Frederick III (March 18, 1609 – February 9, 1670) was king of
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
and
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
from 1648 until his death. He stands as the ruler who introduced
absolute monarchyAbsolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government where the king or queen has absolute power over all aspects of his/her subjects' lives. Although some religious authorities may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom, in an...
in Denmark.
Before becoming king
Frederick was born at
HaderslevHaderslev is a town and municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. Also included is the island of Årø as well as several other smaller islands in the Little Belt. The municipality covers 701.98 km² and has a population of 56,414 . Its mayor is Hans Peter Geil,...
in
SlesvigSlesvig is the Danish name for:* Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, a German city* The former Duchy of Schleswig * A former name for Hedeby, a Viking Age trading center, originally the largest town in the Nordic Countries...
, the son of
Christian IVChristian IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1588 until his death. He is sometimes referred to as Christian Firtal in Denmark and Christian Kvart or Quart in Norway.-Biography:...
and
Anne Catherine of BrandenburgAnne Catherine of Brandenburg was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway from 1597 to 1612 as the first spouse of the King Christian IV of Denmark.- Biography :...
. His position as a younger son profoundly influenced his future career. In his youth and early manhood, there was no prospect of his ascending the Danish throne, and he consequently became the instrument of his father's schemes of aggrandizement in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. While still a lad, he became successively Administrator of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (1635–45), Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden (1623–29 and again 1634–44), and coadjutor of
HalberstadtThe Bishopric of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese from 804 until 1648 and an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire from the late Middle Ages...
. At the age of eighteen, he was the chief commandant of the fortress of
StadeStade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
, from where he was expelled by the Swedes. Thus, from an early age, he had considerable experience as an administrator, while his general education was very careful and thorough. He had always a pronounced liking for literary and scientific studies.
On October 1, 1643 Frederick wed Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (daughter of
George, Duke of Brunswick-LüneburgGeorge was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.He was son to William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Dorothea of Denmark . His mother was daughter to Christian III of Denmark and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg...
), whose energetic, passionate, and ambitious character was profoundly to affect not only Frederick's destiny, but the destiny of Denmark.
During the disastrous Swedish War of 1643–45, Frederick was appointed commander of the duchies by his father, but the laurels he won were scanty, chiefly owing to his quarrels with the Earl-Marshal
Anders BilleAnders Bille was the Danish Rigsmarsk, the officer leading the entire armed forces of Denmark, from 1642.He was mortally wounded in the defence of Fredriksodde during the Northern Wars against Sweden, and died after a few days in captivity....
, who commanded the Danish forces. This was Frederick's first collision with the Danish
nobilityNobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary, but which may also be personal only. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in...
, who ever afterwards regarded him with extreme distrust.
The death of his elder brother Christian in June 1647 first opened to him the prospect of succeeding to the Danish throne, but the question was still unsettled when Christian IV died on February 28, 1648 (old style; March 9 new style). Not until July 6 did Frederick III receive the homage of his subjects, and only after he had signed a
Haandfæstning or charter, by which the already diminished royal prerogative was still further curtailed. It had been doubtful at first whether he would be allowed to inherit his ancestral throne at all, but Frederick removed the last scruples of the
Rigsraad by unhesitatingly accepting the conditions imposed upon him.
The new monarch was a reserved, enigmatic prince, who seldom laughed, spoke little, and wrote less; a striking contrast to
Christian IVChristian IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1588 until his death. He is sometimes referred to as Christian Firtal in Denmark and Christian Kvart or Quart in Norway.-Biography:...
. But if he lacked the brilliant qualities of his impulsive, jovial father, he possessed in a high degree the compensating virtues of moderation and self-control. He was an enthusiastic collector of books and founded the Royal Library in Copenhagen around 1648.
The first years of his reign were marked by his secret resistance against the two mightiest men of the kingdom, his brothers-in-law Korfits Ulfeldt and
Hannibal SehestedHannibal Sehested was a Danish statesman and Governor of Norway.He was born at Arensborg Castle on Øsel. After being educated abroad, he returned to Denmark in 1632 and was attached to the court of King Christian IV...
who were both removed from office 1651. Ulfeld went into exile in Sweden where he became a traitor while Sehested was restored to favour 1660.
Defeated by Sweden
With all his good qualities, Frederick was not a man to fully recognize his own and his country's limitations. But he rightly regarded the accession of Charles X of Sweden on June 6, 1654 as a source of danger to Denmark. 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' invasion of
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in July of 1655 came as a distinct relief to the Danes, though even the Polish War was full of latent peril to Denmark. Frederick was resolved upon a rupture with Sweden at the first convenient opportunity. The
RigsdagRigsdagen was the name of the Parliament of Denmark from 1849 to 1953.Rigsdagen was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the Folketing and the Landstinget. The distinction between the two houses...
which assembled on February 23, 1657 willingly granted considerable subsidies for mobilization and other military expenses. On April 23, he received, the assent of the majority of the
Rigsraad to attack
Sweden's German DominionsThe Dominions of Sweden or Svenska besittningar were territories that historically came under control of the Swedish Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ruled by Governors-General under the Swedish monarch, but within certain limits retained...
