Accession of Ferdinand III as Holy Roman Emperor.

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Archduke of Austria, Austria, Carl X Gustav of Sweden, Ferdinand III, France, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, Sweden

Ferdinand III (July 13, 1608 – April 2, 1657) was Holy Roman Emperor from February 15, 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria. He was the last emperor to have real power over the Holy Roman Empire.

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Ferdinand was born in Graz, the eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II of the House of Habsburg and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Educated by the Jesuits, he became Archduke of Austria in 1621, King of Hungary in 1625, and King of Bohemia in 1627.

In 1627 Ferdinand enhanced his authority and set an important legal and military precedent by issuing a Revised Land Ordinance that deprived the Bohemian estates of their right to raise soldiers, reserving this power solely for the monarch.

Having been elected King of the Romans in 1636, he succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1637. He hoped to make peace soon with France and Sweden, but the war dragged on, finally ending in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Münster with France, Treaty of Osnabrück with Sweden), negotiated by his envoy Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff, a diplomat who had been made a count in 1623 by his father Ferdinand II.

During the last period of the war, in 1644 Ferdinand III gave all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy (ius belli ac pacis) – the emperor hoped to gain more allies in the negotiations with France and Sweden. This edict, however, contributed to the gradual erosion of the imperial authority in the Holy Roman Empire.
After 1648 the emperor was engaged in carrying out the terms of the treaty and ridding Germany of the foreign soldiery. In 1656 he sent an army into Italy to assist Spain in her struggle with France, and he had just concluded an alliance with Poland to check the aggressions of Carl X Gustav of Sweden when he died on April 2, 1657. He was succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor by his second surviving son, Leopold I (1640-1705).

Marriages and children

On February 20, 1631 Ferdinand III married his first wife Archduchess Maria Anna of Spain (1606–1646). She was the youngest daughter of Felipe III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. They were first cousins as Maria Anna’s mother was a sister of Ferdinand’s father. They were parents to six children:
* Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (8 September 1633 – 9 July 1654)
* Maria Anna “Mariana”, Archduchess of Austria (22 December 1634 – 16 May 1696). Married her maternal uncle Felipe IV of Spain.
* Philip August, Archduke of Austria (15 July 1637 – 22 June 1639)
* Maximilian Thomas, Archduke of Austria (21 December 1638 – 29 June 1639)
* Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705)
* Maria, Archduchess of Austria (13 May 1646)

In 1648, Ferdinand III married his second wife, Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria (1632–1649). She was a daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, and Claudia de’ Medici. They were first cousins as male-line grandchildren of Karl II, Archduke of Austria, and Maria Anna of Bavaria. They had a single son:
* Karl Josef, Archduke of Austria (7 August 1649 – 27 January 1664). He was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1662 to his death.

In 1651, Ferdinand III married his 3rd wife Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686). She was a daughter of Charles IV Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel. They were parents to four children:
* Theresia Maria Josefa, Archduchess of Austria (27 March 1652 – 26 July 1653)
* Eleonora Maria of Austria (21 May 1653 – 17 December 1697), who married first Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland, and then Charles Léopold, Duke of Lorraine.
* Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (30 December 1654 – 4 April 1689), who married Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.
* Ferdinand Josef Alois, Archduke of Austria (11 February 1657 – 16 June 1658)

On this date in History: February 13, 1660. Death of King Carl X Gustav and the accession of King Carl XI of Sweden.

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1660, Carl X Gustav of Sweden, Carl XI of Sweden, House of Wittelsbach, Kings and Queens of Sweden

Carl X Gustav (Swedish: Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father’s death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who bore his son and successor, Charles XI. Carl X Gustav was the second Wittelsbach king of Sweden after the childless king Christopher of Bavaria (1441–1448) and he was the first king of the Swedish Caroline era, which had its peak during the end of the reign of his son, Carl XI. He led Sweden during the Second Northern War, enlarging the Swedish Empire. By his predecessor Christina, he was considered de facto Duke of Eyland (Öland) before ascending to the Swedish throne.

His numbering as Charles X derives from a 16th-century invention. The Swedish king Carl IX (1604–1611) chose his numeral after studying a fictitious history of Sweden. This king was the fourth actual King Carl but has never been called Carl IV.

Soon after the estates opened on January 4, 1660, Carl X Gustav fell ill with symptoms of a cold. Ignoring his illness, he repeatedly went to inspect the Swedish forces near Gothenburg, and soon broke down with chills, headaches and dyspnoea. On January 15, court physician Johann Kösterarrived, and in medical error mistook Carl X Gustav’s pneumonia for scorbut and dyspepsia. Köster started a “cure” including the application of multiple enemata, laxatives, bloodletting and sneezing powder. While after three weeks the fever eventually was down and the coughing was better, the pneumonia had persisted and evolved into a sepsis by February 8.

