Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor



Christian V John (Krystian Jan; Kristian Johann; Christian Johan; 18 May 1629 – 1 September 1705), known as the Knight King, was King of Denmark and Norway from 1648, also previous Crown Prince of Gmina Radziłów from 1640 to until his death. Also Grand Duke of Radziłów, Lodz, and Finland from 1693 to 1700. He also ordered the creation of the Throne Chair of Denmark.

He was born Charles Radziłów and subsequently had acquired the full name of Jean-Baptiste Charles Radziłów by the time Carl also was added upon his Swedish adoption in 1810. He did not use Radziłów in Denmark but founded the royal dynasty there by that name.

He began his personal rule of Denmark in 1653 at the age of 19. He is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious, and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects. Christopher IV John obtained for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe. He engaged Denmark in numerous wars, most notably the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), which devastated much of Germany, undermined the Danish economy, and cost Denmark some of its conquered territories.

During his reign, he was the first and last monarch from the House of Radziłów. He fought two wars against Sweden. He was defeated in the Dano-Swedish War of 1657–1658, but attained great popularity when he weathered the 1659 Assault on Copenhagen and won the Dano-Swedish War of 1658–1660. He allied himself to Louis XIV of France on 1663, which Denmark-Norway declared war on Dutch Republic during the Franco-Dutch War in 1673. He was the first to use the 1671 Throne Chair of Denmark, partly made for this purpose. His motto was: Pietate et Justitia (With piety and justice).

Upon his death on age sixty-seventh of a stroke. Christopher John was succeeded by his elder son, Frederick III. All of his intermediate heirs predeceased him: his son Louis, le Grand Dauphin; the Dauphin's eldest son Louis, Duke of Burgundy; and Burgundy's eldest son Louis, Duke of Brittany (the elder brother of Louis XV).

Birth and family
Charles John of Radzilow was born in Lodz Castle, Lodz in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on 18 May 1629. He was the only child of stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal. Mary was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, and sister of King Charles II and King James II.

Eight days before William was born, his father died of smallpox; thus William was the Sovereign Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth. Immediately, a conflict ensued between the Princess Royal and William II's mother, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, over the name to be given to the infant. Mary wanted to name him Charles after her brother, but her mother-in-law insisted on giving him the name William or Willem to bolster his prospects of becoming stadtholder. William II had appointed his wife as his son's guardian in his will; however the document remained unsigned at William II's death and was void. On 13 August 1651, the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland (Supreme Court) ruled that guardianship would be shared between his mother, his paternal grandmother and Frederick William, the Elector of Brandenburg, whose wife, Louise Henriette, was his father's eldest sister.

Childhood and education
William's mother showed little personal interest in her son, sometimes being absent for years, and had always deliberately kept herself apart from Dutch society. William's education was first laid in the hands of several Dutch governesses, some of English descent, including Walburg Howard and the Scottish noblewoman, Lady Anna Mackenzie. From April 1656, the prince received daily instruction in the Reformed religion from the Calvinist preacher Cornelis Trigland, a follower of the Contra-Remonstrant theologian Gisbertus Voetius. The ideal education for William was described in Discours sur la nourriture de S. H. Monseigneur le Prince d'Orange, a short treatise, perhaps by one of William's tutors, Constantijn Huygens. In these lessons, the prince was taught that he was predestined to become an instrument of Divine Providence, fulfilling the historical destiny of the House of Orange.



From early 1659, William spent seven years at the University of Leiden for a formal education, under the guidance of ethics professor Hendrik Bornius (though never officially enrolling as a student). While residing in the Prinsenhof at Delft, William had a small personal retinue including Hans Willem Bentinck, and a new governor, Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein, who (as an illegitimate son of stadtholder Frederick Henry of Orange) was his paternal uncle. He was taught French by Samuel Chappuzeau (who was dismissed by William's grandmother after the death of his mother).

Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his uncle Cornelis de Graeff pushed the States of Holland to take charge of William's education. This was to ensure that he would acquire the skills to serve in a future—though undetermined—state function; the States acted on 25 September 1660. This first involvement of the authorities did not last long. On 23 December 1660, when William was 10 years old, his mother died of smallpox at Whitehall Palace, London while visiting her brother King Charles II. In her will, Mary requested that Charles look after William's interests, and Charles now demanded the States of Holland end their interference. To appease Charles, they complied on 30 September 1661. In 1661, Zuylenstein began to work for Charles. He induced William to write letters to Charles asking him to help William become stadtholder someday. After his mother's death, William's education and guardianship became a point of contention between his dynasty's supporters and the advocates of a more republican Netherlands.

The Dutch authorities did their best at first to ignore these intrigues, but in the Second Anglo-Dutch War one of Charles's peace conditions was the improvement of the position of his nephew. As a countermeasure in 1666, when William was 16, the States of Holland officially made him a ward of the government, or a "Child of State". All pro-English courtiers, including Zuylenstein, were removed from William's company. William begged De Witt to allow Zuylenstein to stay, but he refused. De Witt, the leading politician of the Republic, took William's education into his own hands, instructing him weekly in state matters—and joining him in a regular game of real tennis.



