January 17, 1991: Death of King Olav V of Norway

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Alexander of Denmark, Alexandra of Denmark, Carl of Denmark, Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Frederik VIII of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Maud of Wales, Märtha of Sweden, Olav Magnusson, Olav V of Norway, Royal numbering

Olav V (July 2, 1903 – January 17, 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.

Olav V was born Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik of Denmark in Appleton House on the Royal Sandringham Estate, Flitcham, United Kingdom. His parents were Prince Carl of Denmark, second son of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (later King Frederik VIII), and Princess Maud of Wales, youngest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark. Edward VII was the eldest son of Britain’s Queen Victoria.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Alexandra of Denmark were siblings making Olav’s parents first cousins.

When Olav’s father was elected King of Norway, he took the name Haakon VII, and on the day he was inaugurated, he gave his son the Norwegian name Olav after King Olaf II Haakonsson of Norway who reigned from 1015 to 1028. Olaf II died July 30, 1030.

Olav was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV in the fourteenth century, and his parents made sure he was given as much of a Norwegian upbringing as possible.

In preparation for his future role, he attended both civilian and military schools.

In 1929, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden. During World War II his leadership was much appreciated and he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. At his death in 1991, he was the last surviving grandchild of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark.

On March 21, 1929 in Oslo, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden, the second child of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Her father was the younger brother of King Gustav V of Sweden, making her a first cousin twice removed of the present King of Sweden, and her mother was the younger sister of King Christian X of Denmark and of King Haakon VII of Norway. with whom he had two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid and one son, Harald (future King Harald V of Norway)

As exiles during World War II, Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children lived in Washington, D.C., where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Following a lengthy period of ill-health, Märtha died of cancer at The National Hospital in Oslo in 5 April 1954.[citation needed] At the time of her death, her elder daughter Ragnhild was expecting her first child. Her death came little more than three years before her husband ascended the throne as king. Her death was a tremendous loss for the future king Olav and the children as well as for Norway.

King Haakon VII was injured in an accident in 1955; his son Olav served as regent until his death. Haakon died at the Royal Palace in Oslo on September 21, 1957. He was 85 years old. After his death, Olav succeeded him as Olav V.

Olav reigned as a “People’s King,” and became extremely popular. He liked to drive his own cars, and would drive in the public lanes, even though as a monarch he was allowed to drive in bus lanes. When driving was restricted during the 1973 energy crisis, King Olav – who could have driven legally – wanted to lead by example; while preparing for a skiing trip, he dressed up in his skiing outfit and boarded the Holmenkollbanen suburban railway carrying his skis on his shoulder. When later asked how he dared to go out in public without bodyguards, he replied that “he had 4 million bodyguards” – the population of Norway was at the time 4 million.

Although the constitution nominally vested Olav with executive power, he was not responsible for exercising it. One source states that his “duties were largely ceremonial”. His acts were not valid without the countersignature of a minister–usually the Prime Minister–who then became politically responsible for the act in question.

As King, Olav V, he had the right to appoint the government, but in practice it was not possible for him to keep a government in office against the will of the Storting. Thus, in practice, his role was mostly representative in nature. Nonetheless, like his father before him, he commanded great moral authority as a symbol of the nation’s unity.

Owing to his considerate, down-to-earth style, King Olav was immensely popular, resulting in the nickname Folkekongen (“The People’s King”). In a 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Olav was voted “Norwegian of the Century”.

During the summer of 1990, the King suffered from health problems, but recovered somewhat during Christmas the same year. At the age of 87, on 17 January 1991, while residing in the Royal Lodge Kongsseteren in Oslo, he became ill and died in the evening of a myocardial infarction.

An interview given by King Harald V and hints in a biography by Jo Benkow, who was the President of the Storting at that time, mention the possibility that King Olav suffered great trauma upon learning of the outbreak of the first Gulf War, which began the day of his death. Olav’s son Harald V succeeded him as King.

The Ordinal Number of King Olav V

Most early kings of Norway are known more by their sobriquet than their ordinals. During the history of Norway the problem with numbering the kings is that there were times when brothers ruled jointly or there were rival kings. All in all the numbering has been consistent with all the names except for the name Olav.

The one in question is Olav Magnusson who was King of Norway from 1103 to 1115 and was the son of King Magnus III Barefoot and Sigrid, daughter of Sakse of Vik.

Olav Magnusson was a co-king together with his half-brothers Sigurd Jorsalfar and Øystein Magnusson after his father Magnus III died in 1103. He was king of Norway for twelve years, but did not, like his brothers, leave a lasting impression.

Olav Magnusson died at the age of 17 and and never ruled his share of the kingdom on his own while his brothers acted as his regent on his behalf. Historians at first judged him as to be insignificant and when numbering the kings of Norway they left Olav Magnusson out from the official numbering.

Olav Magnusson should have been counted as Olav IV of Norway but that ordinal was assigned to King Olaf Haakonsson (1380-1387).

In the middle ages Norway and Denmark, along with Sweden formed the Union of Kalmar in 1397 uniting all three Scandinavian states under one Monarch. Sweden broke away from this union in 1523 and the union between Norway and Denmark lasted until 1814.

