Frederick III (Danish:Frederik; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670^[1]) was King ofDenmark andNorway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the nameFrederick II asdiocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bishop) of thePrince-Bishopric of Verden (1623–29 and again 1634–44), and thePrince-Archbishopric of Bremen (1635–45).^{[citation needed]}

Frederick III
Portrait by Paul Prieur, 1663
King of Denmark andNorway (more...)
Reign	6 July 1648 – 9 February 1670
Coronation	23 November 1648
Predecessor	Christian IV
Successor	Christian V
Born	(1609-03-18)18 March 1609 Haderslevhus Castle,Haderslev,Denmark
Died	9 February 1670(1670-02-09) (aged 60) Copenhagen Castle,Copenhagen,Denmark
Burial	Roskilde Cathedral
Spouse	Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg ​ ​ (m. 1643)​
Issue	Christian V, King of Denmark Anna Sophie, Electress of Saxony Frederica Amalia, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp Wilhelmina Ernestina, Electress Palatine Prince George, Duke of Cumberland Ulrike Eleonora, Queen of Sweden Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve (illegitimate)
House	Oldenburg
Father	Christian IV of Denmark
Mother	Anne Catherine of Brandenburg
Religion	Lutheran
Signature

The second-eldest son ofChristian IV andAnne Catherine of Brandenburg, Frederick was only considered an heir to the throne after the death of his older brotherPrince Christian in 1647. He institutedabsolute monarchy inDenmark-Norway in 1660, confirmedby law in 1665 as the first in Westernhistoriography. He also ordered the creation of theThrone Chair of Denmark.

After failed and costly aggressive wars under Christian IV, most Danes did not want to go to war again. According to Cathal Nolan, when Frederick III became king in 1648, he was excluded from the talks leading to thePeace of Westphalia and had to watch as Bremen was lost to rivalingSweden, also freed from payingOresund Tolls. In order to be elected king after the death of his father, Frederick III conceded significant influence to the nobility. As king, he fought losing wars against Sweden. He was defeated in theDano-Swedish War of 1657–1658, and in theDano-Swedish War of 1658–1660. However, when it seemed like kingCharles X Gustav of Sweden was about to suffer a catastrophic defeat in theSecond Northern War, Frederick III declared war on Sweden. Unexpectedly, Charles X Gustav crossed the frozen Belts to Zealand and appeared with 5,000 men near Copenhagen. Frederick III was unprepared and forced to sign theTreaty of Roskilde.^[2]

Frederick disbanded theelective monarchy in favour of absolute monarchy, which lasted until 1814 in Norway and 1848 in Denmark. He marriedSophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, with whom he fatheredChristian V of Denmark.

Frederick was born atHaderslev inSlesvig, the son ofChristian IV andAnne Catherine of Brandenburg. In his youth and early manhood, there was no prospect of his ascending the Danish-Norwegian throne, as his older brother Christian was electedheir apparent of Denmark in 1608, and was proclaimed as heir apparent of Norway in 1610.

During his early childhood, he was raised under the supervision ofBeate Huitfeldt. Frederick was educated atSorø Academy and studied in theNetherlands andFrance. As a young man, he demonstrated an interest intheology,natural sciences, andScandinavian history.^[3] He was a reserved and enigmatic prince who seldom laughed, spoke little, and wrote less, a striking contrast to Christian IV. Even though he lacked the impulsive and jovial qualities of his father, Frederick possessed the compensating virtues of moderation and self-control. On 1 October 1643 Frederick wedSophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the daughter ofGeorge, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had an energetic, passionate, and ambitious character.^[4] He was an enthusiastic collector of books and his collection became the foundation for theCopenhagen Royal Library.^[3]

