Johann Friedrich Struensee

Johann Friedrich Struensee arrived in Copenhagen in 1768 as physician to Christian VII, whose mental illness left the throne effectively empty. Struensee moved from the sickroom into government, accumulating ministerial posts until he held de facto control of Denmark-Norway. He pushed through sweeping reforms while conducting an affair with Queen Caroline Matilda. The birth of Princess Louise Augusta in 1771 made the relationship impossible to ignore. The scandal fed the palace intrigues already circling him, and on 28 April 1772, seventeen months after the daughter's birth, Struensee was exec…