Editing Frederick III of Denmark (section)

== Reign ==
[[File:Frederik den 3.jpg|thumb|left|180px| King Frederik III on horseback.Painting by [[Wolfgang Heimbach]].]]

=== 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-Norwegian throne. However, this issue was still unsettled when Christian IV died on 28 February 1648. After long deliberation among the Danish [[Estates of the realm|Estates]] and in {{lang|da|[[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 {{lang|da|[[Haandfæstning]]}} charter.<ref name="gyldendal" /> The {{lang|da|Haandfæstning}} included provisions curtailing the already diminished royal prerogative in favour of increased influence for the {{lang|da|Rigsraadet}}.<ref name="Britannica" />

[[File:Frederik III i rustning.jpg|thumb|180px| Portrait by [[Karel van Mander III]], 1656]]

In the first years of his reign, {{lang|da|Rigsraadet}} was the main power center of Danish politics. However, Frederick wielded more effective power than what the {{lang|da|Haandfæstning}} officially granted. He eventually succeeded in removing the two most influential members of {{lang|da|Rigsraadet}} from office in 1651: his brothers-in-law [[Corfitz Ulfeldt (1606–1664)|Corfitz Ulfeldt]] and [[Hannibal Sehested (governor)|Hannibal Sehested]].<ref name="gyldendal" /> Ulfeldt went into exile in Sweden where he turned traitor, while Sehested was restored to favour in 1660.

=== Defeated by Sweden ===
{{Main|Dano-Swedish War (1657–1658)|Treaty of Roskilde}}
[[File:Treaty of Roskilde - peace banquet.jpg|thumb|180px| The peace banquet (Fredstaffelet) at Frederiksborg Castle following the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.]]
With all his good qualities, Frederick was not a man to recognize fully his own limitations and that of his country. But he rightly regarded the accession of [[Charles X of Sweden]] on 6 June 1654 as a source of danger to [[Denmark-Norway]]. He felt that temperament and policy would combine to make Charles an aggressive warrior-king: the only uncertainty was in which direction he would turn his arms first. Charles's invasion of [[Poland]] in July 1655 came as a distinct relief to Frederick, even though the [[Second Northern War|Polish War]] was full of latent peril to Denmark. Frederick was resolved upon a rupture with Sweden at the first convenient opportunity. When ''Rigsdagen'' assembled on 23 February 1657, it willingly granted considerable subsidies for mobilization and other military expenses. On 23 April he received the assent of the majority of ''Rigsraadet'' to attack [[Dominions of Sweden|Sweden's German dominions]]. In the beginning of May, the still pending negotiations with that power were broken off, and on 1 June Frederick signed the manifesto justifying a war, which was never formally declared.<ref name="Britannica" />

The Swedish king confounded all the plans of his enemies with the [[March across the Belts]] in January and February 1658. The effect of this unheard-of achievement of crossing the frozen sea to invade Danish territory was crushing. Frederick at once sued for peace. Yielding to the persuasions of the [[England|English]] and [[France|French]] ministers, Charles finally agreed to be content with mutilating, instead of annihilating, the Danish monarchy. The [[Treaty of Taastrup]] was signed on 18 February and the [[Treaty of Roskilde]] on 26 February 1658. The conclusion of peace was followed by a remarkable episode. Frederick expressed the desire to make the personal acquaintance of his conqueror and Charles X consented to be his guest for three days, 3 to 5 March, at [[Frederiksborg Palace]]. Splendid banquets lasting far into the night and intimate conversations between princes who had only just emerged from a mortal struggle seemed to point to nothing but peace and friendship in the future.<ref name="Britannica" />

=== Assault on Copenhagen repelled ===
{{Main|Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660)|Assault on Copenhagen (1659)}}
[[File:Stormen på København (F.C. Lund).jpg|thumb|Frederick III on his white stallion at the [[Assault on Copenhagen (1659)|Assault on Copenhagen]]. Painted by [[Frederik Christian Lund]], 1887.]]
Charles's suspicion of [[Denmark-Norway]] led him to a further assault on his neighbor. Terror was the first feeling produced at [[Copenhagen]] by the landing of the main [[Swedish army]] at [[Korsør]] on [[Zealand (Denmark)|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.<ref name="Britannica" />

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.<ref name="gyldendal" /> 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 defense 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.<ref name="Britannica" />
[[File:Heimbach-König Frederik III. von Dänemark kniend vor der Schlacht von Nyborg-WUS03245.jpg|thumb|180px|Frederik III during the [[battle of Nyborg]]. Painted by Wolfgang Heimbach, 1659. However, Frederik III did not himself attend the battle, making this an effective piece of [[propaganda]]]]
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 [[Netherlands|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.<ref name="Britannica" /> The war was ended by the [[Treaty of Copenhagen (1660)|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.<ref name="gyldendal" />

=== Absolute monarchy ===
{{Main|1660 state of emergency in Denmark|King's Law}}
[[File:The homage of 1660Frederik III denmark.jpg|thumb|left|210px| Paying homage to the hereditary king in front of the Castle of Copenhagen, 18 October 1660. Painted by [[Wolfgang Heimbach]], 1666]]
[[File:Wappen 1594 BSB cod icon 326 109 crop.jpg|thumb|180px|upright|Frederick's Coat of Arms]]
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]].<ref name="Britannica" /> 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.<ref name="gyldendal" />

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's people 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 (governor)|Hannibal Sehested]] and the king's favourite [[Kristoffer Gabel]].<ref>Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen, [http://www.tidsskrift.dk/visning.jsp?markup=&print=no&id=74827 Den ældre danske enevælde 1660–1730 Et historiografisk essay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719133057/http://www.tidsskrift.dk/visning.jsp?markup=&print=no&id=74827 |date=19 July 2011 }}, Historie/Jyske Samlinger, Bind 1998 (1998) 2</ref> During the early and mid 1660s there was an influential circle around Sehested, [[Frederik Ahlefeldt]], [[Peter Bülche]], [[Hans Svane]], [[Jacob Petersen]] and [[Theodor Lente]], who became increasingly opposed to Gabel.<ref>[https://biografiskleksikon.lex.dk/Jacob_Petersen Jacob Petersen at Dansk Biografisk Leksikon - lex.dk]</ref> Frederick concentrated on changing the administrative structure from [[Chancellor|chancellery]] to resort colleges and replaced the administrative divisions of [[fief]]s with [[Amt (administrative division)|''amt'']] counties. In 1665, the [[King's Law|Kongeloven]] (''Lex Regia'') was introduced: the “constitution” of Danish-Norwegian absolute monarchy, and the first assertion of [[Divine right of kings|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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://danskekonger.dk/kilder/kongeloven |title=Kongeloven af 1665 |publisher=Danske konger |language=da |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330135036/http://danskekonger.dk/kilder/kongeloven |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>A partial English translation of the law can be found in Ernst Ekman, "The Danish Royal Law of 1665", ''The Journal of Modern History'', 1957, vol. 2, pp. 102–107.</ref> This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the [[Rigsraad|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 were 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-Norwegian 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.<ref>[http://steensiebken.dk/Testtrovaerdighed.html Troværdighed er en konkret oplevelse] at SteenSiebken.dk</ref>

Frederick III died at [[Copenhagen Castle]] and is interred in [[Roskilde Cathedral]].<ref>[http://www.danmarkskonger.dk/konge41.htm Kong Frederik III] at Danmarkskonger.dk</ref>