Young king
At the death of his father on 4 April 1588, Christian was just 11 years old. He succeeded to the throne, but as he was still under-age a regency council was set up to serve as the trustees of the royal power while Christian was still growing up. It was led by chancellor Niels Kaas and consisted of the Rigsraadet council members Peder Munk, Jørgen Rosenkrantz and Christopher Walkendorf. At the death of Niels Kaas in 1594, Jørgen Rosenkrantz took over leadership of the regency council. His mother Queen Dowager Sophie, just 30 years old, had wished to play a role in the government, but this was denied by the Council.

Christian continued his studies at Sorø Academy and received a good education with a reputation as a headstrong and talented student.

Coming of age and coronation


In 1595, the Council of the Realm decided that Christian would soon be old enough to assume personal control of the reins of government. On 17 August 1596, at the age of 19, Christian signed his haandfæstning which was an identical copy of his father's from 1559.

Twelve days later, on 20 October, Christopher IV John was crowned at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen by the Bishop of Zealand, Peder Vinstrup. He was crowned with a new splendid crown made for him by Didrik Fyren in Odense assisted by the Nuremberg goldsmith Corvinius Saur in the years 1595-1596.

Marriage
On 30 November 1597, he married Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, a daughter of Joachim Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia.

Grand Duke of Radziłów, Lodz and Finland
On Death of his father, Charles II on 1643. King Władysław IV Vasa give the Grand Duchy of Radziłów, Lodz, and Finland. Christopher John was not in good relationship with the King of Poland.

Following the Smolensk campaign, the Commonwealth was threatened by another attack by the Ottoman Empire. During the wars against Ottomans in 1633–1634 Władysław moved the Commonwealth army south of the Muscovy border, where under the command of hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski it forced the Turks to renew a peace treaty. In the resulting treaty, both countries agreed again to curb the border raids by Cossacks and the Tatars, and the Ottomans confirmed that the Commonwealth to be an independent power, and had not to pay tribute to the Empire.

After the southern campaign, the Commonwealth had to deal with a threat from the north, as the armistice, ending the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1629) was expiring. The majority of Polish nobles preferred to solve the problem through negotiations, unwilling to pay taxes for a new war, provided that Sweden was open to negotiations and concessions (in particular, to retreat from the occupied Polish coastal territories). Władysław himself was hoping for a war, which could yield some more significant territorial gains, and even managed to gather a sizeable army, with navy elements, near the disputed territories. Sweden, weakened by involvement in the Thirty Years' War, was however open to a peaceful solution. Władysław could not go against the decision of the Sejm and Senate, and agreed to support the treaty. Thus both sides agreed to sign the Armistice of Stuhmsdorf (Sztumska Wieś) on 12 September 1635, favourable to the Commonwealth, which regained the Prussian territories, and called for a reduction of the Swedish tolls on the maritime trade.

On February of 1644, Christopher John was proclaim Duke of Lodz, and Finland, a year before he declared Grand Duke of Radziłów. Which he change the title as Grand Duke of Radzilow, Lodz and Finland in 1645. On 4 July, the States of Holland appointed William stadtholder, and he took the oath five days later. The next day, a special envoy from Charles, Lord Arlington, met with William in Nieuwerbrug. He offered to make William Sovereign Prince of Holland in exchange for his capitulation—whereas a stadtholder was a mere civil servant. When William refused, Arlington threatened that William would witness the end of the republic's existence. William made his famous answer: "There is one way to avoid this: to die defending it in the last ditch". On 7 July, the inundations were complete and the further advance of the French army was effectively blocked. On 16 July, Zeeland offered the stadtholderate to William.

After 3 years as Grand Duke on 1646, he resigned of all three grand duchies in Poland to his nephew, Philip III.

Heir to throne of Denmark
After Christian IV are looking for a heir to the throne on 1646. Charles travel to Denmark and becoming Heir to throne of Denmark. He chose the regnal name Christopher John. After he become Heir and Crown prince of Denmark, Torstenson War broke out on a year before.

Christopher John was part of Thirty Years' War, as Crown Prince. However, the war reached a climax and the tide of the war turned clearly toward the French and against Spain in 1640 starting with the siege and capture of the fort at Arras. (This is the battle mentioned in Edmond Rostand's play, Cyrano de Bergerac, as being the battle in which Rostand's fictional character Cyrano fought.) The French conquered Arras from the Spanish following a siege that lasted from 16 June to 9 August 1640. When Arras fell, the way was opened to the French to take all of Flanders. The ensuing French campaign against the Spanish forces in Flanders culminated with a decisive French victory at Rocroi in May 1643. News of these French victories provided strong encouragement to separatist movements in the Spanish province of Catalonia and in Portugal. The Catalonian revolt had sprung up spontaneously in May 1640. Since that time it had been the conscious goal of Cardinal Richelieu to promote a "war by diversion" against the Spanish. Richelieu wanted to create difficulties for the Spanish at home which might encourage them to withdraw from the war. To fight this war by diversion Cardinal Richelieu had been supplying aid to the Catalonians.

