Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Conclusion

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4th Earl of Bothwell, Archibald Douglas, Henry Stuart, James Hepburn, John Knox, King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig, Kirk O’Field, Lord Darnley, Mary I of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth I of England, William Taylor

Darnley was murdered eight months after James’ birth. On the night of 9–10 February 1567, his body and that of his valet were discovered in the orchard of Kirk o’ Field, in Edinburgh, where they had been staying.

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

During the weeks leading up to his death, Darnley was recovering from a bout of smallpox (or, it has been speculated, syphilis). He was described as having deformed pocks upon his face and body. He stayed with his family in Glasgow, until Mary brought him to recuperate at Old Provost’s lodging at Kirk o’ Field, a two-story house within the church quadrangle, a short walk from Holyrood, with the intention of incorporating him into the court again. Darnley stayed at Kirk o’ Field while Mary attended the wedding of Bastian Pagez, one of her closest servants, at Holyrood.

Around 2 A.M. on the night of February 9-10, 1567, while Mary was away, two explosions rocked the foundation of Kirk o’ Field. These explosions were later attributed to two barrels of gunpowder that had been placed in the small room under Darnley’s sleeping quarters. Darnley’s body and the body of his valet William Taylor were found outside, surrounded by a cloak, a dagger, a chair, and a coat. Darnley was dressed only in his nightshirt, suggesting he had fled in some haste from his bedchamber.

Darnley was apparently smothered. There were no visible marks of strangulation or violence on the body. A post-mortem revealed internal injuries, thought to have been caused by the explosion. John Knox claimed the surgeons who examined the body were lying, and that Darnley had been strangled, but all the sources agree there were no marks on the body and there was no reason for the surgeons to lie as Darnley was murdered either way.

Aftermath

Suspicion quickly fell on the James Hepburn, the 4th Earl of Bothwell and his supporters, notably Archibald Douglas, Parson of Douglas, whose shoes were found at the scene, and on Mary herself. Bothwell had long been suspected of having designs on the throne, and his close relationship with the queen gave rise to rumours they were sexually intimate. This was viewed as a motive for Bothwell to have Darnley murdered, with help from some of the nobility and seemingly with royal approval. Mary had been looking at options for removing Darnley, though her ideas were for divorce, and none were suitable.

Soon after Darnley’s death, Bothwell and Mary left Edinburgh together. There are two points of view about the circumstances: in the first, Bothwell kidnapped the queen, took her to Dunbar Castle, and raped her. In the second, Mary was a willing participant in the kidnapping, and the story of rape was a fabrication, so her honour and reputation were not ruined by her marriage to a man widely suspected of murder. Mary later miscarried twins by Bothwell.

Suspicions that Mary colluded with conspirators in her husband’s death or that she took no action to prevent his death were key factors in the downward spiral that led to her loss of the Scottish crown. The Casket letters, alleged to have been written by Mary, seemed to indicate her support for the killing. The letters were purportedly found by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, in Edinburgh in a silver box engraved with an F (supposedly for Francis II), along with a number of other documents, including the Mary-Bothwell marriage certificate. Before Morton’s execution in 1581, he admitted having knowledge of the murder plot, and that Bothwell and Archibald Douglas were “chief actors” in Darnley’s murder.

A soldier under the pay of Bothwell, William Blackadder of the Clan Blackadder, was allegedly the first non-participant to happen upon the scene, and for that reason was treated as a suspect. Although initially cleared of any involvement in the murder, he was offered up by the conspirators and convicted at a show trial, after which he was executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered before each of his limbs was nailed to the gates of a different Scottish town.

Bothwell was put on trial in Edinburgh and found not guilty. The Earl was sent to Copenhagen, where the Danish monarch, King Frederik II, deliberated on his fate. The Earl was sent across Øresund to the fortress and prison Malmøhus Castle. But as news from both England and Scotland arrived, the King eventually understood that Mary never again would become Queen of the Scots. And without Mary, the King considered him insignificant. Bothwell was imprisoned at Dragsholm Castle, 75 kilometres west of Copenhagen. He was held in what were said to be appalling conditions. He died in April 1578. He was buried in a vault at Fårevejle church near the castle.