In his youth, Frederick became the instrument of his father's political schemes in theHoly Roman Empire. He was grantedadministration of thePrince-Archbishopric of Bremen (1635–45), thePrince-Bishopric of Verden (1623–29 and again 1634–44), and named coadjutor of theBishopric of Halberstadt. Thus, from an early age, he had considerable experience as an administrator.^[4] At the age of eighteen, he was the chief commandant of the Bremian fortress ofStade. During theTorstenson War of 1643–45, Frederick lost control of his possessions within the empire.^[3] He was then appointed commander in the royal shares in the Duchies ofSchleswig andHolstein by his father. His command was not successful, chiefly owing to his quarrels with the Earl-MarshalAnders Bille, who commanded the Danish forces. This was Frederick's first collision with the Danishnobility, who afterwards regarded him with extreme distrust.^[4]

The death of his elder brother Christian in June 1647 opened the possibility for Frederick to be elected heir apparent to the Danish-Norwegian throne. However, this issue was still unsettled when Christian IV died on 28 February 1648. After long deliberation among the DanishEstates and inRigsraadet (royal council), he was finally accepted as his father's successor. On 6 July, Frederick received the homage of his subjects, and he was crowned on 23 November. However, due to misgivings about the rule of Christian IV, as well as Frederick's previous confrontational administrations in Bremen and Verden and his quarrels withAnders Bille, he was only elected after he had signed aHaandfæstning charter.^[3] TheHaandfæstning included provisions curtailing the already diminished royal prerogative in favour of increased influence for theRigsraadet.^[4]

In the first years of his reign,Rigsraadet was the main power center of Danish politics. However, Frederick wielded more effective power than what theHaandfæstning officially granted. He eventually succeeded in removing the two most influential members ofRigsraadet from office in 1651: his brothers-in-lawCorfitz Ulfeldt andHannibal Sehested.^[3] Ulfeldt went into exile in Sweden where he turned traitor, while Sehested was restored to favour in 1660.

With all his good qualities, Frederick was not a man to recognize fully his own limitations and that of his country. But he rightly regarded the accession ofCharles X of Sweden on 6 June 1654 as a source of danger toDenmark-Norway. He felt that temperament and policy would combine to make Charles an aggressive warrior-king: the only uncertainty was in which direction he would turn his arms first. Charles's invasion ofPoland in July 1655 came as a distinct relief to Frederick, even though thePolish War was full of latent peril to Denmark. Frederick was resolved upon a rupture with Sweden at the first convenient opportunity. WhenRigsdagen assembled on 23 February 1657, it willingly granted considerable subsidies for mobilization and other military expenses. On 23 April he received the assent of the majority ofRigsraadet to attackSweden's German dominions. In the beginning of May, the still pending negotiations with that power were broken off, and on 1 June Frederick signed the manifesto justifying a war, which was never formally declared.^[4]

The Swedish king confounded all the plans of his enemies with theMarch across the Belts in January and February 1658. The effect of this unheard-of achievement of crossing the frozen sea to invade Danish territory was crushing. Frederick at once sued for peace. Yielding to the persuasions of theEnglish andFrench ministers, Charles finally agreed to be content with mutilating, instead of annihilating, the Danish monarchy. TheTreaty of Taastrup was signed on 18 February and theTreaty of Roskilde on 26 February 1658. The conclusion of peace was followed by a remarkable episode. Frederick expressed the desire to make the personal acquaintance of his conqueror and Charles X consented to be his guest for three days, 3 to 5 March, atFrederiksborg Palace. Splendid banquets lasting far into the night and intimate conversations between princes who had only just emerged from a mortal struggle seemed to point to nothing but peace and friendship in the future.^[4]

Charles's suspicion ofDenmark-Norway led him to a further assault on his neighbor. Terror was the first feeling produced atCopenhagen by the landing of the mainSwedish army atKorsør onZealand on 17 July 1658. None had anticipated the possibility of such a sudden and brutal attack, and everyone knew that the Danish capital was very inadequately fortified and garrisoned.^[4]

