Frederick II of Denmark

Frederick II (; 1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1559 until his death in 1588.

A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark–Norway at the age of 24. He inherited capable and strong realms, formed in large by his father after the civil war known as the Count's Feud, after which Denmark–Norway saw a period of economic recovery and of a great increase in the centralised authority of the Crown. Frederick was, especially in his youth and unlike his father, belligerent and adversarial, aroused by honor and national pride, and so he began his reign auspiciously with a campaign under the aged Johan Rantzau, which reconquered Dithmarschen. However, after miscalculating the cost of the Northern Seven Years' War, he pursued a more prudent foreign policy. The remainder of Frederick II's reign was a period of tranquillity, in which king and nobles prospered. Frederick spent more time hunting and feasting with his councillors, and focused on architecture and science. During his reign, many building projects were begun, including additions to the royal castles of Kronborg at Elsinore and Frederikborg Castle at Hillerød.

Frederick has to a great extent been overshadowed by his popular, long-reigning son Christian IV, and often been portrayed with skepticism and resentment, resulting in the prevailing portrait of Frederick as a man and as king: an unlettered, inebriated, brutish sot. This portrayal is, however, inequitable and inaccurate, and recent studies reappraise and acknowledge him as highly intelligent; he craved the company of learned men, and in the correspondence and legislation he dictated to his secretaries he showed himself to be quick-witted and articulate. Frederick was also open and loyal, and had a knack for establishing close personal bonds with fellow princes and with those who served him.

In 1572, Frederick married his cousin Sophie of Mecklenburg. Their relationship is regarded as one of the happiest royal marriages in Renaissance Europe. In the first ten years after the wedding, they had seven children, and are described as inseparable and harmonious.

Frederick was committed to becoming the mightiest king in the North, and for several years he fought exhausting wars against his rival Erik XIV of Sweden, after which the battles changed character. It became a competition to see who could trace their family history the furthest, and who could construct the most formidable castles. He enjoyed entertaining guests and throwing elaborate festivities, which were well known throughout Europe. During the same period, the Danish-Norwegian fleet was developed into one of Europe's largest and most modern. As part of his efforts to strengthen the kingdoms, he provided much support for science and culture.

Early years and education Frederick was born on 1 July 1534 at Haderslevhus Castle, the son of Duke Christian of Schleswig and Holstein (later King Christian III of Denmark and Norway) and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, the daughter of Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg. His mother was the sister of Catherine, the first wife of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa, and the mother of Eric XIV, his future rival.

Proclaimed heir apparent After King Christian III's victory in the Count's Feud, royal power had now returned to Denmark, and in such a way that the king could set his own terms. In his haandfæstning, a document which all former Danish Kings must sign, and which regulates the relationship between king and nobility, he reduced the nobility's power, and established that the first son of the king should always be seen as heir apparent, and succeed his father automatically.

On 30 October 1536 Christian convened the estates of the realm (Rigsdag) to Copenhagen, where they formally proclaimed Frederick heir apparent and successor to the throne, granting him the title "Prince of Denmark". The royal reception included Danish nobles holding fiefs in Norway, received by Prince Frederik on his ship. The entire Norwegian nobility had been summoned to Oslo.

Upbringing While Christian III secured control of Denmark and Norway, his and Dorothea's children grew up in the bosom of the family. In addition to Anna, who was born in 1532, and Frederik from 1534, the group of siblings consisted of Magnus, born 1540, and John, who was born in 1545 and called John the Younger, to distinguish him from Christian III's half-brother, John the Elder. Youngest was a girl who was born in 1546 and named after her mother. typically the child's maternal grandparents. But Queen Dorothea didn't want to send the children away when in infancy. Moreover, her own mother was suspected of nurturing Catholic sympathies, and in the religious era, a Lutheran Danish king could not in good conscience expose his child to Catholic influences. Another contributing factor has probably been the royal couple's concern by leaving the children too much out of sight in the tense political situation that prevailed in the first ten years of Frederik's life. While a princely educational program, which included learning the art of stewardship, diplomacy and war, was proposed and planned by the Danish Chancellor, it was not executed in full as the Danish Chancellor's relationship with Christian III deteriorated before the education could begin.