. In the beginning of May, the still pending negotiations with that power were broken off, and on June 1 Frederick signed the manifesto justifying a war, which was never formally declared.
The Swedish king confounded all the plans of his enemies by
crossing the frozen Little and Great BeltsThe March across the Belts was a campaign between January 30 and February 8, 1658 during the Northern Wars where Swedish king Karl X Gustav led the Swedish army from Jutland across the ice of the Little Belt and the Great Belt to reach Zealand...
, in January and February 1658 (see Charles X of Sweden). The effect of this unheard-of achievement on the Danish government was crushing. Frederick III at once sued for peace. Yielding to the persuasions of the
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
ministers, Charles finally agreed to be content with mutilating, instead of annihilating, the Danish monarchy. The
Treaty of TaastrupThe Treaty of Taastrup was a preliminary accord signed on 11 February 1658 between Charles X Gustav of Sweden and King Frederick III of Denmark. The treaty was signed at the Høje Taastrup Church. Individuals such as Count Corfitz Ulfeldt participated in the peace negotiations after Denmark lost in...
was signed on February 18 and the
Treaty of RoskildeThe Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February 1658 during the Northern Wars between Frederick III of Denmark-Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
on February 26, 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, March 3 to March 5, at
Frederiksborg PalaceFrederiksborg castle is a castle in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV, and is now known as The Museum of National History. The current building replaced a previous castle erected by Frederick II, and is the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia...
. Splendid banquets lasting far into the night, private and intimate conversations between the princes who had only just emerged from a mortal struggle, seemed to point to nothing but peace and friendship in the future.
Siege of Copenhagen repelled
But Charles's insatiable lust for conquest and his ineradicable suspicion of Denmark induced him to endeavour to despatch an inconvenient neighbour without any reasonable cause, without a declaration of war, in defiance of all international equity.
Terror was the first feeling produced at
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
by the landing of the main
Swedish armyThe Swedish Army is the army branch of the Swedish Armed Forces, the military of Sweden.- Organization :The peace time organization of the Swedish Army is divided into a number of regiments for the different branches. The number of active regiments has been reduced since the end of the Cold War:-...
at
KorsørKorsør is a Danish town and port located out to the Great Belt on the Zealand side just south of where the Great Belt Bridge lands. It was the site of the municipal-council of Korsør municipality - today it is part of Slagelse municipality...
on Zealand on July 17. 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.
Fortunately, Frederick had never been deficient in courage. "I will die in my nest", were the memorable words with which he rebuked those counsellors who advised him to seek safety in flight. On August 8, representatives from every class in the capital urged the necessity of a vigorous resistance, and the citizens of Copenhagen, headed by the great Mayor
Hans NansenHans Nansen , was a Danish statesman.The son of a burgher, Evert Nansen, he was born at Flensburg. He made several voyages to the White Sea and to places in northern Russia, and in 1621 entered the service of the thriving Danish Icelandic Company...
, protested their unshakable loyalty to the king and their determination to defend Copenhagen to the uttermost. The Danes had only three days' warning of the approaching danger, and the vast and dilapidated line of defence had at first only 2000 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 7000 men were under arms.
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 auxiliary
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
fleet reinforced and reprovisioned the garrison and defeated him on October 29 in the
Battle of the SoundThe naval Battle of The Sound took place on 8 November 1658 during the Dutch-Swedish War, near the Sound or Oresund, just north of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Sweden had defeated Denmark and an army under Charles X of Sweden had Copenhagen itself under siege...
. The Dutch then assisted in the liberation of the Danish Isles in 1659. Thus, the Danish capital had saved the Danish monarchy.
Absolute monarch
But it was Frederick III who profited most by his spirited defence of the common interests of the country and the dynasty. The traditional loyalty of the Danish middle classes was transformed into a boundless 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 realizing the dream of a lifetime and converting an elective into an absolute monarchy by the Revolution of 1660, the same year Charles X died.
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 tried to recover after the wars. The administration was changed and new men came into government that was marked by a rivalry between the ministers and councillors like Hannibal Sehested and
Kristoffer GabelChristoffer Gabel was a Danish statesman.He was born at Glückstadt. His father, Wulbern Gabel, originally a landscape painter and subsequently recorder of Glückstadt, was killed at the siege of the fortress there, by the German Imperial forces, in 1628...
. During this period Kongeloven (
Lex Regia), the “constitution” of Danish absolute monarchy was written 1665. Copenhagen was made a city of garrisons and the defence of the country was strengthened as far as allowed by the poverty.