However in 1814 Norway was not able to gain its independence and fell under the control of Sweden. It wasn’t until 1905 when Norway became an independent state.

Norway chose a monarchical form of government and elected the second son of King Christian IX of Denmark, Prince Carl of Denmark as their king. Prince Carl chose the Norwegian name of Haakon and became King Haakon VII and he ruled until 1957.

His son, Olav V of Norway 1957-1991, reigned using the ordinal “V” but would have been Olav VI, had the co-king Olaf Magnusson been numbered and not ignored by historians.

September 18….These dates in History.

Tags

Carl XV of Sweden-Norway, Eleanor of Portugal, George I of Great Britain, Harald III of Norway, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of the Franks, Marie of France, Philip II of France

Events

1066 – Norwegian king Harald III Hardrada lands with Tostig Godwinson at the mouth of the Humber River and begins his invasion of England.

1137 – Eric III succeeds to the throne of Denmark. (c. 1120 – 27 August 1146) was the King of Denmark from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of Eric I of Denmark and the nephew of Eric II of Denmark, whom he succeeded on the throne. He abdicated in 1146, as the first and only Danish monarch to do so voluntarily. His succession led to a period of civil war between Sweyn III, Canute V, and Waldemar I.

1180 – Philippe II August becomes King of France at the age of fifteen. It was during Philippe II’s reign that the title of the monarch changed from King of the Franks to King of France.

1714 – King George I arrives in Great Britain after becoming king on August 1 after the death of Queen Anne.

1872 – King Oscar II accedes to the throne of Sweden–Norway.

Births

1344 – Marie of France (September 18, 1344 – October 11, 1404) was the sixth child and second daughter of Jean II of France and Bonne of Bohemia. In 1364, Marie married Robert I, Duke of Bar.

1424 – birth of Eleanor of Portugal (September 18, 1434 – September 3,1467) was Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. A Portuguese infanta (princess), daughter of King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon, she was the consort of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III and the mother of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.

1765 – Pope Gregory XVI (September 18, 1765 – June 1, 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from February 2, 1831 to his death in 1846.

1786 – Christian VIII of Denmark, was the king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederik, King of Norway in 1814.

Deaths

1137 – Eric II, king of Denmark was king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137. Eric was an illegitimate son of Eric I of Denmark, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle Niels of Denmark, and was declared king in 1134.

1180 – Louis VII, King of the Franks. (1120 – September 18, 1180), called the Younger or the Young was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet “le Jeune”) and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe.

1361 – Ludwig V, duke of Bavaria (b. 1315) called the Brandenburger (May 1315 – 18 September 1361), a member of the House of Wittelsbach, ruled as Margrave of Brandenburg from 1323 to 1351 and as Duke of Bavaria from 1347 until his death. From 1342 he also was co-ruling Count of Tyrol by his marriage with the Meinhardiner countess Margaret.

1675 – Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (April 5, 1604 –September 18, 1675, Allenbach) was Duke of Lorraine from 1624 until his death in 1675, with a brief interruption in 1634, when he abdicated under French pressure in favor of his younger brother, Nicholas François.

1872 – Carl XV of Sweden (b. 1826) Carl XV of Sweden was also Carl IV of Norway (May 3, 1826 – September 18, 1872). Though known as King Carl XV in Sweden (and also on contemporary Norwegian coins), he was actually the ninth Swedish king by that name, as his predecessor Carl IX (reigned 1604–1611) had adopted a numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden.

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

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Christian IX, Christian X of Denmark, Frederick VIII of Denmark, King Haakon VII of Norway, Kingdom of Norway, Prince Carl of Denmark, Princess Maud of Wales

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

King Haakon VII of Norway

Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederik VIII of Denmark and 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 Charles IV), and Louise of the Netherlands.

future Frederik VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden. (Parents)

At Buckingham Palace on July 22, 1896, Prince Carl married his first cousin Princess Maud of Wales, youngest daughter of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX and Princess Louise. Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav (and eventually king Olav V of Norway), was born on July 2, 1903.

Princess Maud of Wales

Prince Carl was educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and served in the Royal Danish Navy. After the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway, Prince Carl was offered the Norwegian crown. Following a November plebiscite, he accepted the offer and was formally elected King of Norway by the Storting. He took the Old Norse name Haakon and ascended to the throne as Haakon VII, becoming the first independent Norwegian monarch since 1387.

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.

King Haakon VII of Norway

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, his elder brother Christian X, and his nephew Frederick IX ascend the throne of Denmark, in 1906, 1912, 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.

May 4, 1394: Birth of Philippa of England, Queen Consort of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

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Eric of Pomerania, Henry Bolingbroke, Henry IV of England, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden, Mary de Bohun, Philippa of England, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark, Regent, Scandinavia, Union of Kalmar

Philippa of England (June 4, 1394 – January 5, 1430), also known as Philippa of Lancaster, was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1406 to 1430 by marriage to King Eric of Pomerania during the Kalmar Union. She was the daughter of King Henry IV of England by his first spouse Mary de Bohun and the younger sister of King Henry V. Queen Philippa participated significantly in state affairs during the reign of her spouse, and served as regent of Denmark from 1423 to 1425.

