The Meeting of Notables (

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''notabelmøtet'' or ''stormannsmøtet'') was a meeting that took place before

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

declared independence from

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 , establish ...

1814 Events January * January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine. * January 3 ** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French garrison ...

. In the

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel ( da, Kieltraktaten) or Peace of Kiel ( Swedish and no, Kielfreden or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on t ...

, king Frederick VI of Denmark-Norway ceded the Kingdom of Norway to king

Charles XIII Charles XIII, or Carl XIII ( sv, Karl XIII, 7 October 1748 – 5 February 1818), was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 to his death. He was the second son (and younger brother to King Gustav III) of King Adolf Frederick of Sw ...

of Sweden. Prince

Christian Frederik Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Frederic ...

, vice-roy of Norway and heir to the thrones of Denmark and Norway, took the lead in the ensuing widespread movement for national independence. He saw his opportunity to claim the Norwegian throne as legal heir, possibly with the ultimate goal of re-uniting the two countries. He summoned twenty-one leading figures of society ("notables") to hear them out. The meeting took place in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

on 16 February 1814. It soon became clear that the principle of

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...

was rooted among the participants, and that sovereignty had been restored to the people by the abdication of the king. If Christian Frederik were to ascend the throne, he would have to be elected by the people in a manner seen as democratic. The meeting of notables advised the prince to arrange the election for a

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised t ...

to decide the form of government and eventually elect the head of state. On his return to Christiania on 19 February, he took the title of

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

and gave instructions for the elections, which were to be held in all churches on Sunday 25 February or the following Sundays. The Constituent Assembly was to convene on 10 April the same year at the Eidsvoll Manor. The Constituent Assembly did elect Christian Frederik as King, but his short reign was stopped when Sweden invaded in the summer.

List of participants

This is a list of the participants at the Meeting of Notables. *

, Prince of Denmark and Norway * Fredrik Julius Bech *

Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz (25 January 176211 May 1838) was a Norwegian Government Minister and Member of Parliament. Biography Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz was born at Vigvoll, Tveit near Kristiansand, Norway. His father, Otto Christian Rosenkrantz ...

* Mathias Sommerhielm * Jonas Collett *

Poul Christian Holst Poul Christian Holst (21 January 1776 – 7 August 1863) was a Norwegian government official who held several positions in the period 1814–1848. Holst led negotiations over debt with Denmark in 1817, after the dissolution of the union between t ...

* Hans Hagerup Falbe * Christoffer Anker Bergh *

Niels Treschow Niels Nicolas Treschow (5 September 1751 – 22 September 1833) was a Norwegian philosopher, educator and politician. Biography Treschow was born in Strømsø, now part of Drammen in Buskerud. He was the son of Peter Treschow (1718-1773) ...

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and ...

* Otto Lütken *

Frederik Gottschalk von Haxthausen Frederik Gottschalk von Haxthausen (14 July 1750 – 6 July 1825) was a Danish-Norwegian army officer, councillor of state, cabinet member and the country's first minister of finance. Biography Haxthausen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, cam ...

* Christian D. A. Arenfeldt * Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted * F. W. Haffner * Hans Henrik Rode * F. L. Brock *

Peder Anker Peder Anker (8 December 1749 – 10 December 1824) was a prominent Norwegian landowner, businessman and politician. He served as the prime minister of Norway from 1814 until 1822. Biography Peder Anker was a member of a Danish-Norwegian nob ...

Carsten Anker Carsten Tank Anker (17 November 1747 – 13 March 1824) was a Norwegian businessman, civil servant, politician and one of the Fathers of the Constitution of Norway. He was the owner of the manor house in Akershus at which the original National A ...

* Peter Anker * Carsten Tank * Of these, only Georg Sverdrup and Peder Anker were members of the Constituent Assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeting Of Notables 1814 in Norway

List of participants

See also

References