Frederick IV of Denmark
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Image:Frederik4.jpgFrederick IV (October 11, 1671 - October 12, 1730) king of Denmark and Norway from 1699. Son of Christian V, cousin to Charles XII of Sweden and Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden. He married Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow on December 5, 1695 and by her became father of five children, including Christian VI. Following her death on March 15, 1721, he married his mistress Anna Sophie Reventlow (on April 4, 1721). Three children were born of this marriage.
For much of Frederik IV's reign Denmark was engaged in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) against Sweden. A first short-lived participation 1700 ended by a Swedish invasion and threats from the Western naval powers. 1709 Denmark again entered the war encouraged by the Swedish defeat at Poltava. Frederick IV commanded the Danish troops at the battle of Gadebusch 1712. Although Denmark emerged on the victorious side, she failed to reconquer the lost possessions in Southern Sweden. The most important result was the destruction of the pro-Swedish duchy of Gottorp in Schleswig-Holstein. Frederik IV, having taken two trips to Italy, had two pleasure palaces built in the Italian baroque: Frederiksberg Palace and Fredensborg Palace, which both became monuments for the closure of the Great Northern War.
During the years after the war trade and culture were flowering. The Danish theatre was created and the great dramatist Ludvig Holberg began his career. Also the colonisation of Greenland was started by the missionary Hans Egede. Politically this period was marked by the king's connection to the Holstein Reventlow family, the relatives of his last queen and by his growing suspicion towards all members of the old nobility.
Frederick was considered a man of responsibility and industry – often regarded the most intelligent of all Danish absolute monarchs - and he seems to have possessed the ability of keeping independent of his ministers. Taking absolutely no interest in academic knowledge he was nevertheless a man of cultural engagement, especially in art and architecture. His main weaknesses were probably pleasure-seeking and womanising (he is the only Danish king who is known to have been twice a bigamist) that sometimes distracted him. His last years were affected by his weak health and private sorrows that made him leaning towards pietism which triumphed during the reign of his son.
His most important domestic reform was the abolishing 1702 of the so-called "vornëdship" (Danish: vornedskab), a kind of serfdom which had fallen on the peasants of Zealand in the later Middle Ages. However, all was in vain because of the introduction of adscription in 1733.
During the rule of Frederick Copenhagen was hit by two disasters: the plague of 1711 and the great fire of October 1728 which destroyed most of the medieval capital. One of the unfortunate consequences of this fire was the destruction of the notes and observations of the astronomer Ole Rømer, who had managed to convince Frederick to introduce the Gregorian calendar in Denmark-Norway in 1700.
On his passing in 1730, Frederick IV was interred in Roskilde Cathedral.
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Template:Euro-royal-stubda:Frederik 4. de:Friedrich IV. (Dänemark und Norwegen) fr:Frédéric IV de Danemark lt:Frederikas IV nl:Frederik IV van Denemarken ja:フレデリク4世 (デンマーク王) no:Frederik IV nn:Fredrik IV av Danmark-Norge pl:Fryderyk IV Oldenburg sv:Fredrik IV av Danmark