The Meeting of Notables ( Norwegian: ''notabelmøtet'' or ''stormannsmøtet'') was a meeting that took place before

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

declared independence from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

1814 Events January * January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine. * January 3 ** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French gar ...

. In the

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel () or Peace of Kiel ( Swedish and or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 ...

, king Frederick VI of Denmark-Norway ceded the Kingdom of Norway to king

Charles XIII Charles XIII or Carl XIII (; 7 October 1748 – 5 February 1818) was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 to his death. He was the second son (and younger brother to King Gustav III) of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Louisa ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Prince Christian Frederik, vice-roy of Norway and heir to the thrones of Denmark and Norway, took the lead in the ensuing widespread movement for national independence. He saw his opportunity to claim the Norwegian throne as legal heir, possibly with the ultimate goal of re-uniting the two countries. He summoned twenty-one leading figures of society ("notables") to hear them out. The meeting took place in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

on 16 February 1814. It soon became clear that the principle of

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the leaders of a state and its government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associativ ...

was rooted among the participants, and that sovereignty had been restored to the people by the abdication of the king. If Christian Frederik were to ascend the throne, he would have to be elected by the people in a manner seen as democratic. The meeting of notables advised the prince to arrange the election for a

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

to decide the form of government and eventually elect the head of state. On his return to Christiania on 19 February, he took the title of

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

and gave instructions for the elections, which were to be held in all churches on Sunday 25 February or the following Sundays. The Constituent Assembly was to convene on 10 April the same year at the Eidsvoll Manor. The Constituent Assembly did elect Christian Frederik as King, but his short reign was stopped when Sweden invaded in the summer.

List of participants

This is a list of the participants at the Meeting of Notables. * Christian Frederik, Prince of Denmark and Norway * Fredrik Julius Bech *

Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz (25 January 176211 May 1838) was a Norwegian Government Minister and Member of Parliament. Biography Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz was born at Vigvoll, Tveit near Kristiansand, Norway. His father, Otto Christian Rosenkrantz, ...

Mathias Sommerhielm Mathias Otto Leth Sommerhielm (22 August 1764 15 November 1827) was a Danish-Norwegian politician who served as the Norwegian prime minister in Stockholm. Biography Mathias Otto Leth Sommerhielm was born in the seaport of Kolding in southern Den ...

* Jonas Collett *

Poul Christian Holst Poul Christian Holst (21 January 1776 – 7 August 1863) was a Norway, Norwegian government official who held several positions in the period 1814–1848. Holst led negotiations over debt with Denmark in 1817, after the dissolution of the Denmark ...

* Hans Hagerup Falbe * Christoffer Anker Bergh *

Niels Treschow Niels Nicolas Treschow (5 September 1751 – 22 September 1833) was a Norwegian philosopher, educator and politician. Biography Treschow was born in Strømsø, now part of Drammen in Buskerud. He was the son of Peter Treschow (1718-1773) w ...

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll Manor in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parlia ...

* Otto Lütken *

Frederik Gottschalk von Haxthausen Frederik Gottschalk von Haxthausen (14 July 1750 – 6 July 1825) was a Danish- Norwegian army officer, councillor of state, cabinet member and Norway's first minister of finance. Biography Haxthausen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His fa ...

* Christian D. A. Arenfeldt *

Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted (7 April 1761 – 17 September 1823) was a Norwegian military officer. Career He was born in Flå in Søndre Trondhjem county, as a son of Lieutenant Colonel Jens Fredrik Svane Sejersted and his wife Dorothea Cath ...

* F. W. Haffner * Hans Henrik Rode * F. L. Brock *

Peder Anker Peder Anker (8 December 1749 – 10 December 1824) was a prominent Norwegian landowner, businessman and politician. He served as the first prime minister of Norway from 1814 until 1822. Biography Peder Anker was a member of a Danish-Norweg ...

Carsten Anker Carsten Tank Anker (17 November 1747 – 13 March 1824) was a Norwegian businessman, civil servant, politician and one of the Fathers of the Constitution of Norway. He was the owner of the manor house in Akershus at which the original National ...

* Peter Anker *

Carsten Tank Carsten Tank (24 April 1766 – 28 January 1832) was a Norwegian businessman and politician who served as Norwegian councilor of government of the 1st Ministry (finance and taxes, March–November 1814), and later councilor of state of the same ...

* Of these, only Georg Sverdrup and Peder Anker were members of the Constituent Assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeting Of Notables 1814 in Norway

List of participants

See also

References