During this war, Frederick attained great popularity in the general public, as he rebuked the advice of his counsellors to flee Copenhagen with the memorable words "I will die in my nest" and actively led the defense of the city.^[3] On 8 August, representatives from all Estates in the capital urged the necessity of a vigorous resistance, and the citizens of Copenhagen, headed by the mayorHans Nansen, protested their unshakable loyalty to the king and their determination to defend Copenhagen to the uttermost. The Danes had only three weeks of warning of the approaching danger, and the vast and dilapidated line of defense had at first only 2,000 regular defenders. But the government and the people displayed a memorable and exemplary energy under the constant supervision of the king and queen and mayor Nansen. By the beginning of September, all the breaches were repaired, the walls bristled with cannons, and 7,000 men were under arms.^[4]

So strong was the city by this time that Charles X, abandoning his original intention of carrying the place by assault, began a regular siege. This he also was forced to abandon when an auxiliaryDutch fleet reinforced and reprovisioned the garrison and defeated him on 29 October in theBattle of the Sound. The Dutch then assisted in the liberation of the Danish Isles in 1659. Thus, the Danish capital had saved the Danish monarchy.^[4] The war was ended by theTreaty of Copenhagen in May 1660, which confirmed the cession ofScania,Halland, andBlekinge from the Treaty of Roskilde, whileBornholm and parts ofSchleswig reverted to Denmark.^[3]

Frederick III profited by his spirited defense of the common interests of the country and the dynasty. The traditional loyalty of the Danish middle classes was transformed into enthusiasm for the king personally, and for a brief period Frederick found himself the most popular man in his kingdom. He made use of his popularity by converting the elective monarchy into an absolute monarchy by the Revolution of 1660. To ensure this conversion he instituted the1660 state of emergency in Denmark.^[4] At the September 1660 gathering of the Estates, intended to solve the financial problems faced after the wars, Frederick played the different Estates against each other. He succeeded in gaining support for the hereditary monarchy, the annulment of theHaandfæstning, and the institution of absolute monarchical rule by decree.^[3]

During the last ten years of his reign, the king again took a relative obscure position while the new monarchy was built up and the country's people tried to recover after the wars. New men came into government, which was marked by a rivalry between the ministers and councillors likeHannibal Sehested and the king's favouriteKristoffer Gabel.^[5] During the early and mid 1660s there was an influential circle around Sehested,Frederik Ahlefeldt,Peter Bülche,Hans Svane,Jacob Petersen andTheodor Lente, who became increasingly opposed to Gabel.^[6] Frederick concentrated on changing the administrative structure fromchancellery to resort colleges and replaced the administrative divisions offiefs withamt counties. In 1665, theKongeloven (Lex Regia) was introduced: the “constitution” of Danish-Norwegian absolute monarchy, and the first assertion ofdivine right underpinned by a written constitution in Europe. It decreed that the Monarch "shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone."^[7][8] This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of theCouncil of the Realm.

In 1665, Frederick had an opportunity to repay the Netherlands for their support, by protecting the Return Fleet from theDutch East Indies from the English navy. The English had blocked theEnglish Channel, forcing the Return Fleet to sail all around the British Isles. The Dutch took refuge inBergen, Norway, pursued by English warships. There they were protected by the fortress at the harbor, whose commander treated them as Danish allies. The English urged Frederick to seize the Return Fleet for himself, claiming that it was more valuable than the whole of his kingdom. Instead of protecting the Dutch, Frederick agreed to collaborate with the English in seizing the Return Fleet. But before the Danish-Norwegian fleet or word of the deal reached Bergen, the English attacked, and were defeated in theBattle of Vågen by the Dutch, supported by the fortress.^[9]

Frederick III died atCopenhagen Castle and is interred inRoskilde Cathedral.^[10]

Frederick marriedSophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg in CastleGlücksburg on 1 October 1643. The marriage had been arranged in 1640. Frederick was, at the time, archbishop of Bremen and not heir to the throne, and was not expected to succeed to the throne. The couple had eight children:

Also, he had withMargarethe Pape one illegitimate son,Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve.

• The Royal LineageArchived 14 March 2015 at theWayback Machine at the website of theDanish Monarchy
• Frederik III at the website of theRoyal Danish Collection
• Lex Regia (Konge-Lov)