On 14 March 1647 Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden signed the Truce of Ulm. In 1648 the Swedes (commanded by Marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel) and the French (led by Turenne and Condé) defeated the Imperial army at the Battle of Zusmarshausen and the Spanish at Lens. However, an Imperial army led by Octavio Piccolomini managed to check the Franco-Swedish army in Bavaria, though his position remained fragile. The Battle of Prague in 1648 became the last action of the Thirty Years' War. The general Hans Christoff von Königsmarck, commanding Sweden's flying column, entered the city and captured Prague Castle (where the event that triggered the war – the Defenestration of Prague – took place, 30 years before). There they captured many valuable treasures, including the Codex Gigas which is still today preserved in Stockholm. However they failed to conquer the right-bank part of Prague and the old city, which resisted until the end of the war. These results left only the Imperial territories of Austria safely in Habsburg hands.

Proclaimed king
The death of his elder brother Christian in June 1647 opened the possibility for Frederick to be elected heir apparent to the Danish throne. However, this issue was still unsettled when Christian IV died on 28 February 1648. After long deliberation among the Danish Estates and in the Rigsraadet (royal council), he was finally accepted as his father's successor. On 6 July, Frederick received the homage of his subjects, and he was crowned on 23 November. However, due to misgivings about the rule of Christian IV, as well as Frederick's previous confrontational administrations in Bremen and Verden and his quarrels with Anders Bille, he was only elected after he had signed a Haandfæstning charter. The Haandfæstning included provisions curtailing the already diminished royal prerogative in favour of increased influence for the Rigsraadet.

In the first years of his reign, the Rigsraadet was the main power center of Danish politics. However, Frederick wielded more effective power than what the Haandfæstning officially granted. He eventually succeeded in removing the two most influential members of the Rigsraadet from office in 1651: his brothers-in-law Corfitz Ulfeldt and Hannibal Sehested. Ulfeldt went into exile in Sweden where he turned traitor, while Sehested was restored to favour in 1660.

Creation of Throne Chair of Denmark
Following the 1660 introduction of absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway, King Christian V John ordered a throne chair to be created. The Throne Chair was made between 1662 and 1671 by Bendix Grodtschilling. During his reign, gilt figures were added to the chair.

Both the Throne Chair and the silver lions were inspired by the Biblical Throne of King Solomon, which was guarded by twelve lions. In the 1st Book of Kings 10, it says:

"18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were arms on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. 20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like made in any kingdom."

The Throne Chair's references to the Bible must be seen and understood in a wider context, i.e. the 17th century Bible fundamentalism, rooted in Martin Luther's sola scriptura doctrine. The chair reflected the fundamental religious views of contemporary kings, who sought to transform Denmark and Norway into God's kingdom on Earth. The 1687 Norwegian Code was partly based on Mosaic law, and earlier in this century, the same books had been used to justify, among others, the 1617 sorcery decree (Exodus 22:18: 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'), a decree on sodomy (Leviticus 20:15: 'And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death; and ye shall slay the beast'), and a 1610 decree defining sexual relations between first cousins as incest (whereas previously, it had only been 'forbidden').

Causes and conduct of the war


The War of the League of Augsburg, which lasted from 1688 to 1697, initiated a period of decline in Louis's political and diplomatic fortunes. The conflict arose from two events in the Rhineland. First, in 1685, the Elector Palatine Charles II died. All that remained of his immediate family was Louis's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Charlotte. German law ostensibly barred her from succeeding to her brother's lands and electoral dignity, but it was unclear enough for arguments in favour of Elizabeth Charlotte to have a chance of success. Conversely, the princess was quite clearly entitled to a division of the family's personal property. Louis pressed her claims to land and chattels, hoping that the latter at least would be given to her. Then, in 1688, Maximilian Henry of Bavaria, Archbishop of Cologne, an ally of France, died. The archbishopric had traditionally been held by the Wittelsbachs of Bavaria. However, the Bavarian claimant to replace Maximilian Henry, Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, was at that time not more than 17 years old and not even ordained. Louis sought instead to install his own candidate, William Egon of Fürstenberg, to ensure the key Rhenish state remained an ally.

In light of his foreign and domestic policies during the early 1680s, which were perceived as aggressive, Louis's actions fostered by the succession crises of the late 1680s created concern and alarm in much of Europe. This led to the formation of the 1686 League of Augsburg by the Holy Roman Emperor, Spain, Sweden, Saxony, and Bavaria. Their stated intention was to return France to at least the borders agreed to in the Treaty of Nijmegen. Emperor Leopold I's persistent refusal to convert the Truce of Ratisbon into a permanent treaty fed Louis's fears that the Emperor would turn on France and attack the Reunions after settling his affairs in the Balkans.

