Christian VIII of Denmark

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Christian Frederick" redirects here. For other uses, see Christian Frederick (disambiguation).
Christian VIII
Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen
Burial
Roskilde Cathedral
Spouses
Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
​
​
(m. 1806; div. 1810)​
Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderborg-Augustenburg
​
​
(m. 1815)​
IssueFrederick VII
Names
Christian Frederick
HouseOldenburg
FatherFrederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (officially)
Frederick von Blücher (rumored)
MotherDuchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
ReligionLutheranism
SignatureChristian VIII's signature

Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was

King of Norway in 1814.[1]

Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Frederick V of Denmark and Norway. As his cousin Frederick VI had no sons, Christian Frederick was heir presumptive to the throne from 1808.

Early years

Birth and family

Hereditary Princess Sophia Frederica and Hereditary Prince Frederick with their three eldest children. Prince Christian stands next to his father. Portrait by Jens Juel, 1790.

Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark and Norway was born late in the morning on 18 September 1786 at

Duke Louis of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
.

On 28 September 1786, the young prince was baptized with the names Christian Frederick in his mother's chamber at Christiansborg Palace by the royal confessor Christian Bastholm.[4] His godparents were King Christian VII (his uncle), the dowager queen Juliana Maria (his grandmother), Crown Prince Frederick (his cousin), Princess Louise Augusta (his cousin), and Hereditary Prince Frederick Christian of Augustenburg.[4]

In the family, however, it was widely acknowledged that the biological father most likely was the Hereditary Prince's

Princess Louise Charlotte and Prince Frederick Ferdinand.[1][5][6][7] In a letter written by Crown Prince Frederick to his brother-in-law Duke Frederick Christian II of Augustenburg in 1805, he thus mentions the Hereditary Prince's goodwill towards his hofmarschall and continues:

... my uncle appreciates the creator of the four, very adorable princes and princesses too much to want to send him away.[8]

When Prince Christian Frederick was born, his father's half-brother,

palace revolution
and was now the real ruler. In Prince Christian Frederick's childhood, his family had a strained relationship with the Crown Prince and his family as a result of these power struggles, but gradually the relationship between the two branches of the royal family was normalized.

Childhood and education

Prince Christian Frederick. Portrait by Jens Juel, 1802.

Prince Christian Frederick spent the first years of his life with his siblings in the vast and magnificent

Amalienborg Palace complex in the district Frederiksstaden in central Copenhagen
. In november of the same year, when he was eight years old, his mother, who had long suffered from a fragile health, died at Sorgenfri the age of just 36 years.

Christian Frederick was raised conservatively according to the guidelines of minister Ove Høegh-Guldberg, who had been ousted from government in 1784 along with the hereditary prince. His upbringing was marked by a thorough and broad-spectrum education with exposure to artists and scientists who were linked to his father's court.[citation needed] He inherited the talents of his highly gifted mother, and his love of science and art was instilled at an early age and would follow him throughout his life. His amiability and handsome features are said to have made him very popular in Copenhagen.[9]

He was confirmed on 22 May 1803 in the chapel of Frederiksberg Palace together with his sisters Princess Juliane Sophie and Princess Louise Charlotte.[10] A year and a half later, on 7 December 1805, the children's father, Hereditary Prince Frederick, died at the age of 52, and the nineteen-year-old Prince Christian Frederik inherited his place as second-in-line in the succession as well as the two residences, Levetzau's Palace and Sorgenfri Palace. As King Christian VII died on 13 March 1808, Crown Prince Frederick became king of Denmark and Norway as Frederick VI. Since the new king still had no male descendants, Christian Frederick thus became heir presumptive to the throne.

First marriage

Charlotte Frederica by Carl Frederik von Breda
c. 1806.

On a visit to his mother's relatives in

Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. They married two years later, on 21 June 1806, at Ludwigslust
.

The young couple first settled at Plön Castle in the Duchy of Holstein. It was here, that Charlotte Frederica gave birth to their first-born son, Prince Christian Frederick, who was born and died on 8 April 1807. From 1808 the couple lived in Copenhagen, where they took residence partly at Levetzau's Palace at Amalienborg, and partly at Sorgenfri Palace. On 6 October 1808, their second son and only surviving child was born, Prince Frederick Carl Christian, the future King Frederick VII of Denmark.

Nonetheless, their married life was unhappy. Charlotte Frederica was described as very beautiful in her youth, but her character was thought to be moody, capricious, frivolous and mythomaniac, qualities that were later said to recur in her son, Frederick VII. Her alleged affair with her singing teacher, Swiss-born singer and composer Édouard Du Puy, led to her removal from the court. For this reason, her husband divorced her in 1810, sent her into internal exile in the town of Horsens, and prohibited her from ever seeing her son again.[11]

King of Norway

Main article: Kingdom of Norway (1814)
Christian Frederick in 1813, aged 27 years

In May 1813, as the

assembly of notables on 16 February 1814.[9][12]

This election was confirmed by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly convoked at Eidsvoll on 10 April, and on 17 May the constitution was signed and Christian was unanimously elected king of Norway under the name Christian Frederick (Kristian Frederik in Norwegian). Christian next attempted to interest the great powers in Norway's cause, but without success. On being pressed by the commissioners of the allied powers to bring about a union between Norway and Sweden in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Kiel, and then return to Denmark, he replied that, as a constitutional king, he could do nothing without the consent of the parliament (Storting), which would not be convoked until there was a suspension of hostilities on the part of Sweden.[9][13]

