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| Frederick I | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byGeorg Engelhard Schröder,c. 1730s | |
| King of Sweden | |
| Reign | 24 March 1720 – 5 April 1751 |
| Coronation | 3 May 1720 |
| Predecessor | Ulrika Eleonora |
| Successor | Adolf Frederick |
| Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel | |
| Reign | 23 March 1730 – 5 April 1751 |
| Predecessor | Charles I |
| Successor | William VIII |
| Prince consort of Sweden | |
| Tenure | 5 December 1718 – 29 February 1720 |
| Born | (1676-04-28)28 April 1676 Kassel,Hesse-Kassel |
| Died | 5 April 1751(1751-04-05) (aged 74) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Burial | 27 September 1751 |
| Spouses | |
| Issue more... | Frederick William von Hessenstein |
| House | Hesse-Kassel |
| Father | Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel |
| Mother | Maria Amalia of Courland |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Signature |  |
Frederick I (Swedish:Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) wasKing of Sweden from 1720 until his death, having beenprince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and was alsoLandgrave ofHesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne following the death of his brother-in-lawabsolutistCharles XII in theGreat Northern War, and the abdication of his wife, Charles's sister and successorUlrika Eleonora, after she had to relinquish most powers to theRiksdag of the Estates and thus chose to abdicate. His powerless reign and lack of legitimate heirs of his own saw his family's elimination from the line of succession after the parliamentary government dominated by pro-revanchistHat Party politicians ventured intoa war with Russia, which ended in defeat and the Russian tsarinaElizabeth gettingAdolf Frederick ofHolstein-Gottorp instated following the death of the king. Whilst being the only Swedish monarch called Frederick, he was Frederick I of Hesse-Kassel and thus Frederick I also of Sweden, though other Swedish monarchs with non-repeating names (such asBirger,Sigismund and Frederick's successor: Adolf Frederick) had not been enumerated.
He was the son ofCharles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and PrincessMaria Amalia of Courland. In 1692 the young prince made hisGrand Tour to theDutch Republic, in 1695 to theItalian Peninsula and later he studied inGeneva. After this he had a military career, leading the Hessian troops as Lieutenant General in theWar of the Spanish Succession on the side of the Dutch. He was defeated in 1703 in theBattle of Speyerbach, but participated the next year in the great victory in theBattle of Blenheim. In 1706 he was again defeated by the French in theBattle of Castiglione. At theBattle of Malplaquet in 1709 he commanded the Dutch cavalry. In 1712, in absence ofCount Tilly, he assumed the command of the Dutch army. Both in 1716 and 1718 he joined the campaign ofCharles XII of Sweden against Norway, and was appointed SwedishGeneralissimus.
He married his second wife,Princess Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, in 1715. He was then granted the titlePrince ofSweden, with the styleRoyal Highness, by the estates, and wasprince consort there[1] during Ulrika Eleonora's rule asqueen regnant from 1718 until her abdication in 1720. He is the only Swedish prince consort there has been to date. Frederick I had much influence during the reign of his spouse.
Some historians have suggested that the bullet which killed his brother-in-lawCharles XII of Sweden in 1718 was actually fired by Frederick's aideAndré Sicre. Charles had been an authoritarian and demanding ruler; one reason the Swedish Estates elected Frederick was because he was taken to be fairly weak, which indeed he turned out to be.
Frederick succeeded Ulrika Eleonora on the throne upon her abdication in his favor in 1720, elected by the Swedish Estates.
The defeats suffered by Charles XII in theGreat Northern War endedSweden's position as a first-rank European power. Under Frederick, this had to be accepted. Sweden also had to cedeEstonia,Ingria andLivonia toRussia in theTreaty of Nystad, in 1721.
Frederick I was a very active and dynamic king at the beginning of his 31-year reign. But after the aristocracy had regained power during the wars withRussia, he became not so much powerless as uninterested in affairs of state. In 1723, he tried to strengthen royal authority, but after he failed, he never had much to do with politics. He did not even sign official documents; instead a stamp of his signature was used. He devoted most of his time to hunting and love affairs. His marriage to Queen Ulrika Eleonora was childless, but he had several children by his mistress,Hedvig Taube.[2]
In 1723 Frederick rewarded the military inventorSven Åderman with the estate ofHalltorps on the island ofÖland, for improving the rate of fire of themusket.
As a king, he was not very respected. When he was crowned, it was said of him: "King Charles we recently buried, King Frederick we crown – suddenly the clock has now passed from twelve to one". It is said about him, that although a lot of great achievements in the country's development happened during his reign, he never had anything to do with them himself. When he died,Carl Gustaf Tessin said about him:
Under the reign of King Frederick, science has developed – he never bothered to read a book. The merchant business has flourished – he has never encouraged it with a single coin. The Stockholm Palace has been built – he has never been curious enough to look at it.
Neither did he have anything to do with the founding of the first Swedish speaking theater atBollhuset during his reign. One of his few important policies was the banning ofduels.
On 23 February 1748 Frederick I instituted the three Swedish royal orders of theSeraphim, of theSword and of thePolar Star, the three principal Swedishorders of chivalry.
Frederick becameLandgrave of Hesse only in 1730, ten years after becoming King of Sweden. He immediately appointed his younger brotherWilliam governor of Hesse.
As Landgrave, Frederick is generally not seen as a success. Indeed, he did concentrate more on Sweden, and due to his negotiated, compromise-like ascension to the throne there, he and his court had a very low income. The money for that very expensive court, then, since the 1730s came from wealthyHesse, and this means that Frederick essentially behaved like anabsentee landlord and drained Hessian resources to finance life in Sweden. Also, Frederick's father,Charles I of Hesse-Kassel, had been the state's most successful ruler, rebuilding the state over his decades-long rule by means of economic and infrastructure measures and state reform, as well astolerance, such as attracting, for economic purposes, the FrenchHuguenots. His brother the governor, who would succeed Frederick as LandgraveWilliam VIII of Hesse-Kassel, though by background a distinguished soldier, was likewise a great success locally. There are very few physical remainders of Frederick in Hesse today; one of them is his large Royal Swedishparaph (FR) over the old door of theUniversity of Marburg's former riding hall, now the Institute of Physical Education.
On 31 May 1700, he married his first wife,Luise Dorothea, Princess ofPrussia (1680–1705), daughter ofFrederick I of Prussia (1657–1713) andElisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel (1661–1683). Luise Dorothea died in childbirth in December 1705.
His second wife, whom he married in 1715, wasUlrika Eleonora, Princess ofSweden (1688–1741), daughter ofCharles XI of Sweden (1655–1697) and ofUlrika Eleonora of Denmark (1656–1693). Ulrika suffered two miscarriages, one in 1715 and another in 1718, after which there are no further recorded pregnancies.
Frederick I had three extramarital children with his mistressHedvig Taube:
After the death of Hedvig Taube, his official mistress was the noblewomanCatharina Ebba Horn (1720–1781), whom he gave the title and recognition of Countess (from 1745).
Thus, the Hessian line in Sweden ended with him and was followed by that ofHolstein-Gottorp. InHesse-Kassel, he was succeeded by his younger brotherWilliam VIII, a famous general.
Frederick I of Sweden Cadet branch of theHouse of Hesse Born: 23 April 1676 Died: 25 March 1751 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Sweden 1720–1751 | Succeeded by |
| Duke of Estonia 1720–1721 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel 1730–1751 | Succeeded by |
| Swedish royalty | ||
| Preceded byas queen consort | Prince consort of Sweden 1718–1720 | Succeeded byas queen consort |