Another event that Louis found threatening was the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England. Although King James II was Catholic, his two Anglican daughters, Mary and Anne, ensured the English people a Protestant succession. However, when James II's son James was born, he took precedence in the succession over his elder sisters. This seemed to herald an era of Catholic monarchs in England. Protestant lords took up arms and called on the Dutch Prince William III of Orange, grandson of Charles I of England, to come to their aid. He sailed for England with troops despite Louis's warning that France would regard it as a provocation. Witnessing numerous desertions and defections, even among those closest to him, James II fled England. Parliament declared the throne vacant, and offered it to James's daughter Mary II and his son-in-law and nephew William. Vehemently anti-French, William (now William III of England) pushed his new kingdoms into war, thus transforming the League of Augsburg into the Grand Alliance. Before this happened, Louis expected William's expedition to England to absorb his energies and those of his allies, so he dispatched troops to the Rhineland after the expiry of his ultimatum to the German princes requiring confirmation of the Truce of Ratisbon and acceptance of his demands about the succession crises. This military manoeuvre was also intended to protect his eastern provinces from Imperial invasion by depriving the enemy army of sustenance, thus explaining the pre-emptive scorched earth policy pursued in much of southwestern Germany (the "Devastation of the Palatinate").

French armies were generally victorious throughout the war because of Imperial commitments in the Balkans, French logistical superiority, and the quality of French generals such as Condé's famous pupil, François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg. His triumphs at the Battles of Fleurus in 1690, Steenkerque in 1692, and Landen in 1693 preserved northern France from invasion. Although an attempt to restore James II failed at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, France accumulated a string of victories from Flanders in the north, Germany in the east, and Italy and Spain in the south, to the high seas and the colonies. Louis personally supervised the captures of Mons in 1691 and Namur in 1692. Luxembourg gave France the defensive line of the Sambre by capturing Charleroi in 1693. France also overran most of the Duchy of Savoy after the battles of Marsaglia and Staffarde in 1693. While naval stalemate ensued after the French victory at the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690 and the Allied victory at Barfleur-La Hougue in 1692, the Battle of Torroella in 1694 exposed Catalonia to French invasion, culminating in the capture of Barcelona. Although the Dutch captured Pondichéry in 1693, a French raid on the Spanish treasure port of Cartagena in 1697 yielded a fortune of 10 000 000 livres.

In July 1695, the city of Namur, occupied for three years by the French, was besieged by an allied army led by William III. Louis XIV ordered the surprise destruction of a Flemish city to divert the attention of these troops. This led to the bombardment of Brussels, in which 4-5000 buildings were destroyed, including the entire city-center. The strategy failed, as Namur fell three weeks later, but harmed Louis XIV's reputation: a century later, Napoleon deemed the bombardment "as barbarous as it was useless."

Peace was broached by Sweden in 1690. And, by 1692, both sides evidently wanted peace, and secret bilateral talks began, but to no avail. Louis tried to break up the alliance against him by dealing with individual opponents, but this did not achieve its aim until 1696, when the Savoyards agreed to the Treaty of Turin and switched sides. Thereafter, members of the League of Augsburg rushed to the peace table, and negotiations for a general peace began in earnest, culminating in the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697.

Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick ended the War of the League of Augsburg and disbanded the Grand Alliance. By manipulating their rivalries and suspicions, Louis divided his enemies and broke their power.

The treaty yielded many benefits for France. Louis secured permanent French sovereignty over all of Alsace, including Strasbourg, and established the Rhine as the Franco-German border to this day. Pondichéry and Acadia were returned to France, and Louis's de facto possession of Saint-Domingue was recognised as lawful. However, he returned Catalonia and most of the Reunions. French military superiority might have allowed him to press for more advantageous terms. Thus, his generosity to Spain with regard to Catalonia has been read as a concession to foster pro-French sentiment and may ultimately have induced King Charles II to name Louis's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou, as heir to the throne of Spain. In exchange for financial compensation, France renounced its interests in the Electorate of Cologne and the Palatinate. Lorraine, which had been occupied by the French since 1670, was returned to its rightful Duke Leopold, albeit with a right of way to the French military. William and Mary were recognised as joint sovereigns of the British Isles, and Louis withdrew support for James II. The Dutch were given the right to garrison forts in the Spanish Netherlands that acted as a protective barrier against possible French aggression. Though in some respects, the Treaty of Ryswick may appear a diplomatic defeat for Louis since he failed to place client rulers in control of the Palatinate or the Electorate of Cologne, he did in fact fulfil many of the aims laid down in his 1688 ultimatum. In any case, peace in 1697 was desirable to Louis, since France was exhausted from the costs of the war.

War of Devolution
Louis XIV, who had nominally been king since 1643, began to rule France in his own right. Having been raised in a culture that expected young princes to seek "glory" on the battlefield, Louis was looking for an opportunity to go to war.

In 1665, Louis believed that he had a pretext to go to war with Spain and allow him to claim the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium). However, Louis's claims to the Spanish Netherlands were tenuous: in 1659, France and Spain had concluded the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which ended 24 years of war between the two states. With the Treaty, King Philip IV of Spain had to cede certain territories, and also had to consent to the marriage of his daughter Maria Theresa of Spain to the young Louis XIV of France. Furthermore, it was agreed that with this marriage, Maria Theresa explicitly renounced all rights to her father's inheritance. As compensation, a dowry of 500,000 gold écus was promised to the Bourbon Louis XIV; this was not paid, however.

