On This Day: Danish Royal Family

[CyrilVladisla]

What is the origin of the title of Countess Danner?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

What is the origin of the title of Countess Danner?

She was made lensgrevinde = fief-countess Danner, by royal resolution on her wedding day with Frederik VII.
He was so popular that he could allow himself to do that, but of course any children would not be in the Line of Scucession. Hence why she was married to his left hand.

Lensgrevinde is the highest rank of counts/countesses.

She was before that made baroness of Dannerfeldt. - Dannerfeldt can be very roughly translated to Danmark or perhaps more correctly Danernes Mark = the Field of Danes.
It is IMO questionable whether a title as Countess of Denmark would have been accepted, hence this wordplay in regards to her title.
So her title of Countess Danner, can with some good will be translated to Countess of the Danes.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, August 12, 1503 ~ Birth of King Christian III of Denmark

On this day, August 12, 1515 ~ The wedding of King Christian II of Denmark and Isabella of Austria

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, August 12, 1515 ~ The wedding of King Christian II of Denmark and Isabella of Austria

Despite his marriage the king remained faithful to his Dyveke Sigbritsdatter until her death in 1517.

[Countessmeout]

August 25, 1699 death of Christian V of Denmark

Christian was born April 15, 1646. His father was Frederick III of Denmark, and his mother was Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Luneburg. He had five younger siblings who made it out of infancy.

-Anne Sophie: married John George III, Elector of Saxony and had 2 sons.
-Frederica Amalia: married Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and had four children together.
-Wilhelmina Ernestina: married Charles II, Elector Palatine but had no kids.
-George: married Anne of Great Britain. None of their kids made it to adulthood
-Ulrika Eleanora: married Charles XI of Sweden. Had three children who reached adulthood including Charles XII and Queen Ulrika Eleanora.

In 1650 he was formally made heir to his father. He made a trip through Holland, England, France and Germany. In France he witnessed the concept of divine right of kings at the court of Louis XIV.

On his return home he was allowed to start attending government meetings. It wasn't until 1665 that Denmark practiced hereditary succession. He had been 'elected' in 1650 though by that point it was considered a given.

His father died February 1670 and he ascended the throne. He was officially crowned in 1671. He was the first hereditary king of Denmark-Norway, and in recognition a new crown was purchased for his coronation.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueviking/11139669976


He was popular among the common people. But he continued his father's work to curb the power of nobles in the road to absolutism. He was thought to be uneducated as he could only speak to Danish and German (despite his travels) and could not communicate with any of the foreign diplomats. He had to rely on his counselors to translate for him.

He created the Danish code and the new Norweigan code as well. He also introduced a new land registry to try and make taxation more fair.

He died in a hunting accident at 53 and was buried at Roskilde Cathedral.


He was married to Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel in 1667. She was the daughter of William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. They had five children who reached adulthood.

-Frederick: He succeeded his father as Frederick IV. With his wife Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow he had 2 children to reach adulthood. He married two women while still married to Louise, legalizing the third marriage to Anne Sophie after Louise died.
-Christian: he died from smallpox at the age of 20
-Sophie Hedwig: she remained single. She lived with her mother until the queen died, and then at court. Her brother's first bigamous wife was one of her ladies in waiting
-Charles: never married. After Frederick crowned his last wife Anne as queen, there was a breach between brothers. He and Sophie Hedwig left court and took up residence at Vemmetofte Manor.
-Vilhelm: died at the age of 18

He also had children by his chief mistress Sophie Amalie Moth. Two sons made it to adulthood.

-Christian Gyldenløve: Count of Samsøe. He married twice and had two children from each wife. He was the Royal postmaster, a position his second wife took over after his death.
-Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve, Count of Samsø: he was founder of the Royal Danish Naval Academy. He was never married, a naval career instead, making the rank of Commander in chief.

[Countessmeout]

Sept 4, 1557 birth of Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen consort of Frederick II of Denmark.

She was an intellect and shrewd business woman who died one of the richest women in Europe at the time due to her own deeds.

She was the only daughter of Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and his wife Elizabeth of Denmark. She was named in honor of her maternal grandmother Sophie of Pomerania, second wife of Frederick I of Denmark. Like her father who she was extremely close to, she was an intellect from early on.