Portrait of Christian Frederick, c. 1814

Sweden refused Christian's conditions and a short

Charles XIII of Sweden as the new king of Norway, Charles II.[14]

Danish heir presumptive

Second marriage

Portrait of Prince Christian as heir presumptive, c. 1831

Upon his return to Denmark, Christian married his second wife, Princess

Louise Augusta of Denmark, the only sister of Frederick VI) at Augustenborg Palace on 22 May 1815. The couple was childless and lived in comparative retirement as leaders of the literary and scientific society of Copenhagen until Christian ascended the throne of Denmark.[15]

Christian had ten extramarital children, for whom he carefully provided. It has been suggested that these extramarital children included the fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen, though there is little evidence to support this.[16]

King of Denmark

Frederiksborg Palace Chapel
.
Portrait of Christian VIII, by Wilhelm Marstrand, c. 1843

On 3 December 1839 he ascended the Danish throne as Christian VIII. The Liberal party had high hopes of "the giver of constitutions." However, by this time, Christian had become more conservative, and disappointed his admirers by steadily rejecting every Liberal project. Administrative reform was the only reform he would promise.

Schleswig and Holstein he often seemed hesitant and half-hearted, which damaged his position there. It was not until 1846 that he clearly supported the idea of Schleswig being a Danish area.[17]

King Christian VIII continued his predecessor's patronage of

Tranquebar in the south and Serampore
in Bengal, were sold to the British in 1845.

His only legitimate son, the future Frederick VII (1808–1863) was married three times, but produced no legitimate issue. Since he was apparently unlikely to beget heirs, Christian wished to avert a succession crisis. Christian commenced arrangements to secure the

Christian IX
as hereditary prince, the choice made official by a new law enacted on 31 July 1853 after an international treaty made in London.

Tomb of Christian VIII, Roskilde Cathedral

King Christian died of

Amalienborg Palace in 1848 and was interred in Roskilde Cathedral on the island of Zealand, the traditional burial site for Danish monarchs
since the 15th century.

Some historians and biographers believe that King Christian would have given Denmark a free constitution had he lived long enough; his last words are sometimes recorded as "I didn't make it". (Jeg nåede det ikke) [18]

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:[19]

Notes

  1. Christian VIII's Palace

Ancestry

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Christian 8". Den Store Danske. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  2. ^ "Kongelige i kirkebøgerne" [Royals in the church records]. historie-online.dk (in Danish). Dansk Historisk Fællesråd. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  3. ^ Thorsøe 1889, p. 515.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-87-7070-014-6
    .
  5. ^ Bramsen 1985, p. 29-31 & 36-37.
  6. ISBN 87-553-3230-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  7. ISBN 978-87-15-05057-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  8. ^ Dehn-Nielsen 1999, p. 12.
  9. ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911.
  10. ^ Thorsøe 1889, p. 516.
  11. ^ "Charlotte Frederikke•". Den Store Danske. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  12. ^ Knut Mykland. "Christian Frederik". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  13. ^ "Kong Christian Frederik". kongehuset.no. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  14. ^ Knut Dørum. "Christian Frederik". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  15. ^ "Caroline Amalie (1796 - 1881)". Dansk Kvindebiografisk leksikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  16. ISBN 90-5183-944-8
    .
  17. ^ Christian VIII. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. 1876. p. 195. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  18. ^ "Christian 8". gravsted.dk. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  19. ^ Kongelig Dansk Hof-og Statscalender Statshaandbog for det danske Monarchie for Aaret 1847, p. 27 (in Danish). Retrieved 2 April 2020
  20. ^ Kongelig Dansk Hof-og Statscalender ... for Aaret 1838, pp. 9, 12, 62 (in Danish). Retrieved 2 April 2020
  21. ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern: 1846. Landesamt. 1846. p. 7.
  23. ^ H. Tarlier (1854). Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi (in French). Vol. 1. p. 37.
  24. ^ Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1846. Berenberg. 1846. pp. 36, 54.
  25. ^ Oldenburgischer Staatskalender: auf d. Jahr Christi ... 1845. Schulze. 1845. p. 13.
  26. ^ Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" p. 21
  27. ^ "Caballeros Existentes en la Insignie Orden del Toison de Oro", Calendario manual y guía de forasteros en Madrid (in Spanish): 79, 1847, retrieved 2 April 2020
  28. ISBN 91-630-6744-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  29. ^ Angelo Scordo, Vicende e personaggi dell'Insigne e reale Ordine di San Gennaro dalla sua fondazione alla fine del Regno delle Due Sicilie (PDF) (in Italian), p. 9, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016

Bibliography

Obituary (astronomy)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christian VIII of Denmark.
Christian VIII of Denmark
Born: 18 September 1786 Died: 20 January 1848
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Denmark
Duke of Schleswig, Holstein
& Saxe-Lauenburg
3 December 1839 – 20 January 1848 		Succeeded by
King of Norway
17 May – 10 October 1814 		Succeeded by
Charles II
Government offices
Preceded by Governor-General of Norway
1 May 1813 – 16 February 1814 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christian_VIII_of_Denmark&oldid=1213255157"