In 1665 Frederick had the opportunity to return the favour to the Dutch by preventing the British from taking the East Indies Spice Fleet. The Dutch fleet had sought refuge in Norway, and the British tried to persuade the king him to take the fleet himself, claiming that it was more valuable than the whole of his kingdom. Frederick and the British actually did agree to plunder the fleet, but before the Danish fleet reached Bergen, the commandant of the fortress there had already routed the English ships in the
Battle of VågenThe Battle of Vågen was a naval battle between a Dutch merchant and treasure fleet and an English flotilla of warships in August 1665 as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The battle took place in Vågen , the main port area of neutral Bergen, Norway...
.
Frederick III died at the castle of Copenhagen and is interred in
Roskilde CathedralRoskilde Cathedral , in the city of Roskilde on the Island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, was the first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and its construction encouraged the spread of this Brick Gothic style throughout Northern Europe. It was built during the 12th and 13th centuries, and...
.
Ancestors
Frederick's ancestors in three generations
| Frederick III of Denmark |
Father:
Christian IV of DenmarkChristian IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1588 until his death. He is sometimes referred to as Christian Firtal in Denmark and Christian Kvart or Quart in Norway.-Biography:...
|
Paternal Grandfather:
Frederick II of DenmarkFrederick II , King of Denmark-Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death. He was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg....
|
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Christian III of DenmarkChristian III , king of Denmark and Norway, was the son of Frederick I of Denmark and his first consort, Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...
|
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Dorothea of Saxe-LauenburgDorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg , consort of Christian III from 1525 and Queen consort of Denmark and Norway. She was daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Catherine, daughter of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
|
Paternal Grandmother:
Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Duke Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow |
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Elizabeth of DenmarkElizabeth of Denmark was a Duchess of Mecklenburg. She was the elder daughter of King Frederick I of Denmark and his second wife Sophie of Pomerania.-Family and children:...
|
Mother:
Anne Catherine of BrandenburgAnne Catherine of Brandenburg was queen-consort of Denmark and Norway from 1597 to 1612 as the first spouse of the King Christian IV of Denmark.- Biography :...
|
Maternal Grandfather:
Joachim Frederick, Elector of BrandenburgJoachim Frederick from the House of Hohenzollern was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and duke of Stettin, Pomerania, Cassubia, Vandalorum and Crossen .-Biography:...
|
Maternal Great-grandfather:
John George, Elector of BrandenburgJohn George was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and a Duke of Prussia. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the son of Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg, and his first wife Magdalena of Saxony.Faced with large debts accumulated during the reign of his father,...
|
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Princess Sofie of Liegnitz |
Maternal Grandmother:
Catherine, Princess of Brandenburg-Küstrin |
Maternal Great-grandfather:
John I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Küstrin |
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Catherine, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
Children
With Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg he had the following children:
- Christian V of Denmark
Christian V , was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 to 1699. The son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
(15 April 1646 – 26 August 1699).
- Anna Sofia
Anna Sophie of Denmark and Norway was Electress of Saxony.She was the eldest daughter of King Frederick III of Denmark and his wife Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg , daughter of George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.-Marriage and issue:She married on 9 October 1666 with John George III, Elector...
(1 September 1647 – 1 July 1717), married on 9 October 1666 to John George III, Elector of SaxonyJohann Georg III was Elector of Saxony from 1680 to 1691.-Early life:Johann Georg was the only son of the Elector Johann Georg II and Magdalene Sybille of Brandenburg-Bayreuth....
.
- Friederika Amalia
Frederika Amalia of Denmark was duchess of Holstein-Gottorp as a wife of Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp.She was a daughter of King Frederick III of Denmark and his wife Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg....
(11 April 1649 – 30 October 1704), married on 24 October 1667 to Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-GottorpChristian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp was a duke of Holstein-Gottorp and bishop of Lübeck....
.
- Wilhelmina Ernestina
Wilhelmina Ernestine of Denmark was the third of five daughters of King Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg....
(21 June 1650 – 22 April 1706), married on 20 September 1671 to Charles II, Elector PalatineCharles II was Elector Palatine from 1680 to 1685. He was the son of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel .Charles was a strict Calvinist...
. No issue.
- Frederik (11 October 1651 – 14 March 1652).
- George (2 April 1653 – 28 October 1708), married on 28 July 1683 to Queen Anne of Great Britain
Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England and II of Scotland...
. All children died young.
- Ulrika Eleonora
Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark , was a Swedish Queen consort, spouse of King Charles XI of Sweden. The name Ulrike is a Danish version of the name, in Swedish she is called Ulrika Eleonora den äldre, which in English means Ulrika Eleonora the Elder), to separate her from her daughter, the future queen...
(11 September 1656 – 26 July 1693), married on 6 May 1680 to King Charles XI of SwedenCharles XI was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in an unruly period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....
.
- Dorothea (16 November 1657 – 15 May 1658).
Also, he had with Margarethe Pape one illegitimate son, Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve.