Misplaced Pages

#186813

72-485: Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. He rose in power to a position of de facto regent of the country, and he tried to carry out widespread reforms. His affair with Queen Caroline Matilda ("Caroline Mathilde") caused

144-485: A Glossary on Heraldica.org by Alexander Krischnig. The male form is followed by the female, and when available, by the territorial circumscription. Apart from all these, a few unusual titles have been of comital rank, not necessarily permanently. Since Louis VII (1137–80), the highest precedence amongst the vassals ( Prince-bishops and secular nobility) of the French crown was enjoyed by those whose benefice or temporal fief

216-807: A day. Reforms initiated by Struensee included: Other reforms included the abolition of capital punishment for theft; the doing away with such demoralizing abuses as perquisites; and of "lackey-ism", the appointment of powerful men's domestic staff to lucrative public posts. Critics of Struensee thought that he did not respect native Danish and Norwegian customs, saw them as prejudices and wanted to eliminate them in favour of abstract principles. He also did not speak Danish and conducted his business in German. To ensure obedience, he dismissed entire staffs of public departments, without pensions or compensation, and substituted with nominees of his own. The new officials were in many cases inexperienced men who knew little or nothing of

288-414: A great man, even after his death. Written in German on a drawing the king made in 1775, three years after Struensee's execution, was the following: Ich hätte gern beide gerettet ("I would have liked to have saved them both"), referring to Struensee and Brandt. Struensee, his affair with the queen and his relation with the king have been featured in many artistic works: Count The title of count

360-466: A long period of infirmity, Frederick V died on 14 January 1766, just 42 years old. At the death of his father, Christian immediately ascended the thrones of Denmark and Norway as their sixth absolute monarch , a few weeks before his 17th birthday. Later the same day, Christian was proclaimed king from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace . Christian's reign was marked by mental illness which affected government decisions, and for most of his reign, Christian

432-705: A proponent of atheism , the writings of Claude Adrien Helvétius , and other French materialists. When Adam and Maria Dorothea Struensee moved to Altona in 1758, where the elder Struensee became pastor of Trinitatiskirche (Trinity's Church), Johann Friedrich moved with them. He was soon employed as a public doctor in Altona, in the estate of Count Rantzau, and in the Pinneberg District . His wages were meager and he expected to supplement them with private practice. His parents moved to Rendsburg in 1760 where Adam Struensee became first superintendent (comparable to bishop) for

504-413: A relationship with the courtesan Støvlet-Cathrine . He ultimately sank into a condition of mental stupor. Symptoms during this time included paranoia , self-mutilation , and hallucinations . The king showed little interest in the queen and only reluctantly visited her in her chambers. His trusted Swiss tutor, Èlie Salomon François Reverdil had to step in, among other things with love letters written in

576-467: A rule historically unrelated and thus hard to compare, but which are considered "equivalent" in rank. This is the case with: The title "Count" in fiction is commonly, though not always, given to evil characters, used as another word for prince or vampires: Christian VII of Denmark Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. His motto

648-651: A scandal, especially after the birth of a daughter, Princess Louise Augusta , and was the catalyst for the intrigues and power play that caused his downfall and dramatic death. Born at Halle an der Saale and baptized at St. Moritz on 7 August 1737, Struensee was the third child of six born to Pietist theologian and minister Adam Struensee (baptized in Neuruppin on 8 September 1708 – Rendsburg , 20 June 1791), Pfarrer (" curate ") in Halle an der Saale in 1732, "Dr. theol. (h. c.) von Halle" ( Doctor of Theology (honoris causa, "for

720-461: A winning personality and considerable talent, but that he was poorly educated and systematically terrorized, and even flogged, by a brutal tutor, Count Christian Ditlev Frederik Reventlow . He seems to have been intelligent and had periods of clarity, but had severe emotional problems, possibly schizophrenia , as argued by Doctor Viggo Christiansen in Christian VII's mental illness (1906). After

