1.
Osu Castle
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Osu Castle, also known as Fort Christiansborg or simply the Castle, is a castle located in Osu, Accra, Ghana on the coast of the Atlantic Oceans Gulf of Guinea. It also serves as the place where the president of Ghana John Atta Mills is buried, in a bird sanctuary. The area was first occupied in 1550 by the Portuguese, though in the 17th-century Portuguese influence diminished, the area came under the control of Sweden in the 1650s, led by the Dutch trader Henry Caerlof. In 1652, he was given permission to build a small fortified lodge by the King of Accra, in 1660, control passed to the Netherlands but it was soon lost to Denmark-Norway. In 1657, Caerlof had again traveled to Africa, this time representing Denmark-Norway and he aimed to conquer the forts he had previously established, which he found easy at Osu. In its early life, the castle was used in the gold and ivory trade. Osu Castle was located close to two other forts, Fort Crèvecoeur was controlled by the Dutch and Fort James by the British. The settlement at Osu was too small to store sufficient goods to compete with the others, Denmark-Norway would occupy the fort for most of the next 200 years, with some interruptions, and for much of that time it served as the capital of the Gold Coast of Denmark-Norway. In 1679 or 1680, the forts Greek assistant commander incited a mutiny to murder the commander, shortly after that, a Portuguese ship commanded by Julião de Campos Barreto visited the fort and agreed to purchase it. The fort was named Fort São Francisco Xavier after the Catholic missionary Francis Xavier, the Portuguese built a chapel and raised the bastions by three feet. The fort was abandoned on 29 August 1682 after the garrison mutinied, Danish forces returned in February 1683 after purchasing the fort back from the Portuguese. In 1685, Fort Christiansborg became the capital of the Gold Coast of Denmark-Norway, the Akwamu ethnic group occupied the fort in 1693 after overpowering the occupants while disguised as merchants. Asamani, the Akwamu leader, occupied the fort for a year, in 1694, Assameni sold the fort back to Denmark-Norway for 50 marks of gold but retained the keys, which are still in the ethnic groups possession to this day. The early 18th century was not kind to the fort, extensions were made later that century, however, and structural improvements were made in 1824. The additional store rooms, garrison quarters, platforms, bastions, in the 1770s, the Danes at Osu became involved in a conflict with Dutch-controlled Accra. In 1850, the British bought all of Denmarks Gold Coast possessions for £10,000, denmark had been considering selling these outposts for some time. After the slave trade had been abolished they were expensive to run, britain experienced the same problems, but was keen to prevent illegal slave trading and to prevent France or Belgium strengthening in the area. An 1862, earthquake destroyed most of the floors, which were rebuilt in wood
2.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
3.
Neoclassicism
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The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, laterally competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th, European Neoclassicism in the visual arts began c.1760 in opposition to the then-dominant Baroque and Rococo styles. Each neo-classicism selects some models among the range of classics that are available to it. They ignored both Archaic Greek art and the works of Late Antiquity, the Rococo art of ancient Palmyra came as a revelation, through engravings in Woods The Ruins of Palmyra. While the movement is described as the opposed counterpart of Romanticism. The case of the main champion of late Neoclassicism, Ingres, demonstrates this especially well. The revival can be traced to the establishment of formal archaeology, the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann were important in shaping this movement in both architecture and the visual arts. With the advent of the Grand Tour, a fad of collecting antiquities began that laid the foundations of many great collections spreading a Neoclassical revival throughout Europe, Neoclassicism in each art implies a particular canon of a classical model. In English, the term Neoclassicism is used primarily of the arts, the similar movement in English literature. This, which had been dominant for decades, was beginning to decline by the time Neoclassicism in the visual arts became fashionable. Though terms differ, the situation in French literature was similar, in music, the period saw the rise of classical music, and Neoclassicism is used of 20th-century developments. Ingress coronation portrait of Napoleon even borrowed from Late Antique consular diptychs and their Carolingian revival, much Neoclassical painting is more classicizing in subject matter than in anything else. A fierce, but often very badly informed, dispute raged for decades over the merits of Greek and Roman art, with Winckelmann. The work of artists, who could not easily be described as insipid, combined aspects of Romanticism with a generally Neoclassical style. Unlike Carstens unrealized schemes, the etchings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi were numerous and profitable and his main subject matter was the buildings and ruins of Rome, and he was more stimulated by the ancient than the modern. Neoclassicism in painting gained a new sense of direction with the success of Jacques-Louis Davids Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785. Despite its evocation of republican virtues, this was a commission by the royal government, David managed to combine an idealist style with drama and forcefulness. David rapidly became the leader of French art, and after the French Revolution became a politician with control of government patronage in art
4.
Baroque Revival architecture
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The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque, was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture which displays important aspects of Baroque style, barbaras Church, Brooklyn, New York, United States St. John Cantius Church, Chicago, United States Church of St. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Oxford University Press
5.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
6.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
8.
Christian Frederik Hansen
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Christian Frederik Hansen, known as C. F. He was known as Denmark’s Palladio on account of the style he promoted. His buildings are known for their simplicity, strength and scale and he was born in Copenhagen into the poor household of shoemaker and leatherworker Matthias Hansen and his wife Anna Marie, who had been nursemaid for Prince Christian VII. He was the youngest son in the family, and there was not much money to spend on his upbringing and his parents sent him to train in business, but he wanted to draw. His mother used her connections at the court, and found some influential people who interested themselves in his education. He was brought into training as a bricklayer, and at the time he attended classes at the Academy of Art starting in 1766. He studied at the Academy under architect Caspar Frederik Harsdorff, and he won the Academy’s small silver medallion in 1772-1773, the large silver medallion in 1774-1775, and the large gold medallion in 1779. He was taken into Harsdorffs private studio where he worked on the construction of Frederik Vs chapel at Roskilde Cathedral in 1780 and he received no travel grant from the Academy, in spite of his receiving the gold medallion. His student drawings from the trip are kept in the Academy’s Library to this day and he returned home September 1784, and became a member of the Academy in 1785. Shortly afterwards he was named to the position of Regional Architect for the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, with residence in Altona and he held this position from 24 November 1784 until his retirement on 31 October 1844. He was named titular Professor at the Academy in 1791, in 1792 he married Anne Margrethe Rahbek. He prospered during his 18 years in Altona and Hamburg, with a practice that made up for the meager earnings he made in his official position. He built fine houses for the well-to-do, both in town and out in the country, estates on Elbchaussee, and small churches. He designed many houses along Altonas elegant boulevard Palmaille, including some investment houses at his own expense. He used a simple Roman Palladio-style in his work, when Harsdorff died in 1799 a number of public building projects were transferred to Hansen, among these the completion of Frederiks Church, also known as The Marble Church in Copenhagen. He returned to Copenhagen in 1804, where he lived until his death and he had a large, social household in a fabulously appointed apartment in Copenhagen. In 1808 he was named Professor of Architecture, Chief Building Director and he held the title of Chief Building Director until his retirement. He overtook Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaards leading position at the Academy, and was eight times as Director of the Academy, 1811–1818, 1821–1827
9.
Danish language
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There are also minor Danish-speaking communities in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, around 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their home language. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of printing, a language was developed which was based on the educated Copenhagen dialect. It spread through use in the system and administration though German. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though there are variants of the standard language. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative, Danish has a very large vowel inventory comprising 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong and weak conjugations and inflections, nouns and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. As in English, Danish only has remnants of a case system, particularly in the pronouns. Its syntax is V2, with the verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch, other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language, Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where there are no sharp dividing lines between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas, West Danish, Insular Danish, and East Danish. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish, both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each others languages. By the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language was called the Danish tongue, or Norse language. Norse was written in the alphabet, first with the elder futhark. From the 7th century the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway
10.
Palace
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A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences, in many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels. The word is sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions. The word palace comes from Old French palais, from Latin Palātium, the original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his Golden House, enlarged the house, the word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill. Palace meaning government can be recognized in a remark of Paul the Deacon, AD790 and describing events of the 660s, When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus. At the same time, Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his palace at Aachen, in the 9th century, the palace indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent Electors came to be housed in palaces and this has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only the monarchs residence would be a palace. In modern times, the term has been applied by archaeologists and historians to large structures that housed combined ruler, court, in informal usage, a palace can be extended to a grand residence of any kind. The earliest known palaces were the residences of the Egyptian Pharaohs at Thebes, featuring an outer wall enclosing labyrinthine buildings. Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, the Brazilian new capital, Brasília, hosts modern palaces, most designed by the citys architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Alvorada Palace is the residence of the Brazils president. The Planalto Palace is the official workplace, the Jaburu Palace is the official residence of Brazils vice-president. In Canada, Government House is a given to the official residences of the Canadian monarchy. The use of the term Government House is a custom from the British Empire
11.
