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May 22, 1246: Heinrich Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia is elected King of the Romans (Germany) in opposition to Conrad IV, King of the Romans

22 Monday May 2023

Posted by liamfoley63 in Bishop of Rome and the Catholic Church, Elected Monarch, Empire of Europe, Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Conrad IV of Germany, Election, Henry Raspe, Holy Roman Empire, King of Germany, King of the Romans, Landgrave of Thuringia, Pope Innocent IV

Heinrich Raspe (c. 1204 – February 26, 1247) was the Landgrave of Thuringia from 1231 until 1239 and again from 1241 until his death. In 1246, with the support of the Papacy, he was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in opposition to the elected Conrad IV King of Germany (King of the Romans) but his contested reign lasted a mere nine months.

Biography

Heinrich Raspe was born c. 1204 to Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia and Sophia of Wittelsbach. In 1226, Heinrich’s brother Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, died en route to the Sixth Crusade, and Heinrich Raspe became regent for his under-age nephew Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia. He managed to expel his nephew and the boy’s young mother, St. Elisabeth of Hungary, from the line of succession and ca. 1231 formally succeeded his brother as landgrave.

In 1242 Heinrich Raspe, together with King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, he was selected by Emperor Friedrich II to be administrator of Germany for Friedrich’s under-age son Conrad.

After Pope Innocent IV imposed a ban on Friedrich in 1245, Heinrich Raspe changed sides, and on May 22, 1246 he was elected anti-king in opposition to Conrad. The strong papal prodding that led to his election earned Heinrich Raspe the derogatory moniker of “Pfaffenkönig” (priests’ king). The papal legate in Germany was Filippo da Pistoia. In August 1246 Heinrich Raspe defeated Conrad in the Battle of Nidda in southern Hesse, and laid siege to Ulm and Reutlingen. He suffered a mortal wound, and died February 16, 1247 in Wartburg Castle near Eisenach in Thuringia.

Personal life

In 1228, Heinrich Raspe married Elisabeth of Brandenburg (1206-1231), the daughter of Albrecht II, Margrave of Brandenburg and his wife Matilda of Groitzsch, the daughter of Landgrave Conrad II of Lusatia from the House of Wettin (Saxony).

After her death, he married Gertrude of Babenburg (c. 1210/1215 – 1241), the daughter of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Theodora Angelina Vatatzes the daughter of Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes, the grandson of the Byzantine general Theodore Vatatzes and the purple-born princess Eudokia Komnene, daughter of Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143), and of Anna Komnene Angelina, the second daughter of Emperor Alexios III Angelos).

After Gertrude of Babenburg’s death, he married Beatrice of Brabant (1225-1288), the daughter of Heinrich II, Duke of Brabant and Marie of Hohenstaufen who was herself daughter of Philipp of Swabia, King of the Romans. Béatrice had five siblings, including Duke Heinrich III, and Marie who was executed for infidelity by her husband, Ludwig II, Duke of Bavaria

All three of his marriages were childless. After his death, the Emperor enfeoffed Thuringia to Heinrich III, Margrave of Meissen, the son of his sister Jutta.

February 21, 1613: Michael Romanov is elected Tsar of Russia

21 Tuesday Feb 2023

Posted by liamfoley63 in coronation, Elected Monarch, Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, Royal Titles

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Anastasia Romanov, Election, Eudoxia Streshneva, King Carl IX of Sweden. Archduke Maximilian III of Further Austria, Michael Romanov, Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Time of Troubles, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, Tsar Michael of Russia

Michael I (July 21, 1596 – July 23, 1645) became the first Russian tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia.

Michael was the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov (later known as Patriarch Filaret) and of Xenia Shestova (later known as “the great nun” Martha). He was also a first cousin once removed of the last Rurikid Tsar Feodor I through his great-aunt Anastasia Romanovna, who was the mother of Feodor I, and through marriage, a great-nephew in-law with Tsar Ivan IV of Russia.

Michael’s grandfather, Nikita, was brother to the first Russian Tsaritsa Anastasia Romanov and a central advisor to Ivan IV the Terrible. As a young boy, Michael and his mother had been exiled to Beloozero in 1600. This was a result of the recently elected Tsar Boris Godunov, in 1598, falsely accusing his father, Feodor, of treason. This may have been partly because Feodor had married Ksenia Shestova against Boris’s wishes.

