| Frederick IV | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byBalthasar Denner | |
| King of Denmark andNorway (more...) | |
| Reign | 25 August 1699 – 12 October 1730 |
| Coronation | 15 April 1700 Frederiksborg Palace Chapel |
| Predecessor | Christian V |
| Successor | Christian VI |
| Grand Chancellors | |
| Born | (1671-10-11)11 October 1671 Copenhagen Castle, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 12 October 1730(1730-10-12) (aged 59) Odense Palace, Odense, Denmark |
| Burial | |
| Spouses | |
| Issue | |
| House | Oldenburg |
| Father | Christian V of Denmark |
| Mother | Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Signature |  |
Frederick IV (Danish:Frederik; 11 October 1671 – 12 October 1730) wasKing of Denmark andNorway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son ofChristian V ofDenmark-Norway and his wifeCharlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel.[1]
Frederick was born on 11 October 1671 atCopenhagen Castle as the eldest son of KingChristian V and his spouseCharlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel. His grandfather KingFrederick III had died a year and a half before he was born, and as the eldest son of the ruling King he was thusCrown Prince from birth. The newborn prince was baptised the same evening with the name Frederick by the royal confessor Hans Leth.[2] Theroyal baptismal font, which has been used for the baptism of the royal children in Denmark ever since, was used for the first time at his christening.[3]
At the age of 18, he was given a seat on theCouncil of State as theheir apparent to the throne.
As Crown Prince, Frederick broadened his education by travelling in Europe, led by hischamberlainDitlev Wibe. He was particularly impressed by the architecture inItaly and, on his return to Denmark, asked his father for permission to build a summer palace onSolbjerg, as the hill inValby was then known, the future site ofFrederiksberg Palace.[4] The one-storey building, probably designed byErnst 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 ofGustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow inGüstrow. But his visit there was cut short by a message telling of his brotherPrince Christian's serious illness (he had, in fact, already died inUlm). Frederick later returned toGüstrow, where he was forced to choose the eldest of the unmarried princesses. On 5 December 1695 at Copenhagen Castle, he marriedLouise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, herself a great-great-granddaughter ofFrederick II of Denmark.
At the death of Christian V on 25 August 1699, the couple became King and Queen of Denmark-Norway. They were crowned on 15 April 1700 in the chapel ofFrederiksborg Palace.[5]
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Frederick's most importantdomestic reform was the abolition in 1702 of the so-calledvornedskab, a kind ofserfdom which had applied to the peasants ofZealand since theLate Middle Ages. His efforts were largely in vain because of the introduction in 1733 ofadscription (stavnsbånd), a law that forced peasants to remain in their home regions, by which the peasantry were subjected to both the local nobility and the army.[6]
After theGreat Northern War, trade and culture flowered. The first Danish theatre,Lille Grønnegade Theatre, was created and the great dramatistLudvig Holberg (1684–1754) began his career. He established theCollege of Missions which funded the missionaryHans Egede (1686–1758) in taking forward the colonisation ofGreenland. Politically this period was marked by the King's connection to theReventlows, theHolsteiner relatives of his second queen, and by his growing suspicion of the old nobility.[7][8]
During Frederick's ruleCopenhagen was struck by two disasters: theplague of 1711, and thegreat fire of October 1728, which destroyed most of themedieval capital. The King had been persuaded by astronomerOle Rømer (1644–1710) to introduce theGregorian calendar in Denmark-Norway in 1700, but theastronomer's observations and calculations were among the treasures lost to the fire.[9]
Frederik IV, having twice visited Italy, had two pleasure palaces built in the Italianbaroque style:Frederiksberg Palace was extended during his reign, when it was converted into a three-storey H-shaped building, completed in 1709 byJohan Conrad Ernst, giving the palace a true Italian baroque appearance[10] andFredensborg Palace, both considered monuments to the conclusion of the Great Northern War.
Frederick IV holds a memorable place in the social history of the city ofVenice due to a remarkable visit he made during the winter of 1708–09. The King stayed in the city with an entourage of at least 80 people, formally incognito under the title "Count of Oldenburg." This disguise was not meant to conceal his identity, but rather to avoid the cumbersome and costly etiquette required for a royal visit.
During his nine-week stay, Frederick IV became a familiar figure in Venice. He was a frequent guest at operas and comedies, indulging in the city's vibrant cultural scene. The King was also a generous buyer ofVenetian glass, which was highly prized at the time. His visit to thestate arsenal of Venice was marked by a prestigious gift from the republic: two large bronze cannons and a bronzemortar.
One of the highlights of his stay was a grandregatta on theGrand Canal held in his honour, which was immortalized in a painting byLuca Carlevarijs. In the painting, Frederick IV is depicted in a gondola with eight rowers, accompanied by a cavalier, enjoying the spectacle. This event is celebrated as a key moment in the King's visit.
The winter of 1708–09 was unusually cold, so much so that thelagoon surrounding Venice froze over. Venetians were able to walk from the city to the mainland, and it became a popular joke that the King of Denmark had brought the cold weather with him.
