King Frederik III 1648-70 Frederik's older brother Christian, the Prince Elect, died in 1647 without an heir, and Frederik's prospects for becoming king of Denmark appeared to be looking better. That same summer he was appointed governor in the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, with residence at Flensburg House. Since the Council of State had not formally recognized him as successor when Christian IV died in 1648, the matter still remained unresolved. The Election and the Charter There were no other obvious candidates, since Frederik was the only surviving son from Christian IV's marriage with Anne Cathrine. For two months Frederik and his counsellors negotiated with the Council of State regarding the terms of his election - i.e. and the sharing of power between the king and the Council. The election was eventually held in May. In July Frederik was proclaimed king in Copenhagen - and the final, uncompromising version of the coronation charter signed. Frederik's coronation took place in November 1648. The harsh terms of the charter were partly attributable to experiences under the rule of Christian IV, and partly due to scepticism regarding Frederik, who had been living abroad in the Duchies, and had surrounded himself with German advisers and advocates of a more independent royal authority. Frederik had furthermore been at odds with the 'Estates' of Bremen and Verden, and during the Torstensson War he had fallen out with the Lord High Constable, Anders Bille. The early years of Frederik's reign In the early days, Frederik took up residence with his family and the Royal Household at Frederiksborg Castle, and kept himself in the political background. For the first few years he left much of the administration to the Council of State, but in reality he was developing a more independent position than was envisaged for him in the charter, and without infringing it, he succeeded - little by little - in improving his standing. The departure in 1651 from the Council of two of its most powerful characters, the king's brothers-in-law Corfitz Ulfeldt and Hannibal Sehested, was also advantageous. Furthermore Frederik had managed in 1650 to have his eldest son Christian (later Christian V) elected as successor, without compromising the coronation charter. The Swedish Wars Crucial for the establishment of Frederik's authority was his behaviour during the Swedish Wars between 1657 and 1660. A pre-emptive war against Sweden in 1657 had to be hastily and humiliatingly concluded in February 1658 with the Peace of Roskilde. But when Sweden resumed hostilities in August, Frederik's popularity reached new heights as a result of his active participation in the defence of Copenhagen under siege - when he declared that he would remain in the city and 'would die in his nest'. Denmark was forced to relinquish the provinces of Scania, Halland, Blekinge and Bohuslän under the Peace of Copenhagen in May 1660. But on the other hand Frederik had acquired in 1658 the same sovereign status in the royal parts of Schleswig, as the Duke of Gottorp had attained for his territories after the termination of Schleswig's provincial dependency on Denmark. And in December 1658, the citizens of Bornholm had handed over their liberated island to Frederik as Crown property in perpetuity. The meeting of the Estates, and the change in political system The intention of the ensuing assembly of the Estates of the Realm which opened in Copenhagen in September 1660 was to resolve the kingdom's economic problems. But it was here that Frederik exploited the conflicting interests of the members of the Estates to establish hereditary rule and have his coronation charter set aside. He succeeded in achieving absolute power through the Act of absolute hereditary succession dated 10.1.1661, which was clarified in the Constitutional Law (Kongelov) of 1665. Frederik III leaves the impression of an intelligent and scholarly person, although by nature of a reserved disposition, who seldom committed himself to paper. When he died at the age of 60, he had to a great extent consolidated the absolute monarchy, and laid the foundations for the Danish museums and library services. To previous page Duke Frederik 1609-48