Princess Caroline of Denmark
Princess Caroline of Denmark, was the eldest surviving daughter of King Frederick VI. She was unofficially known as Kronprinsesse Caroline prior to her marriage and she married her father’s first cousin, Hereditary Prince Ferdinand, who was heir presumptive to the throne from 1848 to 1863. Princess Caroline was born at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on 28 October 1793 and her parents were Crown Prince Frederick and his spouse and first cousin, Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel. Her paternal grandfather King Christian VII being mentally unstable, her father had acted as regent since 1784 and her birth was much welcomed by the public, as her siblings had died soon after their birth. At her birth it was said, «Denne er Dydens Løn, flere er Folkets Bøn. » Four months after her birth, on 26 February 1794, subsequently Princess Caroline moved with her parents to Amalienborg Palace where she grew up, spending the summers at Frederiksberg Palace. At the death of her grandfather Christian VII of Denmark in 1808 and she had a very close relationship with her father.
She was given a broad, but not very thorough or deep, Caroline was not described as either talented or beautiful. She met Hans Christian Andersen in 1822 and was interested in his writing. Her father had no surviving sons and Caroline and her sister Vilhelmine Marie were excluded from succession to the throne as a result of Salic Law. Despite of this fact, she was commonly called and referred to as Crown Princess prior to her marriage, as the eldest child of her father. Several possible marriages were planned for her but without result, among the grooms suggested was the British Prince William, Duke of Clarence. In 1812, she was engaged to her uncle Prince Christian of Hesse, finally, on 1 August 1829 at Frederiksberg Palace she married her first cousin, Prince Ferdinand of Denmark, who was third in line to the throne. The marriage was arranged for political reasons and was childless, after her marriage, she was no longer called crown princess until her spouse became hereditary prince. She suffered a burn injury in 1858 when she burned her arm and shoulder so badly.
Between 1831 and 1839, she presided regularly at the supervision of the Aarhus troops and she founded an asylum in Aarhus and became the protector of Vallø Stift in 1852. After the death of her brother-in-law King Christian VIII in 1848, her husband became heir presumptive to the throne of Denmark, Caroline now became hereditary princess again, but in contrast to the case before her marriage, she now received the title formally. She never became queen, however, as Hereditary Prince Ferdinand died in 1863, shortly before his nephew King Frederick VII, and the throne passed to King Christian IX. The spouses lived in the palace Bernstorffske Palæ, which had been renovated for them by King Frederick VI, Caroline eventually came to live quite harmoniously with her spouse
Frederiksborg Castle
Frederiksborg Castle is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. Situated on three islets in the Slotssøen, it is adjoined by a formal garden in the Baroque style. After a serious fire in 1859, the castle was rebuilt on the basis of old plans, thanks to public support and the brewer J. C. Jacobsen, the building and its apartments were fully restored by 1882 when it was reopened to the public as the Danish Museum of National History, open throughout the year, the museum contains the largest collection of portrait paintings in Denmark. The estate originally known as Hillerødsholm near Hillerød had traditionally belonged to the Gøyes, in the 1520s and 1530s, Mogens Gøye, Steward of the Realm, had been instrumental in introducing the Danish Reformation. He lived in a building on the most northerly of three adjoining islets on the estates lake. The property was known as Hillerødsholm, after his daughter, married the courtier and naval hero Herluf Trolle in 1544, the couple became its proprietors.
In the 1540s, Trolle replaced the old building with a manor house. As the old building with towers was too small for the king. At the kings request, Trolle remained on the premises until the work was completed, the king renamed the estate Frederiksborg. Interested in deer hunting, he used the castle with the neighbouring Bath House as a hunting lodge, centred as it was in the fields. The additions included a wall to the south, separating the estate from the town. Still standing today is the quadrangular red-brick, tip-roofed house on Staldgade known as Herluf Trolles Tower, adjoining this are two long, narrow red-brick stable buildings, the Kings Stables to the west and the Hussars Stables to the east. These in turn lead to a wall along the lake with two round towers completed in 1562 bearing the arms of Frederick II and his motto Mein Hoffnung zu Gott allein, on the central islet, the long pantry house with stepped gables can be seen today. The most important building from Frederick IIs times is the Bath House in the park northwest of the islets, completed in 1581 in the Renaissance style with three protruding step-gabled wings, it served the king as a hunting lodge during the summer months.
