Coronation of the Danish monarch

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Anointing of King Christian VIII and Queen Caroline Amalie in 1840. Painting by Joseph-Désiré Court, 1841.

The coronation of the Danish monarch was a religious ceremony in which the accession of the Danish monarch was marked by a coronation ceremony. It was held in various forms from 1170 to 1840, mostly in Lund Cathedral in Lund, St. Mary's Cathedral in Copenhagen and in the chapel of Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød.

Enthronements of the Danish monarch may be historically divided into three distinct types of rituals: the medieval coronation, which existed during the period of elective monarchy; the anointing ritual, which replaced coronation with the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1660; and finally the simple proclamation, which has been used since the introduction of the constitutional monarchy in 1849.

Coronations of the elective monarchy[]

Coronation of King Frederick II in St. Mary's Cathedral in Copenhagen in 1559.

Historically an elective monarchy, the Danish kings had been elected and acclaimed at the Thing assemblies; this continued even after the tradition of coronations began. Ultimately, the acclamation rite only ceased with the introduction of hereditary monarchy in 1660, the 1657 acclamation of crown prince Christian (the later Christian V of Denmark) being the last occasion. The first coronation in Scandinavia took place in Bergen in Norway in 1163 or 1164. The first coronation in Denmark was that of Canute VI in St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted in 1170.

The medieval monarchs used various locations for their coronations, with Lund Cathedral in Lund, the archepiscopal seat of Denmark, being the most preferred. Other locations include Viborg, Vordingborg, Kalmar and Ribe. After the accession of the House of Oldenburg to the Danish throne in 1448, the coronations were held in St. Mary's Cathedral in Copenhagen, and usually performed by the Bishop of Zealand.

The coronation ritual (as of 1537) began with a procession of the ruler and his consort into St. Mary's cathedral in Copenhagen, followed by the Danish crown jewels. The monarch was seated before the altar, where he swore to govern justly, preserve the Lutheran religion, support schools, and help the poor. Following this, the king was anointed on the lower right arm and between the shoulders, but not on the head. Then the royal couple retired to a tented enclosure where they were robed in royal attire, returning to hear a sermon, the Kyrie and Gloria, and then a prayer and the Epistle reading.

Following the Epistle, the king knelt before the altar, where he was first given a sword. After flourishing and sheathing it, the still-kneeling monarch was crowned by the clergy and nobility, who jointly placed the diadem upon their ruler's head. The sceptre and orb were presented, then returned to attendants. The queen was anointed and crowned in a similar manner, but she received only a sceptre and not an orb. Finally, a choral hymn was sung, following which the newly crowned king and queen listened to a second sermon and the reading of the Gospel, which brought the service to an end.^[1]

Anointings of the absolute monarchy[]

Anointing of King Christian V and Queen Charlotte Amalie at Frederiksborg Palace in 1671.

With the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1660, the full coronation ritual was replaced with a ceremony of anointing, where the new king would arrive at the coronation site already wearing the crown, where he was then anointed.

The anointings were held in the chapel of Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød, with the exception of the 1767 anointing of King Christian VII which was held in the chapel of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.

Proclamations of the constitutional monarchy[]

This rite was in turn abolished with the introduction of the Danish constitution in 1849. Today the crown of Denmark is only displayed at the monarch's funeral, when it sits atop their coffin. The present queen, Margrethe II, did not have any formal enthronement service; a public announcement of her accession was made from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace, with the new sovereign being acclaimed by her prime minister at the time (1972), Jens Otto Krag, then cheered with a ninefold "hurrah" by the crowds below.

Historical list of coronations[]

Coronations[]

Date	Site	Picture	Name	Reign	Other regnal titles
1 January 1443	Ribe Cathedral		Christopher III with Dorothea of Brandenburg	9 April 1440 - 5 January 1448	King of Norway King of Sweden
28 October 1449	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Christian I with Dorothea of Brandenburg	1 September 1448 - 21 May 1481	King of Norway King of Sweden
18 May 1483	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		John with Christina of Saxony	21 May 1481 - 20 February 1513	King of Norway King of Sweden
11 June 1514	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Christian II with Isabella of Austria	20 February 1513 - 13 April 1523	King of Norway King of Sweden
7 August 1524	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Frederick I with Sophie of Pomerania	13 April 1523 - 10 April 1533	King of Norway
12 August 1537	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Christian III with Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg	4 July 1534 - 1 January 1559	King of Norway
20 August 1559	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Frederick II with Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow	1 January 1559 - 4 April 1588	King of Norway
29 August 1596	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Christian IV with Anne Catherine of Brandenburg	4 April 1588 - 28 February 1648	King of Norway
23 November 1648	St. Mary's Cathedral, Copenhagen		Frederick III with Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg	28 February 1648 - 9 February 1670	King of Norway

Anointings (1660-1849)[]

Date	Site	Picture	Name	Reign	Other regnal titles
7 June 1671	Frederiksborg Palace Chapel		Christian V	9 February 1670 - 25 August 1699	King of Norway
15 April 1700	Frederiksborg Palace Chapel		Frederick IV	25 August 1699 - 12 October 1730	King of Norway
6 June 1731	Frederiksborg Palace Chapel		Christian VI	12 October 1730 - 6 August 1746	King of Norway
4 September 1747	Frederiksborg Palace Chapel		Frederick V with Louise of Great Britain	6 August 1746 - 14 January 1766	King of Norway
1 May 1767	Christiansborg Palace Chapel		Christian VII with Caroline Matilda of Great Britain	14 January 1766 - 13 March 1808	King of Norway
31 July 1815	Frederiksborg Palace Chapel		Frederick VI with Marie of Hesse-Kassel	13 March 1808 - 3 December 1839	King of Norway
28 June 1840	Frederiksborg Palace Chapel		Christian VIII with Caroline Amalie of Augustenburg	3 December 1839 - 20 January 1848	King of Norway (prior of being king of Denmark)

See also[]

• Coronations
• Monarchy of Denmark

Notes[]

References[]

• Hoffman, Erich (1990). "Coronation and Coronation Ordines in Medieval Scandinavia". In Bak, János M (ed.). Coronations: Medieval and Early Modern Monarchic Ritual. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
• Monrad Møller, Anders (2012). Enevældens kroninger. Syv salvinger - ceremoniellet, teksterne og musikken (in Danish). . ISBN 978-87-88802-29-0.