Slotsholmen
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Slotsholmen is an island in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, and part of Copenhagen Inner City. The island is dominated by the vast Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court of Denmark, the Prime Ministers Office, the site used to consist of several small natural islands in the sound between the islands of Zealand and Amager. On the largest of these, Strandholmen, Bishop Absalon of Roskilde constructed a castle in 1167. In 1250 the castle was extended with two towers to get the appearance that is now depicted on Copenhagens Coat of Arms. The castle was conquered by the Hanseatic League 1368 and pulled down the year as part of peace terms. Shortly after Copenhagen Castle was built on the site and it became the residence for the Danish king in 1443. However, the took place in a rather haphazard way and continued during the reign of the following kings. Probably during the reign of Christian III a building was constructed on the quay of the canal in front of the castle to house the Chancellery. During the reign of Christian III and Frederick II an arsenal was constructed by the south of the castle. Under King Christian IV Slotsholmen saw considerable development, especially in the part of the island. Here a new harbour was established, surrounded on one side by an Arsenal. Other new buildings constructed were the Stock Exchange and the Brewhouse, all four of these historic buildings are still there today. By the time of the introduction of the monarchy in 1660. During the reign of King Frederick III, further lack of space in the led to the construction in 1665-1673 of an additional building between the Supply Depot and the Arsenal. This building, also still visible today, was to house the Cabinet of curiosities of the king, founded about 1650, during the reign of King Frederick IV, a magnificent administration building was constructed in 1716-21 next to the palace adjacent to the Supply Depot. This new building was to house the chancelleries, thus replacing the previous chancellery building situated by the canal, the new chancellery building was connected to the castle by an arched passageway, thus allowing the king to stay in close contact with his government. The Chancellery Building has functioned as the heart of the administration for almost 300 years. Several renovations were made, most notably by Frederick IV in 1721-29 and this rebuilding thoroughly changed the irregular appearance of the castle to a more regular shape
12.
Folketing
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The Folketing, also known as the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark. Established in 1849, until 1953 the Folketing was the house of a bicameral parliament, called the Rigsdag. It meets in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, the Folketing passes all laws, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government. It is also responsible for adopting the states budgets and approving the states accounts, as set out in the Danish Constitution, the Folketing shares power with the reigning monarch. In practice, however, the role is limited to signing laws passed by the legislature. The Folketing consists of 179 representatives,175 from Denmark,2 from Greenland, general elections must be held every four years, but it is within the powers of the Prime Minister to ask the monarch to call for an election before the term has elapsed. On a vote of no confidence, the Folketing may force a single Minister or the government to resign. Members are democratically elected by proportional representation,135 by the DHondt method and 40 by the Sainte-Laguë method, the Danish political system has traditionally generated coalitions. Most post-war governments have been minority coalitions ruling with the support of non-government parties, the most recent general election took place on 18 June 2015 and the Folketing reconvened on 6 October. The first sitting of the house was attended by Queen Margrethe II, from 1849 to 1953 the Folketing was one of the two houses in the bicameral parliament known as the Rigsdag, the other house was known as the Landsting. Since both houses, in principle, had power, the terms upper house and lower house were not generally used. The difference between the houses was voter representation, the Folketing was elected by common vote among men and consisted mainly of independent farmers, traders, and merchants as well as the educated classes. From 1915 both men and women had the right of vote for both houses, and also the Landsting was elected by vote, although indirectly and with a higher age limit than for the Folketing. During the next decades, law-making mainly took place in the Folketing, in 1953, a revised constitution was adopted by popular vote. Among the changes was the elimination of the Landsting and the introduction of a unicameral parliament, Christiansborg Palace has been the domicile of parliament since 1849. The palace is located in the heart of Copenhagen, winning a seat in parliament requires only 2% of the vote. With such a low threshold, a large number of parties are represented in the chamber, making it all. No party has achieved this since 1901, all Danish governments since then have been coalitions or one-party minority governments
13.
Prime Minister of Denmark
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The Prime Minister of Denmark is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark. Before the creation of the office, Denmark did not initially have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the Monarch. The Constitution of 1849 established a monarchy by limiting the powers of the Monarch. The inaugural holder of the office was Adam Wilhelm Moltke, the Prime Minister presides over a cabinet that is formally appointed by the Monarch. In practice, the appointment of the Prime Minister is determined by their support in the Folketing. Since the beginning of the 20th century no single party has held a majority in the Folketing, so the Prime Minister must head a coalition of political parties, as well as their own party. Additionally, only four coalition governments since World War II have enjoyed a majority in the Folketing, the current Prime Minister of Denmark is Lars Løkke Rasmussen. He leads a government consisting of Venstre with parliamentary support from the Danish Peoples Party, Liberal Alliance, from approximately 1699 to 1730, the highest ranking non-monarchial government official was titled the Grand Chancellor and from 1730 until 1848, this office was titled Minister of State. These titles foreshadowed the modern office of Prime Minister, however, unlike the current office, the King held executive authority as absolute ruler from 1661 until the enactment of a liberal Constitution in the early nineteenth century. The office of Prime Minister was introduced as a part of the constitutional monarchy outlined in 1848, the new Constitution established a parliamentary system by creating a new bicameral parliament and a Council Presidum, headed by a Council President. The Council Presidium is regarded as the predecessor of the modern Prime Ministers Office, the first Council President was Adam Wilhelm Moltke, who came to power on 22 March 1848. Molte and his two successors also held the title of premierminister, which translates as prime minister. From 1855 onwards the Prime Minister was known simply as the Council President, Carl Christian Hall became the first Prime Minister/Council President to lead a political party. The title of the Prime Minister changed again in 1918 under the Premiership of Carl Theodor Zahle, becoming titled the Minister of State, by the mid-nineteenth century a strong party-system had developed, with most Prime Ministers being the leader of either Venstre or Højre. However, by 1924 the Social Democrats had become the largest party, during the first years of Occupation of Denmark, the governments of Prime Ministers Vilhelm Buhl and then Erik Scavenius cooperated with the Nazi occupiers. On 29 August 1943, the Danish government resigned, refusing to grant further concessions to Nazi Germany, all government operations were assumed by the permanent secretaries of the individual departments, and this arrangement lasted until the Liberation of Denmark on 5 May 1945. Since King Christian X never accepted the resignation of the government, the twentieth century was dominated by Social Democratic Prime Ministers leading left-wing coalitions, Social Democratic Prime Ministers were in power nearly continuously from 1924 until 1982. The first Prime Minister from the Conservative Peoples Party, Poul Schlüter, the centre-right coalition ruled in 1993, last for eleven years, made it became the longest centre-right government in Denmark history since 1920s
14.
Supreme Court (Denmark)
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The Supreme Court is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is based at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen which also houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court was founded on 14 February 1661 by King Frederik III as a replacement of King Christian IVs Kings Court. It was based at first Copenhagen Castle later Christiansborg Palace, which was built in its place on the site at Slotsholmen. The Supreme Court functions as a civil and criminal court for cases from the subordinate courts. Significant civil cases with issues of principal, however, are deferred to one of the two Danish High Courts as courts of first instance. In those cases sentences from the Eastern or Western High Courts may be appealed to The Supreme Court. As its name indicates, the Supreme Court is the highest Court in the Kingdom of Denmark and it is split into two chambers which both hear all types of cases. A case is heard by at least five judges, in all, the court consists of normally 15 judges and a President. Unlike criminal cases in the courts, the Supreme Court does not deal with the issue of guilt. However, the basis on which the court reached its verdict may be brought into consideration. In criminal trials by jury in the first instance, the defence may appeal on grounds of judicial error regarding the direction to the jury
15.
Danish monarch
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This is a list of Danish monarchs, that is, the Kings and Queens regnant of Denmark. The kingdom had been elective until 1660, when it became hereditary, until 1864 Denmark was also united in a personal union with the duchies of Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg, and in a political and personal union with the Duchy of Schleswig. 515 AD, First Danish King mentioned by Gregory of Tours, hugleik, according to the written sources suffered a defeat in 515 during a naval expedition to the Frankish Empire. Hugleik is the first Danish king mentioned in European sources, Ongendus, c. 710 Saint Willibrord wrote about when he visited the Danes, at the time ruled by Ongendus. Harald, named as king in relating 9th century events, perhaps model for legendary Harald Wartooth Sigfred, 770s–790s Gudfred. Hemming, 810–811/812 The Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne, from 826 he and his household lived in exile with the Frankish emperor Louis the Pious, he was baptized by the bishop of Mainz in Ingelheim am Rhein. The last reference of Harald in the sources are in the Annals of Fulda this records his execution for treason in 852. Sons of Gudfred, 814–820s Horik I, 827–854, the Frankish annals mention Horik on numerous occasions during the next couple of decades. He is believed to have been the successor of Horik I. In 857, Horik II allowed Rorik to occupy the part of the kingdom between the sea and the Eider, Horik II was still alive in 864, when a letter was addressed to him by Pope Nicholas I. Late 9th century kings Bagsecg, c. 873–891 It is generally assumed that he was the successor of Horik II. His year of succession is unknown, but it was between 864 and his first appearance as king in the Frankish annals in 873, Gudfred, 880s Heiligo, 890s The House of Olaf, late 9th century and early 10th century. This dynasty is mentioned in the two Sigtrygg Runestones raised shortly after 934, the two inscriptions are evidence for the House of Olaf controlling at least part of Denmark. Olof Gyrd and Gnupa Sigtrygg Harthacnut I, 936–940 Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. Mentioned by Chronicon Roskildense and Ragnarssona þáttr, said to be king of Zealand and Scania, and son of Ragnar Lodbrok. Ragnar Lodbrok was a legendary king probably in the 9th century, is mentioned in multiple sources, but the sources are wildly inconsistent
16.