In 1568 Mary’s involvement in the murder was discussed in England in conferences at York and Westminster which ended with no definitive findings. Mary was kept in captivity until she was implicated in the Babington plot against Elizabeth, after which she was convicted of treason and executed.

April 12, 1577: Birth of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway.

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Absolute Monarchy, Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, Christian IV of Denmark, coronation, Crown of Christian IV of Denmark, Elector of Hanover, Hereditary Monarchy, James VI-I of Scotland and England, King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig, King of Denmark, King of Norway, Prince Christian of Denmark, Regalia, Thirty Years War

Christian IV (April 12, 1577 – February 28, 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 to 1648. His 59-year reign is the longest of Danish monarchs, and of Scandinavian monarchies.

Christian was born at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark on April 12, 1577 as the third child and eldest son of King Frederik II of Denmark–Norway and Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was descended, through his mother’s side, from king Hans of Denmark, and was thus the first descendant of King Hans to assume the crown since the deposition of King Christian II.

Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig

At the time, Denmark was still an elective monarchy, so in spite of being the eldest son Christian was not automatically heir to the throne. However, in 1580, at the age of 3, his father had him elected Prince-Elect and successor to the throne.

At the death of his father on April 4, 1588, Christian was 11 years old. He succeeded to the throne, but as he was still under-age a regency council was set up to serve as the trustees of the royal power while Christian was still growing up. It was led by chancellor Niels Kaas and consisted of the Rigsraadet council members Peder Munk (1534–1623), Jørgen Ottesen Rosenkrantz (1523–1596) and Christopher Walkendorf. His mother Queen Dowager Sofie, 30 years old, had wished to play a role in the government, but was denied by the Council. At the death of Niels Kaas in 1594, Jørgen Rosenkrantz took over leadership of the regency council.

In 1595, the Council of the Realm decided that Christian would soon be old enough to assume personal control of the reins of government. On August 17, 1596, at the age of 19, Christian signed his haandfæstning (lit. “Handbinding” viz. curtailment of the monarch’s power, a Danish parallel to the Magna Carta), which was an identical copy of his father’s from 1559.

Twelve days later, on August 29, 1596, Christian IV was crowned at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen by the Bishop of Zealand, Peder Jensen Vinstrup (1549–1614). He was crowned with a new Danish Crown Regalia which had been made for him by Dirich Fyring (1580–1603), assisted by the Nuremberg goldsmith Corvinius Saur.

Crown of Christian IV

Marriage

On November 30, 1597, he married Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, a daughter of Joachim Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, and his first wife Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Christian met her on his journey in Germany in 1595 and he decided to marry her. In 1596, Anne Catherine and her parents were present at his coronation, and the next year, the marriage was arranged.

The wedding took place in the castle of Haderslevhus in South Jutland the year after the coronation of Christian IV. She was crowned queen in 1598. She was given Beate Huitfeldt as the head of her ladies-in-waiting. She had six children, among them Christian, the Prince-Elect, who died a year before his father, and Frederik III who introduced absolute monarchy in Denmark. Her son, Ulrik, was murdered in 1633. Their two daughters, Sophia and Elisabeth, and the elder son, Frederik, died at a very young age.

Anne Catherine of Brandenburg

Anne Catherine was the only queen of Christian IV, but not much is known about her. She does not seem to have had much political influence. She often accompanied the King on his travels. In her time, she was praised for her modesty and deep religious feelings. There is no mention as to whether the marriage was happy or not, but her spouse took mistresses at the end of their marriage, notably with Kirsten Madsdatter.

King Christian IV is remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious, and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects. Christian IV obtained for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe. He engaged Denmark in numerous wars, most notably the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), which devastated much of Germany, undermined the Danish economy, and cost Denmark some of its conquered territories.

Christian IV spent more time in Norway than any other Oldenberg monarch and no Oldenburg king made such a lasting impression on the Norwegian people. He visited the country a number of times and founded four cities. He rebuilt and renamed the Norwegian capital Oslo as Christiania after himself, a name used until 1925.