Frederiksborg Castle was the first Danish castle to be built inland, all previous castles had been on the coast or close to ports as the sea had traditionally been the principal means of travel. It was the first to be built for recreational purposes rather than for defence. Its location in Hillerød led to the development of improved roads
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British bombardment of the Danish capital, Copenhagen in order to capture or destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet, during the Napoleonic Wars. The incident led to the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War of 1807, britains first response to Napoleons Continental system was to launch a major naval attack on the weakest link in Napoleons coalition, Denmark. Although ostensibly neutral, Denmark was under heavy French and Russian pressure to pledge its fleet to Napoleon. In September 1807, the Royal Navy bombarded Copenhagen, seizing the Danish fleet, a consequence of the attack was that Denmark did join the war on the side of France, but without a fleet it had little to offer. The attack gave rise to the term to Copenhagenize, the majority of the Danish army, under the Crown Prince, was at this time defending the southern border against possible attack from the French. There was concern in Britain that Napoleon might try to force Denmark to close the Baltic Sea to British ships, perhaps by marching French troops into Zealand, the British thought that after Prussia had been defeated in December 1806, Denmarks independence looked increasingly under threat from France.
George Cannings predecessor as Foreign Secretary, Lord Howick, had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Denmark into an alliance with Britain. He refused to publish the source because he said it would endanger their lives, some reports suggested that the Danes had secretly agreed to this. The Cabinet decided on 18 July to send Francis Jackson on a mission to Copenhagen to persuade Denmark to give its fleet to Britain. That same day, the Admiralty issued an order for more than 50 ships to sail for service under Admiral James Gambier. On 19 July, Lord Castlereagh, the Secretary of State for War, the fact that he has openly avowed such intention in an interview with the E of R is brought to this country in such a way as it cannot be doubted. Under such circumstances it would be madness, it would be idiotic. to wait for an overt act, the British assembled a force of 25,000 troops, and the vanguard sailed on 30 July, Jackson set out the next day. On 31 July, Napoleon ordered Talleyrand to tell Denmark to prepare for war against Britain or else Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte would invade Holstein, neither Talleyrand nor Jackson persuaded the Danes to end their neutrality, so Jackson went back to the British fleet assembled in the Sound on 15 August.
The British published a proclamation demanding the deposit of the Danish fleet, on 12 August, the 32-gun Danish frigate Frederiksværn sailed for Norway from Elsinor. Admiral Lord Gambier sent the 74-gun third rate Defence and the 22-gun sixth rate Comus after her, Comus was much faster than Defence in the light winds and so outdistanced her. On 15 August, Comus caught Frederiksværn off Marstrand and captured her, the British took her into service as Frederikscoarn. 1/95th, 2/95th KGL Division, Major General van Drechel 1st Brigade, Colonel du Plat, 2nd Brigade, Colonel von Drieburg, 3rd, 4th, 5th Line Batts. 3rd Brigade, Colonel von Barsse, 1st and 2nd Line Batts, 4th Brigade, Colonel von Alten, 1st and 2nd Light Batts
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War was the naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The wars name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the conventional Royal Navy, in Scandinavia it is seen as the stage of the English Wars, whose commencement is accounted as the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. The naval conflict between Britain and Denmark commenced with the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 when Horatio Nelsons squadron of Admiral Parkers fleet attacked the Danish capital, the tactical advantages were that they were highly manoeuvrable, especially in still and shallow waters and presented small targets. On the other hand, the boats were vulnerable and likely to sink from a single hit and they therefore could not be used in rough seas, and they were less effective against large warships. The Danish Commander Steen Andersen Bille is credited with being the force behind the post-1807 Dano-Norwegian strategy of gunboat warfare. Below is a description of each of the four classes of gunboats according to Junior Lieutenant Garde, These were the larger type of gunboat.