Her marriage to Frederick was not intended. Frederick II at 38 had been convinced he needed to marry after giving up his mistress. But he insisted on meeting the women before he agreed to marry. He was intended to meet Princess Margaret of Pomerania, Sophie's second cousin. Margaret's father Philip I of Pomerania and Sophie's mother Elizabeth were first cousins, both grandchildren of Bogislaw X of Pomerania. Margaret was 17 and was meant to meet the king at Nykobing Castle. Sophie's parents were assigned to escort Margaret, and chose to take Sophie with them on the trip. The king's eyes instead of Margaret fell on Sophie who soon found herself betrothed to the king and married six months later. 14 year old Sophie was half first cousins of Frederick, as Frederick's father was the son of Frederick I by his first wife.

Despite a 24 year age difference, by all historical accounts it was a very happy marriage. Her husband never took a mistress, and wrote lovingly of her in his journals. When in 1575, three years after they wed, he came down with malaria she nursed him and wrote letters noting her deep concern for her husband, to her father.

She bore her husband seven children. She was a loving mother and nursed her children when sick herself. The children were all, but for the youngest, sent to her parents for a time as fostering was common in those days. She herself would visit her parents over the years, up until her father's death.

Her husband died in 1588 after 16 years of marriage. Sophie had no political influence in his life and she was denied a place on the regency counsel for their 11 year old son. But she was named the regent of Schleswig-Holstein for her son. Even then she showed a mind for numbers. She negotiated her own allowance, as well as the dowries of her daughters. She also planned her husband's grand funeral. She was in a power struggle for years with the counsel, even after her son came of age in 1593, which ended in her exile to Nykobing castle on Falster. It had been the home of dowager queens in the past.

While there she saw to the refurbishment of the home. And continued her studies that had always been a part of her life. She had a passion for astronomy and chemistry. She had also studied music and folklore of Denmark since the start of her marriage and it continued here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyköping_Castle

She was a diligent manager of her estates. So much so that she entered into major trade and even money lending. Her son often came to her for loans for his wars. She also had some influence at her son's court. When her grandson Christian's mistress Anne Lykke was arrested by the king, and threatened with trial for witch craft as King Christian worried about her influence on his son, Sophie spoke up. Anna had the support of other nobles as it was against the law to hold a noble like Anna without trial, but Sophie was the strongest voice in seeing to her freedom.


Sophie died October 14, 1631 at her home at the age of 74. She was buried with her husband at Roskilde cathedral.


She bore her husband seven children. She had played a very active hand in the marriages of her daughters.


-Elizabeth: was married to Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had 10 children, 7 of whom reached adulthood.

-Anne: married James VI and I of Scotland and England. The couple had three children to reach adulthood though only Charles I and Elizabeth would marry, their eldest Henry died at 19.

-Christian: succeeded his father as Christian IV. With Anne Catherine of Brandenburg he had three sons who reached adulthood. It was the second of these sons who succeeded him as Frederick III. The eldest Christian (the one whose mistress was almost tried for witch craft) died a year before his father. He had a morganatic second marriage to Kirsten Munk who was made Countess of Schleswig-Holstein. She bore him 7 children who reached adulthood though there is some doubt her youngest was his child. She took a lover in later years and the child was likely his not the king's. The king refused to recognize her though she was legitimized eventually.

-Ulrik: Ulrich II Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin and last bishop of the old Schleswig see which no longer actually had a seat but he received the perceived income despite that. He inherited the prince-bishopric from his maternal grandfather. He married Catherine Hahn-Hinrichshagen but after his death his mother contested Catherine's dower.

-Augusta: married Duke John Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp and had eight children. It was an unhappy marriage as her Calvinist husband and she fought lividly over religion. When he sent away her Lutheran vicar, she woud walk to the town on foot to the nearest Lutheran church for service. When he died she got rid of his Calvinist priest.

-Hedwig: married Christian II, Elector of Saxony, but in 9 years had no children. When her husband died and her brother in law became elector, she lost no power. Being the sister of the kings of Denmark and England (sister in law) meant she wielded a lot of influence at court. She was incharge of the police and courts, and had a lot of support at court.

