Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
Christian V (15 April 1646 in Flensburg – 25 August 1699 in Copenhagen), was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670-1699. The son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He married Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Cassel on May 14, 1667 at Nykøbing, and ascended the throne on February 9, 1670.
[edit] Reign
It is generally argued that Christian V's personal courage and affability made him popular among the common people, but his image was marred by his unsuccessful attempt to regain Scania for Denmark in the Scanian War. The war exhausted Denmark's economic resources without creating any gains.[1]
Part of his appeal to the common people may be explained by the fact that he allowed Danish commoners into state service, but his attempts to curtail the influence of the nobility also meant continuing his father's drive toward absolutism.[2][1] To accommodate non-aristocrats into state service, he created the new noble ranks of count and baron. One of the commoners elevated in this way by the King was Peder Schumacher, named Count Griffenfeld by Christian V in 1670 and high councillor of Denmark in 1674.[1]
Griffenfeldt, a skilled statesman, better understood the precarious situation Denmark placed itself in by attacking Sweden at a time when the country was allied with France, the major European power of the era. As Griffenfeldt had predicted, Sweden's stronger ally France was the party that dictated the peace with Denmark's ally Holland, and in spite of Danish victory at sea in the battles against Sweden in 1675–1679 during the Scanian War, Danish hopes for border changes on the Scandinavian Peninsula between the two countries were dashed. The results of the war efforts proved politically and financially unremunerative for Denmark. The damage to the Danish economy was extensive. At this point, Christian V no longer had his most experienced foreign relations counsel around to repair the political damage - in 1676 he had been persuaded to sacrifice Griffenfeldt as a traitor, and to the clamour of his adversaries, Griffenfeldt was imprisoned for the remainder of his life.[3]
Christian V introduced Danske Lov (Danish Code) 1683 which was the first law code for all of Denmark. [4] It was succeeded by the similar Norske Lov (Norwegian Code) 1687. He also introduced the land register of 1688, which attempted to work out the land value of the united monarchy in order to create a more just taxation. During his reign, science had a golden age due to the work of the astronomer Ole Rømer, in spite of the king’s personal lack of scientific knowledge and interest.
[edit] Personal life and family
Christian V had eight children by his wife and six by his mistress. He publicly introduced his sixteen-year-old mistress, Amelia Moth (1654-1719), into court, a move which insulted his wife. His mistress was the daughter of his former tutor (Paul Moth), and he made her countess of Samsø on December 31, 1677.
After the Scanian War, his sister, Princess Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark married the Swedish king Charles XI, whose mother was a stout supporter of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. In spite of the family ties, war between the brothers-in-law was close again in 1689, when Charles XI nearly provoked confrontation with Denmark by his support of the exiled Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in his claims to Holstein-Gottorp in Schleswig-Holstein.[5]
Like Charles XI of Sweden, who had never been outside Sweden, Christian spoke German and Swedish only and was therefore often considered unintelligent because he was unable to contribute when foreign diplomats visited,[5] Christian V was also often considered poorly educated and dependent on his councillors by contemporary sources. The Danish monarch did nothing to dispel this notion. In his memoirs, he listed "hunting, love-making, war and maritime affairs" as his main interests in life.[3]
He died from the after-effects of a hunting accident and was interred in Roskilde Cathedral.[3]
[edit] Ancestors
| Christian V of Denmark | Father: Frederick III of Denmark |
Paternal Grandfather: Christian IV of Denmark |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Frederick II of Denmark |
| Paternal Great-grandmother: Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
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| Paternal Grandmother: Anne Catherine of Brandenburg |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg |
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| Paternal Great-grandmother: Catherine, Princess of Brandenburg-Küstrin |
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| Mother: Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
Maternal Grandfather: George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
Maternal Great-grandfather: William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Dorothea of Denmark |
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| Maternal Grandmother: Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt |
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| Maternal Great-grandmother: Magdalena of Brandenburg |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Christian V." (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 9, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ Jespersen, Knud J.V. The Introduction of Absolutism. Gyldendal Leksikon, quoted by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, on Denmark's official web site.
- ^ a b c Nielsen, Kay Søren (1999). Christian V - Konge og sportsmand. The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum, Net Publications, 1999.
- ^ Jespersen, Knud J.V. Denmark as a Modern Bureaucracy. Gyldendal Leksikon, quoted by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, on Denmark's official web site.
- ^ a b Upton, Anthony F. (1998). Charles XI and Swedish Absolutism, 1660-1697. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 0521573904.
[edit] External links
- The Royal Orders of Chivalry (Order of Dannebrog, instituted by Christian V in 1671) - Official site of the Danish Monarchy
- Find-A-Grave entry for Christian V
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Christian V
Born: April 14, 1646 Died: August 25, 1699 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Frederick III |
King of Denmark 1670-1699 |
Succeeded by Frederick IV |
| King of Norway 1670-1699 |
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Annotations
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If the Prince of Denmark and not yet king, though the diary says King of Denmark:
CHRISTIAN V. (1646-1699), king of Denmark and Norway….ascended the throne on the 9th of February 1670. He was a weak despot with an exaggerated opinion of his dignity and his prerogatives. Almost his first act on ascending the throne was publicly to insult his consort, the amiable Charlotte Amelia of Hesse-Cassel, by introducing into court, as his officially recognized mistress, Amelia Moth, a girl of sixteen, the daughter of his former tutor, whom he made countess of Sams. His personal courage and extreme affability made him highly popular among the lower orders, but he showed himself quite incapable of taking advantage permanently of the revival of the national energy and the extraordinary overflow of native middle-class talent, which were the immediate consequences of the revolution of 1660. ….He died in a hunting accident on the 25th of August 1699.
from 1911 Encyclopedia online
References in the diary
- 1663
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Apr: 23