Life at the court of Christian III and Dorothea was imbued with a fervent Lutheran Christianity with which all their children naturally grew up. In March 1538 Chancellor Wolfgang von Utenhof proposed an educational program for the young Prince Frederick. He was to have a Danish court steward, but he also had to work with and be inspected daily by a chamberlain, who was to be a reliable and sobering man from the Holstein nobility. The prince had to learn Latin, German, Danish, French and other languages, and when he got older he had to learn fencing and other chivalry exercises. He was to have 10–15 young men for company both in his studies and in his chivalrous exercises. According to them, the son was obviously bright and had a good memory. So much bigger has the disappointment, and the amazement, been when the teaching started. Frederick learned to write beautiful and clear letters, but when it came to reading and spelling, the royal student was "a disaster". Time and time again, Frederick has been punished, probably not only by the teacher, but also by his strict mother, who would gladly step in if Svaning's teaching was not sufficient. The years in Scania, must have felt like a liberation for Frederick. It is not known whether this title was ever officially decreed to him. by a Danish superintendent, with Nicolaus Palladius and Jens Skielderup two Norwegian superintendent assisting, symbolizing the relationship between the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway. Week-long and elaborate celebrations are said to have taken place after the coronation.

Early relationship with the Council of the Realm The adversarial king–Council relationship improved relatively quickly however, and not because Frederik caved in to conciliar opposition. Rather, the two parties quickly learned to work together because their interests, and the Kingdom's, required that they did so. From an early time, the council invested much power in Frederick, as they had no desire to go back to the destructive near-anarchy of the pre-civil war years.

Frederik would soon learn how to play the constitutional game that is required in a consensual monarchy, such as Denmark; namely to humour the Council without sacrificing his own royal interests. This meant showing generosity to the conciliar aristocracy through various gifts and concessions, which he did in grand style. Shortly before the signing of his coronation charter (haandfæstning), Andreas von Barby, leader of the German Chancery, died. Barby was not well liked in the Council of the Realm, but he was extreamly wealthy. The extensive fiefs in his possession reverted to the Crown, and Frederik was careful to distribute out these properties among the leading members of the Council of the Realm. Throughout his reign, Frederik would reward his conciliar aristocracy generously. Fiefs were distributed on highly favourable terms.

The substantially warmer relationship between king and Council of the Realm after the Ditmarschen campaign is best illustrated by the Danish central administration's performance in the greatest national crisis of the reign, the Northern Seven Years' War (1563–70) against Sweden.

Relationship with Livonia From his predecessor, Frederick inherited the Livonian War. In 1560, he installed his younger brother, Magnus of Holstein (1540–1583), in the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek. King Frederick II largely tried to avoid conflict in Livonia and consolidated amicable relations with Tsar Ivan IV of Russia in the 1562 Treaty of Mozhaysk. His brother Magnus was later made titular King of Livonia, as a vassal of Tsar Ivan IV.

Northern Seven Years' War King Frederick's competition with Sweden for supremacy in the Baltic broke out into open warfare in 1563, the start of the Northern Seven Years' War, the dominating conflict of his rule.

The leading councillors, Johan Friis foremost among them, had feared a Swedish onslaught for several years, and after the succession of Frederick II's first cousin, the ambitious and unbalanced Eric XIV (reigned 1560–1568) to the Vasa throne a confrontation appeared inevitable. Still, few councillors wanted war, and they preferred to wait until it was forced upon them, while Frederick preferred a preemptive strike. Despite its initial opposition to the war, the Council of the Realm went along with the king. Frederick II, wisely, made no effort to exclude the council from the direction of the war, and though he retained chief operational control he entrusted much responsibility to his councillors, including Holger Ottesen Rosenkrants, Marshal Otte Krumpen, and Admiral Herluf Trolle.

Only one constitutional crisis emerged during the war; in late 1569, after six years of war, the Council decided not to provide the king with further grants of taxation. The war had been costly, both in lives and in gold, but since 1565 Denmark–Norway had made no appreciable gains. The council had already asked Frederick to make peace, and he had made a half-hearted attempt to do so in 1568, but neither Frederick nor his Swedish opponent was willing to concede defeat.

The war developed into an extremely expensive war of attrition in which the areas of Scania were ravaged by the Swedes, and Norway was almost lost. During this war, King Frederick II led his army personally on the battlefield, but although with some small success, overall without much result.

The council, in cutting off financial support, had hoped to coerce the king into ending the war. Frederick felt betrayed, and after some reflection, felt that the only honourable recourse was abdication.

Frederick II learned a great deal about kingship during the war with Sweden. He learned to include the Council of the Realm in most matters of policy, but he also learned that it was possible to manipulate the council, even to bend it to his own will, without humiliating it or undermining its authority. This ensured a very close personal bond with each member of the council while minimizing the opportunity for the council to oppose him as a full body. Frederik's personable disposition also helped,

Financial situation The great cost of the Northern Seven Years' War, some 1.1 million rigsdaler, was recovered chiefly from higher taxation on both Danish and Norwegian farm properties. After state finances collapsed in the aftermath of the war, King Frederick II called Peder Oxe home to address the kingdom's economy. The taking over of Danish administration and finances by the able councillor, provided a marked improvement for the national treasury. Councillors of experience, including Niels Kaas, Arild Huitfeldt, and Christoffer Valkendorff, took care of the domestic administration. Subsequently, government finances were put in order and Denmark–Norway's economy improved. One of the chief expedients of the improved state of affairs was the raising of the Sound Dues. Oxe, as lord treasurer, reduced the national debt considerably and redeemed portions of crown lands.