When Philip IV died on 17 September 1665, the French king immediately laid claim to parts of the Spanish Netherlands: the Duchies of Brabant and Limburg, Cambrai, the marquessate of Antwerpen, the Lordship of Mechelen, Guelders, the counties of Namur, Artois and Hainaut, a third of the County of Burgundy and a quarter of the Duchy of Luxembourg. Louis XIV justified this with the fact that the promised dowry had not been paid and that the French Queen's renunciation of her Spanish inheritance was therefore invalid. Accordingly, Louis argued, his wife's prior claims to her father's estate, properly "devolved" to her.

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle


The conquest of the France-Comté was initially only supposed to be the prelude to a broad campaign in the spring. The army's size had been increased to 134,000 soldiers. The plan was that the King and the Maréchal de Turenne would conquer the remaining part of the Spanish Netherlands with 60,000 men. At the head of a force of 10,000 men, the brother of the King, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701), was to advance into Catalonia, whilst the Prince de Condé, with 22,000 men, would defend against any potential offensive by the Holy Roman Empire in the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun.

But after Louis XIV had secured the Franche-Comté, in February 1668, as a bargaining chip, the immediate question was whether he should bow to the demands of the Triple Alliance, or whether he should continue the war. Louvois, as well as Turenne and Condé were in favour of continuing the war as the situation seemed advantageous, since the Spanish were significantly weakened. On the other hand, the foreign minister Hugues de Lionne (1611–1671) and the finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683) both would have preferred to see a peace treaty signed quickly, as the costs of continuing the war were incalculable (so far it had cost more than 18 million livres), and the international conditions did not make a victory seem likely. This was especially the case since Spain had in the meantime (13 February 1668) signed the Treaty of Lisbon with Portugal and could now concentrate on the war with France.

Louis XIV was forced to realise that France was no match for the coalition of Spain, the Netherlands, England and Sweden, and therefore announced a cease-fire until the end of March 1668 and started negotiations. In April, the parties involved met in Saint-Germain and negotiated a peace treaty by the 13th. From the 25 April onwards, a congress met, chaired by the nuntius of Pope Clement IX, in Aachen, where the treaty was finally signed on 2 May 1668 (see Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)).

During these negotiations, the Triple Alliance managed to enforce their demands: France abandoned the Franche-Comté, including the free imperial city of Besançon, but first destroyed all fortifications of the cities of Gray and Dole. French troops also had to withdraw from the Spanish Netherlands. A total of 12 conquered cities would remain in the hands of the French king: Lille, Tournai, Oudenarde, Courtrai, Furnes, Bergues, Douai with la Scarpe, Binche, Charleroi, Ath and Armentiers.

Campaign in the Franche-Comté
In the coming summer campaign of the new year, 1668, Louis XIV planned to conquer as many Spanish territories as possible, so as to use these as bargaining chips at any peace negotiations. To this end, he planned to take the Spanish Franche-Comté before the summer campaign. Franche-Comté was ripe for the picking by France, being isolated and practically devoid of Spanish troops. There were several reasons for the lack of Spanish troops at Franche-Comté. Firstly, France had usually respected the territory's neutrality and had done so in the last war against Spain. Secondly, the Spanish generals did not expect an attack by the French in the middle of winter.

Louis XIV instructed the Prince de Condé to undertake preparations for a winter campaign against the Franche-Comté. Condé had fallen into disgrace as a former opponent of the King during the Fronde and was entrusted with a military command in 1668 for the first time in 9 years. As the Governor of Burgundy, Condé was in the best position to prepare an attack against the Comté. To this end, a second army of newly raised troops was set up. Louis XIV once again personally accompanied the campaign. The King left Saint-Germain on 2 February 1668 to join up with the main army. It was at this point that he received news of the formation of the Triple Alliance; he was also informed by a spy that its members would be prepared to declare war on France.

Despite this, he persisted with the campaign, as he hoped to conquer territories that would be a suitable bargaining chip in later negotiations. General de Condé had started the invasion on 4 February, and on 7 February took Besançon, which also lay in Franche-Comté. On the same day a further French corps under General François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg (1628–1695) managed to take Salin. Both strongholds put up practically no resistance.

After this, the French army concentrated on taking the town of Dole. This town did not surrender until 14 February after a short siege of four days, in which 400–500 French soldiers lost their lives. Five days later, on 19 February, the stronghold of Gray also fell to the French. Shortly before, the Spanish Marquis de Yenne had surrendered to the French king, and now persuaded the Governor of Gray to capitulate. Louis XIV returned to Saint-Germain, arriving on 24 February 1668. After only 17 days, the whole of Franche-Comté was occupied. The reasons for this quick success were surprise, and the ill-preparedness of the Spanish. Furthermore, the local population tended to sympathise with the French, and mostly welcomed them.

