Editing Christian VIII (section)

== King of Denmark ==
[[File:Christian VIII og Caroline Amalie i salvingsdragt.jpg|thumb|right|Christian VIII and his consort [[Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg|Caroline Amalie of Augustenborg]] during his [[anointing]] on 28 June 1840 in [[Frederiksborg Palace Chapel]].]]
[[File:Christian VIII af Wilhelm Marstrand.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Christian VIII, by [[Wilhelm Marstrand]], {{circa|1843}}]]
On 3 December 1839 he ascended the Danish throne as Christian VIII. The Liberal party had high hopes of "the giver of constitutions." However, by this time, Christian had become more conservative, and disappointed his admirers by steadily rejecting every Liberal project. Administrative reform was the only reform he would promise.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In his attitude to the growing national unrest in the twin duchies of [[Schleswig]] and [[Holstein]] he often seemed hesitant and half-hearted, which damaged his position there. It was not until 1846 that he clearly supported the idea of Schleswig being a Danish area.<ref>{{cite book|url=   https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Christian_VIII.
|title=  Christian VIII |series= Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie |year= 1876 |page= 195 |publisher =     Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie |access-date= 15 August 2016}}</ref>

King Christian VIII continued his predecessor's patronage of [[astronomy]], awarding gold medals for the discovery of [[comet]]s by [[telescope]] and financially supporting [[Heinrich Christian Schumacher]] with his publication of the scientific journal ''[[Astronomische Nachrichten]]''. It was during his reign that the last remnants of [[Danish India]], namely [[Tranquebar]] in the south and [[Serampore]] in Bengal, were sold to the British in 1845.

His only legitimate son, the future Frederick VII (1808–1863) was married three times, but produced no legitimate issue. Since he was apparently unlikely to beget heirs, Christian wished to avert a succession crisis. Christian commenced arrangements to secure the [[Louise of Hesse#Opportunities opening in the Danish succession|succession in Denmark]]. The result was the selection of the future [[Christian IX]] as hereditary prince, the choice made official by a new law enacted on 31 July 1853 after an international treaty made in London.
[[File:Christian VIII of Denmark's tomb.png|thumb|left|Tomb of Christian VIII, [[Roskilde Cathedral]]]]
King Christian died of [[sepsis]] in [[Amalienborg Palace]] in 1848 and was interred in [[Roskilde Cathedral]] on the island of [[Zealand]], the traditional burial site for [[List of Danish monarchs|Danish monarchs]] since the 15th century.

Some historians and biographers believe that King Christian would have given Denmark a free constitution had he lived long enough; his last words are sometimes recorded as "I didn't make it" (''Jeg nåede det ikke'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=christian8|title=  Christian 8|publisher =     gravsted.dk |access-date= 15 August 2016}}</ref>