Royal Stables (Denmark)
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The Royal Stables is the mews of the Danish Monarchy which provides the ceremonial transport for the Danish Royal Family during state events and festive occasions. The Royal Stables are located at Christiansborg Palace on the island of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, in 1789 the number of horses reached a peak with 270 horses stabled. Today, there are about 20 horses in the Royal Stables, the Royal Stables are regularly open to the public. The state coaches and other carriages are kept there, along with about 20 horses, already in the 16th century, a large zigzag shaped stable complex was located on Slotsholmen behind the Copenhagen Castle which housed the kings horses and carriages. In 1590 a foreign traveller counted 52 horses in the stables, during the reign of the horse enthusiastic King Christian V at the end of the 17th century there were about 170 horses and 152 staff in the Royal Stables. There was direct access from the castle to the stables by means of a passage. Furthermore, from 1703 to 1705 he had a new Baroque building constructed adjacent to Frederiksholms Canal to house the Crown Equerry, the Crown Equerry building still exists and today houses the Ministry of Education and the Ministry for Gender Equality and Ecclesiastical Affairs. Shortly after his accession to the throne in 1730, King Christian VI had the old and outdated Copenhagen Castle torn down to make way for a new Baroque palace, the first Christiansborg Palace. The old stable complex behind Copenhagen Castle was also torn down to make way for a new, during the construction work, the many horses of the Royal Stables were temporarily stabled at Frederiksberg Palace, Charlottenborg Palace and Rosenborg Castle. The new and still existing stable complex was constructed from 1738 to 1745 by the architects Elias David Häusser and Nicolai Eigtved. The new complex included an outdoor riding ground surrounded by buildings containing a riding school as well as stables with room for a total of 87 riding horses and 165 carriage horses. Part of these buildings still remain unchanged since their inaugusration in 1746 with an extravagant decoration of marble pillars. The number of horses reached a peak in 1789 when 270 horses were stabled at Christiansborg, in the course of the 20th century, the horses were gradually replaced by cars and today about 20 horses are stabled in the Royal Stables. The horses in the Royal Stables today are for the most part either Kladrubers from the Czech Republic or Danish Warmblood, the horses are regularly exercised on Christiansborgs riding ground and in the streets of Copenhagen. Royal Mews Royal Stables Hauschildt, Christina og Nitschke, Eva, hvidt, Kristian, Ellehøj, Svend, Norn, Otto. Copenhagen, Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck, københavn, før og nu - og aldrig. > Historical Collections > Coaches and horses, official website of the Danish Monarchy. > Castles and Gardens > Christiansborg Palace > The Royal Stables, official website of the Danish State Agency for Palaces and Cultural Properties
17.
Politics of Denmark
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Denmark is described as a nation state. Danish politics and governance are characterized by a striving for broad consensus on important issues. Executive power is exercised by the cabinet of Denmark, presided over by the Prime Minister who is first among equals, legislative power is vested in both the executive and the national parliament. Members of the judiciary are nominated by the executive, formally appointed by the monarch, Denmark has a multi-party system, with two strong parties, and four or five other significant parties. No single party has held a majority in the Folketing since the beginning of the 20th century. Since only four coalition governments have enjoyed a majority, government bills rarely become law without negotiations. Hence the Folketing tends to be powerful than legislatures in other EU countries. The Constitution does not grant the power of judicial review of legislation. Since there are no constitutional or administrative courts, the Supreme Court deals with a constitutional dimension, on many issues the political parties tend to opt for co-operation, and the Danish state welfare model receives broad parliamentary support. This ensures a focus on efficiency and devolved responsibilities of local government on regional and municipal levels. Margrethe II has ruled as Queen Regnant and head of state since 14 January 1972, in accordance with the Danish Constitution the Danish monarch, as head of state, is the theoretical source of all executive and legislative power. However, since the introduction of parliamentary sovereignty in 1901, a de facto separation of powers has been in effect, the text of the Danish constitution dates back to 1849. Therefore, it has been interpreted by jurists to suit modern conditions, in a formal sense, the monarch retains the ability to deny giving a bill royal assent. In order for a bill to law, a royal signature. The monarch also chooses and dismisses the Prime Minister, although in modern times a dismissal would cause a constitutional crisis, on 28 March 1920, King Christian X was the last monarch to exercise the power of dismissal, sparking the 1920 Easter Crisis. When a new government is to be formed, the monarch calls the party leaders to a conference of deliberation, on the basis of the advice the monarch then appoints the party leader who commands a majority of recommendation to lead negotiations for forming a new government. However, the monarch does continue to exercise three rights, the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn, pursuant to these ideals, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet attend the regular meeting of the Council of State. Nine parties are represented in parliament, the four oldest and in history most influential parties are the Conservative Peoples Party, the Social Democrats, Venstre and the Danish Social Liberal Party
18.
Courts of Denmark
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The Courts of Denmark is the ordinary court system of the Kingdom of Denmark. Part of the Courts of Denmark are also three boards, The Process Grating Board, The Sideline Employment Board and the Judicial Appointment Council, finally the Danish Court Administration is vested with the joint administration of the whole organization. The courts of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands constitute semi-autonomous parts of the Courts of Denmark and are governed by separate, in accordance with Article 3 of the Danish Constitution, all judicial authority is vested in the courts of justice. The constitution also provides that judges of the court may pass judgements. The Danish system of courts is based on a structure, in which there are no special or constitutional courts of law. As a rule, all courts of law may adjudicate disputes in legal areas such as civil, labour, administrative, the Court of Indictment and Revision handles complaints regarding procedure, disqualification of judges, etc. brought by the users of the courts, against the courts. Proceedings are oral in general and open to the public in the lower courts, media transmissions from within the court are prohibited, unless allowed by the presiding judge. The general structure of the system is inspired by the traditions of continental Europe. The Act has undergone substantial changes since its enactment in 1916, furthermore, the Danish Constitution provides for the Court of Impeachment of the Realm to hear cases brought against ministers concerning their administration. The Danish Courts exercise the powers of government and resolve related issues, including probate, bankruptcy, enforcement, land registration. Lay judges may be of any profession, except they may not be attorneys, members of the clergy, or acting civil servants, from late 2005 a gradual reform of the lower courts is under way. When passed, the reform will transform the role of the County and High Courts, the composition of the county courts varies but is regulated by law. The Copenhagen County Court has 49 judges and a President, whilst Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, and Roskilde county courts have a President and 15,10,10,29 jurisdictions have two to four judges, whilst the last 50 jurisdictions have only one judge. At the preparatory and trial stages of civil cases only one judge presides, in criminal cases where this is not the case, the judge sits with two lay judges. Special rules regarding appointment of lay judges apply to maritime cases, in cases where lay judges sit with the judge, decisions are adopted by simple majority. In addition to their duties, county court judges act as notary public and bailiffs, as well as administrators of bankruptcy proceedings. Furthermore, they administer the land registry. In regard to the tasks, these functions may be assigned to an assessor
19.
Castle
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A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
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Absalon's Castle
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Absalons Castle, was a fortification on the island of Slotsholmen in Copenhagen, located at the site of the later Copenhagen Castle and Christiansborg Palace. According to the chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, the castle was founded by Bishop Absalon in 1167 to protect the city of Copenhagen. The castle survived for 200 years before it was destroyed in 1369 by the Hanseatic League, who first occupied and plundered it, and then demolished it completely. The castle was made up by a wall, encircling an enclosed courtyard with several buildings such as the bishops residence. The ruins of Absalons Castle can be today in the subterranean excavations under Christiansborg Palace. At the death of Absalon in 1201, possession of the castle, a few decades later, however, a bitter feud erupted between crown and church, and for almost two centuries the right to possession of the castle and city was heavily contested. The following year, the castle was torn down to the ground as a result of the peace treaty, after the destruction of the castle, the remnants were covered by a motte, on top of which the Copenhagen Castle and later Christiansborg Palace were constructed. The remnants of the castle were discovered and excavated in 1907 and 1917 during the construction of the present Christiansborg Palace, the castle was surrounded by a curtain wall of limestone from Stevns Cliffs. The remains of this wall are preserved today in the ruins beneath Christiansborg. From Absalons Castle, the foundations of houses, which lay within the curtain wall
21.
