Frederick I of Denmark

King of Denmark and Norway

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Lived 1471–1533, aged 62Norway

Norway Historical Figures

Wikipedia
48 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1471–1533
Aged 62
Awards
1
recognised work

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

He took a throne he'd refused once before, ruled under the tightest leash ever strapped to a Danish king, and spent his reign fending off the predecessor who wouldn't stay gone. The last Catholic monarch of Denmark, but the one who let Lutheranism in through the side door.

Biography

About

Born in 1471, the youngest son of Christian I, Frederick wasn't meant to be king — he was handed joint rule of Schleswig and Holstein in 1490 and settled into Gottorf Castle. When his brother Hans died in 1513, he declined the crown; when Hans's son Christian II proved intolerable to the nobility, Frederick accepted election in 1523 and fought his way to victory by 1524, bound by a coronation charter so restrictive it became legendary. His reign was a long defensive crouch: Christian II, backed by Emperor Charles V, kept trying to reclaim the throne, sparking a rising in Blekinge in 1525 and a…

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