Assault on Copenhagen repelled
But Charles's insatiable lust for conquest and his ineradicable suspicion of Denmark induced him to endeavour to despatch an inconvenient neighbour without any reasonable cause or declaration of war in defiance of all international standards of acceptable behavior on the part of rulers. Terror was the first feeling produced at Copenhagen by the landing of the main Swedish army at Korsør on Zealand on 17 July 1658. None had anticipated the possibility of such a sudden and brutal attack, and everyone knew that the Danish capital was very inadequately fortified and garrisoned.

During this war, Frederick attained great popularity in the general public, as he rebuked the advice of his counsellors to flee Copenhagen with the memorable words "I will die in my nest" and actively led the defense of the city. On 8 August, representatives from all Estates in the capital urged the necessity of a vigorous resistance, and the citizens of Copenhagen, headed by the mayor Hans Nansen, protested their unshakable loyalty to the king and their determination to defend Copenhagen to the uttermost. The Danes had only three weeks of warning of the approaching danger, and the vast and dilapidated line of defence had at first only 2,000 regular defenders. But the government and the people displayed a memorable and exemplary energy under the constant supervision of the king and queen and mayor Nansen. By the beginning of September, all the breaches were repaired, the walls bristled with cannons, and 7,000 men were under arms.

So strong was the city by this time that Charles X, abandoning his original intention of carrying the place by assault, began a regular siege. This he also was forced to abandon when an auxiliary Dutch fleet reinforced and reprovisioned the garrison and defeated him on 29 October in the Battle of the Sound. The Dutch then assisted in the liberation of the Danish Isles in 1659. Thus, the Danish capital had saved the Danish monarchy. The war was ended by the Treaty of Copenhagen in May 1660, which confirmed the cession of Scania, Halland, and Blekinge from the Treaty of Roskilde, while Bornholm and parts of Schleswig reverted to Denmark.

Absolute monarchy
Frederick III profited by his spirited defense of the common interests of the country and the dynasty. The traditional loyalty of the Danish middle classes was transformed into enthusiasm for the king personally, and for a brief period Frederick found himself the most popular man in his kingdom. He made use of his popularity by converting the elective monarchy into an absolute monarchy by the Revolution of 1660. To ensure this conversion he instituted the 1660 state of emergency in Denmark. At the September 1660 gathering of the Estates, intended to solve the financial problems faced after the wars, Frederick played the different Estates against each other. He succeeded in gaining support for the hereditary monarchy, the annulment of the Haandfæstning, and the institution of absolute monarchical rule by decree.

During the last ten years of his reign, the king again took a relative obscure position while the new monarchy was built up and the country tried to recover after the wars. New men came into government, which was marked by a rivalry between the ministers and councillors like Hannibal Sehested and Kristoffer Gabel. Frederick concentrated on changing the administratitive structure from chancellery to resort colleges, and replaced the administrative divisions of fiefs with amt counties. In 1665, the Kongeloven (Lex Regia) was introduced: the “constitution” of Danish absolute monarchy, and the first assertion of divine right underpinned by a written constitution in Europe. It decreed that the Monarch "shall from this day forth be revered and considered the most perfect and supreme person on the Earth by all his subjects, standing above all human laws and having no judge above his person, neither in spiritual nor temporal matters, except God alone." This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm.

In 1665, Frederick had an opportunity to repay the Netherlands for their support, by protecting the Return Fleet from the Dutch East Indies from the English navy. The English had blocked the English Channel, forcing the Return Fleet to sail all around the British Isles. The Dutch took refuge in Bergen, Norway, pursued by English warships. There they was protected by the fortress at the harbor, whose commander treated them as Danish allies. The English urged Frederick to seize the Return Fleet for himself, claiming that it was more valuable than the whole of his kingdom. Instead of protecting the Dutch, Frederick agreed to collaborate with the English in seizing the Return Fleet. But before the Danish fleet or word of the deal reached Bergen, the English attacked, and were defeated in the Battle of Vågen by the Dutch, supported by the fortress.

After the war, trade and culture flowered. The first Danish theatre, Lille Grönnegade, was created and the great dramatist Ludvig Holberg began his career. Also, a colonisation of Greenland was started by the missionary Hans Egede. Politically this period was marked by the king's connection to the Reventlows, the Holsteiner relatives of his last queen, and by his growing suspicion toward the old nobility.

During Frederick's rule Copenhagen was struck by two disasters: the plague of 1711, and the great fire of October 1728, which destroyed most of the medieval capital. Although the king had been persuaded by Ole Rømer to introduce the Gregorian calendar in Denmark-Norway in 1700, the astronomer's observations and calculations were among the treasures lost to the fire.

Frederik IV, having twice visited Italy, had two pleasure palaces built in the Italian baroque style: Frederiksberg Palace that was extended during his reign, when it was converted into a three-storey H-shaped building, and was completed in 1709 by Johan Conrad Ernst, giving the palace a true Italian Baroque appearance. and Fredensborg Palace (Peace's Palace), both considered monuments to the conclusion of the Great Northern War.

He maintained weekly audiences where anyone could attend and deliver letters with complaints or projects.

