else,
hohelped to arouse the wide interest in Danish antiquities".
P.V. Glob
Peter Vilhelm Glob (20 February 1911 – 20 July 1985), also known as P. V. Glob, was a Danish archaeologist.
Glob was most noted for his investigations of Denmark's bog bodies such as the Tollund Man and Grauballe Man, mummified remains of ...
(1969). ''The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved''. London: Faber and Faber Limited. Page 68-69.
Honours
;Danish honours
*
Knight of the Elephant, ''28 October 1817''
*
Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...
*
Grand Commander of the Dannebrog, ''10 June 1841''
;Foreign honours
Ancestry
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
The Royal Lineageat the website of the
Danish Monarchy
Frederik VIIat the website of the
Royal Danish Collection
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
at
Rosenborg Castle
{{Authority control
1808 births
1863 deaths
Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg
Dukes of Schleswig
Dukes of Holstein
Danish Freemasons
Burials at Roskilde Cathedral
19th-century monarchs of Denmark
Grand Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog
Recipients of the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog
Knights of the Order of Charles XIII
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Knights Grand Cross of the Military Order of William
3
3
3
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain