Frederick VII | |||||
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Portrait by August Schiøtt, 1848–63
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King of Denmark (more...) | |||||
Reign | 20 January 1848 – 15 November 1863 | ||||
Predecessor | Christian VIII | ||||
Successor | Christian IX | ||||
Born |
Copenhagen, Denmark |
6 October 1808||||
Died | 15 November 1863 Glücksburg |
(aged 55)||||
Burial | Roskilde Cathedral | ||||
Consort |
Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Louise Rasmussen |
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House | Oldenburg | ||||
Father | Christian VIII of Denmark | ||||
Mother | Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
Full name | |
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Frederik Carl Christian |
Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian) (6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and also the last king of Denmark to rule as an absolute monarch. During his reign, he signed a constitution that established a Danish parliament and made the country a constitutional monarchy. Frederick's motto was The people's love, my strength.
Frederick was born at Amalienborg Palace to Christian VIII of Denmark and Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His maternal grandparents were Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Luise, Duchess of Saxe-Gotha.
The king's first two marriages both ended in scandal and divorce. He was first married in Copenhagen on 1 November 1828 to his second cousin Princess Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark, a daughter of King Frederick VI of Denmark. They separated in 1834 and divorced in 1837. On 10 June 1841 he married for a second time to Duchess Caroline Charlotte Mariane of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he divorced in 1846.
On 7 August 1850 in Frederiksborg Palace, he morganatically married Louisa Christina Rasmussen, whom he created Landgravine Danner in 1850 (Danish: Lensgrevinde Danner), a common milliner and former ballet dancer who had for many years been his acquaintance or mistress, the natural daughter of Gotthilf L. Køppen and of Juliane Caroline Rasmussen. This marriage seems to have been happy, although it aroused great moral indignation among the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Countess Danner, who was denounced as a vulgar by her enemies, but a doughty and unaffected daughter of the people by her admirers, seems to have had a stabilizing effect on him. She also worked at maintaining his popularity by letting him meet the people of the provinces.