Philippa of England

Family and Early life

Philippa was born to Henry Bolingbroke and Mary de Bohun, at Peterborough Castle, Peterborough. Her father became king in 1399. She is mentioned a couple of times during her childhood: in 1403, she was present at her widowed father’s wedding to Joan of Navarre, and the same year, she made a pilgrimage to Canterbury. She mainly lived at Berkhamsted Castle and Windsor Castle.

Henry IV’s first wife Mary de Bohun died at Peterborough Castle, giving birth to her last child Philippa of England. She was buried in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, Leicester on July 6, 1394.

Henry IV, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Through Mary de Bohun was also a descendant of the Kings of England. Mary was a daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341-1373) by his wife Joan FitzAlan (1347/8–1419), a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster. Through her mother, Mary was descended from Llywelyn the Great.

Mary’s grandmother (Philippe’s great-grandmother) Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; 1318-1372) was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster and Maud Chaworth. Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster (c. 1281 – 22 September 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III (1216–1272) of England and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327), his first cousin.

Marriage

In 1400 or 1401, King Henry IV suggested to Queen Margarethe I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden that an alliance be formed between England and the Kalmar Union through a double wedding between Henry’s daughter Philippa to the heir to the Nordic thrones, Eric of Pomerania, and Henry’s son Henry to Eric’s sister Catherine.

Eric of Pomerania (1381 or 1382 – September 24, 1459) was the ruler of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439, succeeding his grandaunt, Queen Margarethe I. He is 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). Later, in all three countries he became more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania.

Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Queen Margarethe could not agree to the terms and the marriage between Henry and Catherine never occurred. In 1405, however, a Scandinavian embassy composed of two envoys from each of the three Nordic kingdoms arrived in England, and the marriage between Philippa and Eric was proclaimed.

The November 26, 1405, Philippa was married to Eric by proxy in Westminster, with the Swedish nobleman Ture Bengtsson Bielke as the stand-in for the groom, and on December 8, she was formally proclaimed Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the presence of the Nordic ambassadors.

Philippa left England from Lynn in August 1406 with an entourage of male and female English nobles and arrived in Helsingborg in September, where she was greeted by Eric and Queen Margaret. The wedding between Philippa and Eric of Pomerania took place on October 26, 1406 in Lund Cathedral.

Philippa was the first documented princess in history to wear a white wedding dress during a royal wedding ceremony: she wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with grey squirrel and ermine. The wedding ceremony was followed by her coronation.

The festivities lasted until November, during which several men were knighted and Philippa’s dowry was officially received by the court chamberlain and clerics from the three kingdoms. Philippa was in turn granted dower lands in all three kingdoms: Närke and Örebro In Sweden, Fyn with Odense and Nasbyhoved in Danmark, and Romerike in Norway.

Queen and Regent

Queen Philippa and King Eric lived in Kalmar Castle in Sweden with their court the first three years of their marriage. Philippa was given her own court, supervised by her chief lady in waiting, Lady Katarina Knutsdotter, a granddaughter of Saint Bridget of Sweden through Lady Märta Ulfsdotter, who had been the chief lady in waiting of Queen Margarethe herself.

From 1409 onward, and particularly after the death of Queen Margarethe I in 1412, when Eric became King de facto, the royal couple mainly resided in Denmark. However, Philippa frequently returned to Sweden, and as she had lived there during her first years in Scandinavia, she was given a close relationship to Sweden, of the three Kingdoms, from the beginning.

Queen Philippa was actively involved in state affairs. By the Pomeranian Act of Succession of 1416, Eric named his cousin Bogusław IX of Pomerania as heir to the three Kingdoms if his marriage to Philippa remained childless. When Eric left to participate in warfare in Femern in 1420, the Act was amended and Philippa was given an active role. The revised Act stated that upon the death of Eric, Queen Philippa should be appointed Regent of the realm until Bogusław could be instated as King; and should Bogusław inherit the three Kingdoms while still a minor, Philippa would serve as Regent during his minority.

Eric evidently had great trust in Philippa. Both ancient and modern authors give a favourable account of her rule. It is said that in certain matters she was more efficient than Eric. However, scholars have largely accepted this judgment of the Queen without going into detail. Her great dower lands in Sweden increased Philippa’s interest in this Kingdom, and while Eric preferred to reside in Denmark, Philippa made such frequent and long visits in Sweden, where she acted as Eric’s proxy while present, that she was the de facto Regent of Sweden for the most part of the 1420s, though not formally made such.

In the spring of 1426, Philippa was sent to Sweden by Eric where she summoned the Swedish council in Vadstena and managed to secure support and funds for the Dano-Hanseatic War (1426–35) despite the Swedish opposition to this war. In January 1427, when the war was going the wrong way for Eric, she summoned the Swedish council to Nyköping, where she again managed to secure Swedish support for Eric in his war. At this visit, she also acquired additional Swedish estates to support her future in Sweden, where she evidently planned to retire as a widow.