Election

Michael was eventually chosen for the throne of Muscovy due to his father’s martyr-like captivity in Polish detention, as the patriotic mood swept the Russian elite since the expulsion of the Poles during the Time of Troubles.

Michael’s youth also contributed to his election as he was seen easy to be manipulated. On February 21, 1613, 700 delegates reached a consensus for Michael to be chosen as a compromise candidate as Tsar of Russia by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613.

The delegates of the council did not discover the young Tsar and his mother at the Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma until March 24. He had been chosen after several other options had been removed, including Polish Prince Vladislav, Austrian Archduke Maximilian III of Further Austria and the Swedish Prince Carl Philip, the second surviving son of King Carl IX of Sweden and his second spouse, Duchess Christina of Holstein-Gottorp.

Initially, his mother Martha protested, believing and stating that her son was too young and tender for so difficult an office, and in such a troublesome time.

According to Dunning, “The sixteen-year-old boy did not impress the boyars at all; he was poorly educated and not particularly intelligent. Nonetheless, those great lords consoled themselves with the knowledge that Trubetskoi would not become tsar and that Mikhail’s ambitious and highly intelligent father, Filaret, was still in Polish captivity.

One of the boyars allegedly said at the time, ‘Let us have Misha Romanov for he is young and not yet wise; he will suit our purposes.’ In fact, under the strong influence of reactionary boyars, even in preparation for his coronation, the deeply conservative new tsar revealed his true feelings about his subjects by snubbing many patriots simply because they were commoners.”

The tsar’s family relationship with False Dmitry I, False Dmitry II, and Prince Wladyslaw was covered up, even the two years Mikhail spent in the Polish-occupied Kremlin with his collaborator uncle Ivan Romanov.

Michael’s election and accession to the throne form the basis of the Ivan Susanin legend, which Russian composer Mikhail Glinka dramatized in his opera A Life for the Tsar.

In so dilapidated a condition was the capital at this time that Michael had to wait for several weeks at the Troitsa monastery, 75 miles (121 km) off, before decent accommodation could be provided for him at Moscow.

He was crowned on July 21, 1613, on his seventeenth birthday. The first task of the new tsar was to clear the land of the countries occupying it. Sweden and Poland were then dealt with respectively by the peace of Stolbovo (February 17, 1617) and the Truce of Deulino (December 1, 1618).

Sixteen-year-old Michael being offered the crown at the Ipatiev Monastery in 1613, painting by Grigory Ugryumov

His accession marked the end of the Time of Troubles.
Michael’s reign saw the greatest territorial expansion in Russian history. During his reign, the conquest of Siberia continued, largely accomplished by the Cossacks and financed by the Stroganov merchant family. Russia had extended from the vicinity of the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean by the end of Michael’s reign.

Michael was married off to Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova in 1624, but she became ill, and died in early 1625, only four months after the marriage. In 1626, he married Eudoxia Streshneva (1608–1645), who bore him 10 children, of whom four reached adulthood: the future Tsar Alexis and the Tsarevnas Irina, Anna, and Tatyana.

Michael’s failure to wed his eldest daughter, Irina, with Count Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, a morganatic son of King Christian IV of Denmark, in consequence of the refusal of the latter to accept Orthodoxy, so deeply afflicted him as to contribute to bringing about his death. Tsar Michael fell ill in April 1645, with scurvy, dropsy, and probably depression. His doctors prescribed purgatives which did not improve his condition; and after fainting in church on July 21, he died on July 23, 1645.

September 21, 1957: Death of King Haakon VII of Norway

21 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Death, Royal Genealogy, Royal House, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Christian IX of Denmark, Crown Prince Olav of Norway, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Election, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom., Frederik VIII of Denmark, Haakon VII of Norway, King Olav V of Norway, Maud of Wales, Prince Carl of Denmark

Haakon VII (August 3, 1872 – September 21, 1957) born Prince Carl of Denmark; he was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957.