-John: died at the age of 19. He had gone to Russia to marry Princess Xenia, daughter of Tsar Boris Fyodorovich Godunov. He had made the trip but he fell ill and died before they could marry. Xenia had also been engaged to Prince Gustav of Sweden but that engagement ended because of Gustav's lifestyle. After her brother was killed, Xenia was forced into a convent by her brother's successor.

[Muhler]

An admirable woman.

Her husband, Frederik II, is one of the underrated kings of DK.

The mistress Anne Lykke had a close call! Because Christian IV, who is otherwise known as a great king here in DK, was also an eager witch-hunter. He genuinely believed in witches and other creatures associated with the Devil and saw it is his duty to fight and burn them.
A belief he shared with James I, with whom he had a fine relationship.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, September 4, 1557 ~ Birth of Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Queen Consort of King Frederik V of Denmark

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, September 4, 1557 ~ Birth of Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Queen Consort of King Frederik V of Denmark

I believe you got Sophie and Juliana mixed up. Sophie was born in 1557, Juliana was born in 1729. Her husband ruled between 1746-1766. Frederick V was the 4 times great grandson of Sophie.

Juliana was his second wife. They married only six months after the death of his first wife Louise of Great Britain (daughter of George II).

Of Frederick V's five children who made it from infancy, only his youngest Hereditary Prince Frederick was Juliana's. His successor Christian VII and 3 daughters were from Louise.

[Tatiana Maria]

Originally Posted by Muhler

She was made lensgrevinde = fief-countess Danner, by royal resolution on her wedding day with Frederik VII.
He was so popular that he could allow himself to do that, but of course any children would not be in the Line of Scucession. Hence why she was married to his left hand.

Lensgrevinde is the highest rank of counts/countesses.

She was before that made baroness of Dannerfeldt. - Dannerfeldt can be very roughly translated to Danmark or perhaps more correctly Danernes Mark = the Field of Danes.
It is IMO questionable whether a title as Countess of Denmark would have been accepted, hence this wordplay in regards to her title.
So her title of Countess Danner, can with some good will be translated to Countess of the Danes.

Interesting! What is the origin or translation of Dannemand, the surname King Frederik VI created for his mistress and illegitimate children? And why did he not use Gyldenløve following the precedent?

[Muhler]

The best translation I can give would be Dannemand = Man of the Danes. Or simply Dane.

As for Gyldenløve. I don't know, but a shot from the hip would be that Gyldenløve was used by illegitimate (but officially acknowledged) children of Christian IV.
Christian IV was and still is regarded as one of the great kings of DK, and perhaps Frederik VI felt it would be in poor taste to use the name of another king, especially a king who (on the face of it) left a legacy much greater than what Frederik VI left.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

Sept 4, 1557 birth of Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen consort of Frederick II of Denmark.

By the standards of the day Queen Sophie lived a long life and well into the reign of her son Christian IV.

Portrait of queen Sophie as queen mother .

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, September 7, 1817 ~ Birth of Louise of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Consort of King Christian IX of Denmark

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

On this day, September 7, 1817 ~ Birth of Louise of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Consort of King Christian IX of Denmark

Louise was a niece of Christian VIII of Denmark.

Her mother Charlotte was the daughter of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark. Frederick was the only son of Frederick V and his second wife Juliana. When Hereditary Prince Frederick's nephew Frederick VI died without a son, he was succeeded by Charlotte's brother Christian VIII.

Her husband succeeded her cousin Frederick VII.

Her and her husband were related on the Hesse-Kassel side.

Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel had three sons who reached adulthood. His second son Charles was Christian IX's maternal grandfather (his mother was Charles' daughter Louise). His third son Frederick was the paternal grandfather of Louise (she was the daughter of his son William).


Marie of Hesse-Kassel, the wife of Frederick VI was Christian's Aunt.

[Countessmeout]

September 18, 1786 birth of Christian VIII of Denmark.

Christian's father was Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark. Christian was the grandson of Frederick V who had died in 1766. The king at the time of his birth was his uncle, Christian VII, his father's older half brother. His mother was Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Christian was their second born child, but the first was a daughter who died in infancy 2 years before Christian's birth. He had two younger sisters and a younger brother. His sister Charlotte married Prince William of Hesse-Kassel and was the mother of a future queen consort of Denmark. While all three of his siblings married, only Charlotte had any offspring. His brother was married to Princess Caroline of Denmark, a daughter of Frederick VI.