In March 1427 she returned to Denmark where she stayed for three years during the war. In 1428, Philippa successfully organized the defense of the Danish capital against the attack of the Hanseatic League during the 1428 bombardment of Copenhagen. She was hailed as a heroine by the people of Copenhagen for rallying the citizens to fight the Hanseatic fleet in Copenhagen Harbor.

In late 1429, Philippa left for Sweden, officially on a mission from Eric to secure support for his war in Sweden, where the war had been opposed from the start. In Sweden, she traveled to Vadstena Abbey as usual, where she was welcomed by a delegation of Swedish riksråd. Not long after her arrival, however, she fell ill.

This was an attack of some kind of a recurring illness which had been noted to affect her at times for at least the previous five years. The queen bore a stillborn boy and her health deteriorated after the stillbirth. She died on January 5, 1430 at the age of 35 and was buried in the Cloister Church at Vadstena, close to Linköping in Östergötland, Sweden. She made several donations to Vadstena Abbey in her will. After her death Eric formed a relationship with a former lady-in-waiting of Philippa’s, Cecilia.

May 15, 1470: Death of King Carl VIII of Sweden.

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Carl VIII of Sweden, Christian I of Denmark, Christopher of Bavaria., Eric of Pomerania, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden, Pope Eugene IV, Union of Kalmar

Carl VIII of Sweden, (also Carl Knutsson) (c.1408/1409-1470), in reality King Carl II, and as Carl I of Norway,, was king of Sweden (1448–1457, 1464–1465 and from 1467 to his death in 1470) and king of Norway (1449–1450).

Carl VIII, King of Sweden and Norway.

Regnal name

Carl was actually the second Swedish king by the name of Carl. King Carl VIII is a posthumous invention and it was not contemporary to his time. His regnal number “VIII” was dirrived counting backwards from King Charles IX (r. 1604–1611) who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden.

The six others before King Charles VII (r. c. 1161-1167) are unknown to any sources before Johannes Magnus’s 16th century book Historia de omnibus gothorum sueonumque regibus, and are considered his invention. Carl was the first Swedish monarch of the name to actually use a regnal number as Carl II (later retrospectively renumbered VIII), on his queen’s tombstone (1451) at Vadstena.

Early life

Carl Knutsson 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, the only daughter and heiress of Carl Ulvsson, Lord of Tofta. His father Knut was first cousin of Erik Johansson Vasa’s father.

In 1434 Carl Knutsson became a member of the Privy Council of Sweden and in October of the same year he assumed one of its most senior offices, Lord High Constable of Sweden, or Riksmarsk. At this time Sweden was ruled by Eric of Pomerania (c.1381/1382-1459) was the ruler of the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439. He succeeded his grandaunt, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Eric of Pomerania is 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). Later, in all three countries he became more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania which was a pejorative term intended to point out that he belonged elsewhere.

Eric of Pomerania

Because of the growing dissatisfaction with King Eric of Pomerania among the Swedish nobility, Carl was in 1436 made Rikshövitsman, an office equating to Military Governor of the Realm, and finally replaced the king as an elected regent from 1438 to 1440, as the result of the rebellion by Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson.

During Carl’s brief regentship, the so-called Rebellion of David (a peasant rebellion) took place in Finland. Eric of Pomerania was forced to step down from the throne and in 1440 Christopher of Bavaria, was elected king of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Christopher of Bavaria 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. Count Palatine Johann was a son of King Ruprecht of Germany (1352–1410). 1352-1410), a member of the House of Wittelsbach, was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Ruprecht III) and King of Germany (rex Romanorum) from 1400 until his death.

Christopher of Bavaria (1416-1448) was King of Denmark (1440–48, as Christopher III), Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union.

Christopher III of Denmark, Norway and Sweden

At the coronation of Christopher of Bavaria as King of Sweden, in September 1441, Carl was dubbed a knight and appointed Lord High Justiciar of Sweden.

King of Sweden

At the death of Christopher in 1448, without a direct heir, which created a power vacuum, Carl Knutsson was elected King of Sweden on June 20, and on June 28, he was hailed as the new monarch at the Stones of Mora, not far from Uppsala, mostly due to his own military troops being present at the place, against the wishes of regents Bengt and Nils Jönsson (Oxenstierna).

However, in September 1448 the counts of Holstein made the Danish Privy Council elect Christian, Count of Oldenburg as King of Denmark. Christian 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 was the eldest son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg by his second wife, Helvig of Holstein

A rivalry ensued between Carl VIII and Christian for the throne of Norway, which had also been ruled by Christopher, with both kings gaining support from various factions in the Norwegian Council of the realm. In 1449 a portion of the Norwegian council elected Carl VIII King of Norway, and he was crowned in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 20 November. However, Christian also continued pursuing his claim to Norway. The Swedish aristocracy was reluctant to back Carl VIII in a war against Denmark over Norway, and already in 1450, Carl was forced to relinquish the throne of Norway in favour of Christian.

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

From 1451, Sweden and Denmark were in state of war against each other. Because of devastating warring, a growing opposition against Carl emerged among the nobility in Sweden. The strongest opponent was the Swedish church which opposed Carl’s efforts to concentrate royal and secular power. Other opponents were the family group of Oxenstierna and the House of Vasa, which had been on the opposing side in the election of king and lost.