Chronicler
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A chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events and this is in contrast to a narrative or history, which sets selected events in a meaningful interpretive context and excludes those the author does not see as important. Some made use of materials, charters, letters, or the works of earlier chroniclers. Still others are tales of such unknown origins so as to hold mythical status, copyists also affected chronicles in creative copying, making corrections or in updating or continuing a chronicle with information not available to the original author. The reliability of a chronicle is an important determination for modern historians. In modern times various contemporary newspapers or other periodicals have adopted chronicle as part of their name, various fictional stories have also adopted chronicle as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories. A chronicle which traces world history is called a universal chronicle, scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups, live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author gathers his list of events up to the time of his writing, a live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles, such as annals, the earliest medieval chronicle to combine both retrospective and contemporary entries, is the Chronicle of Ireland, which spans the years 431 to 911. Chronicles are the predecessors of modern time lines rather than analytical histories, if the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called annals. Unlike the modern historian, most chroniclers tended to take their information as they found it, the point of view of most chroniclers is highly localised, to the extent that many anonymous chroniclers can be sited in individual abbeys. Later 16th century Scottish chronicles, written after the Reformation, shape history according to Catholic or Protestant viewpoints. It is impossible to say how many chronicles exist, as the many ambiguities in the definition of the make it impossible to draw clear distinctions of what should or should not be included. However, the Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle lists some 2,500 items written between 300 and 1500 AD
22.
Saxo Grammaticus
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Saxo Grammaticus, also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund and he is the author of the first full history of Denmark. The Jutland Chronicle gives evidence that Saxo was born in Zealand and it is unlikely he was born before 1150 and it is supposed that his death could have occurred around 1220. His name Saxo was a name in medieval Denmark. The name Grammaticus was first given to him in the Jutland Chronicle and he lived in a period of warfare and Danish expansion, led by Archbishop Absalon and the Valdemars. The Danes were also being threatened by the Wends who were making raids across the border, Valdemar I had also just won a civil war and later Valdemar II led an expedition across the Elbe to invade Holstein. Sven Aggesen, a Danish nobleman and author of an earlier history of Denmark than Saxos, describes his contemporary, Saxo. This gives evidence that Saxo and Sven might have soldiered in the Hird or royal guard since Sven used the word contubernium in reference to them, there is also a Saxo to be found on a list of clergy at Lund, where there was a Sven recorded as Archdeacon. Likewise there is Dean Saxo who died in 1190, however the date does not match what is known about Saxo. Both arguments, for a secular or religious Saxo, would confirm that he was educated, as clergy he would have received training in Latin. Saxo comes from a family and writes that he is himself committed to being a soldier. He tells us that he follows the ancient right of hereditary service, Saxos education and ability supports the idea that he was educated outside Denmark. Some suggest the title Grammaticus refers not to his education but rather his elaborate Latin style and we know from his writing that he was in the retinue and received the patronage of Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, who was the foremost advisor to King Valdemar I. In his will Absalon forgives his clerk Saxo a small debt of two and a half marks of silver and tells him to return two borrowed books to the monastery of Sorø, the legacy of Saxo Grammaticus is the sixteen book heroic history of the Danes called Gesta Danorum. In the preface to the work, Saxo writes that his patron Absalon, the history is thought to have been started about 1185, after Sven Aggesen wrote his history. The goal of Gesta Danorum was as Saxo writes to glorify our fatherland, Saxo also may have owed much to Plato, Cicero and also to more contemporary writers like Geoffrey of Monmouth. Saxos history of the Danes was compiled from sources that are of historical value. He drew on oral tales of the Icelanders, ancient volumes, letters carved on rocks and stone, the history is composed of sixteen books and extends from the time of the founders of the Danish people, Dan I of Denmark and Angul into about the year 1187
23.
Bishop
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A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within these churches, bishops are seen as those who possess the full priesthood, Some Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Methodist churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within apostolic succession in the same way. Priests, deacons and lay ministers cooperate and assist their bishop in shepherding a flock, the earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters. In, we see a system of government in Jerusalem chaired by James the Just. In, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia, in Timothy and Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church, Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling him to rebuke with all authority. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches, eventually, as Christendom grew, bishops no longer directly served individual congregations. Instead, the Metropolitan bishop appointed priests to each congregation. Around the end of the 1st century, the organization became clearer in historical documents. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who dont recognize the bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi in a city, plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6,1. Your godly bishop — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2,1, therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7,1. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13,2. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3,1. Follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles, and to the deacons pay respect, as to Gods commandment — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8,1. He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God, he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9,1
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Absalon
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Absalon or Axel was a Danish archbishop and statesman, who was the Bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and Archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and churchfather of Denmark in the half of the 12th century. He combined the ideals of Gregorian Reform ideals with loyal support of a strong monarchical power, Absalon was born into the powerful Hvide clan, and owned great land possessions. He endowed several church institutions, most prominently his familys Sorø Abbey and he was granted lands by the crown, and built the first fortification of the city that evolved into modern-day Copenhagen. His titles were passed on to his nephews Anders Sunesen and Peder Sunesen and he died in 1201, and was interred at Sorø Abbey. Absalon was born around 1128 near Sorø, Zealand, due to a name which is unusual in Denmark, it is speculated that he was christened on the Danish Absalon name day, October 30. He was the son of Asser Rig, a magnate of the Hvide clan from Fjenneslev on Zealand and he was also a kinsman of Archbishop Eskil of Lund. He grew up at the castle of his father, and was brought up alongside his older brother Esbern Snare and the young prince Valdemar, who later became King Valdemar I of Denmark. During the civil war following the death of Eric III of Denmark in 1146, Absalon travelled abroad to study theology in Paris, at Paris, he was influenced by the Gregorian Reform ideals of churchly independence from Monarchical rule. He also befriended the canon William of Æbelholt at the Abbey of St Genevieve and he was a guest at following Roskilde banquet given in 1157 by Sweyn to his rivals Canute V and Valdemar. Both Absalon and Valdemar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of Sweyn on this occasion, Absalon probably did not take part in the following battle of Grathe Heath in 1157, in which Sweyn was defeated and slain and led to Valdemar ascending the Danish throne. On Good Friday 1158, bishop Asser of Roskilde died, and Absalon was eventually elected bishop of Roskilde on Zealand with the help of Valdemar, Absalon was a close counsellor of Valdemar, and chief promoter of the Danish crusades against the Wends. During the Danish civil war, Denmark had been open to coastal raids by the Wends and it was Absalons intention to clear the Baltic Sea of the Wendish pirates who inhabited its southern littoral zone which was later called Pomerania. The pirates had raided the Danish coasts during the war of Sweyn III, Canute V. Absalon formed a fleet, built coastal defenses, and led several campaigns against the Wends. He even advocated forgiving the earlier enemies of Valdemar, which helped stabilize Denmark internally, the first expedition against the Wends that was conducted by Absalon in person, set out in 1160. These expeditions were successful, but brought no lasting victories, what started out as mere retribution, eventually evolved into full-fledged campaigns of expansion with religious motives. In 1164 began twenty years of crusades against the Wends, sometimes with the help of German duke Henry the Lion, in 1168 the chief Wendish fortress at Arkona in Rügen, containing the sanctuary of their god Svantevit, was conquered
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Chapel
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The term chapel usually refers to a place of prayer and worship that is attached to a larger, often nonreligious institution or that is considered an extension of a primary religious institution. Chapel has also referred to independent or nonconformist places of worship in Great Britain—outside of the established church, the earliest Christian places of worship are now often referred to as chapels, as they were not dedicated buildings but rather a dedicated chamber within a building. Most larger churches had one or more secondary altars, which if they occupied a distinct space, in Russian Orthodox tradition, the chapels were built underneath city gates, where most people could visit them. The most famous example is the Iberian Chapel, although chapels frequently refer to Christian places of worship, they are also commonly found in Jewish synagogues and do not necessarily connote a specific denomination. In England—where the Church of England is established by law—non-denominational or inter-faith chapels in such institutions may nonetheless be consecrated by the local Anglican bishop, non-denominational chapels are commonly encountered as part of a non-religious institution such as a hospital, airport, university or prison. Many military installations have chapels for the use of military personnel, the earliest Christian places of worship were not dedicated buildings but rather a dedicated chamber within a building, such as a room in an individuals home. Here one or two people could pray without being part of a communion/congregation, people who like to use chapels may find it peaceful and relaxing to be away from the stress of life, without other people moving around them. The word, chapel, like the word, chaplain, is ultimately derived from Latin. The other half he wore over his shoulders as a small cape, the beggar, the stories claim, was Christ in disguise, and Martin experienced a conversion of heart, becoming first a monk, then abbot, then bishop. This cape came into the possession of the Frankish kings, the tent which kept the cape was called the capella and the priests who said daily Mass in the tent were known as the capellani. From these words, via Old French, we get the names chapel, the word also appears in the Irish language in the Middle Ages, as Welsh people came with the Norman and Old English invaders to the island of Ireland. While the traditional Irish word for church was eaglais, a new word, séipéal, in British history, chapel or meeting house, was formerly the standard designation for church buildings belonging to independent or Nonconformist religious societies and their members. As a result, chapel is used as an adjective in the UK to describe the members of such churches. A proprietary chapel is one that belonged to a private person. In the 19th century they were common, often being built to cope with urbanisation, frequently they were set up by evangelical philanthropists with a vision of spreading Christianity in cities whose needs could no longer be met by the parishes. Some functioned more privately, with a wealthy person building a chapel so they could invite their favorite preachers and they are anomalies in the English ecclesiastical law, having no parish area, but being able to have an Anglican clergyman licensed there. Historically many Anglican Churches were Proprietary Chapels, over the years they have often been converted into normal Parishes. While the usage of the chapel is not exclusively limited to Christian terminology
26.