He was a lot like his mother, who died when she was 8, highly intelligent and very charming. Like his mother he was very popular in Copenhagen. He had a great education including science and art thanks to his exposure to the Danish court.

Christian's Uncle Christian VII died in 1808 (his own father had died three years earlier). His half cousin became Frederick VI of Denmark. Frederick had no sons, only daughters, the eldest of whom was Christian's sister in law Caroline. He also had no brothers. So the line passed to his half uncle's line, which meant Christian was the nearest male heir.

In 1813 as heir he was sent by his cousin to Norway as his statholder. Relations between Norway and Denmark had been strained due to Frederick VI's support of Napoleon. In 1814 the Treaty of Kiel, which Christian supported, forced Frederick to cede Norway to the Swedish king, with the exception of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands which had been part of Norway at the time. Christian was elected by a counsel of nobles as the regent in February 1814.

May 17 when the constitution was signed, Christian was officially elected king of the newly independent Norway. His reign was a short one for August of that year after a military campaign by Sweden defeated their army, he agreed to hand over power to parliament and abdicated his throne. In November of the year the Swedish king was elected ruler of Norway.

He returned to Denmark after this. In 1839 his cousin Frederick died and he became king of Denmark. Having once been very liberal, there was great hope of liberal reforms when he reached the throne. Unfortunately by the time he became king he was conservative and hesitated to make change.

Christian was married twice:

-Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: they married in 1806. She bore him one son who died shortly after birth. Their second son was the future Frederick VII. He divorced her when she was accused adultery in 1810. She would spend years in Horsens where she was very popular, before moving to Italy and converting to Catholocism. Her son held her in high reverence even if she left him when he was only a year old.


-Caroline Amalie of Augustenburg: Her mother Louise was the daughter of Christian VII and sister of Frederick VI. They had no children. She survived her husband by 30 years. She outlived her stepson as well by 17 years, seeing the reign of Christian IX and her niece.

Christian only had one legal son Frederick. Despite three marriages, the last morganatic, his son had no children. Christian was worried about the future of his throne knowing his son would never have children to follow him.

In the last years of life he actively promoted Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck as his son's eventual successor. Prince Christian was his godson and name sake. Christian VIII was first cousins with Christian's mother Louise Caroline (they were both grandchildren of Frederick V). Prince Christian was also married to Christian VIII's niece Louise of Hesse-Kassel (daughter of his sister Charlotte). Christian was named heir to Frederick VII officially in 1852.

He died from blood poisoning January 20, 1848. He was buried in Roskilde cathedral. His son would rule until 1863.

[CyrilVladisla]

King Christian VIII's 1840 coronation was the last coronation of a Danish King.

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

King Christian VIII's 1840 coronation was the last coronation of a Danish King.

Painting of his coronation.

https://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/r...ii-coronation/

[Countessmeout]

September 24 1459- death of Eric of Pomerania.

Born in Rügenwalde in 1382 (modern day Poland), his birth name was Bogislaw. He was the son of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania. He was named after his paternal grandfather Bogislaw V. His mother was Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He had a sister named Catherine who would marry John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt with whom she had only one child who survived infancy.

In 1375, seven years before his birth, Valdemar IV of Denmark died. Having no living sons, his 5 years old grandson Olaf was named Olaf II. Olaf was the son of his youngest child Margaret. When Olaf died at 17, his mother who had served as his regent and was an able stateswoman, became Margaret I. Margaret was without an heir, Olaf her only child and her husband had died in 1380.

Margaret sought to assure a stable succession in Denmark. Of her five older siblings, three died young and the eldest died at 22 unmarried. Her last sibling Ingeborg had died in 1370. Ingeborg though had been married to Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg and had four children. Her son Albert died in 1388 and Ingeborg was a nun. But her daughter Maria had married the ruler of Pomerania, and was the mother of Bogislaw and Catherine. As her closest male relative, the grandson of her elder sister, he was her logical choice.

He was brought to Denmark to be raised at the court of Margaret. It was after his move he adopted the Scandinavian name Eric. Eric inherited his father's titles in Pomerania on the death of his father in 1395.


On June 1397 he was crowned king of all three Nordic countries and the Kalmar Union was born. Margaret though remained de facto ruler until her death in 1412.