Prince Carl was born on August 3, 1872 at his parents’ country residence, Charlottenlund Palace north of Copenhagen, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King Christian IX.

He was the second son of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (the future King Frederik VIII), and his wife Louise of Sweden. His father was the eldest son of King Christian IX and Louise of Hesse-Cassel, and his mother was the only daughter of King Carl XV of Sweden (who was also king of Norway as Carl IV), and Louise of the Netherlands.

At birth, he was third in the succession to the Danish throne after his father and older brother, but without any real prospect of inheriting the throne. The young prince was baptised at Charlottenlund Palace on September 7, 1872 by the Bishop of Zealand, Hans Lassen Martensen. He was baptised with the names Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel, and was known as Prince Carl (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Sweden-Norway).

HM King Haakon VII of Norway

Prince Carl belonged to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (often shortened to Glücksburg) branch of the House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg had been the Danish royal family since 1448; between 1536 and 1814 it also ruled Norway, which was then part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway.

The house was originally from northern Germany, where the Glücksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had links with Norway beginning from the 15th century. Several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of Norway in union with Denmark and at times Sweden.

They included Christian I of Norway, Frederik I, Christian III, Frederik II, Christian IV, as well as Frederik III of Norway who integrated Norway into the Oldenburg state with Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein. His subsequent paternal ancestors had been dukes in Schleswig-Holstein. Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of the Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.

Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy.

On July 22, 1896, in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, Prince Carl married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales. Princess Maud was the youngest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise. The wedding was attended by the bride’s grandmother, the 77-year-old Queen Victoria.

After the wedding, the couple settled in Copenhagen, where Prince Carl continued his career as a naval officer. The bride’s father gave them Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate as a country residence for his daughter’s frequent visits to England. It was there that the couple’s only child, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (and eventually King Olav V of Norway), was born on July 2, 1903.

Princess Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway

After the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905, a committee of the Norwegian government identified several princes of European royal houses as candidates for the Norwegian crown.

Although Norway had legally had the status of an independent state since 1814, it had not had its own king since 1387. Gradually, Prince Carl became the leading candidate, largely because he was descended from independent Norwegian kings. He also had a son, providing an heir-apparent to the throne, and the fact that his wife, Princess Maud, was a member of the British Royal Family was viewed by many as an advantage to the newly independent Norwegian nation.

The democratically minded Carl, aware that Norway was still debating whether to remain a kingdom or to switch instead to a republican system of government, was flattered by the Norwegian government’s overtures, but he made his acceptance of the offer conditional on the holding of a referendum to show whether monarchy was the choice of the Norwegian people.

King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway with Crown Prince Olav

After the referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by a 79 percent majority (259,563 votes for and 69,264 against) that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy, Prince Carl was formally offered the throne of Norway by the Storting (parliament) and was elected on 18 November 18, 1905.

When Carl accepted the offer that same evening (after the approval of his grandfather Christian IX of Denmark), he immediately endeared himself to his adopted country by taking the Old Norse name of Haakon, a name which had not been used by kings of Norway for over 500 years.

Queen Maud of Norway with her great-niece Princess Elizabeth of York (future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom)

In so doing, he succeeded his maternal great-uncle, Oscar II of Sweden, who had abdicated the Norwegian throne in October following the agreement between Sweden and Norway on the terms of the separation of the union.

On the morning of November 20, a large crowd gathered outside King Haakon VII and Queen Maud’s residence in Bernstorff’s Palace in Copenhagen. The attendees greeted the royal couple as they appeared in the window and started singing Ja, vi elsker dette landet.

Later the same day, King Christian IX of Denmark received a delegation from the Storting in an audience in Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg. The delegation conveyed the message that the king’s grandson had been elected King of Norway, while Christian IX expressed his consent to the election of Prince Carl.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and King Haakon VII of Norway

As king, Haakon VII gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers, in practice Haakon confined himself to non-partisan roles without interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson.

Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940. Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime’s puppet government, and refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain. As such, he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five-year-long occupation during the Second World War. He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany.