Each was armed with two 24-pound cannon and four 4-pound howitzers and had an establishment of 69 –79 men. Kanonjollen, These were the type of gunboat. Each was armed with one 24-pound cannon and two 4-pound howitzers, and had wartime establishment of 41 men, These were the larger, mortar-armed gunboats. Each was armed with one 100-pound mortar and two 4-pound howitzers, and had an establishment of 40 men. Morterbarkasserne, These were smaller, mortar-armed gunboats, each was armed with one mortar and had a wartime establishment of 19 men. They were little more than ordinary ships’ boats into which a mortar had been set and they had a tendency to leak badly after 5 –7 mortar shells had been fired. Their crews had to bring back into harbour, remove the mortar. Reserve crew who could not be accommodated on board were quartered in buildings on land or in the frigate Triton which was in ordinary, battle-ready gunboats had their crews on board. Defences on the Norwegian coast in 1808 are listed at Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy order of battle in Norway, ten schooner-rigged gunboats capable of operating in the rougher Norwegian Sea were built in Bergen and Trondheim in the years 1808 to 1811.
Further economic damage was done by raids on the smaller islands, British warships landed to replenish firewood and water supplies, and forcibly to buy, commandeer or simply take livestock to augment their provisions. The war overlapped, in time, the Anglo-Russian War, as a result, the British expanded their trade embargo to Russian waters and the British navy conducted forays northwards into the Barents Sea. The navy conducted raids on Hasvik and Hammerfest and disrupted the Pomor trade, in the engagement the British suffered only one man wounded, the Danes lost 12 men while 20 were wounded, some mortally
Treaty of Kiel
Specifically excluded from the exchange were the Norwegian dependencies of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which remained in the union with Denmark. Norway unsuccessfully contested the Danish claim to all of Greenland in the East Greenland case of 1931–1933, not all provisions of the treaty would come into force. Norway declared its independence, adopted a Constitution and elected Crown Prince Christian Frederik as its own king, Sweden therefore refused to hand over Swedish Pomerania, which instead passed to Prussia after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. After a short war with Sweden, Norway accepted entering into a union with Sweden at the Convention of Moss. King Christian Frederik abdicated after convening an extraordinary Storting, which revised the Constitution to allow for the Union and it was formally established when the Storting elected Charles XIII as king of Norway on 4 November 1814. In the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway and the Kingdom of Sweden tried to maintain neutrality, the United Kingdom, which had declared war on France in 1803, paid subsidies to Sweden.
Before Gustav IV Adolf marched his forces out of Swedish Pomerania, in 1807, Napoleonic forces seized Swedish Pomerania and forced Prussia and Russia to sign the Treaty of Tilsit. Sweden could no longer uphold her anti-French foreign policy, and French Marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was elected heir to the Swedish throne in 1810, Denmark-Norway entered an alliance with France after the second British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. In 1812, Napoleons forces were decimated in their attempt to subdue Russia. Sweden allied with Russia on 30 August 1812, with the United Kingdom on 3 March 1813, previously, on 23 March 1813, she had declared war on Napoleon. Bernadottes condition for entering the anti-Napoleonic alliance was the gain of Norway, Prussia however did not acknowledge this claim at first. Thus, Bernadotte hesitated to enter the war with full force, when Prussia finally accepted the Swedish claim to Norway on 22 July, Sweden joined the alliance of Reichenbach concluded between Russia, the United Kingdom and Prussia on 14/15 June.
With three armies, the allies subsequently cleared Northern Germany of French forces, who had maintained the alliance with Napoleon because of the Swedish claim to Norway, was isolated and, as a consequence of the war, bankrupt. It consisted of 14 articles, to two articles were added in Brussels on 7 April. In article III, the United Kingdom was obliged to return all occupied Danish possessions to the Danish king, excepted was the island of Heligoland, where the British king was granted full and unlimited sovereignty. Article VIII was concerned with the abolishment of slave trade, in article X, the British king promised the Danish king to negotiate further compensation for Denmarks territorial cessions to Sweden in a pending final peace. In article XIII, older Dano-British treaties were confirmed, the treaty between the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden was negotiated by Danish diplomat Edmund Bourke and Swedish envoy Baron Gustaf af Wetterstedt with British mediation. It consisted of 28 articles and one separate article, in article IV, the Danish king in his and his successors name irrevocably and forever renounced claims to the Kingdom of Norway in favor of the Swedish king
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester.
The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index.