Christian was reckoned a typical renaissance king, and excelled in hiring in musicians and artists from all over Europe. Many English musicians were employed by him at several times, among them William Brade, John Bull and John Dowland. Dowland accompanied the king on his tours, and as he was employed in 1603, rumour has it he was in Norway as well. Christian was an agile dancer, and his court was reckoned the second most “musical” court in Europe, only ranking behind that of Elizabeth I of England. Christian maintained good contact with his sister Anne, who was married to James VI of Scotland. His other sister, Elizabeth, was married to Heinrich Julius; the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and artists and musicians travelled freely between the courts.

Christian IV at the Battle of Colberger Heide.

Christian IV spoke Danish, German, Latin, French and Italian. Naturally cheerful and hospitable, he delighted in lively society; but he was also passionate, irritable and sensual. He had courage, a vivid sense of duty, an indefatigable love of work, and all the inquisitive zeal and inventive energy of a born reformer. His own pleasure, whether it took the form of love or ambition, was always his first consideration. His capacity for drink was proverbial: when he visited England in 1606, even the notoriously hard-drinking English Court were astonished by his alcohol consumption.

The last years of Christian’s life were embittered by sordid differences with his sons-in-law, especially with Corfitz Ulfeldt.

His personal obsession with witchcraft led to the public execution of some of his subjects during the Burning Times. He was responsible for several witch burnings, most notably the conviction and execution of Maren Spliid, who was victim of a witch hunt at Ribe and was burned at the Gallows Hill near Ribe on 9 November 1641.

On February 21, 1648, at his earnest request, he was carried in a litter from Frederiksborg to his beloved Copenhagen, where he died a week later. He was buried in Roskilde Cathedral. The chapel of Christian IV had been completed 6 years before the King died.

A Brief history of the twin Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein: Part II

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Christian I of Denmark, Christian III of Denmark, Duchy of Holstein, Duchy of Schleswig, King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig

Duchy of Holstein

Origins

After the Migration Period of the Early Middle Ages, Holstein was adjacent to the Obotrites on the coast of the Baltic Sea and the land of the Danes in Jutland.

With the conquest of Old Saxony by Charlemagne circa 800, he granted the land north of the Eider River (Schleswig) to the Danes by the Treaty of Heiligen signed in 811. The ownership of what would late become eastern Holstein (districts of Plön and Ostholstein) was given to the Obotrites, namely the Wagrians, and the Saxon elite was deported to various areas of the empire.

Coat of Arms of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

After 814, however, the Saxons were restored to Western Holstein. The Wagrians were pushed out of the Limes Saxoniae – the new border running from the Elbe River near Boizenburg northwards along the Bille River to the mouth of the Schwentine at the Kiel Fjord and the Baltic Sea. For the following 300 years, Holstein continued to be a part of Saxony.

The new county of Holstein was established in 1111; it was first a fief of the Duchy of Saxony, then of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, and finally of the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck. With the establishment of the new territorial unit, expansion to the East began and the Wagrians were finally defeated in 1138.

The County of Holstein was ruled by the House of Schaumburg; Adolf I (died November 13, 1130) was the first Count of Schauenburg from 1106 and the second Count of Holstein from 1111. He made an important contribution to the colonisation and Germanisation of the lands north of the Elbe. Holstein was temporarily occupied by Denmark after the Battle of Stellau (1201), but was reconquered by the Count of Schauenburg and his allies in the Battle of Bornhöved (1227).