He became King of Norway when his grandfather Christian IX was still reigning in Denmark, and before his father and elder brother became kings of Denmark. During his reign he saw his father Frederik VIII, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederik IX ascend the throne of Denmark, in 1906, 1912 (also of Iceland from 1918 to 1944), and 1947 respectively. Haakon died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. He was succeeded by his only son, who ascended to the throne as Olav V.

August 3, 1872: Birth of Haakon VII, King of Norway

03 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, Royal Titles, This Day in Royal History

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Christian IX of Denmark, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Election, Frederik VIII of Denmark, Haakon VII of Norway, House of Glucksburg, Maud of Wales, Prince Charles of Denmark, The Storting

Haakon VII (Prince Charles of Denmark; August 3, 1872 – September 21, 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957.

Birth and family

Prince Charles was born on August 3, 1872 at his parents’ country residence, Charlottenlund Palace north of Copenhagen, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King Christian IX of Denmark. He was the second son of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (the future King Frederik VIII), and his wife Louise of Sweden.

His mother, Louise of Sweden, was born into the House of Bernadotte, she was the only surviving child of King Charles XV of Sweden and Norway and his consort, Louise of the Netherlands. Although her father made several attempts to have her recognized as his heir, she was barred from the succession as at the time only males could ascend the throne of Sweden. In 1869, she married the future King Frederick VIII of Denmark with whom she had eight children.

Louise was the mother of both King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway

His father, the future King Frederik VIII of Denmark, was the eldest son of King Christian IX and Louise of Hesse-Cassel, Louise was born as the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel and Princess Charlotte of Denmark, a daughter to Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway, and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Her father was a younger son of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway, while her mother was a daughter of Duke Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. At birth she had two older siblings, Prince Christian Frederik (who later became King of Norway in 1814 and was King of Denmark as Christian VIII from 1839) and Princess Juliane Sophie. She later had a younger brother, Prince Frederik Ferdinand.

Haakon VII, King of Norway

At birth, Prince Charles was third in the succession to the Danish throne after his father and older brother, Prince Christian, but without any real prospect of inheriting the throne. The young prince was baptised at Charlottenlund Palace on September 7, 1872 by the Bishop of Zealand, Hans Lassen Martensen. He was baptised with the names Christian Frederik Charles Georg Valdemar Axel, and was known as Prince Charles (namesake of his maternal grandfather the King of Sweden-Norway).

Prince Charles was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy.

Prince Charles belonged to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (often shortened to Glücksburg) branch of the House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg had been the Danish royal family since 1448; between 1536 and 1814 it also ruled Norway, which was then part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway.

The house was originally from northern Germany, where the Glücksburg (Lyksborg) branch held their small fief. The family had links with Norway beginning from the 15th century. Several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of Norway in union with Denmark and at times Sweden.

Christian Frederik, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, the first king of the Norwegian 1814 constitution and struggle for independence, was his great-granduncle.

Marriage

On July 22, 1896, in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales. Princess Maud was the youngest daughter of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Queen Louise. The wedding was attended by the bride’s grandmother, the 77-year-old Queen Victoria.

Princess Maud of Wales

After the wedding, the couple settled in Copenhagen, where Prince Charles continued his career as a naval officer. The bride’s father gave them Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate as a country residence for his daughter’s frequent visits to England. It was there that the couple’s only child, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (and eventually King Olav V of Norway), was born on July 2, 1903.

After the Union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905, a committee of the Norwegian government identified several princes of European royal houses as candidates for the Norwegian crown. Although Norway had legally had the status of an independent state since 1814, it had not had its own king since 1387.

Gradually, Prince Charles became the leading candidate, largely because he was descended from independent Norwegian kings. He also had a son, providing an heir-apparent to the throne, and the fact that his wife, Princess Maud, was a member of the British Royal Family was viewed by many as an advantage to the newly independent Norwegian nation.

The democratically minded Charles, aware that Norway was still debating whether to remain a kingdom or to switch instead to a republican system of government, was flattered by the Norwegian government’s overtures, but he made his acceptance of the offer conditional on the holding of a referendum to show whether monarchy was the choice of the Norwegian people.

After the referendum overwhelmingly confirmed by a 79 percent majority (259,563 votes for and 69,264 against) that Norwegians desired to retain a monarchy, Prince Charles was formally offered the throne of Norway by the Storting (parliament) and was elected on November 18, 1905.

