Count Enevold Brandt (1738 - 28 April 1772) was a

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 ...

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

Biography

Brandt was born 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 ...

, and studied law at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

. He became assistant judge of the Supreme Court of Copenhagen in 1764, royal

chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

in 1769, and afterwards superintendent of the Royal Theatre. In 1770, he replaced Conrad Holck as the companion and favorite of King

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig and Duchy of Holstein, Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto ...

after the intervention of Struensee, who became his friend and

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

ruler of Denmark the same year.August Fjelstrup: Damerne ved Karoline Mathildes Hof, 1909. Brandt had a relationship with

Amalie Sophie Holstein Amalie Sofie Holstein (1748-1823), was a Danish noblewoman and courtier, known for her love life and unconventional life style, known in history as one of the Three Graces of the Danish royal court. Life She was the daughter of Schack von Buchw ...

, used his position with the king to pay off her gambling debts, and in practice left the position as the king's caretaker to Élie Salomon François Reverdil for her. Struensee disliked her because she allegedly made Brandt defiant toward him, and as her spouse proved himself not useful as a politician, the Holstein couple was allowed to stay at court because of Brandt.August Fjelstrup: Damerne ved Karoline Mathildes Hof, 1909. He became involved in the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

of 17 January 1772 and, together with his friend Struensee, to whose advancement he had contributed, was condemned to death, his execution following on 28 April 1772.

Notes

References

* 1738 births 1772 deaths Court of Christian VII of Denmark Danish jurists People from Copenhagen University of Copenhagen alumni Danish royal favourites 18th-century Danish people Danish courtiers 18th-century executions by Denmark {{denmark-bio-stub