Christiane Christiansdatter Sehested (15 July 1626 – 1670) was the daughter of king

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

and his

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

spouse,

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

. She shared the title ''Countess of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been di ...

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

'' with her mother and siblings. She was the

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

of her sister Hedevig Ulfeldt.

Biography

She was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Karen Sehested. Christiane was engaged by her father with the noble Hannibal Sehested,

Viceroy of Norway The Viceroy of Norway ( Constitutional Danish: Vice-Konge) was the appointed head of the Norwegian Government in the absence of the King, during the era of the Union between Sweden and Norway. The role was essentially the same as that of the Govern ...

, in 1636. She was married under great festivities in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1642. She left for Norway with her spouse and lived with him in

Akershus fortress Akershus Fortress (, ) or Akershus Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress has been the namesake and centre of the ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. Her father died in 1648. In 1651, her husband lost his position, and she was called to Copenhagen to sign a statement in which her spouse was deprived of his Norwegian estates. She also lost her status as countess. Her relationship with Sehested, and her siblings was not close, and in 1651–1658, she lived alone in poverty in

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. She returned to Denmark in 1658 to side with the invading Swedes with her spouse to avenge the loss of her status; they joined the Swedish camp outside the sieged Danish capital. In 1660, Sehested regained the trust of the court, and in 1662, she was given back her personal status as countess. In 1666, she was widowed and retired to her estates. She is known to have written several folk songs.

Ancestry

References

Dansk biografisk Lexikon / III. Bind. Brandt - Clavus /
(in Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sehested, Christiane 1626 births 1670 deaths 17th-century Danish nobility 17th-century Norwegian nobility 17th-century Danish women writers 17th-century Danish writers Danish twins 17th-century Danish landowners Children of Christian IV of Denmark Daughters of kings 17th-century Danish women landowners Daughters of dukes