Louise of Hesse-Kassel
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| Louise of Hesse-Kassel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Holstein, and Lauenburg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tenure | 15 November 1863 – 30 October 1864 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 September 1817 Kassel, Electorate of Hesse, German Confederation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 29 September 1898 (aged 81) Bernstorff Palace, Gentofte, Denmark | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Louise of Hesse-Kassel ( Holstein and Lauenburg .
LifeEarly life and relation to the royal familyLouise was born as the daughter of Auguste Sophie Friederike of Hesse-Kassel . Louise of Hesse lived in Denmark from the age of three.
As a niece of King Christian VIII who were likely to produce heirs. It was increasingly obvious that the traditional male line succession might come to an end within a generation as the crown prince was childless despite two marriages. Louise was one of the females descending from Frederick III of Denmark, and she enjoyed the remainder provisions of the Danish agnatic-cognetic succession according to the King's Law in the event that Frederick III's male line became extinct.
Louise and her siblings were not agnatic descendants of the Schleswig both followed the succession rules in the King's Law giving Louise a strong claim to the Danish throne.
Marriage and succession dispute Louise was married at the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg who in 1863 became King Christian IX of Denmark.
The marriage combined Christian's weak claim to the throne with Louise's senior claim. The couple lived a quiet family life but their claims to the throne were disputed for more than a decade. Louise's claim to the throne was challenged by the House of Augustenborg which held the stronger claim to the Holstein throne and a subsidiary claim to the Danish and Schleswig thrones. The House of Augustenborg argued that the King's Law was purely agnatic and presented itself as the opportunity to preserve the undivided monarchy.
In 1847, King dynastic sons. This choice was communicated to the Great Powers of Europe.
The situation remained disputed and succession was a main reason for the House of Augustenburg rebelling against Denmark in the 1848-51 First Schleswig War. That house was consequently struck from the line of succession. This cemented that Prince Christian of Glücksburg would become the next monarch. Louise's mother and siblings renounced their rights to the Danish throne to her and Louise herself in turn renounced her rights in favour of her husband. In 1852, this succession order was confirmed by the Nordic countries and foreign powers in London. Christian and Louise's children would now be heirs to the Danish throne both due to compliance with the King's Law and due to international treaty. This resolved the succession to the Danish crown, but not Denmark's future relation to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. German Holstein's historic law of succession was Salic, thus exclusively male, and could not easily be reconciled with Christian's claim as long as the Augustenborgs survived and Prussia offered itself as the international champion of German nationalism. In 1864, this conflict resulted in the Second Schleswig War. By 1853, Denmark had become a constitutional monarchy and Parliament amended the Danish law of succession proclaiming Christian Hereditary Prince of Denmark, thus cementing that he would succeed when King Frederick VII died (unless the uncle of King Frederick, Prince Ferdinand, would outlive his nephew). Although Frederick disapproved of this choice he signed it into law on 3 July 1853. Louise disapproved of Frederick VII's non-dynastic marriage to Louise Rasmussen and in turn the King disapproved of Christian succeeding him. The two couples thus had a tense relationship and spent little time together. Queen of Denmark  On 15 November 1863 King Frederick VII died and Christian became King of Denmark. The relationship between Louise and Christian seems to have been at least partially a marriage of love, and is described as happy: she supported him in his struggle to be acknowledged as heir-presumptive to the throne of Denmark, and the couple became strongly attached to each other during the years of succession struggle. Her loyalty is said to have been of great importance to him, and Christian is described as dependent upon her intelligence, judgment and psychological strength, all of which were considered to be superior to his own. Their life style is described as simple and puritan, and as this suited the contemporary view of an exemplary family life, the royal family was regarded as a morally correct role model. Because of this, the pregnancy of her unmarried daughter Thyra in 1870 became a burden; Louise took control of the situation and hid it from public knowledge by sending Thyra to give birth abroad, keeping the whole affair a family secret. As queen, Louise lived a life isolated from the people and did not seek a relationship with or recognition from the public. She took no part in state affairs; her political interests focused on the arranged dynastic marriages of her children and were affected by her anti-German views. The high status marriages she arranged for her children secured the newly established Danish dynasty international status, connecting Denmark to Great Britain, Russia, Sweden and Greece. Known as "The Mother-in-law of Europe," her annual family gatherings at Bernstorff and Fredensborg attracted more attention every year and made her a popular symbol of family life. Significant events in her life included her wedding anniversary on 26 May 1867, when she received great public praise; her birthday celebration of 1887; the wedding anniversary of 1892, and her 80th birthday in 1897. The great dynastic success of Louise's six children was to a great extent a result of Louise's own ambitions rather than the efforts of her husband Christian IX. Some have compared Louise's dynastic capabilities with those of Queen Victoria. She was interested in music and painting. She acted as the Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann . Some of Louise's own paintings were exhibited and given as gifts to members of other royal dynasties.
Louise supported 26 different charitable organizations. Among them were workers movement .
Queen Louise died peacefully at Bernstorff Palace aged 81 on 29 September 1898 and was interred in Roskilde Cathedral near Copenhagen on 15 October 1898. During her last years, she become deaf and infirm, and her needs were taken care of by two deaconesses from the Deaconess institution she founded. Louise was Queen Consort of Denmark for 35 years, longer than any other Danish Queen before her. ChildrenLouise had the following six children with Christian. Eventually, they had forty grandchildren, including the illegitimate daughter of Thyra. .jpg) HonoursDanish honours
Christmas seal
Foreign honours
Ancestry
ReferencesCitations
Bibliography
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louise of Hesse-Kassel.
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