Wends
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Wends is a historical name for the West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where. In the Middle Ages the term Wends often referred to Western Slavs living within the Holy Roman Empire, mieszko I, the first historical ruler of Poland, also appeared as Dagome, King of the Wends. The name has survived in Finnic languages denoting Russia. According to one theory, Germanic peoples first applied this name to the ancient Veneti, and then after the period they transferred it to their new neighbours. The Germans in the south used the term Winde instead of Wende and applied it, just as the Germans in the north, to Slavs they had contact with, following the 8th century, the Frankish kings and their successors organised nearly all Wendish land into marches. This process later turned into the series of crusades, by the 12th century, all Wendish lands had become part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the Ostsiedlung, which reached its peak in the 12th to 14th centuries, due to the process of assimilation following German settlement, many Slavs west of the Oder adopted the German culture and language. Only some rural communities which did not have an admixture with Germans. With the gradual decline of the use of these local Slavic tongues, some sources claim that in the 13th century there were actual historic people called Wends or Vends living as far as northern Latvia around the city of Wenden. Henry of Livonia in his 13th-century Latin chronicle described a tribe called the Vindi, today, only one group of Wends still exists, the Lusatian Sorbs in present-day eastern Germany. The term Wends derived from the Roman-era people called in Latin Veneti, Venedi or Venethi and this people was mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy as inhabiting the Baltic coast. There they assimilated the remaining Germanic population that had not left the area in the Migration period. Their German neighbours adapted the term they had been using for peoples east of the River Elbe before to the Slavs, calling them Wends as they called the Venedi before and probably the Vandals also. In his late sixth century work History of Armenia, Movses Khorenatsi mentions their raids into the lands named Vanand after them and their tribal names were derived from local place names, sometimes adopting the Germanic tradition. Settlements were secured by round burghs made of wood and clay, some tribes unified into larger, duchy-like units. For example, the Obotrites evolved from the unification of the Holstein, the Lutici were an alliance of tribes living between Obotrites and Pomeranians. They did not unify under a duke, but remained independent and their leaders met in the temple of Rethra
27.
Hanseatic League
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The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 1100s and it stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. Hanse, later spelled as Hansa, was the Middle Low German word for a convoy, the League was created to protect the guilds economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries, as well as along the trade routes the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own system and furnished their own armies for mutual protection. The hegemony of Lübeck peaked during the 15th century, Lübeck became a base for merchants from Saxony and Westphalia trading eastward and northward. This area was a source of timber, wax, amber, resins, the towns raised their own armies, with each guild required to provide levies when needed. The Hanseatic cities came to the aid of one another, and commercial ships often had to be used to carry soldiers, Visby functioned as the leading centre in the Baltic before the Hansa. Sailing east, Visby merchants established a trading post at Novgorod called Gutagard in 1080, Merchants from northern Germany also stayed in the early period of the Gotlander settlement. Later they established their own trading station in Novgorod, known as Peterhof, in 1229, German merchants at Novgorod were granted certain privileges that made their position more secure. Hansa societies worked to remove restrictions to trade for their members, before the official foundation of the League in 1356, the word Hanse did not occur in the Baltic language. The earliest remaining documentary mention, although without a name, of a specific German commercial federation is from London 1157. That year, the merchants of the Hansa in Cologne convinced Henry II, King of England, to them from all tolls in London. The allied cities gained control over most of the trade, especially the Scania Market. In 1266, Henry III of England granted the Lübeck and Hamburg Hansa a charter for operations in England, much of the drive for this co-operation came from the fragmented nature of existing territorial government, which failed to provide security for trade. Over the next 50 years the Hansa itself emerged with formal agreements for confederation and co-operation covering the west and east trade routes. The principal city and linchpin remained Lübeck, with the first general Diet of the Hansa held there in 1356, other such alliances formed throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Yet the League never became a closely managed formal organisation, over the period, a network of alliances grew to include a flexible roster of 70 to 170 cities. The league succeeded in establishing additional Kontors in Bruges, Bergen and these trading posts became significant enclaves
28.
Valdemar IV of Denmark
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Valdemar IV Atterdag or Waldemar, Danish, Valdemar Atterdag, was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. Here he acted as a waiting for a comeback. Following the assassination of Count Gerhard III by Niels Ebbesen and his brothers, but Valdemar was a clever and determined man and realized that the only way to rule Denmark was to get control of its territory. Ebbesen attempted to liberate central Jutland from the Holsteiners at the siege of Sønderborg Castle on 2 November 1340, under Christopher II, Denmark went bankrupt and was mortgaged out in parcels. Valdemar sought to repay the debt and reclaim the lands of Denmark, the first opportunity came with Helvigs dowry. The mortgage on the rest of northern Jutland was paid off by taxes collected from Valdemars peasants above the Kongeå, in 1344, he recovered North Friesland, which he immediately taxed to pay off the debt on southern Jutland. The over-taxed peasants grew restive under the constant demands for money, Valdemar next set his sights on Zealand. The bishop of Roskilde, who owned Copenhagen Castle and town and he was the first Danish king to rule Copenhagen, a possession of the Bishop of Roskilde. Valdemar was able to capture or buy other castles and fortresses until he could force the Holsteiners out, when he ran out of money, he took Kalundborg and Søborg Castles by force. While in the midst of that campaign, he went to Estonia to negotiate with the Teutonic Knights who controlled Estonia, around 1346 Valdemar IV initiated a crusade against Lithuania. Franciscan chronicler Detmar von Lübeck noted that Valdemar IV traveled to Lübeck in 1346, however, the crusade against the Lithuanians came to nothing, instead Valdemar went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He succeeded and was made a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre in honor of his accomplishment and he was censured by Pope Clement VI for not getting prior approval for such a journey. Upon his return, Valdemar gathered an army, in 1346, he took back Vordingborg Castle, the main headquarters of the Holsteiners. By the end of the year, Valdemar could claim all of Zealand as his own and he made Vordingborg his personal residence, expanded the castle, and built the Goose Tower which has become the symbol of the town. Valdemars reputation for ruthlessness against those who opposed him made many think carefully about switching sides and his tax policy crushed the peasants who feared to do anything but pay up. By 1347 Valdemar had thrown out the Germans and once again Denmark was a nation, with his increased income, Valdemar was able to pay for a larger army and by treachery came into possession of Nyborg Castle and eastern Funen Island and the smaller islands. Valdemars attention had just turned to Skåne, held by Sweden, in 1349 Bubonic Plague arrived unexpectedly. Tradition has it that came to Denmark on a ghost ship that beached itself on the coast of northern Jutland
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Copenhagen Castle
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Copenhagen Castle was a castle on Slotsholmen in Copenhagen, Denmark, built in the late 14th century at the site of the current Christiansborg Palace. The castle had a wall and was surrounded by a moat and with a large. The castle was still the property of the Bishop of Roskilde until King Eric of Pomerania usurped the rights to the castle in 1417, from then on the castle in Copenhagen was occupied by the king. The castle was several times. King Christian IV, for example, added a spire to the entrance tower. In the 1720s, Frederik IV entirely rebuilt the castle, but it became so heavy that the walls began to give way and to crack. It became therefore evident to Christian VI, Frederik IVs successor, immediately after his accession to the throne in 1730, the demolition of the overextended and antiquated Copenhagen Castle was commenced in 1731 to make room for the first Christiansborg Palace
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Eric of Pomerania
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Eric of Pomerania KG was King Eric III of Norway, King Eric VII of Denmark, and King Eric XIII of Sweden, in all three known mainly as Erik af/av Pommern. He was the first King of the Nordic Kalmar Union, succeeding his adoptive mother Margaret I of Denmark, and was also Duke Eric I of Pomerania. Referring to Eric of Pomerania as King Eric XIII of Sweden is an invention, counting backwards from Eric XIV. Going back into prehistory, it is not known how many Swedish monarchs were named Eric before this one, born Boguslaw, he was the son of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania, and Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Erics paternal grandparents were Boguslaw V, Duke of Pomerania and his second wife Adelheid of Brunswick-Grubenhagen and his maternal grandparents were Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg and Ingeborg of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg. Their son Albert was a rival of Olaf Haakonsson in regard to the Danish succession in 1375, Ingeborg was a daughter of Valdemar IV of Denmark and his Queen consort Heilwig of Schleswig. Eric was born in 1382 in Rügenwalde, initially named Boguslaw, he was son to the only surviving grandson of Valdemar IV of Denmark and also a descendant of Magnus III of Sweden and Haakon V of Norway. On 2 August 1387, Olav Håkonsson, King of Denmark since he was five years old and King of Norway since the death of his father, died unexpectedly at seventeen years of age. His mother the Dowager Queen of Norway had added the phrase the true heir of Sweden to Boguslaws list of titles at his coronation, Boguslaws claim to the Swedish throne came through his great-granduncle, Magnus IV of Sweden, who was forced to abdicate by the Swedish nobles. After the abdication, the Swedish nobles, led by Bo Jonsson, had invited Duke Albert of Mecklenburg to take the Swedish throne, however, when Albert attempted to introduce reduction of their large estates, they quickly turned against him. The Rigsråd elected Queen Margaret as all powerful lady and mistress, just a year later, the Norwegians proclaimed Margaret the reigning queen and Albert of Sweden fought off an incursion from Norway. His respite was temporary — the Swedish nobility soon enlisted the Danish regents help to remove Albert from the Swedish throne, in 1388, several of the Swedish nobles wrote secretly to Margaret telling her that if she could rid them of Albert, they would make her Regent. Margaret lost no time and sent an army into Sweden to attack Albert while the Swedish nobles raised their own army to him out of the country. In 1389, Alberts forces were defeated at the Battle of Falköping in Västergötland, Albert and his son Erik were captured when their horses became mired in mud so deep they could not escape. They were put into chains and sent by Queen Margaret to Scania and it took until 1395 for Margaret to force Alberts supporters out of Stockholm. She made provisions for the three kingdoms in the event of her death and she wanted the kingdoms to be unified and peaceful and hence, chose the son of her fathers surviving granddaughter, Boguslaw, to be named heir. Young Boguslaw was the grandson of Margarets sister, in 1389 he was brought to Denmark to be brought up by Queen Margaret. His name was changed to the more Nordic-sounding Erik, on 8 September 1389, he was hailed as King of Norway at the Ting in Trondheim
