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Count Dietrich of Oldenburg, Helvig of Holstein, House of Oldenburg, Kalmar Union, King Carl VIII of Sweden, King Christian I of Denmark, King Eric IV of Denmark, King Eric V of Denmark, Norway, Sweden
Christian I (February 1426 – May 21, 1481) was a German noble and 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 from the House of Oldenburg.
King Christian I was born in February 1426 in Oldenburg in Northern Germany as the eldest son of Count Dietrich 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.
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 (died 1308) and also a cognatic descendant of King Abel of Denmark through his daughter Sophie.
Through his father, Christian was a cognatic descendant of King Eric IV of Denmark through his daughter Sophia. Christian thus descended from the three surviving sons of Valdemar II and his second wife Infanta Berengaria of Portugal. He was also a cognatic descendant of King Magnus III of Sweden.
In January 1448, King Christopher III of Denmark, Sweden and Norway died suddenly and without natural heirs. His death 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.
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 of Oldenburg.
Before being elected, Christian had to promise to obey 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 was elected to the Danish throne as King Christian I of Denmark 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.
Sweden elected Carl Karl Knutsson King of Sweden with the intent to reestablish the Kalmar Union under a Swedish king.
King Carl VIII of Sweden was born in October 1408 or 1409, at Ekholmen Castle, the son of Knut Tordsson (Bonde), knight and member of the privy council (riksråd), and Margareta Karlsdotter (Sparre av Tofta), the only daughter and heiress of Carl Ulvsson, Lord of Tofta. Carl was elected King of Norway in the following year.
Regnal name
Carl Knutsson was the second Swedish king by the name of Carl. Carl VIII is a posthumous invention, counting backwards from Carl IX (r. 1604–1611) who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden. King Carl VIII was the first Swedish monarch of the name to actually use a regnal number as Carl II (later retrospectively renumbered VIII), on his wife’s tombstone (1451) at Vadstena.
King Christian I of Denmark subsequent accessions to the thrones of Norway (in 1450) and Sweden (in 1457) restored the unity of the Kalmar Union for a short period. In 1463, Sweden broke away from the union and Christian’s attempt at a reconquest resulted in his defeat by the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elder at the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471.
In 1460, following the death of his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein, Christian also became Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein.
In 1474 Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III elevated Christian I from Count of Holstein to Duke of Holstein, thus becoming an immediate imperial vassal of the Emperor.
King Christian died at Copenhagen Castle on May 21, 1481 at the age of 55. He was interred at the Chapel of the Magi at Roskilde Cathedral, a richly decorated chapel he and Queen Dorothea had erected to serve as a family sepulchral chapel for the House of Oldenburg.