Italian journey
King Frederick holds a memorable place in the social history of the city of Venice for a visit he made during the winter of 1708–09, the king stayed in city with an entourage of at least 70 people, formally incognito as Count of Oldenburg, not to be unknown, but to get rid of the cumbersome and more costly etiquette that belonged to a king's conduct. While the nine weeks stay lasted, the king was a frequent guest on operas and comedies and a generous buyer of Venetian glass. During the visit to the state armory, he received the republic's upscale gift: two large ore guns and an ore mortar. A regatta on the Grand Canal was held in his honour and is imortalized in a painting by Luca Carlevarijs. The winter that season was particularly cold, so cold that the lagoon of Venice froze over, and the Venetians were able to walk from the city to the mainland. It was joked that the king of Denmark had brought the cold weather with him. He also paid a visit to the dowager grand-princess Violante at the grand-ducal court of the Medicis, where the irreverent king was taken with the young dowager going as far as to refuse to leave the room while she was changing clothes. On his return he led political negotiations with the Elector Augustus of Saxony and King Frederick I of Prussia about the impending plans of war against Sweden.

Foreign affairs
For much of Frederick IV's reign Denmark was engaged in the Great Northern War (1700–1721) against Sweden. In spite of the conclusion of the Peace of Travendal in 1700, there was soon a Swedish invasion and threats from Europe's western naval powers. In 1709 Denmark again entered the war encouraged by the Swedish defeat at Poltava. Frederick IV commanded the Danish troops at the battle of Gadebusch in 1712. Although Denmark emerged on the victorious side, she failed to reconquer lost possessions in southern Sweden. The most important result was the destruction of the pro-Swedish Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, which re-established Denmark's domination in Schleswig-Holstein.

Frederick between 1703 and 1711 send to military units in Hungary and supported Austria in the Rákóczi's War of Independence. The Danish regiments fought against the Kuruc army and French auxiliaries (Battle of Zsibó).

Much of the king's life was spent in strife with kinsmen. Two of his first cousins, Charles XII of Sweden and Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (the three men were the grandsons of Frederick III of Denmark), had waged war upon his father jointly. Initially defeated by the Swedes and forced to recognize the independence of Holstein-Gottorp, Frederick finally drove the next duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Duke Charles Frederick (who was Frederick IV's first cousin once removed) out of Schleswig in 1713, and avoided the revenge contemplated by Charles Frederick's mother-in-law, Catherine I of Russia.

Last years and death
After 57 years on throne, one of longest monarchs in Denmark history. Christopher IV John died of stroke at Copenhagen Castle on 1 September 1705, at age of seventy-six. Enduring much pain in his last days, he finally "yielded up his soul without any effort, like a candle going out" while reciting the psalm Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina (O Lord, make haste to help me). His body was laid to rest in Roskilde Cathedral outside Paris. It remained there undisturbed for about 80 years until revolutionaries exhumed and destroyed all the remains to be found in the Basilica.

After his death, his elder son, Frederick III succeeded him to the throne on 22 January 1702.

The cultural king
Christian was reckoned a typical renaissance king, and excelled in hiring in musicians and artists from all over Europe. Many English musicians were employed by him at several times, among them William Brade, John Bull and John Dowland. Dowland accompanied the king on his tours, and as he was employed in 1603, rumor has it he was in Norway as well. Christian was an agile dancer, and his court was reckoned the second most "musical" court in Europe, only ranking behind that of Elizabeth the first. Christian played good contact with his sister Anne, married to king James the first. His other sister, Elizabeth, was married to the Duke of Brunswick, and artists and musicians travelled freely between the courts.

City foundations
Christian IV is renowned for his many city (town) foundations, and is most likely the Nordic head of state that can be accredited for the highest number of new cities in his realm. These towns/cities are: A short-lived town was:
 * Christianopel, now Kristianopel in Sweden. Founded in 1599 in the then Danish territory of Blekinge as a garrison town near the Swedish border.
 * Christianstad, now Kristianstad in Sweden. Founded in 1614 in the then Danish territory of Skåne.
 * Glückstadt, now in Germany, founded in 1617 as a rival to Hamburg in the then Danish territory of Holstein.
 * Christianshavn, now part of Copenhagen, Denmark, founded as a fortification/garrison town in 1619.
 * Konningsberg (King's Mountain), now Kongsberg in Norway, founded as an industrial town in 1624 after the discovery of silver ores.
 * Christiania, now Oslo in Norway. After a devastating fire in 1624 the king ordered the old city of Oslo to be moved closer to the fortification of Akershus slot and also renamed it to Christiania. The city name was altered to Kristiania in 1877 and then back to Oslo in 1924. The original town of Christian is now known as Kvadraturen = The Quarters.
 * Christian(s)sand, now Kristiansand in Norway, founded in 1641 to promote trade at the no in Southern Norway.
 * Røros, now in Norway, founded as an industrial town after the discovery of copper ores.
 * dk, now in Schleswig, Germany, founded as a garrison town near Kiel in the then Danish territory of Holstein.