Later reigns

During the next 20 years, Carl VIII was deposed in Sweden twice, only to regain the throne and reign three times (1448–57, 1464–65, 1467–70).

In 1457, a rebellion took place, led by Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson (Oxenstierna) and a nobleman, Erik Axelsson Tott. Carl went into exile to Danzig (Gdańsk). The two leaders of the revolt took the regentship, and organized the election of Christian I of Denmark as king of Sweden (firstly in Turku, then in Stockholm).

In 1463, King Christian quarrelled with Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson because of his taxation policies. The Archbishop was imprisoned, which resulted in a rebellion by his relatives, and led to Christian being driven out of Sweden. Carl VIII was recalled by the rebels and returned at the head of a force of German and Polish mercenaries.

Upon arrival in Sweden he found also himself at war with Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson and after two bloody battles in the winter of 1464–1465 Carl VIII was again exiled. In 1467, the regent Erik Axelsson Tott, now having reverted to support Carl VIII once more had him crowned. Carl VIII then reigned for three years, sharing power with the Riksråd, until his death in Stockholm in May 1470.

Marriages

His first marriage, in 1428, to Birgitta Turesdotter (Bielke) (died 1436) gave him his daughter Christina, (Bonde) (ca 1432- before 1500), married 1446 to the noble, councillor, and courtier Erik Eriksson (Gyllenstierna). Carl VIII and Birgitta Turesdotter had one son, Ture Karlsson (Bonde) (died young before 1447).

Carl VIII’s second marriage, in 1438, was to Catherine Karlsdotter (Gumsehuvud, died in 1450) the daughter of the nobleman Karl Ormsson. This union produced his second daughter Magdalena, who married Ivar Axelsson (Tott). Before their marriage, dispensation was obtained from Pope Eugene IV (r.1431-1447), as Catherine was related to Carl’s first wife. This was to ensure that children born in the marriage would be regarded as legitimate.

Coat of Arms of Carl VIII of Sweden.

The marriage is described as very happy and resulted in nine children. It was said that “Their relationship had always been of the best kind”. Their second daughter, Magdalene, married Ivar Axelsson (Tott), an uncle of Ingeborg Tott.

Queen Catherine was described as beautiful and cheerful; she created a nice environment and a relaxed atmosphere at court, and she was forthcoming to those who came seeking audience.

In 1450, she became one of many who died of the plague in Stockholm, and was deeply mourned by the king. She was buried in 1451 in Vadstena Abbey.

Four sons died early, of his four daughters, two became nuns, one never married. His only married daughter was Magdalena of Sweden (1445-1495). In 1468–1470, her spouse Ivar Axelsson (Tott) was the promised successor of her father as regent.

Carl VIII also had two children by his third wife (and former mistress) Christina Abrahamsdotter, Anna and Carl. The parentage of Christina Abrahamsdotter is not known, but she is believed to have been the daughter of Abraham Pedersson, governor of Raseborg. At the time of their meeting King Carl VIII of Sweden got to know her during his exile in Finland 1457–1464. When Carl returned to Sweden in 1464 and reclaimed the Swedish throne, she followed him there as royal mistress. In 1465, they had a son together, Carl Karlsson (Bonde) (1465–1488)

In 1470, during the last year of his life, when Carl married Christina. She thereby became queen, and her son became legitimate. The exact date of the marriage is unknown. Traditionally, the wedding was to have taken place on his deathbed. The marriage took place on an unknown date during the spring of 1470, a few weeks before the death of Carl in May. The wedding is said to have taken place in Stockholm with 50 wedding witnesses. Their daughter, Anna Karlsdotter (Bonde), was married to the noble Håkan Svensson (Bölja), governor of Västerås castle.

Legacy

Carl VIII represented a growing nationalist tendency among the Swedish aristocracy which tried first to subjugate the other Scandinavian countries under Sweden but soon focused on dissolving the Kalmar Union. In the next century, when the union was finally dissolved, Carl received some respect as an early champion of Swedish independence.

Carl’s great-granddaughter Christina Nilsdotter Gyllenstierna was married to Sten Sture the Younger whose regentship of Sweden represented similar values: nationalism and Swedish independence.

Though the Bonde family, not descendants of Carl VIII himself but just his collateral relatives, remained prominent among the Swedish nobility and in politics into the 20th Century, Charles’s own descendants did not ascend nor inherit any thrones until Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg became Christian IX of Denmark in 1863. Carl VIII’s descendants have since ascended the thrones of Norway, Greece and Great Britain.

His distant direct descendant, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married the Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, in the 20th century, and with Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf‘s son, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Carl VIII’s blood returned to the Swedish throne.

April 27, 1650: Birthday of Princess Charlotte-Amalie of Hesse-Cassel

Tags

Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt, Catherine Amalie of Hesse- Cassel, Christian V of Denmark and Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Princess Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Roskilde Cathedral

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel (April 27, 1650 – March 17, 1714) was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway by marriage to King Christian V.

