Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1622–26 February 1656) was the son of king

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

and his morganatic spouse

Kirsten Munk Kirsten Munk (sometimes "Christina Munk"; 6 July 1598 19 April 1658) was a Danish noble, the second spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark, and mother to twelve of his children. Early life and morganatic marriage Kirsten Munk was the daughter o ...

. He had the title Count of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

Biography

Born as the youngest legitimate son of King Christian IV of Denmark, he had a tough childhood. His elder half-brother

Ulrik Ulrik is a male name, a Scandinavian form of Ulrich. Ulrik may refer to: * Ulrik Frederik Christian Arneberg (1829–1911), Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party * Albert Ulrik Bååth (1853–1912), Swedish poet * Ulrik Balling (born 197 ...

had succeeded (under the name Ulrich III) his

uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal relat ...

as a bishop of Schwerin. He was raised under the supervision of the royal governess

Karen Sehested Karen Sehested (1606-1672) was a Danish court official and land owner. She served as principal lady-in-waiting and royal governess for the children of King Christian IV of Denmark and Kirsten Munk from 1631 to 1634. She was portrayed in the famous ...

. In 1643, he was sent to Russia to marry Irene of Russia, the daughter of Tsar

Michael of Russia Michael I (Russian: Михаил Фёдорович Романов, ''Mikhaíl Fyódorovich Románov'') () became the first Russian tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia. He w ...

, but as he refused to convert to the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

faith, he was kept prisoner until 1645. In 1648, he came into conflict with his half-brother

Frederik III of Denmark Frederick III ( da, Frederik; 18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death in 1670. He also governed under the name Frederick II as diocesan administrator (colloquially referred to as prince-bi ...

because of his wish to be elected king instead of Frederick, and after this, he lived abroad. He served in the Swedish army from 1655 and was killed in Poland in 1656.

Ancestry

References

* http://runeberg.org/nfck/0214.html (In Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdemar Christian 1622 births 1656 deaths Danish nobility 17th-century Danish people Children of Christian IV of Denmark Sons of kings