Partitions of the County of Holstein (1111–1474)
The Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein partitioned Holstein several times among the inheriting sons into up to six lines, named after their towns of residence:
* Holstein-Itzehoe, branch county between 1261 and 1290, partitioned from Holstein, repartitioned into Holstein-Pinneberg, Holstein-Plön and Holstein-Rendsburg
* Holstein-Kiel, branch county between 1261 and 1390, partitioned from Holstein, in 1273 Holstein-Segeberg (first) was partitioned from Holstein-Kiel, but reverted in 1308, but then lost to Holstein-Pinneberg, Holstein-Plön and Holstein-Rendsburg in 1316; Holstein-Kiel acquired Holstein-Plön in 1350, and merged itself into Holstein-Rendsburg
* Holstein-Pinneberg, branch county between 1290 and 1640, partitioned from Holstein-Itzehoe, acquired a share of Holstein-Segeberg in 1316, merged into the Duchy of Holstein
* Holstein-Plön, branch county between 1290 and 1390, partitioned from Holstein-Itzehoe, acquired a share of Holstein-Segeberg in 1316, merged into Holstein-Kiel
* Holstein-Rendsburg, branch county between 1290 and 1474, partitioned from Holstein-Itzehoe, acquired a share of Holstein-Segeberg (first) in 1316, and Holstein-Kiel in 1390, in 1381/1384 Holstein-Segeberg (second) was partitioned from Holstein-Rendsburg, but reverted in 1403, elevated to ducal rank in 1474
* Holstein-Segeberg (first), branch county between 1273 and 1308, partitioned from and reverted to Holstein-Kiel, but seized by allied Holstein-Pinneberg, Holstein-Plön, and Holstein-Rendsburg, partitioning Segeberg in three shares, each merged into one of the lines in 1316
* Holstein-Segeberg (second), branch county between 1381/1384 and 1403, partitioned from and reverted to Holstein-Rendsburg

In 1386 King Olaf II of Denmark and his mother-regent, Queen Margarethe I, elevated Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg and his cognatic successors with the Duchy of Schleswig. He thus became as Gerhard II, Duke of Schleswig. Until 1390 the Rendsburg branch united by inheritance all branches except of that of Holstein-Pinneberg.

When the Holstein-Rendsburg line of the Schauenburg counts became extinct with the death of Adolf VIII, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg in 1459, (who was also Adolf I, Duke of Schleswig and in personal union with Holstein), King Christian I of Denmark, inherited the Duchy of Schleswig (a Danish fief) as next in line from Adolf I-VIII who was his maternal uncle. The next year, through the Treaty of Ribe (1460), Christian was elected Count of Holstein-Rendsburg, then still a Saxe-Lauenburgian within the Holy Roman Empire.

Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.

In 1474 Lauenburg’s liege lord, the German Emperor Friedrich III, elevated Christian I as Count of Holstein-Rendsburg to Duke of Holstein, thus become an immediate imperial (reichsunmittelbar) vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duchy of Holstein retained that status until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.

Partitions of the Duchy of Holstein (1474–1866)

In 1490, the Duchy of Holstein was divided into Holstein-Segeberg and Holstein-Gottorp. Holstein-Segeberg remained with the Danish king and was also known as Royal Holstein; later it came to be known as Holstein-Glückstadt. Holstein-Gottorp, also known as Ducal Holstein, was given to a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, to which the kings of Denmark belonged.

Between 1533 and 1544 King Christian III of Denmark ruled the entire Duchies of Holstein and of Schleswig also in the name of his then still minor half-brothers John the Elder and Adolf. In 1544 they partitioned the Duchies of Holstein (a fief of the Holy Roman Empire) and of Schleswig (a Danish fief) in an unusual way, following negotiations between the brothers and the Estates of the Realm of the duchies, which had constituted in 1460 by the Treaty of Ribe and strictly opposed a factual partition. The elder three brothers determined their youngest brother Frederick for a career as Lutheran administrator of an ecclesiastical state within the Holy Roman Empire.

Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.

