Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 00:46, 1 January 2018

Frederick I
King of Denmark and Norway (more...)
Reign	1523 – 10 April 1533
Coronation	7 August 1524 Copenhagen Cathedral
Predecessor	Christian II
Successor	Christian III
Born	(1471-10-07)7 October 1471 Haderslevhus
Died	10 April 1533(1533-04-10) (aged 61) Gottorp castle
Burial	Schleswig Cathedral
Spouse	Anna of Brandenburg Sophie of Pomerania
Issue	Christian III of Denmark Dorothea, Duchess of Prussia John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev Elizabeth, Duchess of Mecklenburg Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Anna Dorothea, Duchess of Mecklenburg Frederick, Bishop of Hildesheim and Schleswig
House	Oldenburg
Father	Christian I of Denmark
Mother	Dorothea of Brandenburg
Religion	Roman Catholic

Frederick I (7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was the King of Denmark and Norway. His name is also spelled Friedrich in German, Frederik in Danish and Norwegian and Fredrik in Swedish. He was the penultimate Roman Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Reformation. As King of Norway, Frederick is most remarkable in never having visited the country and was never crowned King of Norway. Therefore he was styled King of Denmark, the Vends and the Goths, elected King of Norway.

Background

Frederick was the younger son of the first Oldenburg King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (1426–81) and of Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430–95). Soon after the death of his father, the underage Frederick was elected co-Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in 1482, the other co-duke being his elder brother, King John of Denmark. In 1490 at Frederick's majority, both duchies were divided between the brothers.

In 1500 he had convinced his brother King John to conquer Dithmarschen. A great army was called from not only the duchies, but with additions from all of the Kalmar Union for which his brother briefly was king. In addition, numerous German mercenaries took part. The expedition failed miserably, however, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt, where one third of all knights of Schleswig and Holstein lost their lives.

Reign

When his brother, King John died, a group of Jutish nobles had offered Frederick the throne as early as 1513, but he had declined, rightly believing that the majority of the Danish nobility would be loyal to his nephew prince Christian. In 1523 Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, was forced by disloyal nobles to abdicate, and Frederick took the throne as King Frederick I. It is not certain that Frederick ever learned to speak Danish. After becoming king, he continued spending most of his time at Gottorp, a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig.

In 1524 and 1525 Frederick had to suppress revolts among the peasants in Jutland and Scania who demanded the restoration of Christian II. The high point of the rebellion came in 1525 when Søren Norby, the governor (statholder) of Gotland, invaded Blekinge in an attempt to restore Christian II to power. He raised 8000 men who besieged Kärnan (Helsingborgs slott), a castle in Helsingborg. Frederick's general, Johann Rantzau, moved his army to Scania and defeated the peasants soundly in April and May 1525.

Frederick played a central role in the spread of Lutheran teaching throughout Denmark. In his coronation charter, he was made the solemn protector (værner) of Roman Catholicism in Denmark. In that role, he asserted his right to select bishops for the Roman Catholic dioceses in the country. Christian II had been intolerant of Protestant teaching, but Frederick took a more opportunist approach. For example, he ordered that Lutherans and Roman Catholics share the same churches and encouraged the first publication of the Holy Bible in the Danish language. In 1526, when Lutheran Reformer Hans Tausen was threatened with arrest and trial for heresy, Frederick appointed him his personal chaplain to give him immunity.

Starting in 1527, Frederick authorized the closure of Franciscan houses and monasteries in 28 Danish cities. He used the popular anti-establishment feelings that ran against some persons of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and nobility of Denmark as well as keen propaganda to decrease the power of bishops and Roman Catholic nobles.

During his reign, Frederick was skillful enough to prevent all-out warfare between Protestants and Roman Catholics. In 1532 he succeeded in capturing Christian II who had tried to make a political come-back in Norway. Frederick died on 10 April 1533 in Gottorp, at the age of 61, and was buried in Schleswig Cathedral. Upon Frederick's death, tensions between Roman Catholics and Protestants rose to a fever pitch which would result in the Count's Feud (Grevens Fejde).