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Frederick IV of Denmark
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Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark-Norway and his consort Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, as crown prince, Frederick broadened his education by travelling in Europe, led by his chamberlain Ditlev Wibe. The one-story building, probably designed by Ernst Brandenburger, was completed in 1703, Frederick was allowed to choose his future wife from a number of Protestant royal daughters in northern Germany. In 1695, he visited the court of Gustav-Adolph in Güstrow, but his visit there was cut short by a message telling of his brother Christians serious illness. Frederick later returned to Güstrow, where he was forced to choose the eldest of the unmarried princesses, on 5 December 1695 at Copenhagen Castle, he married Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, herself a great-great-granddaughter of Frederick II of Denmark. The couple were crowned King and Queen of Denmark-Norway on 25 August 1699 in the Frederiksborg Chapel, Fredericks most important domestic reform was the abolition in 1702 of the so-called vornedskab, a kind of serfdom which had fallen on the peasants of Zealand in the Late Middle Ages. His efforts were largely in vain because of the introduction of adscription in 1733, after the war, trade and culture flowered. The first Danish theatre, Lille Grönnegade, was created and the great dramatist Ludvig Holberg began his career, also, a colonisation of Greenland was started by the missionary Hans Egede. Politically this period was marked by the connection to the Reventlows, the Holsteiner relatives of his last queen. During Fredericks rule Copenhagen was struck by two disasters, the plague of 1711, and the fire of October 1728, which destroyed most of the medieval capital. And Fredensborg Palace, both considered monuments to the conclusion of the Great Northern War and he maintained weekly audiences where anyone could attend and deliver letters with complaints or projects. While the nine weeks stay lasted, the king was a frequent guest on operas and comedies, during the visit to the state armory, he received the republics upscale gift, two large ore guns and an ore mortar. A regatta on the Grand Canal was held in his honour and is imortalized in a painting by Luca Carlevarijs. The winter that season was particularly cold, so cold that the lagoon of Venice froze over, and it was joked that the king of Denmark had brought the cold weather with him. On his return he led negotiations with the Elector Augustus of Saxony. For much of Frederick IVs reign Denmark was engaged in the Great Northern War against Sweden, in spite of the conclusion of the Peace of Travendal in 1700, there was soon a Swedish invasion and threats from Europes western naval powers. In 1709 Denmark again entered the war encouraged by the Swedish defeat at Poltava, Frederick IV commanded the Danish troops at the battle of Gadebusch in 1712. Although Denmark emerged on the side, she failed to reconquer lost possessions in southern Sweden
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Christian VI of Denmark
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Christian VI was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730-46. He was the first king of the Oldenburg dynasty to refrain from entering in any war and he was married to Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and was the father of Frederick V. His chosen motto was deo et populo, from 1706, Christian came to understand Danish but used German for everyday speaking and writing. He got an education and acquired more knowledge than his father and grandfather. As Crown Prince he was allowed by his father to find a wife by himself, Sophia Magdalene came from a minor margraviate of the Hohenzollern dynasty where able consciousness was inversely proportional to the funds, half of the land was mortgaged, and her father died young. She had 13 siblings and was considered a match for the Danish prince. In Christians letters, he describes his feelings for the princesss intense religiosity and they were married on 7 August 1721, while Christian was crown prince. The wedding was held at Pretzsch in Saxony, the king was shy and introverted by nature, and stayed away from the public. For the first ten years of his government he consulted often with his cousin, the count took part in almost everything, from the dismissal of cooks in the Queens kitchen to determining alliance policy. He encouraged the king as long as possible to maintain the English alliance, around 1740, Count Christian Ernsts preference swung towards France and he ceased his influence. This coincided with the situation in Germany no longer allowing him, as a vassal German prince. In 1733, the couple travelled to Norway. A poem/speech by Peter Höyer was performed in his honor when he visited the city of Trondheim on 18 July, the act would later be abolished in 1788. The Pietist views of King Christian influenced much of his ecclesiastical polity, on the surface the king was victorious, but both nobility and many common people secretly resisted the kings influence. This did not mean that it was without effect and it influenced much of the poetry of the age, among others, that of the great hymn writer Hans Adolph Brorson. Another lasting result of the efforts was the introduction of mandatory confirmation in 1736. This resulted in a need for a school system, which was created by decree in 1739 and 1741. There were numerous building activities connected to Christian VI, and he was probably the greatest Danish builder of the 18th century and his queen also made a notable effort
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Christiansborg Palace (1st)
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The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark was built on Slotsholmen in 1745 as a new main residence for King Christian VI of Denmark. It was built on the site as its predecessor, Copenhagen Castle. The palace only existed for just under half a century since it was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1794. The surviving parts, which included the grounds, the court theatre. Demolition of the overextended and antiquated Copenhagen Castle began in 1731 to make room for the new palace which was named Christiansborg after its founder, the king commissioned architect Elias David Häusser to build the new palace. Construction of the magnificent new palace began in 1733, from 1736 the younger architects Lauritz de Thurah and Nicolai Eigtved were put in charge of designing the interior. In 1738 a palace commission was set up to supervise the construction, work only progressed slowly due to lack of funds and on several occasions threatened to come to a complete standstill. However, by 1740 the main wing was ready for use. When Häusser retired from the project in 1742, Eigtved was charged with completing the palace, the palace commission was dissolved on 22 February 1745. The total costs of the new palace were 2.7 million Rigsdaler, on 26 February 1794, Christiansborg Palace was devastated by a fire. It began in an overheated stove close to the Grand Hall, there was also an attached chapel located at the site of the present-day Christiansborg Chapel. It was the largest palace in Europe for a short while, the main approach to the palace was across the still existing Marble Bridge, today located on the rear side of present-day Christiansborg, and the show grounds. The main building stood 36 metres high with a copper-clad roof, the façade was covered in sandstone and lavishly decorated with vases, reliefs, sculptures and ornamental details on cornices and window frames. The interior was also in Rococo style and lavishly decorated
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Christiansborg Palace (2nd)
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The new palace was constructed on Slotsholmen, on the ruins of its predecessor, and designed by royal masterbuilder Christian Frederik Hansen. By the time the palace was completed, King Frederick VI had found himself comfortable at his residence at Amalienborg Palace. He only used the premises for entertainment. The palace also housed the Parliament and administrative services, Frederik VII was the only monarch to live in the palace. This was between 1852 and 1863, after the fire in 1794, the royal family initially took up temporary residency at Rosenborg Castle and later moved to Amalienborg Palace. Christian Frederik Hansen, until then master builder in Altona, was called upon to resurrect the palace, construction started in 1803 but was slow as a result of the difficult times compounded by the Napoleonic Wars and the national bankruptcy in 1813. Frederik VII was the monarch to live in the palace. Christiansborg became a point for many of the events which led up to the transition from absolute monarchy to democracy in 1849. After large crowds had gathered in front of the palace in March 1848, the king ceded some of his chambers to the new Parliament, Rigsdagen, which from January 1850 had sessions in the wing where Folketinget meets today. Other parts of the continued to be used by the royal family. Frederick VII was the monarch to live in the palace. The second Christiansborg burned down in October 1884, hansens chapel and the building linking the palace to the chapel were left undamaged as were the showgrounds, court theatre and pavilions. These had also survived the fire of 1794, the third and current Christiansborg was built between 1907 and 1928 by Thorvald Jørgensen in a neo-baroque style that pays lip service to the first Christiansborg. The building is used by the Danish parliament, the second Christiansborg was designed in a French Empire style. It was built on the foundations and remaining walls of its predecessor but the wing with the tower and Grand Hall was not rebuilt, architecture of Denmark Architect Christian Frederik Hansen
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Amalienborg