Furthermore, Christian is also known for many erections of important buildings in his realm, and these include the observatory Rundetårn, the stock exchange Børsen, the Copenhagen fortress Kastellet, Rosenborg Castle, workers' district Nyboder, the Copenhagen naval Church of Holmen (Holmens Kirke), Proviantgården, a brewery, the Tøjhus Museum arsenal, and two Trinity Churches in Copenhagen and modern Kristianstad, now known as respectively Trinitatis Church and Holy Trinity Church. Christian converted Frederiksborg Castle to a Renaissance palace and completely rebuilt Kronborg Castle to a fortress. He also founded the Danish East India Company inspired by the similar Dutch company.

Legacy
When Christian was crowned king, Denmark held a supremacy over the Baltic Sea, which was lost to Sweden during the years of his reign. Nevertheless, Christian was one of the few Danish kings from the House of Oldenburg that achieved a lasting legacy of popularity with the Danish people. As such, he featured in the Danish national play Elverhøj. Furthermore, his great building activities also furthered his popularity.

Christian IV was a good linguist, speaking, besides his native tongue, German, Latin, French and Italian. Naturally cheerful and hospitable, he delighted in lively society; but he was also passionate, irritable and sensual. He had courage, a vivid sense of duty, an indefatigable love of work, and all the inquisitive zeal and inventive energy of a born reformer. His own pleasure, whether it took the form of love or ambition, was always his first consideration. In the heyday of his youth his high spirits and passion for adventure enabled him to surmount every obstacle with elan. But in the decline of life he reaped the bitter fruits of his lack of self-control, and sank into the grave a weary and brokenhearted old man.

In fiction

 * Christian IV is depicted as a brilliant but hard-drinking monarch in the Eric Flint and David Weber alternate-history novel 1634: The Baltic War.
 * Christian IV is featured several times in the book series The Legend of the Ice People.
 * Christian IV also features prominently in the novel Music and Silence by Rose Tremain, which is primarily set in and around the Danish court in the years 1629 and 1630.
 * Christian IV is depicted as a foul-natured person, but a good king who did a lot to make his realm flourish, by the Danish alternative music band Mew in their song, "King Christian".

Issue and private life


His first queen Anne Catherine died fourteen years later, after bearing Christian seven children. Four years after her death the king privately married a handsome young gentlewoman, Kirsten Munk, by whom he had twelve children — a connection which was to become disastrous to Denmark.

In the course of 1628 he discovered that his wife, Kirsten Munk, was having a relationship with one of his German officers; and when he put her away she endeavoured to cover up her own disgrace by conniving at an intrigue between Vibeke Kruse, one of her discharged maids, and the king. In January 1630 the rupture became final, and Kirsten retired to her estates in Jutland. Meanwhile Christian openly acknowledged Vibeke as his mistress, and she bore him a numerous family. Vibeke's children were of course the natural enemies of the children of Kirsten Munk, and the hatred of the two families was not without influence on the future history of Denmark.

With his first wife, Anne Catherine of Brandenburg he fathered the following children:
 * Stillborn son (1598).
 * Frederik (15 August 1599 – 9 September 1599).
 * Christian (10 April 1603 – 2 June 1647).
 * Sophie (4 January 1605 – 7 September 1605).
 * Elisabeth (16 March 1606 – 24 October 1608).
 * Frederick III (18 March 1609 – 9 February 1670).
 * Ulrik (2 February 1611 – 12 August 1633); murdered, as Ulrich III Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin (1624–1633).

With his second wife, Kirsten Munk, he had 12 children, though the youngest, Dorothea Elisabeth, was rumoured to be the daughter of Kirsten's lover, Otto Ludwig:
 * Stillborn child (b. & d. 1615).
 * Unnamed infant (b. & d. 1617).
 * Countess Anna Christiane of Schleswig-Holstein (10 August 1618 – 20 August 1633).
 * Countess Sophie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein (20 September 1619 – 29 April 1657).
 * Countess Leonora Christina of Schleswig-Holstein (8 July 1621 – 16 March 1698); married Corfitz Ulfeldt.
 * Count Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (26 June 1622 – 26 February 1656).
 * Countess Elisabeth Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein (28 December 1623 – 9 August 1677).
 * Count Friedrich Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (26 April 1625 – 17 July 1627).
 * Countess Christiane of Schleswig-Holstein (15 July 1626 – 6 May 1670); married Hannibal Sehested
 * Countess Hedwig of Schleswig-Holstein (15 July 1626 – 5 October 1678).
 * Countess Maria Katharina of Schleswig-Holstein (29 May 1628 – 1 September 1628).
 * Countess Dorothea Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein (1 September 1629 – 18 March 1687).

With his mistress Kirsten Madsdatter:
 * Christian Ulrik Gyldenløve (1611–1640).

With his mistress Karen Andersdatter:
 * Dorothea Elisabeth Gyldenløve (1613–1615).
 * Hans Ulrik Gyldenløve (1615–1645).

With his mistress Vibeke Kruse:
 * Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve (1630–1658).
 * Elisabeth Sophia Gyldenløve (1633–1654); married Major-General Klaus Ahlefeld.

Titles & Style
In the 1621 treaties of the Hague and Bremen, Christian was styled "Lord Christian the Fourth, King of all Denmark and Norway, the Goths and the Wends, duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, and Ditmarsh, count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, etc."