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Frederick I of Denmark

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Frederick I
King of Denmark and Norway
(more...)
Reign1523 – 10 April 1533
Coronation7 August 1524
Copenhagen Cathedral
PredecessorChristian II
SuccessorChristian III
Born(1471-10-07)7 October 1471
Haderslevhus
Died10 April 1533(1533-04-10) (aged 61)
Gottorp castle
Burial
Schleswig Cathedral
SpouseAnna of Brandenburg
Sophie of Pomerania
IssueChristian III of Denmark
Dorothea, Duchess of Prussia
John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev
Elizabeth, Duchess of Mecklenburg
Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Dorothea, Duchess of Mecklenburg
Frederick, Bishop of Hildesheim and Schleswig
HouseOldenburg
FatherChristian I of Denmark
MotherDorothea of Brandenburg
ReligionRoman 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 being crowned King of Norway. Therefore he was styled King of Denmark, the Vends and the Goths, elected King of Norway.[1][2]

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.[3]

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. [4]

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. [5]

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.[6]

Gold coin or medal of Frederick I. Shows him together with Sophia on the obverse, and coat of arms on the reverse.

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.[7]

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.[8]

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).[9]

Family and children

On 10 April 1502 he married Anna of Brandenburg (1487–1514). The couple had two children:

  1. Christian III of Denmark (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559)[10]
  2. Dorothea of Denmark (1 August 1504 – 11 April 1547),[11] married 1 July 1526 to Duke Albert 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 Duke Bogislaw "the Great" of Pomerania. Sophie and Frederick had six children:

  1. Duke Hans the Elder of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (28 June 1521 – 2 October 1580)[12]
  2. Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg (14 October 1524 – 15 October 1586),[13] married:
    1. on 26 August 1543 to Duke Magnus III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    2. on 14 February 1556 to Duke Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Güstrow
  3. Duke Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp (25 January 1526 – 1 October 1586)[14]
  4. Anna (1527 – 4 June 1535)
  5. Dorothea (1528 – 11 November 1575),[15] married on 27 October 1573 to Duke Christof of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
  6. Prince-Bishop Friedrich of Hildesheim and Bishop of Schleswig (13 April 1532 – 27 October 1556).

Ancestry

Family of Frederick I of Denmark
16. Conrad I, Count of Oldenburg
8. Christian V, Count of Oldenburg
17. Ingeborg of Itzehoe
4. Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg
18. Dietrich V, Count of Hohnstein-Heringen
9. Agnes of Hohnstein-Heringen
19. Sophie of Brunswick
2. Christian I of Denmark
20. Henry II, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg
10. Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg
21. Ingeborg of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
5. Helvig of Schauenburg
22. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
11. Catherine Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg
23. Catherine of Anhalt-Bernburg
1. Frederick I of Denmark
24. Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg
12. Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
25. Elisabeth of Meissen
6. John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
26. Frederick, Duke of Bavaria
13. Elisabeth of Bavaria
27. Maddalena Visconti
3. Dorothea of Brandenburg
28. Wenceslas I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg
14. Rudolf III, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg
29. Cecilia of Carrara
7. Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg
30. Rupert I of Legnica
15. Barbara of Legnica
31. Hedwig of Sagan

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.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frederick I of Denmark.
Frederick I
Born: 7 October 1471 Died: 10 April 1533
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Denmark
1523–1533 		Succeeded by
King of Norway
1524–1533
Preceded by Duke of Holstein and Schleswig
1490-1533
with John I (1490-1513)
Christian II (1513-1523)
Christian III (1523-1533)
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