When Charles accepted the offer that same evening (after the approval of his grandfather Christian IX of Denmark), he immediately endeared himself to his adopted country by taking the Old Norse name of Haakon, a name which had not been used by kings of Norway for over 500 years.

In so doing, he succeeded his maternal great-uncle, Oscar II of Sweden, who had abdicated the Norwegian throne in October following the agreement between Sweden and Norway on the terms of the separation of the union.

On the morning of November 20 a large crowd gathered outside King Haakon VII and Queen Maud’s residence in Bernstorff’s Palace in Copenhagen. The attendees greeted the royal couple as they appeared in the window and started singing Ja, vi elsker dette landet.

Later the same day, King Christian IX of Denmark received a delegation from the Storting in an audience in Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg. The delegation conveyed the message that the king’s grandson had been elected King of Norway, while Christian IX expressed his consent to the election of Prince Charles.

The head of the delegation, the President of the Storting Carl Berner, conveyed a greeting and congratulations from the Norwegian people, and expressed the people’s wishes for a happy cooperation. The king replied:

Mr. President of the Storthing, gentlemen. The first greeting from the Representatives of the Norwegian People, who in their unanimous Storthing decision on November 18 has elected me their King, has touched me deeply.

The people have thereby shown me a confidence which I know how to appreciate, and which I hope will still grow stronger as it gets to know my wife and me. As it will be known to you, gentlemen, it was at my request that the newly concluded referendum took place.

I wanted to be sure that it was a people and not a party that wanted me to be king, as my task above all should be to unite, not divide. My life I will devote to the good of Norway, and it is the fervent wish of my wife and I that the people who have chosen us will unite to cooperate and strive towards this great goal, and with full confidence I can then take as my motto: ALL FOR NORWAY.

Arrival in Norway

King Haakon VII arrives in Norway with Crown Prince Olav on his arm and is greeted on board the ship Heimdal by Prime Minister Christian Michelsen.
On November 23, the new royal family of Norway left Copenhagen on the Danish royal yacht, the paddle steamer Dannebrog and sailed into the Oslofjord.

At Oscarsborg Fortress, they boarded the Norwegian naval ship Heimdal. After a three-day journey, they arrived in Kristiania (now Oslo) early on the morning of November 25, 1905 where the king was received at the harbour by the Prime Minister of Norway Christian Michelsen. On the deck of the Heimdal, the Prime Minister gave the following speech to the king:

For almost 600 years, the Norwegian people have not had their own king. Never has he been completely our own. Always have we had to share him with others. Never has he had his home with us. But where the home is, there will also be the fatherland. Today it is different. Today, Norway’s young king comes to build his future home in Norway’s capital. Named by a free people as a free man to lead his country, he will be completely our own. Once again, the Norwegians’ king will be the strong, unifying mark for all national deeds in the new, independent Norway …

Two days later, on November 27 Haakon VII took his constitutional oath before parliament as Norway’s first independent king in 518 years. However, Norway counts November 18, the day of his election, as the formal beginning of his reign.

Coronation

Coronation portrait of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud, June 22, 1906.

On June 22, 1906, King Haakon and Queen Maud were solemnly crowned and anointed in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim by the Bishop of Trondheim Vilhelm Andreas Wexelsen. The coronation was in keeping with the constitutional mandate, but many Norwegian statesmen had come to regard coronation rites as “undemocratic and archaic”.

Although coronations are not expressly banned under current Norwegian legislation, this became the last coronation of a Norwegian monarch. In the period before and after the coronation, the king and Queen made an extensive coronation journey through Norway.

Coronations in Norway were held from 1164 to 1906, mostly in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. Although a crowning ceremony was formerly mandated by the nation’s constitution, this requirement was eliminated in 1908.

However, Norwegian kings have since chosen voluntarily to take part in a ritual of “benediction” to mark their accession to the throne, during which the crown is present, but not physically bestowed upon the sovereign. The new ceremony retains some of the religious elements of earlier rites, while eliminating other features now considered to be “undemocratic”.