Constructions in reign

After the Northern Seven Years' War a period of affluence and growth followed in Danish-Norwegian history. The greater financial liquidity of the crown and the king's decreased dependence on the Council for funding, while not meaning that Frederick was actively seeking to sidestep conciliar control, The increased revenues likewise enabled Frederik to undertake the construction of Denmark's first national road network, the so-called kongevej ('King's Road'), connecting the larger towns and the royal residences.

The most visible area of expenditure, however, was the royal castles and the court itself. Frederick spent freely on the reconstruction of several royal residences and other cities: Antvorskov (near Slagelse, Sjælland), was one of Frederick's favourite hunting-castles. He later died at Antvorskov. In 1567, King Frederick II founded Fredrikstad in Norway. Frederik II Upper Secondary School in Fredrikstad, one of the largest schools of its kind in Norway, is named after Frederick. He also rebuilt Kronborg in Elsinore from a medieval fortress into a magnificent Renaissance castle, between 1574 and 1585. He commissioned the so-called Kronborg Tapestries for the Great Hall. The 43 tapestries were created in Helsingør by Dutch tapestry makers. They depicted more than 100 Danish kings, starting with the legendary King Dan and ending with himself and a young crown prince Christian (IV) standing in front of Kronborg Castle

In 1560 Frederick converted the North Sealand farm Hillerødsholm into a great Renaissance castle, Frederiksborg. In 1561, Frederik II developed and fortified Skanderborg Castle with materials from Øm Abbey.

For all Frederick's egalitarian behaviour at his court, Frederick was acutely aware of his elevated status. Like most monarchs of his day, he sought to bolster his international reputation through a measure of ostentatious display, in his patronage of artists and musicians, as well as in the elaborate ceremonies staged for royal weddings and other public celebrations.

Kronborg and "The King's Sound"

Frederick II had claimed naval supremacy in 'the king's sound', as he called The Sound and, indeed, the whole expanse of waters lying between his Norwegian and Icelandic possessions. In 1583 he secured an agreement by which England made an annual payment for permission to sail there, and France later followed suit.

He also tried to bring the Icelandic trade and fisheries into the hands of his own subjects instead of Englishmen and Germans and encouraged adventurers such as Magnus Heinason, to whom he gave a monopoly of trade with the Faeroes, a half-share in ships captured on unlawful passage to the White Sea, and backing for a bold but unsuccessful attempt to reach east Greenland.

Relationship with the Church The necessity of maintaining order within the church meant that royal interference into ecclesiastical affairs was unavoidable. There was no longer an archbishop within the hierarchy, so the king was the final authority in matters that could not be settled by the bishops alone. As his father, Christian III, put it, kings were the 'father to the superintendents'.

As protector of the church and therefore of the clergy, Frederick frequently intervened in disputes between clergy and laity, even when the issues involved were trivial ones.

Frederik II was more active than his late father in extending his royal authority into areas that the 1537 Ordinance had protected from secular power. Frederik consulted with members of the theological faculty at the University of Copenhagen—the so-called 'most learned ones' (højlærde)—but he did not shy away from making changes in the most minute liturgical matters. He stipulated the books that every parish priest should have in his library, set standardized times for worship services in the towns, and set minimal standards of competence for all preachers. The 'Concord', which was written by leading Saxon divines and sponsored by Frederik II's brother-in-law, Augustus, Elector of Saxony, was an attempt to promote unity among the German Lutheran princes. As a unifier, however, the Concord was an abject failure.

August had recently purged his court of Calvinists and Philippists, and orthodox Lutherans like Jacob Andreae composed the document. The Concord was extremely orthodox. Frederik II had already clashed with his old friend and companion Augustus over theological issues: in 1575, Augustus had complained profoundly about the Calvinist sentiments expounded by Niels Hemmingsen in the treatise Syntagma institutionum christianarum (1574). Though Frederik tried to defend Hemmingsen, who was his favourite divine, he also wanted to keep Augustus' friendship, and he therefore dismissed Hemmingsen – with honour – from his post at the University of Copenhagen in 1579. Frederik was not nearly so receptive to August's promotion of the Concord.