Frederick IV's time in Italy was not confined to Venice. He also made a visit to the dowager grand-princessViolante Beatrice at the grand-ducal court of theMedici family in Florence, further cementing his ties with the European nobility.[11]
Upon his return journey, Frederick IV conducted political negotiations withAugustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, as well as withFrederick I of Prussia, regarding the impending war against Sweden. His visit to Venice thus not only contributed to his cultural experience but also had significant political implications.Much of the King's life was spent in strife with kinsmen. Two of his first cousins,Charles XII of Sweden andFrederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (the three men were the grandsons ofFrederick III of Denmark), had waged war upon his father jointly. Initially defeated by the Swedes and forced to recognise the independence of Holstein-Gottorp, Frederick finally drove the next duke of Holstein-Gottorp,Duke Charles Frederick (who was Frederick IV's first cousin once removed) out of Schleswig in 1713, and avoided the revenge contemplated by Charles Frederick's mother-in-law,Catherine I of Russia.[12]
Frederick was deemed a man of responsibility and industry — often regarded as the most intelligent of Denmark-Norway'sabsolute monarchs. He seems to have mastered the art of remaining independent of hisministers. Lacking all interest in academic knowledge, he was nevertheless a patron of culture, especially art and architecture. His main weaknesses were probably pleasure-seeking and womanising, which sometimes distracted him. He was the penultimate Danish king to make amorganatic marriage (the last wasFrederick VII withLouise Rasmussen aka "Countess Danner").
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Without divorcing Queen Louise, in 1703 he marriedElisabeth Helene von Vieregg (d.1704). After the death of Elisabeth, he entered into a romance with her lady-in-waitingCharlotte Helene von Schindel, though he later lost interest in her. In 1711, Frederick fell in love with 19-year-old CountessAnne Sophie Reventlow, daughter of the thenGrand-Chancellor Conrad von Reventlow. He carried her off from her home,Clausholm Castle nearRanders, after her mother refused to let her daughter be a royal mistress. Frederick had seen Anne Sophie at amasquerade ball atKoldinghus, where the royal family resided during the plague that devastated Copenhagen. A secret marriage was held atSkanderborg on 26 June 1712. At that time he accorded her the title "Duchess of Schleswig" (derived from one of his own subsidiary titles). Three weeks after Queen Louise's death in Copenhagen on 4 April 1721, he legalised his relationship with Anna Sophie by a new marriage, this time declaring herqueen consort (the first wife of a hereditary Danish king to bear that title who was not of royal blood by birth). It was undoubtedly a relief to regularise a relationship they both saw as sinful.[13] Of the nine children born to him of these three wives, only two of them survived to adulthood: the futureChristian VI and Princess Charlotte-Amalia, both from the first marriage. All the other children died in infancy.[14]
The Reventlows took advantage of their kinship to the King. Anna's sister, the salonist CountessChristine Sophie Holstein of Holsteinborg, was nicknamedMadame Chancellor because of her influence. Within a year of making Anna Queen, Frederick also recognized as dynastic the issue of the morganatic marriages of two of her kinsmen, Duke Philip Ernest of Schleswig-Holstein-Glucksburg (1673–1729) and Duke Christian Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Plön-Norburg (1674–1706), to non-royal nobles. The other Schleswig-Holstein dukes of theHouse of Oldenburg perceived their interests to be injured, and Frederick found himself embroiled in complicated lawsuits and petitions to theHoly Roman Emperor.[15] Also offended by the Countess's elevation were Frederick's younger unmarried siblings, PrincessSophia Hedwig (1677–1735) and Prince Charles (1680–1729), who withdrew from Copenhagen to their own rival court at the handsomely re-modelledVemmetofte Cloister (later a haven fordowerless damsels of the nobility).[16]
During the King's last years he haddropsy (oedema), and was also affected by the consequences of an accident in an explosion in a cannon foundry in Copenhagen. He also had private sorrows that inclined him towardPietism, a form of faith that would rise to prevalence during the reign of his son. During his last years, Frederick IV asked for the loyalty of his son in order to protect Queen Anna Sophie. Despite the growing weakness, he set in 1730 on a muster travel; he reachedGottorp but had to return, and died in Odense, on the day after his 59th birthday. He was buried inRoskilde Cathedral, the site of the mausoleum of Danish royalty.[17]
With his first queen, DuchessLouise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow:
With his second wifeElisabeth Helene von Vieregg:
With his third wife and second queen, CountessAnne Sophie von Reventlow:
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Frederick IV Born: 11 October 1671 Died: 12 October 1730 | ||
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| Preceded by | King of Denmark andNorway Count of Oldenburg 1699–1730 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Duke of Schleswig 1699–1730 withFrederick IV (1699–1702) Charles Frederick (1702–1713) | |
| Duke of Holstein 1699–1730 withFrederick IV (1699–1702) Charles Frederick (1702–1730) | Succeeded by | |
The generations are numbered from the implementation of hereditary monarchy byFrederick III in 1660. | ||
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1 Also prince of Norway 2 Also prince of Greece 3 Also prince of Iceland 4 Also prince of the United Kingdom 5 Not Danish prince by birth, but created prince of Denmark Princes that lost their title are shown in italics | ||
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