Early years

Charlotte Amalie was born in Cassel, Hesse, of the Holy Roman Empire. Her parents were Landgrave Wilhelm VI of Hesse-Cassel and his consort Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg.

Charlotte Amalie was raised in the Reformed faith. She was well educated in French, Italian, geography, and philosophy. French was to be her preferred written language, while she spoke German with her more intimate friends. Her mother was a religiously strict adherent of the Reformed Church, and politically oriented toward Brandenburg, both views which were to be shared by her daughter.

On June 15, 1667 in Nykøbing Slot, Charlotte Amalie married Crown Prince Christian of Denmark. The marriage was arranged by Queen Sophie Amalie of Denmark, (Born Princess Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the daughter of Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt). She desired a daughter-in-law that she could control and expected this to be the case for a princess of Hesse elevated to the status of queen, and a member of the reformed church, who would be religiously isolated in Lutheran Denmark.

Christian was sent to meet her in Hesse already in 1665, but the negotiations were drawn out because of religious concerns. In the marriage contract, she was not required to convert and she secured the right to keep her faith after her wedding to Christian, who as ruler of Denmark would become the head of the state Lutheran Church, a term which was contested and met some resistance before it was accepted. She did keep her faith after wedding.

Charlotte Amalie became queen of Denmark upon the accession of Christian to the throne in 1670. Her Reformed faith caused the Lutheran clergy to oppose her anointing as queen. She could not be anointed as a member of the Reformed faith because the ceremony would require a Lutheran communion, which she refused. As queen, she chose the motto L’homme propose, Dieu dispose.

King Christian V did not wish his wife to play a political role in government similar to his mothers during his father’s reign, and further more disliked her Pro-Brandenburg sympathies, and therefore took care to remove Charlotte Amalie from exerting any influence in state affairs. She was nevertheless regarded as a potential power holder at court.

Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway

The relationship between Charlotte Amalie and Christian V are described as a mutually respectful friendship, and while not a love affair, they enjoyed each others company and seemingly coexisted harmoniously. In 1672, the king entered in to a permanent love affair to Sophie Amalie Moth, who after the fall of Peder Griffenfeld four years later was made the official mistress in Denmark, a public adultery which caused an embarrassing situation for Charlotte Amalie.

Nevertheless, “no mistress could deprive her of her position as queen, and she understood to defend it”; Charlotte Amalie made the most of her position as queen, both in public representational life as well as in her private interaction with the king. It is noted how she was always at the king’s side, making use of her rank as queen and accompanying him on journeys, hunting and in warfare, and how she could play cards with him late in to the evenings, developing a comfortable and respectful relationship.

Reportedly, she grieved over her son’s bigamy, but there is no record of her having expressed any criticism of it to him. She is known as the protector of the famous Marie Grubbe after Grubbe’s divorce and remarriage to her lover, which had made her an outcast. Charlotte Amelie gave refuge to the couple on her own domains.

Charlotte Amalie died of scarlet fever on March 27, 1714 in Charlottenborg, “heartily grieved by many”. She was buried in Roskilde Cathedral.

April 15, 1646: Birth of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway.

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Carl XI of Sweden, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel, Christian V of Denmark and Norway, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe, Frederick III of Denmark, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Scanian War, Sophie Amalie Moth, Treaty of Roskilde

Christian V (April 15, 1646 – August 26 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699.

King Christian V of Denmark and Norway was born the eldest son of King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the daughter of Georg, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Christian V, King of Denmark and Norway

King Frederik III instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark-Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in Western historiography. He also ordered the creation of the Throne Chair of Denmark.

Christian was elected successor to his father in June 1650. This was not a free choice, but de facto automatic hereditary succession. Escorted by his chamberlain Christoffer Parsberg, Christian went on a long trip abroad, to Holland, England, France, and home through Germany. On this trip, he saw absolutism in its most splendid achievement at the young Louis XIV’s court, and heard about the theory of the divine right of kings. He returned to Denmark in August 1663. From 1664 he was allowed to attend proceedings of the State College. Hereditary succession was made official by Royal Law in 1665. Christian was hailed as heir in Copenhagen in August 1665.

Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the decree that institutionalized the supremacy of the king in Denmark-Norway, he fortified the absolutist system against the aristocracy by accelerating his father’s practice of allowing Holstein nobles but also Danish and Norwegian commoners into state service.

He became King Christian V of Denmark and Norway upon his father’s death on February 9, 1670, and was formally crowned in 1671. He was the first hereditary king of Denmark-Norway, and in honor of this, Denmark-Norway acquired costly new crown jewels and a magnificent new ceremonial sword.

Crown of Christian V of Denmark and Norway

It is generally argued that Christian V’s personal courage and affability made him popular among the common people. Part of Christian’s appeal to the common people may be explained by the fact that he allowed Danish and Norwegian commoners into state service, but his attempts to curtail the influence of the nobility also meant continuing his father’s drive toward absolutism.

King Christian V was marred by his unsuccessful attempt to regain Scania for Denmark in the Scanian War. Christian V initiated the Scanian War (1675-1679) against Sweden in an attempt to reconquer Scania which Denmark the lost under the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The failed war exhausted Denmark’s economic resources without securing any gains.