So the revenues of the duchies were divided in three equal shares by assigning the revenues of particular areas and landed estates to each of the elder brothers, while other general revenues, such as taxes from towns and customs dues, were levied together but then shared among the brothers. The estates, whose revenues were assigned to the parties, made Holstein and Schleswig look like patchworks, technically inhibiting the emergence of separate new duchies, as intended by the estates of the duchies. The secular rule in the fiscally divided duchies thus became a condominium of the parties. As dukes of Holstein and Schleswig the rulers of both houses bore the formal title of “Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Ditmarsh and Stormarn”. The three shares are usually called:

* Gottorp ducal share in Holstein and Schleswig, partitioned from ducal Holstein in 1544, acquired half of Haderslev share in 1581 (thus thereafter simply called ducal share), merged into the royal share in 1773 with its ruler receiving in return the prior Danish-held County of Oldenburg.
* Haderslev ducal share in Holstein and Schleswig, partitioned from ducal Holstein in 1544, halved between Gottorp and royal share in 1581
* Royal share in Holstein and Schleswig, acquired half of Haderslev share in 1581, the County of Holstein-Pinneberg in 1640 and the Gottorp share in 1713 (northern part) and 1773 (southern part), thus then comprising all of Holstein. Between 1648 and 1773 the royal share used to be called Holstein-Glückstadt after its capital Glückstadt. Parts of the former County of Holstein-Pinneberg were transformed 1649/50 into the Imperial County of Rantzau, which fell back to the Danish Crown in 1726.
*
The dynastic name Holstein-Gottorp comes as convenient usage from the technically more correct Duke of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp. Adolf, the third son of King Frederik I of Denmark and his second wife, Sophie of Pomerania, and the second youngest half-brother of King Christian III, founded the dynastic branch called House of Holstein-Gottorp, which is a cadet branch of the then royal Danish House of Oldenburg. The Danish monarchs and the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp ruled both duchies together as to general government, however, collected their revenues in their separate estates. John the Elder conveniently called Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev produced no issue, so no branch emerged from his side.

Similar to the above-mentioned agreement Christian III’s youngest son John the Younger gained for him and his heirs a share in Holstein’s and Schleswig’s revenues in 1564, comprising a third of the royal share, thus a ninth of Holstein and Schleswig as to the fiscal point of view. John the Younger and his heirs, however, had no share in the condominial rule, so they were not ruling but mere titular dukes.

The share of John the Elder, who died in 1581, was halved between Adolf and Frederik II, thus increasing again the royal share by a fiscal sixth of Holstein and Schleswig. As an effect the complicated fiscal division of both separate duchies, Holstein and Schleswig, with shares of each party scattered in both duchies, provided them with a condominial government binding both together, partially superseding their legally different affiliation as Holy Roman and Danish fiefs.

The County of Holstein-Pinneberg, which had remained a separately ruled territory in Holstein until its line was extinct in 1640, was merged into the then royal share of the Duchy of Holstein. The Duke of Holstein-Gottorp became emperor of Russia in 1762 as Peter III and was planning an attack on Denmark to recover the Holstein-Gottorplands possessions in Schleswig, which were seized by the Danish king in 1713. Although Peter was soon overthrown by his wife, Catherine II the Great, the Danes determined to rid themselves of this problem. In 1773, they exchanged the County of Oldenburg for the Gottorp lands in Holstein, bringing all of Holstein under their control. Thus, Holstein was again united in one state.

The territory of Holstein was enlarged by the conquest of the independent Republic of Dithmarschen in 1559, which was divided among the three ducal houses. After 1581 the southern part remained to the Danish Crown, the northern part was ruled by the House of Gottorp until 1773.

United Holstein

With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 Holstein’s imperial vassal status turned void. It thus became a sovereign state. Because of its personal unionwith Denmark, the Duchy of Holstein did not come under French occupation during the Napoleonic era (however, the neighboring duchy of Lauenburg was annexed by France in 1811 and became a part of Bouches-de-l’Elbe). From 1815 to 1864 it was a member of the German Confederation, though still in personal union with Denmark (the King of Denmark being also Duke of Holstein).

On this day in Royal History…July 1,

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Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine., King Alfonso VI of Castile, King Christian II of Denmark, King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig, King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, Ludwig IV, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria, Sweden and Norway

1109 – Death of King Alfonso VI of Castile (b. 1040)

1481 – Birth of future King Christian II of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (d. 1559)

1506 – Birth of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1526)

1534 – Birth of King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig (d. 1588)

1862 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, second daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, the future Ludwig IV,  Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

Princess Alice & Prince Ludwig.