Negotiations started for marriages for him and his sister, Margaret promising Catherine a dowry. She entered talks with Henry IV of England for a double wedding. Eric was to marry the king's daughter Philippa, and his sister was intended to marry the future Henry V. Catherine's betrothal never happened, but Eric's marriage negotiations succeeded. In October 1406 24 year old Eric was married to 12 year old Philippa in Lund. The couple were married for 24 years but they had no living children. Philippa acted as regent to her husband at times and died when she had traveled to Sweden on his behalf.


He caused a scandal when he entered a relationship (and possibly married) one of her former ladies in waiting Cecilia.


He cemented Copenhagen as the capital of Denmark. He was considered charming and quite intelligent. His introducing dues to ships wanting to pass through the sound caused him to come into conflict with the Hanseatic league. He eventually was forced to sign a treaty agreeing that their ships would not have to pay such dues.


Unfortunately he was quickly losing support of the Danish nobles and others. They refused to ratify his choice of heir. He had tried to name his first cousin Bogislaw as his heir. They were both grandsons of Bogislaw V of Pomerania. Bogislaw's lands were divided between the three sons of his second marriage, or in the case of the third born Barnim who died in 1402, his sons.

In anger Eric left and headed to Visborg castle in Jutland on a kind of strike. Instead he found himself deposed as king in September 1439 in Sweden and Denmark. Norway originally remained loyal to him, but in 1440 they felt pressure and deposed him as well.


The choice to replace him was Christopher of Bavaria. Christopher was his nearest male relative, the son of his sister Catherine.

Eric lived with his mistress in Gotland for ten years. When his cousin Bogislaw IX died, Eric inherited control of his Pomeranian lands. He ruled as Eric I 1449 until his death. He died at Darłowo Castle at the age of 77 and was buried at the church of St Mary.


His grave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_o...e_2010_(1).jpg

He outlived his nephew. Christopher died in 1448. Christopher was succeeded by Christian of Oldenburg (former rival of Eric's) as Christian I. Christian married Christopher's widow Dorothea, and unlike Margaret, Eric and Christopher he had three children, 2 sons who both succeeded him.

[CyrilVladisla]

On this day, September 26, 1870 ~ Birth of King Christian X of Denmark

[Countessmeout]

October 7,1472 birth of Frederick I of Denmark.

Frederick was born a younger son. His father was Christian I. His mother was Dorothea of Brandenburg. He had two older siblings. His sister Margaret married James III of Scotland and was mother of James IV. His brother John succeeded their father and married Christina of Saxony with whom he had four children including Christian II.

His father died in 1481 when he was ten. He was named co Duke of Schleswig Holstein with his elder brother soon after.

When John died many of the Juttish nobles wanted to place him on the throne. Knowing Christian had support Frederick turned down the offer. But in 1523 Christian was forced to abdicate and Frederick was elected King. He was not a present King. He likely didn't speak Danish and chose to spend his time at Gottorp castle in his duchy of Schleswig. Though he was king of Norway he was never crowned as he never visited.

Unlike his nephew who was intolerant of Protestants Frederick helper spread Lutheranism. He disbanded monestaries and limited the power of bishops. He managed to keep the country from sinking into all out religious war in his life. But the religious troubles escalated after his death.

Frederick died at the age of 61, April 10 1530 and was buried at Schleswig cathedral.

Frederick was married twice and had children from both wives,

In 1502 he married Anna of Brandenburg, his second cousin. His mother and her father were cousins. They had two children

-Christian: succeeded his father as Christian III. Married Dorothea of Sax-Lauenberg. They had five children including Frederick II.

- Dorothea: married Albert, Duke of Prussia.had one daughter who made it out of childhood,

Anna died in 1514 at 26. In 1518 Frederick married sophie of Pomerania. They had six children.

-John: ruled as Duke of Schleswig Holstein. Had no children.
-Elizabeth: married Magnus III of mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her second marriage was yo luring III of Mecklenburg-Gustrow. She had one daughter with her second husband.
-Adolph- Duke of Schleswig Holstein. Married Christine of Hesse with whom he had 10 children, 7 who reached adulthood.
-Anna- died in childhood
-Dorothea- married Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch. Had no children as she died two years later.
- Frederick- Prince bishop of Hildesheim and bishop of Schleswig