After the Scanian War, his sister, Princess Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark, married Swedish King Carl XI, whose mother was a stout supporter of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. In spite of the family ties, war between the brothers-in-law was close again in 1689, when Carl XI of Sweden nearly provoked confrontation with Denmark-Norway by his support of the exiled Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in his claims to the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp in Schleswig-Holstein.

Like Carl XI of Sweden, who had never been outside Sweden, Christian V spoke only German and Danish and was therefore often considered poorly educated due to his inability to communicate with visiting foreign diplomats.

Marriage

King Christian’s future spouse, Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel, was born in Cassel, Hesse, in the Holy Roman Empire. Her parents were Landgrave Wilhelm VI of Hesse-Cassel and his consort Hedwig Sophia of Brandenburg.

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel

On June 15, 1667 in Nykøbing Slot, Charlotte Amalie married Crown Prince Christian of Denmark and Norway. The marriage was arranged by Christian’s mother, Queen Sophie Amalie of Denmark and Norway, who desired a daughter-in-law that she could control and expected this to be the case for a princess of Hesse elevated to the status of queen, and a member of the reformed church, who would be religiously isolated in Lutheran Denmark.

Christian was sent to meet her in Hesse already in 1665, but the negotiations were drawn out because of religious concerns. Charlotte Amalie was raised in the Reformed faith, Calvinism (also called the Reformed tradition, Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, or the Reformed faith) a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians.

In the marriage contract, she was not required to convert and she secured the right to keep her faith after her wedding to Christian, who as ruler of Denmark would become the head of the state Lutheran Church, a term which was contested and met some resistance before it was accepted. Charlotte Amalie did keep her faith after wedding.

King Christian V did not wish his wife to play a political role in government similar to his domineering mothers role during his father’s reign, and further more Christian disliked his mothers Pro-Brandenburg sympathies, and therefore took care to remove Charlotte Amalie from exerting any influence in state affairs.

The relationship between Charlotte Amalie and Christian V are described as a mutually respectful friendship, and while not a love affair, they enjoyed each others company and seemingly coexisted harmoniously. Christian V had eight children by his wife and six by his Maîtresse-en-titre, Sophie Amalie Moth (1654–1719), whom he took up with when she was sixteen in 1672, the year in which Christian publicly introduced Sophie at court.

Sophie was the daughter of his former tutor Poul Moth. After the fall of Minister Peder Griffenfeld Christian made Sophie Amalie Moth the official mistress in Denmark, a move which insulted his wife, and made her countess of Samsø on December 31, 1677. This public adultery caused an embarrassing situation for Queen Charlotte Amalie. Nevertheless, “no mistress could deprive her of her position as queen, and she understood to defend it”.

Sophie Amalie Moth

As mention Christian V and his mistress Sophie Amalie Moth Together they had five acknowledged illegitimate children, all of whom bore the surname Gyldenløve. The still-existing Danish noble family of Danneskiold-Samsøe is descended from her. Their son, Christian Gyldenløve (1674-1703) became the Danish Count Danneskiold-Samsøe and all members of the Danneskiold-Samsøe noble family descend from his second marriage to Dorothea Krag. One descendent of the Danneskiold-Samsøe family was Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, German Empress, consort of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

During his reign, science witnessed a golden age due to the work of the astronomer Ole Rømer in spite of the king’s personal lack of scientific knowledge and interest. King Christian V died from the after-effects of a hunting accident at aged 53 and was interred in Roskilde Cathedral. Christian V’s eldest son succeeded him as King Frederik IV of Denmark and Norway.

April 10, 1603: Birth of Prince Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark.

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Bohemian Revolt, Elector of Brandenburg, Johann Georg I of Saxony, King Christian IV of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony, Prince Christian of Denmark, The Thirty Years War

Christian (April 10, 1603 – June 2, 1647) was Prince-Elect of Denmark since 1610 and Heir Apparent to the Throne of the Kingdom of Norway since 1603. Dying in 1647, he Never became king and was succeeded by his younger brother, Prince Frederik.

Early life

Prince Christian was born at Copenhagen Castle to King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (1577–1648) and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (1575–1612), daughter of Joachim Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg and his first wife Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin. Christian was their second son and the oldest one living, as his elder brother Frederik had died in 1599, less than a year old. As such, his father saw him as the preferable heir to the Danish throne.

Prince Christian, Prince-Elect of Denmark

At this point in time Denmark was an elective monarchy, where elective power was held by the Council of the Realm. However, the King would usually choose an heir and have him hailed as such, thus limiting the Council’s freedom of choice. Whilst Norway was formally a hereditary monarchy, making Christian Crown Prince since his birth, it remains likely that the next King of Norway would not have been another person than the next King of Denmark.

In 1608, the Council and representatives of the Estates supported the King in naming Christian as heir apparent. He was publicly hailed in 1610, both in Denmark and Norway.

Career and marriage

In 1625, Denmark ventured into the Thirty Years’ War. The Danish Intervention saw the war entering its second main phase, after the end of the Bohemian Revolt. With King Christian IV commanding on the battlefield, Prince Christian was installed as acting head of government. Christian held this post to 1627, but not without entering the battlefield in the meantime. He was even hit by two gunshots in November 1626. In 1627 he was sent to Holstein near the frontier, where he took seat in Segeberg.

