Charles I of the United Kingdoms of Scandinavia
Charles I | |||||
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King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden | |||||
Reign | 3 December 1839 - 11 February 1845 | ||||
Coronation | 20 February 1840 | ||||
Predecessor | Title established | ||||
Successor | Charles II | ||||
King of Sweden and Norway | |||||
Reign | 5 February 1818 - 3 December 1839 | ||||
Coronation | 11 May 1818 | ||||
Predecessor | Charles XIII and II | ||||
Successor | Himself (as King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) | ||||
Governor-general of Norway | |||||
Tenure | 25 July 1809 - 11 January 1810 | ||||
Predecessor | Jacob Benzon | ||||
Successor | Prince Frederik of Hesse | ||||
Born | Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenborg 9 July 1768 Augustenborg Palace, Augustenborg, Denmark | ||||
Died | 19 February 1845 Stockholm Palace, Stockholm, Sweden | (aged 76)||||
Burial | |||||
Spouse | Princess Charlotte of Prussia (m. 1818) | ||||
Issue | |||||
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House | Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg | ||||
Father | Friedrich Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg | ||||
Mother | Charlotte of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön | ||||
Religion | Church of Denmark |
Charles I, or Carl I (9 July 1768 - 11 February 1845), better known as Charles the Unifier, was the first King of the United Kingdoms of Scandinavia. Originally a Danish prince serving as the Governor-general of Norway, he was adopted by the childless King Charles XIII of Sweden, whom he later succeeded upon the latter's death. On November 4th 1814, during the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars, as the Swedish crown prince, he led a peaceful conquest of Norway from his former Danish overlord, King Frederick VI of Denmark. Ultimately, upon the latter's own death in 1839, which had left the Danish throne temporarily vacant due to the former king's lack of natural heirs, Charles, then the King of Sweden-Norway was elected as the new King of Denmark, thereby unifying the three Scandinavian kingdoms once more under one respective ruler since Sweden's own secession from the previous Kalmar Union in 1539.
As King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Charles personally took part and spearheaded efforts into formalising and stabilising the union in its early years. Soon after its founding, Charles, with the assistance of all three Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish ministers, personally established the Constitution of 1839, which has since served as the sole constitution for the union following its inception.
Prior to his ascension to the throne, he was first married to his distant Oldenburg cousin, and granddaughter of King George III, Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark, with whom he had one child, the future King Charles II. Then, immediately following his ascension to the throne, presumably with the intent on securing the line of succession in the case of a premature death of his eldest son, he subsequently divorced his now middle-aged wife before successively marrying the much younger Princess Charlotte of Prussia, with whom he has two children.
Charles I, together with his two immediate successors, Charles II, and Charles III, are collectively known and remembered as "The Three Great Charles", with the period from the beginning of his reign as king of a unified Scandinavia until the end of the reign of his eldest grandson, Charles III, being named as the Great Carolean Era, or the Golden Carolean Century.