792-439: Is a distinction between counts (Swedish: greve ) created before and after 1809. All children in comital families elevated before 1809 were called count/countess. In families elevated after 1809, only the head of the family was called count, the rest have a status similar to barons and were called by the equivalent of "Mr/Ms/Mrs", before the recognition of titles of nobility was abolished. The following lists are originally based on

SECTION 10

#1732923704187

864-530: Is no male to inherit the title and the count has a daughter, in some regions she could inherit the title. Many Italian counts left their mark on Italian history as individuals, yet only a few contadi (countships; the word contadini for inhabitants of a "county" remains the Italian word for "peasant") were politically significant principalities, notably: The principalities tended to start out as margraviate or (promoted to) duchy, and became nominal archduchies within

936-521: Is typically not used in England or English-speaking countries, and the term earl is used instead. A female holder of the title is still referred to as a countess , however. The word count came into English from the French comte , itself from Latin comes —in its accusative form comitem . It meant "companion" or "attendant", and as a title it indicated that someone was delegated to represent

1008-603: Is very prolific on the peninsula. In the eleventh century, Conti like the Count of Savoy or the Norman Count of Apulia, were virtually sovereign lords of broad territories. Even apparently "lower"-sounding titles, like Viscount , could describe powerful dynasts, such as the House of Visconti which ruled a major city such as Milan . The essential title of a feudatory, introduced by the Normans,

1080-619: The First Bulgarian Empire , a komit was a hereditary provincial ruler under the tsar documented since the reign of Presian (836-852) The Cometopouli dynasty was named after its founder, the komit of Sredets . The title of Serdar was used in the Principality of Montenegro and the Principality of Serbia as a noble title below that of Voivode equivalent to that of Count. In Denmark and historically in Denmark-Norway

1152-512: The Frankish kingdoms in the early Middle Ages , a count might also be a count palatine , whose authority derived directly over a royal household, a palace in its original sense of the seat of power and administration. This other kind of count had vague antecedents in Late Antiquity too: the father of Cassiodorus held positions of trust with Theodoric, as comes rerum privatarum , in charge of

1224-634: The Theatre War , French Revolutionary Wars , and the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars , also at the same time the Norwegian separatist movement was on the rise. Christian died at age 59 of a stroke on 13 March 1808 in Rendsburg , Schleswig. Although there were rumours that the stroke was caused by fright at the sight of Spanish auxiliary troops which he took to be hostile, Ulrik Langen, in his biography of

1296-411: The royal chapel at Christiansborg Palace . Marriage celebrations and balls lasted for another month. On 1 May 1767, Christian VII and Caroline Matilda were crowned King and Queen of Denmark and Norway in the royal chapel of Christiansborg Palace. The marriage was unhappy, and after his marriage, the king abandoned himself to the worst excesses, especially sexual promiscuity. In 1767, he entered into

1368-584: The 16-month period generally referred to as the "Time of Struensee" began. At first, Struensee kept a low profile as he began to control the political machine. However, as the royal court and government spent the summer of 1770 in Schleswig-Holstein ( Gottorp , Traventhal , and Ascheberg ) his power grew. In December 1770, he grew impatient and on the 10th of that month, he abolished the council of state. A week later, he appointed himself maître des requêtes . It became his official duty to present reports from

1440-548: The 16th century all new peerages were always duchies and the medieval countship-peerages had died out, or were held by royal princes Other French countships of note included those of: See also above for parts of present France A Graf ruled over a territory known as a Grafschaft ('county'). See also various comital and related titles; especially those actually reigning over a principality: Gefürsteter Graf , Landgraf , Reichsgraf ; compare Markgraf , Burggraf , Pfalzgraf ( see Imperial quaternions ). The title of Conte