The King and Queen moved into the Royal Palace in Oslo. Haakon became the first monarch to use the palace permanently and the palace was therefore refurbished for two years before he, Queen Maud and Crown Prince Olav could move in. After the coronation, King Haakon and Queen Maud also received the estate Kongesæteren at Voksenkollen in Oslo as a gift from the Norwegian people.

Haakon VII, King of Norway

As king, Haakon VII gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers, in practice Haakon confined himself to non-partisan roles without interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson.

Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940. Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime’s puppet government, and refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain. As such, he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five-year-long occupation during the Second World War. He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany.

During his reign he saw his father Frederik VIII, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederik IX ascend the throne of Denmark, in 1906, 1912 (also of Iceland from 1918 to 1944), and 1947 respectively. Haakon VII died at the age of 85 in September 1957, after having reigned for nearly 52 years. He was succeeded by his only son, who ascended to the throne as Olav V.

October 28, 1449: Election of Count Christian VII of Oldenburg as King Christian I of Denmark.

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Duchy/Dukedom of Europe, Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Christian I of Denmark, Christian VI of Oldenburg, Christoper III of Denmark, Count Dietrich of Oldenburg, Election, Eric of Pomerania, Kalmar Union, King Eric IV of Denmark, King of Norway, King of Sweden, Kingdom of Denmark, Union of Kalmar

Christian I (February 1426 – May 21, 1481) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of Schleswig (within Denmark) and count (after 1474, duke) of Holstein (within the Holy Roman Empire). He was the first king of the House of Oldenburg.

Christian I was born in February 1426 in Oldenburg in Northern Germany as the eldest son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg (or Theoderic of Oldenburg) by his second wife, Helvig of Holstein (died 1436). Christian had two younger brothers, Maurice (1428–1464) and Gerhard (1430–1500), and one sister Adelheid.

IMG_0873
Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Through his father, he belonged to the House of Oldenburg, a comital family established since the 12th century in an area west of the River Weser in north-western Germany. Based on the two strongholds of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, the family had gradually expanded its rule over the neighbouring Frisian tribes of the area. Christian’s father was called the Fortunate as he had reunited and expanded the family’s territory. Also through his father, Christian was a cognatic descendant of King Eric IV of Denmark through his daughter Sophia. Christian of Holstein thus descended from the three surviving sons of Valdemar II of Denmark and his second wife Berengaria of Portugal.

Christian’s mother, Helvig, was a daughter of Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein, and a sister of Adolphus, Duke of Schleswig. Through his mother, Christian was also a cognatic descendant of King Eric V of Denmark through his second daughter Richeza and also a cognatic descendant of King Abel of Denmark through his daughter Sophie.

At the death of their father in 1440, Christian and his brothers jointly succeeded Dietrich as Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. Christian, or Christian VII of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst as he then became, was raised by his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein (1401–1459) as the childless duke wished for his young nephew to become his heir, and also succeeded in having Christian elected as his successor in the Duchy of Schleswig.

In January 1448, King Christopher III of Denmark, Sweden and Norway died suddenly and without natural heirs. Before I discuss how Count Christian VII of Oldenburg became King of Denmark let me briefly explain how his predecessor became king and how Christian VII became his heir.

Christopher III was the son of Johann, Count Palatine of Neumarkt (1383–1443 and Catherine of Pomerania (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp, and sister of the Scandinavian king, Eric of Pomerania. Eric was numbered Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and Eric XIII as King of Sweden(1396–1434, 1436–39). Today, in all three countries he is more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania.

Count Palatine Johann was a son of King Rupert of Germany (1352–1410) a member of the House of Wittelsbach, who was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Rupert III) and King of Germany (rex Romanorum) from 1400 until his death. Christopher III was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz in Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria, Germany. In 1445, Christopher married Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430 – 25 November 1495) in Copenhagen.

Eric of Pomerania was deposed as king of Denmark and Sweden in 1439. As Eric’s nephew, Christopher, who was rather unfamiliar with Scandinavian conditions, was elected by the Danish State Council as the successor to his uncle, first as regentfrom 1439, and then proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish landsting) on April 9, 1440. He was meant to be a puppet king, as evidenced by the saying: “Had the Council demanded the stars of heaven from him, he would have ordered it.” He was later elected king of Sweden in 1441, and Norway in June 1442.

