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.

A member of the House of Oldenburg, Frederick began his personal rule of Denmark-Norway at the age of 24. He inherited a capable and strong kingdom, formed in large by his father after the civil war known as the Count's Feud, after which Denmark 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, 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.Lockhart, Paul D., page 36 This portrayal is, however, inequitable and inaccurate, and recent studiesThanks in large part to the research of historian Frede P. Jensen, who, after thorough archival studies, were able to provide a real and contemporary historical description of the King's character. 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.''Grinder-Hansen, Poul, section 3-page 1''

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 archrival 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. In the 1570s he constructed Kronborg, a large Renaissance castle that became widely recognized abroad, and its dance hall was the largest in Northern Europe at the time. 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.

At the time of Frederick's birth, a civil war of Denmark was coming to an end (just three days after Frederick's birth his father Christian became King of Denmark). The previous king, Frederick I, died on 10 April the year before, but the Danish Council of the Realm, which traditionally ruled the kingdom with the king, had not chosen a successor, and now Denmark had, for more than a year, functioned as an Aristocratic Republic. The father of the newborn Frederik, Christian, although eldest son of the late king, was not automatically King of Denmark, as the kingship in Denmark was not hereditary, but elective. Noblemen of the Council of the Realm could choose to pick another member of the royal family as king if they so decided.

Frederick I and his son Christian were staunch Protestants and adherents to the Lutheran cause, however, in the Council of the Realm, which consisted of many Catholic bishops as well as a number of powerful noblemen from the old nobility, there were a majority to support the established Catholic Church. After a period of interregnum and after subsequent risings in favour of the former King Christian II, a period known as the Count's Feud, Christian III finally became victorious, and was proclaimed King of a new Protestant Denmark.

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.Lockhart, Paul D., page 28 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.''Grinder-Hansen, Poul, section 3-page 9''

On 30 October 1536 Christian convened the estates of the realm (''Rigsdag'') to Copenhagen, were they formally proclaimed Frederick heir apparent and successor to the throne, granting him the title "Prince of Denmark". In 1542, the Prince travelled around Denmark and was hailed by the people. In the Midsummer of 1548 Christian III and his son Frederick, in a fleet of 7 ships and together with 30 Danish nobles, sailed for Oslo, were Frederick was hailed as heir apparent to the Throne of the Kingdom of Norway. 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.

It was the usual pedagogical view of the time that parents were so inclined to spoil their own children that the upbringing of the children should be delegated to other members of the family,''Grinder-Hansen, Poul, section 4-page 1'' 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.

Education

Frederik's education, although profound and thorough, was focused on the ecclesiastical