1512-429: The 19th century, the title, having lost its high rank (equivalent to that of Duke ), proliferated. Portugal itself started as a countship in 868, but became a kingdom in 1139 (see: County of Portugal ). Throughout the history of Portugal , especially during the constitutional monarchy many other countships were created. In Spain, no countships of wider importance exist, except in the former Spanish march. In

SECTION 20

#1732923704187

1584-571: The Danish government through Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff for funds. He tried his hand at writing Enlightenment treatises and published many of them in his journal Zum Nutzen und Vergnügen ("For benefit and enjoyment"). During Struensee's near ten-year residence in Altona he came into contact with a circle of aristocrats who had been sent away from the royal court in Copenhagen. Among them were Enevold Brandt and Count Schack Carl Rantzau , who were supporters of

1656-670: The Enlightenment . Rantzau recommended Struensee to the court as a physician to attend King Christian VII on his forthcoming tour to princely and royal courts in western Germany, the Netherlands, England, and France. Struensee received the appointment in April 1768. The king and his entourage set forth on 6 May. While in England Struensee received the honorary degree of Doctor in Medicine from

1728-500: The Habsburg dynasty; noteworthy are: Apart from various small ones, significant were : Count/Countess was one of the noble titles granted by the Pope as a temporal sovereign, and the title's holder was sometimes informally known as a papal count/papal countess or less so as a Roman count/Roman countess, but mostly as count/countess. The comital title, which could be for life or hereditary,

1800-507: The Middle Ages the title of jarl (earl) was the highest title of nobility. The title was eventually replaced by the title of duke, but that title was abolished in Denmark and Norway as early as the Middle Ages. Titles were only reintroduced with the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1660, with count as the highest title. In Sweden the rank of count is the highest rank conferred upon nobles in

1872-570: The Struensee sons went to University, but none became theologians like their father; two of the daughters married ministers. Johann Friedrich entered the University of Halle on 5 August 1752 at the age of fifteen where he studied medicine , and graduated as a Doctor in Medicine ("Dr. Med.") on 12 December 1757. The university exposed him to Age of Enlightenment ideals, and social and political critique and reform. He supported these new ideas, becoming

1944-505: The University of Cambridge. During the eight-month tour, he gained the king's confidence and affection. The king's ministers, Bernstorff and Finance Minister H.C. Schimmelmann , were pleased with Struensee's influence on the king, who began making fewer embarrassing "scenes". Upon the court's return to Copenhagen in January 1769, Struensee was appointed personal physician to the king. In May, he

2016-483: The age of 23. Christian was only nominally king from 1772 onward. Between 1772 and 1784, Denmark-Norway was ruled by his stepmother, the Queen Dowager Juliane Marie , his half-brother Frederick , and the Danish politician Ove Høegh-Guldberg . From 1784, his son Frederick ruled permanently as prince regent. This regency was marked by liberal, judicial, and agricultural reforms, but also by disasters of

2088-549: The autumn of 1771, found expression in a conspiracy against him, headed by Schack Carl Rantzau and others, in the name of the Queen Dowager Juliana Maria , to wrest power away from the king, and secure her and her son's positions of power. The court returned to Christiansborg Palace on 8 January 1772. The season's first masquerade ball was held at the Court Theatre on 16 January. A palace coup took place in

2160-494: The child and encouraging him to manage things largely on his own. He also took Rousseau's advice about cold being beneficial for children literally, and the Crown Prince was thus only sparsely clothed even during wintertime. Struensee was named royal adviser (forelæser) and konferensråd on 5 May 1770. As in the course of the year the king sank into a condition of mental torpor, Struensee's authority became paramount. On 15 September

2232-435: The country that they were supposed to govern. Initially, the Danish people favored his reforms, but they began to turn against him. When Struensee abolished all censorship of the press, it mostly resulted in a flood of anti-Struensee pamphlets. During the initial months of his rule, middle-class opinion was in his favour. What incensed the people most against him was the way in which he put the king completely on one side, and