On February 12, Carl X Gustav signed his testament: His son, Carl XI of Sweden, was still a minor, and Carl X Gustav appointed a minor regency consisting of six relatives and close friends. Carl X Gustav died the next day at the age of 37.

Family

Charles X had one legitimate child by Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp: his successor Charles XI (1655–1697, reigned 1660–1697). By Märta Allertz he had an illegitimate son: Gustaf Carlson (1647–1708), who became Count of Börringe and Lindholmen Castle in Scania. He also had a number of other children, by different women, before his marriage.

Carl XI (November 24, 1655  – April 5, 1697 was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1718).

Charles was the only son of King Carl X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp. His father died when he was five years old, so Charles was educated by his governors until his coronation at the age of seventeen. Soon after, he was forced out on military expeditions to secure the recently acquired dominions from Danish troops in the Scanian War. Having successfully fought off the Danes, he returned to Stockholm and engaged in correcting the country’s neglected political, financial and economic situation, managing to sustain peace during the remaining 20 years of his reign. Changes in finance, commerce, national maritime and land armaments, judicial procedure, church government and education emerged during this period. Carl XI was succeeded by his only son Carl XII, who made use of the well-trained army in battles throughout Europe.

Survival of Monarchies: Denmark

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Carl X Gustav of Sweden, Charles X Gustav of Sweden, Christian IV of Denmark, Constitutional Monarchy, Denmark, Frederick III of Denmark, George of Denmark, Haandfæstning, Hereditary Monarchy, Queen Anne, Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg

We have seen how England/Britain went from a monarchy where the sovereign had considerable power under the Tudors (although not absolute) to the constitutional form it has today. Denmark is another example of a thriving monarchy that once was absolute. Denmark has a long history of monarchy. Even longer than that of the United Kingdom. Denmark also has an interesting history of a monarchy that was once limited then became absolute only to transform again to a limited constitutional monarchy.

We begin our story with Denmark in the year 1660 when King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway began his absolute rule. He had come to the throne in 1648 and was the second son of Christian IV and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg. He had an elder brother, Prince Christian, who was Prince-Elect of Denmark until his death in 1647. For centuries Denmark had been an elective monarchy with the eldest son often designated as Prince Elect. More times than not the eldest son would inherit the throne.

When Christian IV died after a reign of 59 years (longest in Danish history) the Rigsraadet (royal council) was the main power center of Danish politics and had been for centuries. It took the royal council several weeks to finally elect Frederik as King of Denmark and Norway. Upon his election, King Frederik III was forced to sign a Håndfæstning* which attempted to humiliate the king and greatly reduce his powers. For several years in the early part of his reign Denmark was at war with Sweden who was ruled by King Carl X Gustav (1654-1660). The war was ended by the Treaty of Copenhagen in May 1660.

After the war saw a rise in popularity for the king. The traditional loyalty of the Danish middle classes toward the king rose exponentially. Frederik III’s response to his new found popularity was to change the elective monarchy into an absolute hereditary monarchy by the Revolution of 1660. To ensure his status as absolute monarch Frederik III instituted a state of emergency in Denmark. In September of 1660 he gathered the Estates, and played them against one another thus dividing them and weakening them. In doing this he succeeded in gaining support for the hereditary monarchy,  annulled the Haandfæstning and inaugurated the institution of absolute monarchy by decree.

Incidentally, Frederik III was married to Princess Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg and their youngest son was Prince George,  Duke of Cumberland husband of Britain’s Queen Anne (1702-1714)

From 1660-1848 the Kingdom of Denmark was absolute. Next week we will see how the Danish Monarchy became the constitutional monarchy it is today.

*A Haandfæstning (Modern Danish: Håndfæstning & Modern Norwegian: Håndfestning, lit. “Handbinding”) was a document issued by the kings of Denmark from 13th to the 17th century, preceding and during the realm’s personal union with the kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. Following Sweden’s independence, similar documents were also issued by its kings. In many ways it is a Scandinavian parallel to the English Magna Carta.

The haandfæstning was the result of the strength of the power of the nobility. The first Danish king who was forced to sign this kind of charter was King Eric V in 1282. It was used as a regular coronation charter for the first time in 1320. Between 1440 and 1648 it was a normal condition for the recognition of a new king. When absolute monarchy was introduced in 1660 the last haandfæstning was mortified. ~ wikipedia.