The death of Christopher III resulted in the break-up of the union of the three kingdoms, as Denmark and Sweden went their separate ways and Norway’s affiliation was unclear. Sweden elected Carl VIII of Sweden (1408–1470) king with the intent to reestablish the union under a Swedish king. Carl was elected king of Norway in the following year. The vacant Danish throne was first offered by the Council of the Realm to Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, being the most prominent feudal lord of Danish dominions. The duke declined and recommended his nephew, Count Christian VI of Oldenburg.

IMG_0872
Coat of arms as King of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Wends and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

Before being elected, Christian had to promise to obey to the Constitutio Valdemariana, a provision in the ascension promissory of King Valdemar III of Denmark, that promised that in the future, the same person could never be both ruler of the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark simultaneously.

The council also demanded that Christian should marry dowager queen Dorothea of Brandenburg (ca 1430–1495), widow of his predecessor King Christopher III. On September 1, 1448, after signing his ascension promissory, count Christian VI was elected to the Danish throne as king Christian I at the assembly in Viborg. His coronation was held on October 28, 1449, in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, at which occasion his marriage with dowager queen Dorothea was also celebrated.

Election of the King of the Hellenes.

30 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, Christian IX, Christian IX of Denmark, Election, Ernest II Duke of Save-Coburg-Gotha, George I of Greece, King George I of the Hellenes, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of the Hellenes, Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto of Greece, Plebiscite, Queen Victoria

On this date in History: March 30, 1863. Prince Wilhelm of Denmark was elected as King of the Hellenes (Greece).

George I (born Prince Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; 24 December 24, 1845 – March 18, 1913) was King of the Hellenes (Greece) from 1863 until his assassination in 1913.

IMG_0318

George was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade, right next to the Amalienborg Palace complex in Copenhagen. He was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (Christian IX of Denmark) and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Although his full name was Prince Christian Wilhelm Ferdinand Adolf Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, until his accession in Greece, he was known as Prince Wilhelm the namesake of his paternal and maternal grandfathers, Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel.

Although he was of royal blood, his family was relatively obscure and lived a comparatively normal life by royal standards. In 1853, however, George’s father was designated the heir presumptive to the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark, and the family became princes and princesses of Denmark. George’s siblings were Frederik (who succeeded their father as King of Denmark), Alexandra (who became wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and the mother of King George V), Dagmar (who, as Empress Maria Feodorovna, was consort of Emperor Alexander III of Russiaand the mother of Emperor Nicholas II), Thyra (who married Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale) and Valdemar.

King of the Hellenes

Following the overthrow of the Bavarian-born King Otto of Greece (son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen) in October 1862, the Greek people had rejected Otto’s brother and designated successor Leopold, although they still favored a monarchy rather than a republic. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were “panting for increase in territory”, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate.

The London Conference of 1832, however, prohibited any of the Great Powers’ ruling families from accepting the crown, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea. The Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and 6 for a Greek.King Otto received one vote. Prince Alfred was also the designated heir to his uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha should the Duke remain childless.

With Prince Alfred’s exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. The French favored Henri d’Orléans, duc d’Aumale, while the British proposed Queen Victoria’s brother-in-law Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, her nephew Prince Leiningen, and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, among others. Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince William of Denmark, who had received 6 votes in the plebiscite.

IMG_0319

Aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on March 30, 1863 by the Greek National Assembly under the regnal name of George I. Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King Christian IX of Denmark on November 15 of the same year. There were two significant differences between George’s elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto. First, he was acclaimed unanimously by the Greek Assembly, rather than imposed on the people by foreign powers. Second, he was proclaimed “King of the Hellenes” instead of “King of Greece”, which had been Otto’s style.

His ceremonial enthronement in Copenhagen on 6 June was attended by a delegation of Greeks led by First Admiral and Prime Minister Constantine Kanaris. Frederick VII awarded George the Order of the Elephant, and it was announced that the British government would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece in honor of the new monarch.

King George I is the paternal grandfather of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.

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