Johann Friedrich Struensee - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-427: The duchy, and subsequently superintendent-general of Schleswig-Holstein . Struensee, now 23 years old, had to set up his own household for the first time. His lifestyle expectations were not matched by his economics. His perceived intelligence and manner, however, soon made him fashionable in the better circles, and he entertained his contemporaries with his controversial opinions. Struensee was ambitious and petitioned

2376-532: The early morning of 17 January 1772, Struensee, Brandt and Queen Caroline Matilda were arrested in their respective bedrooms, and the perceived liberation of the king, who was driven round Copenhagen by his deliverers in a gold carriage, was received with universal rejoicing. The chief charge against Struensee was that he had usurped the royal authority in contravention of the Royal Law ( Kongelov ). He defended himself with considerable ability and, at first, confident that

2448-559: The emergence of the title came the most powerful symbol of entitlement, that is the ownership of and jurisdiction over land, hence the term county . The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the control of a count ( earl ) or a viscount . The modern French is comté , and its equivalents in other languages are contea , contado , comtat , condado , Grafschaft , graafschap , etc. (cf. conte , comte , conde , Graf ). The title of Count

2520-454: The entourage on the king's foreign tour to Paris and London via Hannover from 6 May 1768 to 12 January 1769. He was given the title of State Councilor ( etatsråd ) on 12 May 1768, barely a week after leaving Altona. The neglected and lonely Caroline Matilda entered into an affair with Struensee. From 1770 to 1772, Struensee was de facto regent of the country, and introduced progressive reforms signed into law by Christian VII. Struensee

2592-402: The family was joined by another daughter, Princess Louise in 1750. In 1751, almost three years after Christian's birth, his mother Queen Louise died during her sixth pregnancy, just aged 27 years. The following year, his father married Duchess Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , who gave birth to Christian's half-brother, Prince Frederick in 1753. After the early death of his mother,

2664-426: The feeling was all the stronger as, outside a very narrow court circle, nobody seems to have believed that Christian VII was really mad, but only that his will had been weakened by habitual ill usage. That opinion was confirmed by the publication of the cabinet order of 14 July 1771, which appointed Struensee "gehejme kabinetsminister" or "Geheimekabinetsminister", with authority to issue cabinet orders which were to have

2736-694: The few people who paid attention to the lonely queen, and he seemed to do his best to alleviate her troubles. Over time her affection for the young doctor grew and by spring 1770 he became her lover; a successful vaccination of the baby crown prince in May still further increased his influence. Struensee was very involved with the upbringing of the Crown Prince Frederick VI along the principles of Enlightenment, such as outlined by Jean-Jacques Rousseau 's challenge to return to nature. However, he had his own interpretation of Rousseau's ideas and preferred isolating

2808-678: The first free Constitution of Denmark of 1849 came a complete abolition of the privileges of the nobility. Since then the title of count has been granted only to members of the Danish royal family , either as a replacement for a princely title when marrying a commoner, or in recent times, instead of that title in connection with divorce. Thus the first wife of Prince Joachim of Denmark , the younger son of Margrethe II of Denmark , became Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg on their divorce—initially retaining her title of princess, but losing it on her remarriage. In

2880-405: The force of royal ordinances, even if unprovided with the royal sign manual. Struensee's relations with the queen were offensive to a nation which had a traditional veneration for the royal House of Oldenburg , and Caroline Matilda's conduct in public scandalized the populace. The society which daily gathered round the king and queen excited the derision of the foreign ambassadors. The unhappy king

2952-580: The future of the new heir apparent. Christoph Willibald Gluck , then conductor of the royal opera troupe, composed the opera La Contesa dei Numi ("The Contention of the Gods"), in which the Olympian Gods gather at the banks of the Great Belt and discuss who in particular should protect the new prince. At birth, Christian had two elder sisters, Princess Sophia Magdalena and Princess Wilhelmina Caroline , and