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For its Antillian namesake, see Charlotte Amalie, U. S. Virgin Islands Amalienborg is the home of the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Amalienborg was originally built for four families, however, when Christiansborg Palace burned on 26 February 1794. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in the four different palaces, the Frederiksstaden district was built on the former grounds of two other palaces. The first palace was called Sophie Amalienborg, other parts of the land were used for Rosenborg Castle, Nyboder, and the new Eastern fortified wall around the old city. Work on the began in 1664, and the castle was built 1669-1673. The King died in 1670, and the Queen Dowager lived there until her death on 20 February 1685, the presentation was a great success, and it was repeated a few days later on 19 April. However, immediately after the start of the performance a stage decoration caught fire, causing the theatre and the palace to burn to the ground. The King planned to rebuild the palace, whose church, Royal Household, ole Rømer headed the preparatory work for the rebuilding of Amalienborg in the early 1690s. In 1694, the King negotiated a deal with the Swedish building master Nicodemus Tessin the Younger and his drawing and model were completed in 1697. The King, however, found the plans too ambitious, and instead began tearing down the buildings that same year. The second Amalienborg was built by Frederick IV at the beginning of his reign, the second Amalienborg consisted of a summerhouse, a central pavilion with orangeries, and arcades on both side of the pavilion. On one side of the buildings was a French-style garden, the pavilion had a dining room on the groundfloor. On the upper floor was a salon with an out to the harbour, the garden. This development is thought to have been the brainchild of Danish Ambassador Plenipotentiary in Paris. Heading the project was Lord High Steward Adam Gottlob Moltke, one of the most powerful and influential men in the land, with Nicolai Eigtved as royal architect and supervisor. The project consisted of four identical mansions, built to house four distinguished families of nobility from the royal circles and these mansions form the modern palace of Amalienborg, albeit much modified over the years. The noblemen who owned them were willing to part with their mansions for promotion and money, and the Moltke and Schack Palaces were acquired in the course of a few days. A colonnade, designed by royal architect Caspar Frederik Harsdorff, was added 1794-1795 to connect the recently occupied King’s palace, Moltke Palace, with that of the Crown Prince, Schack’s Palace
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Altona, Hamburg
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Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy, Altona was an independent city until 1937. In 2006 the population was 243,972, founded in 1535 as a village of fishermen in then Holstein-Pinneberg. In 1640, Altona came under Danish rule as part of Holstein-Glückstadt, Altona was one of the Danish monarchys most important harbour towns. The railroad from Altona to Kiel, the Hamburg-Altona–Kiel railway, was opened in 1844, members did business both in Hamburg and in Altona itself. All that remains after the Nazi Holocaust during World War II are the Jewish cemeteries, but in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the Holstein-Pinneberg and later Danish Holstein had lower taxes and placed fewer civil impositions on their Jewish community than did the government of Hamburg. Along with all of Schleswig-Holstein, Altona became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1867, in 1871 Altona and the nearby city Hamburg were hit by cholera, with a minimum of 16 casualties in Altona. During the Weimar era following World War I, the city of Altona was disturbed by major labor strikes, inflation in Germany was a major problem. In 1923 Max Brauer, the mayor of Altona, directed that city personnel be paid in part with gas meter tokens, as these coins did not lose value from inflation. The most notable event at this time is the Altona Bloody Sunday on July 17,1932 when several persons were shot by the force during a demonstration of Nazi groups. After police raids and a court, on August 1,1933 Bruno Tesch and others were found guilty. In the 1990s, the Federal Republic of Germany reversed the convictions of Tesch, the Greater Hamburg Act removed Altona from the Free State of Prussia in 1937 and merged it with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 1938. On 1 February 2007 the Ortsämter in Hamburg were dissolved, in Altona the precincts of Blankenese, Lurup and Osdorf had existed and had local offices. The border of Altona to the south is the River Elbe, and across the river the state Lower Saxony, to the east is the borough Hamburg-Mitte and to the north is the borough Eimsbüttel. The western border is with the state of Schleswig-Holstein, according to the statistical office of Hamburg, the area of Altona is 77.5 km² or 29.9 sq mi in 2006. 16. 4% were children under the age of 18, and 18. 6% were 65 years of age or older,12,545 people were registered as unemployed. In 1999 48% of all households were made up of individuals, there were 37 elementary schools and 30 secondary schools in Altona and 635 physicians in private practice and 67 pharmacies. Simultaneously with elections to the parliament, the Bezirksversammlung is elected as representatives of the citizens
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Empire
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An empire can be made solely of contiguous territories such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or of territories far remote from the homeland, such as a colonial empire. Aside from the formal usage, the term empire can also be used to refer to a large-scale business enterprise. The term empire is associated with words such as imperialism, colonialism. Empire is often used to describe a displeasure to overpowering situations, the former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion, territorial empires tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has applied to maritime empires or thalassocracies, with looser structures. Empires are usually larger than kingdoms and this aspiration to universality resulted in conquest by converting ‘outsiders’ or ‘inferiors’ into the colonialized religion. This association of nationality and race became complex and has had an intense drive for expansion. An empire is a multi-ethnic or multinational state with political and/or military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the ethnic group. This is in contrast to a federation, which is a state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a political party who rules over territories outside of its original borders. Definitions of what physically and politically constitute an empire vary and it might be a state affecting imperial policies or a particular political structure. Empires are typically formed from ethnic, national, cultural. Empire and colonialism are used to refer to relationships between powerful state or society versus a less powerful one, sometimes, an empire is a semantic construction, such as when a ruler assumes the title of emperor. That rulers nation logically becomes an empire, despite having no additional territory or hegemony, among the last of the empires in the 20th century were the Central African Empire, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Manchukuo, the German Empire, and Korea. Furthermore, empires can expand by both land and sea, Empires originated as different types of states, although they commonly began as powerful monarchies. Ideas about empires have changed over time, ranging from public approval to universal distaste, Empires are built out of separate units with some kind of diversity – ethnic, national, cultural, religious – and imply at least some inequality between the rulers and the ruled. Without this inequality, the system would be seen as commonwealth, many empires were the result of military conquest, incorporating the vanquished states into a political union, but imperial hegemony can be established in other ways
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Frederick VI of Denmark
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Frederick VI was King of Denmark from 13 March 1808 to 3 December 1839 and King of Norway from 13 March 1808 to 7 February 1814. From 1784 until his accession, he served as regent during his fathers illness and was referred to as the Crown Prince Regent. For his motto he chose God and the just cause and since the time of his reign, Frederick was born at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. Frederick belonged to the House of Oldenburg and his parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. He was born after 15 months of marriage, just a day before his fathers 19th birthday, as the eldest son of the ruling king, he automatically became crown prince at birth. On 30 January of the year, he was baptised at Christiansborg Palace by Ludvig Harboe. His godparents were King Christian VII, the dowager queen Juliana Maria and his half-uncle, from 1770 to 1772, Struensee was de facto regent and lover of Caroline Matilda, Fredericks mother. Both were ideologically influenced by Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau, while Struensee was in power, young Frederick was raised at Hirschholm Palace following the educational approach advocated by Rousseau in his famous work Émile. Instead of receiving direct instruction, Frederick was expected to learn everything through his own efforts through playing with two boys as per Struensees instructions. On 8 January 1772, after the revolt against Struensee, Fredericks 18-year-old half-uncle Hereditary Prince Frederick was made regent, the real power, however, was held by Hereditary Prince Fredericks mother, Queen Dowager Juliana Maria, aided by Ove Høegh-Guldberg. It is said that during the coup, he engaged in a fistfight with his half-uncle over the regency and he continued as regent of Denmark under his fathers name until the latters death in 1808. During the regency, Frederick instituted widespread liberal reforms with the assistance of Chief Minister Andreas Peter Bernstorff, crises encountered during his reign include disagreement with the British over neutral shipping. This resulted in two British attacks on Copenhagen, the Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 and the Battle of Copenhagen of 1807, the conflict continued in the Gunboat War between Denmark-Norway and the United Kingdom, which lasted until the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. There was speculation that he was to marry a Prussian princess and they married in Gottorp on 31 July 1790 and had eight children. Their eldest daughter, Princess Caroline married her father’s first cousin, Ferdinand, the youngest, Princess Wilhelmine, became the wife of the future Frederick VII of Denmark. None of Frederick VIs sons survived infancy and when he died, he was succeeded by his cousin Christian VIII of Denmark, Frederick became King of Denmark on 13 March 1808. When the throne of Sweden seemed likely to become vacant in 1809, however, Fredericks brother-in-law, Prince Christian Augustus of Augustenborg, was first elected to the throne of Sweden, followed by the French Marshal Bernadotte. During the Napoleonic Wars, he tried to maintain Danish neutrality, however after the British bombardment of Copenhagen, after the French defeat in Russia in 1812, the Allies again asked him to change sides but he refused
39.