It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, military and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark-Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. For his motto he chose, Gloria ex amore patriae, Christian VIIs reign was marked by mental illness and for most of his reign Christian was only nominally king. His half-brother Frederick was designated as regent of Denmark in 1772, from 1784 until Christian VIIs death in 1808, Christians son, Frederick VI, acted as unofficial regent. Christian was the son of King Frederick V and his first wife Louise of Great Britain and he was born in the Queens Bedchamber at Christiansborg Palace, the Royal residence in Copenhagen. He was baptized a few hours the same day and his godparents were King Frederick V, Queen Dowager Sophie Magdalene, Princess Louise and Princess Charlotte Amalie. A former heir to the throne, named Christian, had died in infancy in 1747, therefore and his mother Queen Louise died in 1751, two years after his birth. The following year his father married to Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, after a long period of infirmity, Frederick V died 14 January 1766, just 42 years old.
Later the same day, Christian was proclaimed king from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace, Christians reign was marked by mental illness which affected government decisions, and for most of his reign Christian was only nominally king. His court physicians were especially worried by his frequent masturbation and his royal advisers changed depending on who won power struggles around the throne. In the late 1760s, he came under the influence of his personal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee, from 1770 to 1772, Struensee was de facto regent of the country, and introduced progressive reforms signed into law by Christian VII. The dynastic marriage took place at Christiansborg Palace on 8 November 1766, after his marriage, he abandoned himself to the worst excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. In 1767, he entered into a relationship with the courtesan Støvlet-Cathrine and he publicly declared that he could not love Caroline Matilda, because it was unfashionable to love ones wife. He ultimately sank into a condition of mental stupor, symptoms during this time included paranoia, self-mutilation and hallucinations.
Struensee was a protégé of an Enlightenment circle of aristocrats that had been rejected by the court in Copenhagen and he was a skilled doctor, and having somewhat restored the kings health while visiting the Schleswig-Holstein area, he gained the kings affection. He was retained as travelling physician on 5 April 1768, and accompanied the entourage on the King’s foreign tour to Paris and he was given the title of State Councilor on 12 May 1768, barely a week after leaving Altona. The neglected and lonely Caroline Matilda entered into an affair with Struensee, in 1772, the kings marriage with Caroline Matilda was dissolved by divorce. Christians marriage with Caroline Matilda produced two children, the future King Frederick VI and Princess Louise Auguste, however, it is widely believed that Louise was the daughter of Struensee—portrait comparisons tend to support this hypothesis. Struensee, following a deluge of modernising and emancipating reforms, was arrested and executed the same year, Christian signed Struensees arrest and execution warrant under pressure from his stepmother, Queen Juliane Marie, who had led the movement to have the marriage ended
Denmark
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
Frederiksberg Palace
Frederiksberg Palace is a Baroque residence, located in Frederiksberg, adjacent to the Copenhagen Zoo. It commands a view over Frederiksberg Gardens, originally designed as a palace garden in the Baroque style. Constructed and extended from 1699 to 1735, the served as the royal family’s summer residence until the mid-19th century. Since 1869, it has housed the Royal Danish Military Academy, as crown prince, Frederick IV had broadened his education by travelling in Europe. The original building, probably designed by Ernst Brandenburger, was completed in 1703 for Frederick IV as a small, one-storey summer residence. The first major extension, when it was converted into a three-storey H-shaped building, was completed in 1709 by Johan Conrad Ernst, giving the palace an Italian Baroque appearance. It was Lauritz de Thurah who executed the third and final extension from 1733 to 1738 when the palace received extensions to the lateral wings encircling the courtyard, Frederick IV spent many happy years at the palace.
Christian VII who was married to the English princess Caroline Matilda spent some time in the palace and their son, who was to become Frederick VI, loved the palace and lived there both as crown prince and as king. After Frederick VIs dowager wife Queen Marie died at the palace in March 1852, in 1868, it was transferred to the War Ministry and the following year it became the Officers Academy. The building has undergone significant restoration work, first from 1927 to 1932. During the construction of the palace building, it was decided that there should be a chapel in the east wing. This probably explains why there is no indication of the chapel from the outside and it actually covers the space behind the six central windows on the ground floor. Wilhelm Friedrich von Platen and Ernst Brandenburger designed the chapel in the Baroque style and it was inaugurated on 31 March 1710. When the palace was taken over by the Officers Academy, the chapels furnishings, they were returned in the 1930s and can still be seen there today.