Johann Friedrich Struensee - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-488: The honor") from the University of Halle ) in 1757, pastor in Altona between 1757 and 1760, " Kgl. Generalsuperintendant von Schleswig und Holstein " ("Royal general superintendent of Schleswig and Holstein") between 1760 and 1791, and his wife (m. Berleburg , 8 May 1732) Maria Dorothea Carl ( Berleburg , 31 July 1716 – Schleswig , 31 December 1792), a respectable middle-class family that believed in religious tolerance. Three of

3096-488: The imperial lands, then as comes sacrarum largitionum ("count of the sacred doles"), concerned with the finances of the realm. In the United Kingdom, the title of earl is used instead of count . Although the exact reason is debated by historians and linguists, one of the more popular theories proposes that count fell into disuse because of its phonetic similarity to the vulgar slang word cunt . Originally, with

3168-411: The king's name, in an attempt to make the marriage lead to a pregnancy and thus an heir to the throne. On 28 January 1768, Queen Caroline Mathilde gave birth at Christiansborg Palace to the royal couple's son and heir to throne, the future King Frederick VI . The progressive and radical thinker Johann Friedrich Struensee , Christian's personal physician, became his advisor and rose steadily in power in

3240-623: The king, did not indicate that there was any external cause. He was buried in Roskilde Cathedral and was succeeded by his son Frederick VI. In 1769, King Christian VII invited the Hungarian astronomer Miksa Hell (Maximilian Hell) to Vardø . Hell observed the transit of Venus , and his calculations gave the most precise calculation of the Earth–Sun distance to that date (approx. 151 million kilometres). Hell's companion János Sajnovics explored

3312-543: The late 1760s to de facto regent of the country, where he introduced widespread progressive reforms. Struensee was a protégé of an Enlightenment circle of aristocrats that had been rejected by the court in Copenhagen. He was a skilled doctor, and having somewhat restored the king's health while visiting the Schleswig-Holstein area, he gained the king's affection. He was retained as travelling physician ( Livmedikus hos Kong Christian VII ) on 5 April 1768, and accompanied

3384-511: The modern era and are, like their Danish and Norwegian counterparts, broadly comparable to that of dukes in other European countries. Unlike the rest of Scandinavia, the title of duke is still used in Sweden, but only by members of the royal family and are not considered part of the nobility. Like other major Western noble titles , Count is sometimes used to render certain titles in non-western languages with their own traditions, even though they are as

3456-500: The morning on 29 January 1749 in the Queen's Bedchamber at Christiansborg Palace the royal residence in Copenhagen . He was the fourth child and second son of the reigning monarch of Denmark-Norway , King Frederick V , and his first wife Louise of Great Britain . The newborn prince was baptized later the same day in the afternoon by the royal confessor Johannes Bartholomæus Bluhme, and

3528-465: The populace of Denmark and Norway. Christian VII along with his queen, Struensee, Brandt, and members of the royal court, spent the summer of 1771 at Hirschholm Palace north of Copenhagen. They stayed there until late in the autumn. On 7 July, the queen gave birth to a daughter, Louise Augusta . The court moved to Frederiksberg Palace just west of Copenhagen on 19 November. The general ill will against Struensee, which had been smouldering all through

3600-412: The prince was largely denied parental affection. His stepmother Queen Juliane Marie showed no interest in him, preferring her biological son Hereditary Prince Frederick. Prone to debauchery and increasingly affected by alcoholism , the father himself became increasingly indifferent to the shy, sensitive child, who was also prone to epileptic seizures. Nonetheless, early historians state that Christian had

3672-506: The process of indygenat , naturalisation. Somewhat similar to the native privileged class of nobles found in Poland, Hungary also had a class of Conditional nobles . As opposed to the plethora of hollow "gentry" counts, only a few countships ever were important in medieval Iberia ; most territory was firmly within the Reconquista kingdoms before counts could become important. However, during