He later retreated when enemy troops overran South Denmark and Jutland, as the Danish Intervention failed. During this process he even broke a leg after a fall from a wagon. In 1626, his relationship with the noble Anne Lykke caused a conflict with his father and the Council of the Realm when his father arrested Lykke because of her influence on him and tried to have her charged with sorcery.

In 1633, Christian was engaged to Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony daughter of Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony and Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia. The marriage had been discussed as early as 1630. The wedding took place on October 5, 1634 in Copenhagen among great festivities.

Princess Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony

The marriage was childless, and they resided at Nykøbing Castle in Falster. Christian was not much involved on the political scene in this phase of his life, partly to his own dismay, but he did act as head of government in 1644, when the King was absent due to the Torstenson War. In the autumn of 1644, Prince Christian had a stay in the fortified Malmø, but Swedish forces threatened the city, and Christian retreated, first to Copenhagen due to illness, then to Falster.

Later life and legacy

Christian gained a reputation as lazy and as a drinker. He was heavily indebted; despite his father’s attempts to pay some of Christian’s debts, he still owed more than 215,000 rigsdaler in 1647. Among others, he took a loan from the Duke of Gottorp in 1646 in order to finance a stay in a Bohemian spa. He left Nykøbing for Bohemia on May 8, 1647. He reached Dresden on May 28, and continued on until June 1. Not long after leaving he was struck by a fit of illness. He was brought to a castle in Gorbitz near Dresden, where he died on the next day. He was buried on November 8, 1647 in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen. In 1655, his remains were moved to the tombs at Roskilde Cathedral.

January 17, 1991: Death of King Olav V of Norway

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Christian X of Denmark, Gustaf V of Sweden, Haakon VII of Norway, Ingeborg of Denmark, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, King Harald V of Norway, Kingdom of Norway, Olav V of Norway, Princess Märtha of Sweden

Olav was born Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik in Appleton House on the royal Sandringham Estate, Flitcham, United Kingdom. His parents were Prince Carl, second son of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (later King Frederik VIII), and Princess Maud, youngest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who was the eldest son of Britain’s Queen Victoria. When Olav’s father was elected king of Norway, he took the name Haakon VII, and on the day he was inaugurated, he gave his son the Norwegian name Olav after Olaf II Haakonsson.

He became heir apparent to the Norwegian throne when his father was elected King of Norway in 1905. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV in the fourteenth century, and his parents made sure he was given as Norwegian an upbringing as possible. In preparation for his future role, he attended both civilian and military schools. In 1929, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden. During World War II his leadership was much appreciated and he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. At his death in 1991, he was the last surviving grandchild of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark.

Owing to his considerate, down-to-earth style, King Olav was immensely popular, resulting in the nickname Folkekongen (“The People’s King”). In a 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Olav was voted “Norwegian of the Century”.

Princess Märtha of Sweden

On March 21, 1929 in Oslo, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden, the second child of Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, and his wife Princess Ingeborg of Denmark. Her father was the younger brother of King Gustav V of Sweden, making her a first cousin twice removed of the present King of Sweden, and her mother was the younger sister of King Christian X of Denmark and of King Haakon VII of Norway. with whom he had two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid and one son, Harald (future King Harald V of Norway)

As exiles during World War II, Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children lived in Washington, D.C., where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin D. Roosevelt. She died in 1954, before her husband ascended the throne.

During the summer of 1990, the King suffered from health problems, but recovered somewhat during Christmas the same year. At the age of 87, on 17 January 1991, while residing in the Royal Lodge Kongsseteren in Oslo, he became ill and died in the evening of a myocardial infarction. An interview given by King Harald V and hints in a biography by Jo Benkow, who was the President of the Storting at that time, mention the possibility that King Olav suffered great trauma upon learning of the outbreak of the first Gulf War, which began the day of his death. Olav’s son Harald V succeeded him as King.

Ari Behn Has died

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Ari Behn, King Harald V of Norway, Kingdom, Kingdom of Norway, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway

Sad to report…. Norwgian news just announced that Ari Behn was found dead today. The ex-husband of Princess Märtha-Louise of Norway had taken his own life, according to a spokesman for the family. The author and artist wrote about his internal psychological struggle in his most recent book.

Ari Mikael Behn (né Bjørshol, September 30, 1972 – December 25, 2019) was a Norwegian author. He has written three novels, two collections of short stories and a book about his wedding. His 1999 short stories collection Trist som faen (“Sad as hell”) sold in about 100,000 copies and received several favourable reviews. His books have been translated into Swedish, Danish, German, Hungarian, and Icelandic as well as French. In the spring of 2011, Ari Behn made his debut as a playwright with Treningstimen, directed by Kim Sørensen and staged at Rogaland Teater.

He was married to Princess Märtha Louise of Norway from 2002 to 2017. They had had three daughters: Maud Angelica (born 2003 in Oslo), Leah Isadora (born 2005), and Emma Tallulah (born 2008).