Frederick VII of Denmark
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Frederick VII was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg, during his reign, he signed a constitution that established a Danish parliament and made the country a constitutional monarchy. Fredericks motto was The peoples love, my strength, Frederick was born at Amalienborg Palace to Christian VIII of Denmark and Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His maternal grandparents were Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the kings first two marriages both ended in scandal and divorce. He was first married in Copenhagen on 1 November 1828 to his second cousin Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark and they separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837. On 10 June 1841 he married for a time to Duchess Caroline Charlotte Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Køppen and of Juliane Caroline Rasmussen and this marriage seems to have been happy, although it aroused great moral indignation among the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Countess Danner, who was denounced as a gold digger by her enemies. She also worked at maintaining his popularity by letting him meet the people of the provinces, the expectation that Frederick would not likely produce offspring, despite numerous affairs, was widespread, but sources rarely state the reasons. Some speculate that Frederick was infertile, during the reign of Fredericks father, King Christian VIII, the succession question was already being brought forward. This was brought forward in a book published in 1994 and again in a book published in 2009, the letters are quoted in the book. In all cases, however, extramarital offspring were and still are barred from the line of succession and it has been claimed Frederick had a same-sex relationship with his friend, Carl Berling (1812-1871 publisher and owner of the newspaper Berlingske Tidende. To retain a tinge of decency, the King married Louise Rasmussen, the public indignation within higher circles over Fredericks morganatic marriage is well-known, but reasons have rarely been explained in detail. Frederick, who was the last king of the branch of the Oldenburg dynasty, had a rather neglected childhood after the divorce of his parents. His youth was marked by scandals and for many years he appeared as the problem child of the royal family. When he succeeded to the throne in January 1848, he was almost at once met by the demands for a constitution, the Schleswig-Holsteiners wanted an independent state while the Danes wished to maintain South Jutland as a Danish area. The king soon yielded to the Danish demands, and in March he accepted the end of absolutism, during his reign, Frederick on the whole behaved as a constitutional monarch. He did not, however, quite give up interfering in politics, in 1854, he contributed to the fall of the strongly conservative Ørsted cabinet, and in 1859–60, he accepted a liberal government appointed on the initiative of his wife
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Constitutional monarchy
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A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the sovereign exercises their authorities in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution. A constitutional monarchy may refer to a system in which the acts as a non-party political head of state under the constitution. Political scientist Vernon Bogdanor, paraphrasing Thomas Macaulay, has defined a constitutional monarch as a sovereign who reigns, in addition to acting as a visible symbol of national unity, a constitutional monarch may hold formal powers such as dissolving parliament or giving royal assent to legislation. Many constitutional monarchies still retain significant authorities or political influence however, such as through certain reserve powers, the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms are all constitutional monarchies in the Westminster tradition of constitutional governance. Three states – Malaysia, Cambodia and the Holy See – are elective monarchies, the oldest constitutional monarchy dating back to ancient times was that of the Hittites. These were scattered noble families that worked as representatives of their subjects in an adjutant or subaltern federal-type landscape, the most recent country to move from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy was Bhutan, between 2007 and 2008. At the same time, in Scotland the Convention of Estates enacted the Claim of Right Act 1689, although Queen Anne was the last monarch to veto an Act of Parliament when in 1707 she blocked the Scottish Militia Bill, Hanoverian monarchs continued to selectively dictate government policies. For instance George III constantly blocked Catholic Emancipation, eventually precipitating the resignation of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister in 1801, Queen Victoria was the last monarch to exercise real personal power but this diminished over the course of her reign. In 1839 she became the last sovereign to keep a Prime Minister in power against the will of Parliament when the Bedchamber crisis resulted in the retention of Lord Melbournes administration, today, the role of the British monarch is by convention effectively ceremonial. No person may accept significant public office without swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen, with few exceptions, the monarch is bound by constitutional convention to act on the advice of the Government. Constitutional monarchy also occurred briefly in the years of the French Revolution. As originally conceived, a monarch was head of the executive branch and quite a powerful figure even though his or her power was limited by the constitution. In many cases the monarchs, while still at the top of the political and social hierarchy, were given the status of servants of the people to reflect the new. In the course of Frances July Monarchy, Louis-Philippe I was styled King of the French rather than King of France, following the Unification of Germany, Otto von Bismarck rejected the British model. However this model of constitutional monarchy was discredited and abolished following Germanys defeat in the First World War. Later, Fascist Italy could also be considered as a constitutional monarchy and this eventually discredited the Italian monarchy and led to its abolition in 1946. After the Second World War, surviving European monarchies almost invariably adopted some variant of the constitutional monarchy model originally developed in Britain, nowadays a parliamentary democracy that is a constitutional monarchy is considered to differ from one that is a republic only in detail rather than in substance. However, three important factors distinguish monarchies such as the United Kingdom from systems where greater power might otherwise rest with Parliament, other privileges may be nominal or ceremonial
41.
Constitution
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A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i. e. constitute, some constitutions are uncodified, but written in numerous fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases or treaties. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from states to companies. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a states rulers cannot cross, the term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used for regulations and orders, such as the imperial enactments. Later, the term was used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by the Pope. The Latin term ultra vires describes activities of officials within an organization or polity that fall outside the constitutional or statutory authority of those officials. Ultra vires gives a justification for the forced cessation of such action. A violation of rights by an official would be ultra vires because a right is a restriction on the powers of government, and therefore that official would be exercising powers they do not have. It was never law, even though, if it had been a statute or statutory provision, in such a case, only the application may be ruled unconstitutional. Historically, the remedy for such violations have been petitions for common law writs, excavations in modern-day Iraq by Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 found evidence of the earliest known code of justice, issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash ca 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered, for example, it is known that it relieved tax for widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the usury of the rich. After that, many governments ruled by codes of written laws. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur, some of the better-known ancient law codes include the code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian code and Mosaic law. In 621 BC a scribe named Draco codified the cruel oral laws of the city-state of Athens, in 594 BC Solon, the ruler of Athens, created the new Solonian Constitution. It eased the burden of the workers, and determined that membership of the class was to be based on wealth. Cleisthenes again reformed the Athenian constitution and set it on a footing in 508 BC. The most basic definition he used to describe a constitution in general terms was the arrangement of the offices in a state
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Prince George of Denmark
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Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland, was the husband of Queen Anne, who reigned over Great Britain from 1702. His marriage to Anne was arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power, as a result, George was unpopular with his Dutch brother-in-law William of Orange, who was married to Annes elder sister, Mary. William and Mary became joint monarchs of Britain, with Anne as their heir presumptive, in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution deposed James II and VII, the father of both Anne and Mary. William excluded George from active service, and neither George nor Anne wielded any great influence until after the deaths of William and Mary. During his wifes reign, George occasionally used his influence in support of his wife and he had an easy-going manner and little interest in politics, his appointment as Lord High Admiral in 1702 was largely honorary. Annes seventeen pregnancies by George resulted in twelve miscarriages or stillbirths, four infant deaths, and a sick son, William. Despite the history of their children, George and Annes marriage was a strong one, George died aged 55 from a recurring and chronic lung disease, much to the devastation of his wife, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey. George was born in Copenhagen Castle, and was the son of King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway. His mother was the sister of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, from 1661, his governor was Otto Grote, later Hanoverian minister to Denmark. Grote was more courtier and statesman than educator and when he left for the Hanoverian court in 1665, George received military training, and undertook a Grand Tour of Europe, spending eight months in 1668–69 in France and mid-1669 in England. His father died in 1670, while George was in Italy and he travelled through Germany again in 1672–73, to visit two of his sisters, Anna Sophia and Wilhelmine Ernestine, who were married to the electoral princes of Saxony and the Palatinate. In 1674, George was a candidate for the Polish elective throne, Georges staunch Lutheranism was a barrier to election in Roman Catholic Poland, and John Sobieski was chosen instead. In 1677, George served with distinction with his elder brother Christian in the Scanian War against Sweden. His brother was captured by the Swedes at the Battle of Landskrona, and George cut his way through the enemies numbers, as a Protestant, George was considered a suitable partner for the niece of King Charles II of England, Lady Anne. Although they were related, they had never met. George was hosted by Charles II in London in 1669, both Denmark and Britain were Protestant countries, and Louis XIV was keen on an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain the power of the Dutch Republic. George and Anne were married on 28 July 1683 in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess Palace, London, by Henry Compton, the guests included King Charles II, Queen Catherine, and the Duke and Duchess of York. Anne was voted a parliamentary allowance of £20,000 a year, while George received £10,000 a year from his Danish estates, King Charles gave them a set of buildings in the Palace of Whitehall known as the Cockpit as their London residence
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