Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

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Frederick Christian II
Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön
Religion	Lutheranism

Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (28 September 1765 in Augustenburg – 14 June 1814 in Augustenburg) was a Danish prince and feudal magnate. He held the island of Als and some other castles (such as Sonderborg) in Schleswig.

Life

Frederick Christian II was born the eldest son of Frederick Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1721–1794), by his wife and cousin Princess Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (1744–1770). Until his father's death, he was styled "Hereditary Prince of Augustenborg".

He was a prince with an exceptionally high level of Danish blood in his ancestry: his maternal grandmother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great-grandmother having been born, respectively, Countess of

" and too little royal. Instead of including royal princesses and duchesses of small and large German states, as was customary with the Oldenburg royal family, their marriage connections had been mostly with the nobility (chiefly of Denmark). Thus, although they were undoubtedly the senior cadet line of the royal house of Denmark (Oldenburg), the family was regarded as a bit lower than the Ebenbürtige which the rulers of small Germany principalities thought to be the standard.

By marriage, however, Frederick Christian drew closer to his cousins, the Danish royal family. In 1786, the twenty-year-old hereditary prince married his distant cousin, the fourteen-year-old

of the country at the time of Louise's birth. Indeed, she was at times referred to as la petite Struensee. The truth of the matter cannot be definitely ascertained.

The story of antecedents of the prince's marriage goes as follows: In February 1779, the nation's foremost statesman, Chief Minister Count

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden

, had just been born when she already was seven).

Binding agreements were made as early as in 1780, when Frederick Christian was 15 and Louise was only 9 years old. Five years later, in the spring of 1785, the young Frederick Christian came to Copenhagen. The engagement was announced then, and a year later, on 27 May 1786, the wedding was celebrated at Christiansborg Palace.

The couple lived at the Castle for many years until the Christiansborg Palace fire of 1794 and the death of his father, the

.

The couple had three children:

• Caroline Amalie (born 28 September 1796 in Copenhagen; died 9 March 1881), married 1815 Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark (died 1848), the future Christian VIII of Denmark
  and earlier, 1814, briefly proclaimed king of Norway before the Swedish conquest; became Queen of Denmark; she died childless in 1881, then the Queen Dowager of Denmark.
• Question of Schleswig-Holstein in the 1850s and 1860s; so as not to offend Danish national feelings, he was married in 1820 to a Danish relative, Countess of Danneskjold-Samsoe (Lovisa-Sophie Danneskjold-Samsøe, 1797–1867), a kinswoman of the kings of Denmark, belonging to a bastard branch of House of Oldenburg; Duke Christian sold his rights to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark in aftermath of Treaty of London but later renounced his rights to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in favor of his son Frederick August; he was the brother-in-law of King Christian VIII of Denmark, nephew of Frederick VI of Denmark
  , and father of, amongst others, Frederick August (Friedrich Christian August), Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (born 1829 in Augustenborg, he was nephew of the Danish king himself, after whose death in 1863 he claimed to succeed as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein; died in 1880, leaving one surviving son and a number of daughters).
• Frederick Emil August (born 23 August 1800 in Kiel; died 2 July 1865 in Bayreuth), the “Prince” of Nør (Noer); he was married in 1829 to Countess Henriette Danneskjold-Samsøe (1806–1858), a Danish noblewoman belonging to a bastard branch of the House of Oldenburg; in 1864, he was created Prinz von Noer ("Prince of Noer"); he was father of:
  • Friedrich Christian Karl August (born in Gottorp in 1830; died in Noer in 1881), who married Carmelita Eisenblat; and
  • Luise Karoline Henriette Auguste, Graefin von Noer (born in Schleswig in 1836; died in 1866), who married Michael Vlangali-Handjeri.

Over the years, conflict arose between Duke Frederick Christian II and Louise Auguste's brother, King

on the one hand and the Danish monarchy on the other. His wife remained loyal to the Danish royal house throughout these differences. The marriage eventually fell into acrimony and reproach, and Frederick Christian tried to legally limit Louise Auguste's influence over their children's futures.

In 1810, Frederik Christian's younger brother

, was elected instead.

Frederick Charles died on 14 June 1814. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Christian August II, then but sixteen years old. Louise Auguste took control of the Augustenborg estates and the children’s upbringing. The estates were turned over to the son and heir on his return from an extended foreign tour in 1820.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg House of Oldenburg Born: 28 September 1765 Died: 14 June 1814
Preceded by Frederick Christian I	Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg 1794–1814	Succeeded by Christian August II