SECTION 50

#1732923704187

3744-410: The prosecution would not dare to lay hands on the queen, he denied that their liaison had ever been criminal. The queen was taken as prisoner of state to Kronborg Castle . On 27 April/28 April, Struensee and Brandt were condemned first to lose their right hands and then to be beheaded. Their bodies were afterwards to be drawn and quartered . The Kongelov had no provisions for a mentally-ill ruler who

3816-659: The purchaser of land designated "feudal" was ennobled by the noble seat that he held and became a conte . This practice ceased with the formal abolition of feudalism in the various principalities of early-19th century Italy, last of all in the Papal States . Poland was notable throughout its history for not granting titles of nobility. This was on the premise that one could only be born into nobility, outside rare exceptions. Instead, it conferred non-hereditary courtly or civic roles . The noble titles that were in use on its territory were mostly of foreign provenance and usually subject to

3888-613: The ruler. In the late Roman Empire , the Latin title comes denoted the high rank of various courtiers and provincial officials, either military or administrative. Before Anthemius became emperor in the West in 467, he was a military comes charged with strengthening defenses on the Danube frontier. In the Western Roman Empire , "count" came to indicate generically a military commander but

3960-413: The title of count ( greve ) is the highest rank of nobility used in the modern period. Some Danish/Dano-Norwegian countships were associated with fiefs , and these counts were known as "feudal counts" ( lensgreve ). They rank above ordinary (titular) counts, and their position in the Danish aristocracy as the highest-ranking noblemen is broadly comparable to that of dukes in other European countries. With

4032-652: The title to their heirs—but not always. For instance, in Piast Poland , the position of komes was not hereditary, resembling the early Merovingian institution. The title had disappeared by the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the office had been replaced by others. Only after the Partitions of Poland did the title of "count" resurface in the title hrabia , derived from the German Graf . In

4104-583: The various departments of state to the king. Because King Christian was scarcely responsible for his actions, Struensee dictated whatever answers he pleased. Next, he dismissed all department heads, and abolished the Norwegian viceroyship . Henceforth, the cabinet with himself as its motive power became the one supreme authority in the state. Struensee held absolute sway for almost thirteen months, between 18 December 1770 and 16 January 1772. During that time, he issued no fewer than 1,069 cabinet orders, or more than three

4176-453: Was signore , modeled on the French seigneur , used with the name of the fief . By the fourteenth century, conte and the Imperial title barone were virtually synonymous . Some titles of a count, according to the particulars of the patent, might be inherited by the eldest son of a Count. Younger brothers might be distinguished as "X dei conti di Y" ("X of the counts of Y"). However, if there

4248-445: Was " Gloria ex amore patriae " ("Glory through love of the fatherland"). Christian VII's reign was marked by mental illness. For most of his reign, Christian was only nominally king. His royal advisers changed depending on the outcome of power struggles. From 1770 to 1772, his court physician Johann Friedrich Struensee was the de facto ruler of the country and introduced progressive reforms signed into law by Christian VII. Struensee

4320-412: Was a pairie , i.e. carried the exclusive rank of pair ; within the first (i.e. clerical) and second (noble) estates, the first three of the original twelve anciennes pairies were ducal, the next three comital comté-pairies : Later other countships (and duchies, even baronies) have been raised to this French peerage, but mostly as apanages (for members of the royal house) or for foreigners; after

4392-576: Was also often conferred by the monarch as an honorific title for special services rendered, without a feudal estate (countship, county) being attached, so it was merely a title, with or without a domain name attached to it. In the United Kingdom , the equivalent "Earl" can also be used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of a duke or marquess. In the Italian states , by contrast, all the sons of certain counts were little counts ( contini ). In Sweden there

SECTION 60

#1732923704187

4464-563: Was anxious about the marriage but not aware that the bridegroom was mentally ill. They were married in a proxy wedding ceremony on 1 October 1766 in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace in London, with the Princess's brother, Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany , acting as the representative of the groom. After her arrival in Copenhagen, another wedding ceremony took place on 8 November 1766 in

