Chapter Text
A weak-willed stepson was ideal for Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen Dowager to keep control of Denmark until her step grandson who was of sound mind was of an age that he could take over as Prince Regent.
She wanted to assert even more control over the weak-minded King, so she arranged a marriage between Christian and her niece Elisabeth Christine’s only daughter Frederica Charlotte.
Her niece’s marriage to the Crown Prince of Prussia had been a disaster, because Elisabeth Christine could not cope with her husband’s unfaithfulness.
But their daughter had been raised at the Prussian court and would know proper behaviour.
After the scandalous divorce, the Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by birth arranged the marriage of her stepson and her young grand-niece to take place in August 1773.
The young woman was still in her fertile years as she was only 26 and could very well bear more children if it worked out in the bedroom between the pair. It was perhaps unlikely, but one could hope.
More pressure was going to be on the schizophrenic King’s son Frederick once he grew up.
The Dowager Queen did not want her step-grandson to produce a son, as it threatened the future of her own son Frederick and his future children. She saw her son and his children as the real heirs to the Danish throne rather than the descendants of a schizophrenic and mentally ill individual.
It was thus necessary for her to secure her own son’s marriage and hinder any and all opportunity for her stepson’s son to get married in the future. She arranged Freddie’s marriage to Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and sabotaged her stepson’s heir’s marriage to Marie of Hesse-Kassel by spreading rather mean rumours (and she got away with it, because of her power at court).
As years went by, it was increasingly looking like the senior line would not continue.
Yet to everybody’s shock, whether that be in a good way or a bad way, the Crown Prince returned in 1795 to Copenhagen with a wife in tow. He had married Landgravine Louise Ulrike of Hesse-Homburg, a daughter of Landgrave Frederick V of Hesse-Homburg and Princess Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt.
It angered the Dowager Queen, but there was nothing she could do now the marriage had taken place. Her only hope would be that the Prince’s chosen bride was infertile.
But the girl was not infertile.
The couple managed to have 4 children, all surviving into adulthood.
Not that the Dowager Queen managed to see this, as she died on 10 October 1796, just over a month after turning 67, and the couple’s first child was born on 1 September 1797.
The firstborn child was a son, an heir to the Danish throne. And it meant the House of Oldenburg would live on through the main line for one more generation.
In a dynasty subjected to dynastic Salic inheritance rights, it was important for any Prince to provide a plethora of male offspring to potentially succeed to the throne that dynasty possessed.
Yet the House of Oldenburg had almost run out of male offspring.
Frederick was the most senior heir, with his half-uncle Frederick in line behind him and his 2 sons Christian and Ferdinand. He had been aware of his step-grandmother’s ambitions for her own offspring, but he didn’t see either of his half cousins produce much male offspring.
Christian was easily bored with female company, and Ferdinand preferred the life of a naval officer.
The Crown Prince and Prince regent was incredibly happy once he got married.
Louise Ulrike was a minor princess from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg. She had no Danish blood and was born from a purely political marriage which had produced a lot of offspring. The latter made her a perfect choice for a Prince facing a dynastic issue, as the daughter of a fertile woman was also likely to be in that realm of fertility.
They managed to have 4 children, 1 son and 3 daughters, after 10 years of marriage.
The son of Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Great Britain was a little bit disappointed with that result, but at least his son and heir was strong. He had named the boy Josias, the German variant of James, while the boy’s future regal name would be Christian VIII, as the tradition went.
As soon as Josias went through puberty, the Danish King began negotiations to search for a bride for her son. The Napoleonic wars did make it a little bit difficult, but candidates were still found.
Princess Alexandrine of Prussia, daughter of King Frederick William III of Prussia and Duchess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was one option. Another option was Duchess Marie of Württemberg, only daughter of Duke Alexander of Württemberg and Princess Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. A third option was found in the form of Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Caroline of Baden.
Yet it was Josias who made a surprising pick. He chose Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria, the 4th surviving daughter of Emperor Francis I of Austria and Princess Maria Theresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
The choice wasn’t bad, just incredibly surprising.
King Frederick VI allowed the wedding to take place on 17 January 1815 in Copenhagen, and was faced with his daughter-in-law for the first time.
The Archduchess wasn’t the most beautiful available woman, but she possessed that Queenly grace. Plus, she turned out to be incredibly fertile.
The Dane saw his only son’s 10 children being born, half of them sons. He felt incredibly blessed, knowing that the House of Oldenburg was in safe hands with his sons. He was also happy that 2 of his 3 daughters had had children with their husbands, even if his eldest daughter Amalie Mathilde had not enjoyed the best marriage to Prince Charles of Prussia considering she’d found him cheating on her with the elder Princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
At least his daughter Charlotte enjoyed a happy and fruitful marriage to the Swedish heir to the throne, Prince Oscar of the new Bernadotte dynasty.
From the moment of his birth, James was meant to get married and have loads of children. He was one of the few male heirs for the Danish throne. Although the House of Oldenburg had a few junior lines that could trace their ancestry back to one of the previous kings of Denmark, it was preferable if the throne stayed with the main line of the House.
Thus, all the pressure was on the Crown Prince, especially after his grandfather Christian VII of Denmark died on 13 March in 1808. Yet it was difficult to search for a bride with the Napoleonic wars going on.
But he managed to find a Royal woman in 1813 who was close in age to him (1.5 years younger), who was willing to convert to Lutheranism, and who was willing to get married soon after her 16th birthday. Archduchess Maria Elisabeth, a daughter of the former Holy Roman Emperor.
The last marriage between the House of Oldenburg and the House of Habsburg had been the marriage of Christian II of Denmark and Archduchess Isabella of Austria. But this marriage was a lot more fruitful, as the couple would have 10 children (all surviving into adulthood).