Family and children

On 10 April 1502, Frederick married Anna of Brandenburg (1487–1514), the daughter of John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg and Margaret of Thuringia. The couple had two children:

1. Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559)
2. Dorothea of Denmark (1 August 1504 – 11 April 1547), married 1 July 1526 to Albert, Duke of Prussia.

Frederick's wife Anna died on 5 May 1514, 26 years old. Four years later on 9 October 1518 at Kiel, Frederick married Sophie of Pomerania (20 years old; 1498–1568), a daughter of Bogislaw "the Great", Duke of Pomerania. Sophie and Frederick had six children:

1. John II of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (28 June 1521 – 2 October 1580)
2. Elizabeth of Denmark (14 October 1524 – 15 October 1586), married:
   1. on 26 August 1543 to Magnus III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
   2. on 14 February 1556 to Ulrich III, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.
3. Adolf of Denmark, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (25 January 1526 – 1 October 1586)
4. Anna of Denmark (1527 – 4 June 1535)
5. Dorothea of Denmark (1528 – 11 November 1575), married on 27 October 1573 to Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg-Gadebusch.
6. Frederick of Denmark (13 April 1532 – 27 October 1556), Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim and Bishop of Schleswig.

Ancestry

References

1. Frederik 1 (in Danish), DK: Gravsted.
2. Frederik 1 – utdypning (Store norske leksikon)
3. "Frederik I, Konge i Danmark og Norge", Salmonsens konversationsleksikon (in Danish), Runeberg.
4. "Ditmarsken (Dithmarschen, »de tyske Marsklande«)". Salmonsens konversationsleksikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
5. "Kong Hans". Diplomatarium Norvegicum. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
6. "Frederik I, 1471–1533", Konge (Dansk biografisk Lexikon), Runeberg.
7. "Hans Tausen". Den Store Danske. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
8. Krønike om Gråbrødrenes Udjagelse (in Danish).
9. "Grevens Fejde". Salmonsens konversationsleksikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
10. "Christian 3". gravsted.dk. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
11. "Dorothea, Hertuginde af Preussen, 1504-47". Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
12. "Hertug Hans den ældre i Haderslev" (PDF). Historisk Tidsskrift. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
13. "Elisabeth, 1524-86, Hertuginde af Meklenborg". Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
14. "Adolf I. (Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf)". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
15. "Dorothea, Hertuginde af Meklenborg, 1528-75". Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Retrieved August 15, 2016.

External links

• The Royal Lineage at the website of the Danish Monarchy

v t e Monarchs of Denmark
Knýtlinga	c. 916 – 1042 Сanute I (Harthacnut) Gorm the Old Harald I Bluetooth Sweyn I Harald II Canute II Canute III (Harthacanute)
Fairhair	1042–1047 Magnus the Good
Estridsen	1047–1375 Sweyn II Estridsen Harald III Hen Canute IV the Saint Olaf I Hunger Eric I Evergood Niels Eric II the Memorable Eric III Lamb Sweyn III Grathe / Canute V / Valdemar I the Great Canute VI Valdemar II the Victorious / Valdemar the Young Eric IV Plough-tax Abel Christopher I Eric V Klipping Eric VI Menved Christopher II / Eric Christoffersen Valdemar III Interregnum Valdemar IV Atterdag
Bjälbo	1376–1387 Olaf II
Estridsen	1376–1412 Margrethe I
Pomerania	1397–1439 Eric VII of Pomerania
Palatinate-Neumarkt	1440–1448 Christopher III of Bavaria
Oldenburg	Senior branch 1448–1863 Christian I John Christian II Frederick I Christian III Frederick II Christian IV Frederick III Christian V Frederick IV Christian VI Frederick V Christian VII Frederick VI Christian VIII Frederick VII Glücksburg since 1863 Christian IX Frederick VIII Christian X Frederik IX Margrethe II Frederik X
Italics indicates Danish monarchs who were also monarchs of Norway. Also monarch of England. Also monarch of Sweden. Also monarch of Iceland.

• 1471 births
• 1533 deaths
• Danish monarchs
• Roman Catholic monarchs
• Norwegian monarchs
• Dukes of Schleswig
• Dukes of Holstein
• House of Oldenburg
• People of the Swedish War of Liberation
• 16th-century monarchs in Europe
• 15th-century Danish people
• 16th-century Danish people