Charles I, King of Scandinavia
| Charles I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Scandinavia | |
| Reign | 9 July 1848 - 20 October 1851 |
| Inauguration | 20 July 1848 |
| Predecessor | Monarchy established |
| Successor | Charles II, King of Scandinavia |
| King of Sweden and Norway | |
| Reign | 5 February 1818 - 9 July 1848 |
| Coronation | 11 March 1818 |
| Predecessor | Charles XIII and II |
| Successor | Himself as King of Scandinavia |
| King of Denmark | |
| Reign | 3 December 1839 - 9 July 1848 |
| Coronation | 2 February 1840 |
| Predecessor | Frederick VI |
| Successor | Himself as King of Scandinavia |
| Born | Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenborg 9 July 1768 Augestenborg Palace, Denmark |
| Died | 20 October 1851 (aged 83) Augustenborg Palace, Scandinavia |
| Spouse | Caroline Amalie of Augustenburg (m. 1820) |
| Issue | |
| House | Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg |
| Father | Frederick Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg |
| Mother | Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön |
Charles I (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish: Karl I, 9 July 1768 - 20 October 1851) was the first King of Scandinavia from 1848 to 1851. The first monarch of a reunited Scandinavian kingdom, Charles was previously King of Sweden and Norway from 1818 to 1848 as the adopted heir of the childless King Charles XIII, and later King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 when he succeeded the similarly childless King Frederick VI, thereby becoming the first monarch in over three hundred years to simultaneously reign over all three Nordic kingdoms after King Christian II of Denmark, the last monarch of the Kalmar Union. For his successful efforts in reuniting all three Nordic kingdoms, Charles has since come to be known as Charles the Unifier, or alternatively, Charles the Restorer.
Born Prince Christian August of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Charles initially served as the governor-general of Norway for the Kingdom of Denmark from 1809 to 1810, during which he also served as an officer in the Royal Danish Army during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1810, hoping to solve a potential succession crisis arising from the childless King Charles XIII, Charles was officially adopted as the heir to the Swedish and later Norwegian thrones, eventually ascending to the thrones himself in 1818. Then, in 1839, with the popular prospects of reuniting the entirety of Scandinavia once again, Charles was elected as the new King of Denmark following the death of the childless King Frederick VI. As the head of state of all three countries, Charles generally promoted a common policy of political, economic, and social liberalisation and, to some extent, armed pacifism, which proved essential in keeping the Nordic kingdoms out of any subsequent military conflicts.
On 9 July 1848, which was also the date of his 80th birthday, the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, were officially united to form the Kingdom of Scandinavia with Charles as its first monarch. However, his reign as the first Scandinavian monarch otherwise proved short, with Charles later passing away on October 1851 at the age of eighty-three, at which point he was succeeded by his only son, Charles II.