Like many other contemporaries of his time, Frederick believed that the Book of Concord promoted discord, and not harmony. Ignoring Augustus's warnings that a Calvinist plot had taken root in Denmark's clergy, he banned the Concord from his lands in July 1580. While demanding higher educational standards from the priesthood, Frederick and his advisers provided more support for impoverished students. One hundred students, selected by the faculty, received room and board free of fee from the crown, each for a period of five years. Four especially promising students would be awarded the stipendium regium, which paid all costs for study abroad so long as the recipient returned to Copenhagen to finish his doctorate.

Alchemy, astrology and Tycho Brahe

Frederik II's fascination with alchemy and astrology, common to contemporary sovereigns, sped the rise of the astronomer Tycho Brahe to international renown as a pioneer in Europe's Scientific Revolution. Tycho Brahe came from the highest ranks of the Danish ruling elite: his father, Otte Brahe til Knudstrup, was a fiefholder in Scania and a member of the Council of the Realm, as was Tycho’s brother .

After an extensive education abroad, Tycho Brahe returned to Denmark not to pursue a career in state service as men of his blood typically did, but instead retreated to the monastery at Herrevad, Brahe's treatise on the supernova that appeared in Cassiopeia in November 1572, published at the behest of the rigshofmester Peder Oxe, brought his activities to the attention of Frederik and his court. At the king's insistence, Brahe took up a lectureship at the University of Copenhagen in 1574, As a fiefholder, he turned out to be a minor disaster, but the observatory at his residence, Uraniborg, drew students from all over Europe. From 1576 until his expulsion by Christian IV in 1597, Brahe supervised the first publicly funded scientific research institute in European history. There is no evidence that either of them had any interest in entering a morganatic marriage and Anne Hardenberg was married six months after Frederick, after which there is no known contact between them.

Possible matrimonies

Negotiations to find a suitable royal bride were manifold during the 1560s, but mostly it came to nothing, often because Frederick strongly insisted on meeting the prospective bride before committing to her. The proposed matrimonies included:

Renata of Lorraine: Throughout the 1550s, Frederick's father Christian III strongly advocated a marriage alliance with the House of Lorraine, hoping that a match between his son Prince Frederik and claimant to the Danish throne Christina of Denmark's daughter Renata, would settle the claimant disputes, and possibly even add Lorraine to the Oldenburg patrimony. The match never took place—Frederik was indifferent to it, many of the king's advisers opposed it, and Christina was none too cooperative – but it remained Christian III's fervent hope to the end of his days. The marriage failed due to high political complications, as Frederick did not want to appear as an obvious supporter of one of Spain's enemies. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. He had also wooed Queen Elizabeth I of England, but to no avail, and was later made a Knight of the Garter.

After Frederick's death Sophie was granted a life estate or 'Dowager-pension' , consisting of Nykøbing Castle and the islands of Lolland and Falster. The Dowager Queen Sophie managed her estates in Lolland-Falster so well that her son could borrow money from her on several occasions for his wars.

Issue Frederick and Sophie had seven children:

He married secondly, morganatically, Kirsten Munk. They had 12 children.

He became Ulrich II as Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin (1603–1624).

Death and burial

Sepulchral monument of Frederick II by Gert van Egen in the Christian I's Chapel (Chapel of the Magi). King Frederick II died on 4 April 1588, aged 53, at Antvorskov.

Frederick was buried on 5 August 1588 in Christian I's chapel at Roskilde Cathedral, where his son King Christian IV later built a large monument in honour of his late father.

Legacy Many recent historians, such as Poul Grinder-Hansen, Paul Douglas Lockhart, Thomas Kingston Derry and Frede P. Jensen have expressed, that it is difficult to see how the reign, and especially the later reign, of Frederik II could be viewed as anything other than a resounding success. As Paul Douglas Lockhart later stated: "Frederik II may have been a near illiterate (...) but nonetheless he was enlightened as few monarchs of his generation were. It is difficult to see how Danish historians for so long laboured under the impression that he was little better than a drunken fool".

Frederik was indeed no great scholar, owing largely to the fact that he was very dyslexic. Throughout his entire life he would struggle with his difficulty in reading and writing, and it embarrassed him immensely. But he was, as those close to him would attest, highly intelligent; he craved the company of learned men, and in the correspondence and legislation he dictated to his secretaries he showed himself to be quick-witted and articulate. Frederik was also open and loyal, and had a knack for establishing close personal bonds with fellow princes and with those who served him. These qualities would make him an ideal politician. Indeed, Frederik would take the chief legacy of his father's kingship – the close symbiosis between king and aristocracy – to its logical limits, and simultaneously would bring Denmark to the height of its power and influence in European affairs.

Orders

Summer 1561 – 4 April 1588: Order of Saint Michael April 1579 – 4 April 1588: Order of the Garter

Coat of Arms Coat of arms of Frederick as King of Denmark and Norway.Coat of arms of Frederick as Knight of the Order of the Garter.

Ancestry