The palace and the chapel can be visited and they contain imposing stucco work, ceiling paintings, an elegant marble bathroom with a secret access staircase, and the Princesses pancake kitchen. In 1854, British MP S. M. Peto gave a window to the King of Demark for the chapel. Since 1932, the chapel has been used as the parish church. The palace overlooks Frederiksberg Gardens which dates back to the first palace in 1703, from 1795 to 1804, it was redesigned by Peter Pedersen as an English landscape garden with the winding paths, lakes and canals which can be seen today
Roskilde Cathedral
Roskilde Cathedral, in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. The first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick, it encouraged the spread of the Brick Gothic style throughout Northern Europe, constructed during the 12th and 13th centuries, the cathedral incorporates both Gothic and Romanesque architectural features in its design. Until the 20th century, it was Zealands only cathedral and its twin spires dominate the skyline of the town. The cathedral has been the burial site for Danish monarchs since the 15th century. As such, it has significantly extended and altered over the centuries to accommodate a considerable number of burial chapels. Following the Danish Reformation in 1536, the residence was moved to Copenhagen while the title was changed to Bishop of Zealand. Coronations normally took place in Copenhagens Church of Our Lady or in the chapel of Frederiksborg Palace, the cathedral is a major tourist attraction, bringing in over 125,000 visitors annually.
Since 1995, it has listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A working church, it hosts concerts throughout the year. Roskilde was named the new capital of Denmark by King Harald Bluetooth around the year 960, moving to Roskilde, Bluetooth built a royal farm and next to it, a small stave church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Little is known of the Trinity Church, let alone its architecture, in Adam of Bremens Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, there is an account of how the kings son, Sweyn Forkbeard, raised a rebellion against him, forcing him to flee to Jomsborg. When Bluetooth died in 985/986, the army that had raised against him brought his body to Roskilde. At Christmas in 1026, Ulf the Earl was murdered by one of Cnut the Greats housecarls, though the sources differ, this happened either inside the church or at the royal farm. Ulf had been married to Cnut the Greats sister Estrid, who was outraged by the murder, there is some doubt as to when Roskilde became the seat of the Bishop of Roskilde.
When Sweyn Forkbeard conquered England in 1013, he began sending English bishops to Denmark and this caused some conflict with the Archbishop of Hamburg, who regarded Scandinavia as belonging to the Archdiocese of Bremen. The earliest known bishop of Roskilde was Gerbrand, who had been a cleric with Cnut the Great, only after swearing allegiance to the archbishop was he allowed to continue his journey. The archbishop may have had reason to be suspicious, as documents of the time suggest that Cnut the Great may have planned to create an archdiocese in Roskilde. Funded by the weregild Estrid Svendsdatter had received, the old Trinity Church was torn down and this may have formed the base of the travertine cathedral, but it is difficult to tell, as two cathedrals have subsequently been built on the same site
Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII was the King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and his paternal grandparents were King Frederick V of Denmark and his second wife, Duchess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Christian was born at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Christians upbringing was marked by a thorough and broad-spectrum education with exposure to artists and scientists who were linked to his fathers court. Christian inherited the talents of his highly gifted mother, and his amiability, Christian first married his cousin Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Ludwigslust on 21 June 1806. Charlotte Frederica was a daughter of Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his first-born son was Christian Frederik, who was born and died at Schloss Plön on 8 April 1807. His second son became Frederick VII of Denmark, the marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1810 after Charlotte Frederica was accused of adultery.
Christian married his wife, Princess Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg at Augustenborg Palace on 22 May 1815. The couple was childless and lived in retirement as leaders of the literary. Christian had ten children, for whom he carefully provided. It is rumored that among these children included the fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. Christian did all he could personally to strengthen the bonds between the Norwegians and the house of Denmark. He was elected Regent of Norway by an assembly of notables on 16 February 1814, Christian next attempted to interest the great powers in Norways cause, but without success. Sweden refused Christians conditions and a military campaign ensued in which the Norwegian army was defeated by the forces of the Swedish crown prince Charles John. The brief war concluded with the Convention of Moss on 14 August 1814, by the terms of this treaty, King Christian Frederick transferred executive power to the Storting and returned to Denmark.
The Storting in its turn adopted the constitutional amendments necessary to allow for a union with Sweden. On 13 December 1839 he ascended the Danish throne as Christian VIII, the Liberal party had high hopes of “the giver of constitutions, ” but he disappointed his admirers by steadily rejecting every Liberal project. Administrative reform was the reform he would promise. In his attitude to the growing national unrest in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein he often seemed hesitated and half-hearted
Spain: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1818.[17]