4536-522: Was arrested and executed the same year. Christian signed Struensee's arrest and execution warrant under pressure from his stepmother, Queen Juliana Maria , who had led the movement to have the marriage ended. Caroline Matilda retained her title but not her children. She eventually left Denmark and passed her remaining days in exile at Celle Castle in her brother's German territory, the Electorate of Hanover . She died there of scarlet fever on 10 May 1775 at

4608-541: Was awarded in various forms by popes and Holy Roman Emperors since the Middle Ages, infrequently before the 14th century, and the pope continued to grant the comital and other noble titles even after 1870, it was largely discontinued in the mid 20th-century, on the accession of John XXIII . The Papacy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies might appoint counts palatine with no particular territorial fief. Until 1812 in some regions,

4680-427: Was deposed by a coup in 1772 after which the country was ruled by Christian's stepmother, Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , his half-brother Frederick , and the Danish politician Ove Høegh-Guldberg . The king divorced Caroline Matilda in 1772 after they had produced two children: the future King Frederick VI and Princess Louise Auguste . Struensee, who had enacted many modernising and emancipating reforms,

4752-411: Was deposed by a coup in 1772, after which the country was ruled by Christian's stepmother, Queen Dowager Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , his half-brother Hereditary Prince Frederick , and the Danish politician Ove Høegh-Guldberg . From 1784 until Christian VII's death in 1808, Christian's son, later Frederick VI , acted as unofficial prince regent . Christian was born in the early hours of

4824-447: Was given the honorary title of State Councillor, which advanced him to the class of the third rank at court. Struensee wrote an important report on the mental health of the King. First he reconciled the king and queen. At first Caroline Matilda disliked Struensee, but she was unhappy in her marriage, neglected and spurned by the king, and affected by his illness. However, Struensee was one of

4896-561: Was little more than the butt of his environment, but occasionally, the king would put up a show of obstinacy and refuse to carry out Brandt's or Struensee's orders. Once, when he threatened his keeper, Brandt, with a flogging for some impertinence, Brandt ended up in a struggle with the King and he struck the King in the face. Struensee's dismissal of many government officials and officers brought him numerous political enemies. On 30 November 1771, he declared himself and Brandt counts . Those actions stirred feelings of unease and dissatisfaction in

4968-418: Was named after his late grandfather, King Christian VI . His godparents were King Frederick V (his father), Queen Dowager Sophie Magdalene (his paternal grandmother), Princess Louise (his aunt) and Princess Charlotte Amalie (his grand-aunt). A former heir to the throne, also named Christian, had died in infancy in 1747, and the newborn was thus crown prince from birth; therefore, hopes were high for

5040-564: Was not a specific rank. In the Eastern Roman Empire , from about the seventh century, "count" was a specific rank indicating the commander of two centuriae (i.e., 200 men). The medieval title of comes was originally not hereditary. It was regarded as an administrative official dependent on the king, until the process of allodialisation during the 9th century in which such titles came to be private possessions of noble families. By virtue of their large estates, many counts could pass

5112-425: Was only nominally king. His court physicians were especially worried by his frequent masturbation . His royal advisers changed depending on who won power struggles around the throne. Later the same year, the young king married his first cousin, the 15-year-old Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain , in a dynastic marriage. They had been betrothed already in 1765. Her brother, King George III of Great Britain,

5184-517: Was unfit to govern. However, as a commoner who had imposed himself in the circles of nobility, Struensee was condemned as being guilty of lèse majesté and usurpation of the royal authority, both of which were capital offences according to Paragraphs 2 and 26 of the Kongelov . Struensee awaited his execution at Kastellet, Copenhagen . The sentences were carried out on 28 April 1772, with Brandt being executed first. The king himself considered Struensee

#186813