Early years Christiern was born in February 1426 in
Oldenburg in
Northern Germany as the eldest son of
Count Dietrich of Oldenburg with his second wife,
Hedvig of Holstein. Christian had two younger brothers,
Maurice and
Gerhard VI, Count of Oldenburg, and one sister, Countess Adelheid von
Mansfeld-Querfurt. Through his father, he belonged to the
House of Oldenburg, a
comital family established since the 12th century in an area west of the
River Weser in north-western Germany. Based on the two
strongholds of
Oldenburg and
Delmenhorst, the family had gradually expanded its rule over the neighbouring
Frisian tribes of the area. Christian's father was called
the Fortunate as he had reunited and expanded the family's territory. Christian's mother, Hedvig, was a daughter of
Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein, and a sister of
Adolphus, Duke of Schleswig. Through his mother, Christian was also a
cognatic descendant of King
Eric V of Denmark through his second daughter Richeza (died 1308) and also a cognatic descendant of King
Abel of Denmark through his daughter Sophie. Through his father, Christian was a
cognatic descendant of King
Eric IV of Denmark through his daughter
Sophia. Christian thus descended from the three surviving sons of
Valdemar II and his second wife
Berengaria of Portugal. He was also a cognatic descendant of King
Magnus III of Sweden. At the death of their father in 1440, Christian and his brothers jointly succeeded Dietrich as Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. Christian was raised by his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein, as the childless duke wished for his young nephew to become his heir, and also succeeded in having Christian elected as his successor in the
Duchy of Schleswig.
King of Denmark by
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 1819. In January 1448, King
Christopher of Denmark, Sweden and Norway died suddenly and without natural heirs. His death resulted in the break-up of the union of the three kingdoms, as Denmark and Sweden went their separate ways and Norway's affiliation was unclear. The vacant Danish throne was first offered by the
Council of the Realm to Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, being the most prominent feudal lord of Danish dominions. The duke declined and recommended his nephew, Count Christian of Oldenburg. Before being elected, Christian had to promise to obey to the
Constitutio Valdemariana, a provision in the
ascension promissory of King
Valdemar III of Denmark, that promised that in the future, the same person could never be both ruler of the
Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark simultaneously. The council also demanded that Christian should marry
dowager queen
Dorothea of Brandenburg (ca 1430–1495), widow of his predecessor King Christopher III. On 1 September 1448, after signing his ascension promissory, count Christian was elected to the Danish throne as king Christian I at the assembly in
Viborg. His coronation was held on 28 October 1449, in the
Church of Our Lady in
Copenhagen, at which occasion his marriage with dowager queen Dorothea was also celebrated.
King of Sweden and Norway with a portrait of Christian I Meanwhile, Sweden had on 20 June 1448 elected
Karl Knutsson Bonde as king. Norway was now faced with the choice between a union with Denmark or Sweden, or electing a separate king. The latter option was quickly discarded, and a power-struggle ensued between the supporters of Christian of Denmark and Karl of Sweden. The Norwegian
Council of the Realm was divided. In February 1449, a part of the Council declared in favour of Karl as king, but on 15 June the same year, a different group of councillors paid
homage to Christian. On 20 November, Karl was crowned king of Norway in
Trondheim. However, the Swedish nobility now took steps to avoid war with Denmark. In June 1450, the Swedish Council of the Realm forced Karl to renounce his claim on Norway to Christian. In the summer of 1450, Christian sailed to Norway with a large fleet, and on 2 August he was crowned king of Norway in
Trondheim. On 29 August,
a union treaty between Denmark and Norway was signed in
Bergen. Norway had of old been a
hereditary monarchy, but this had become less and less a reality, as at the last royal successions, hereditary claims had been bypassed for political reasons. It was now explicitly stated that Norway, as well as Denmark, was an elective monarchy. The treaty stipulated that Denmark and Norway should have the same king in perpetuity, and that he would be elected among the legitimate sons of the previous king, if such existed. Karl Knutsson became increasingly unpopular as king of Sweden, and was driven into exile in 1457. Christian achieved his aim of being elected as king of Sweden, thus re-establishing the Kalmar Union. He received the power from temporary Swedish regents Archbishop
Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and lord
Erik Axelsson Tott. However, Sweden being volatile and split by factions (benefits of union being against nationalistic benefits), his reign there ended in 1464 when
Kettil Karlsson Vasa, Bishop of Linköping was installed as the next regent. Karl Knutsson was recalled as King of Sweden, although he was later exiled a second time, recalled again and died during his third term as king. Christian's final attempt at regaining Sweden ended in a total military failure at the
Battle of Brunkeberg (outside Stockholm) October 1471 where he was defeated by forces on Swedish regent
Sten Sture the Elder (). Christian maintained his claim to the Swedish kingdom up to his death in 1481.
Duke and Count In 1460 King Christian also became Duke of
Schleswig, a Danish
fief, and Count of
Holstein-Rendsburg, a
Saxe-Lauenburgian subfief within the
Holy Roman Empire. Christian inherited Holstein-Rendsburg and Schleswig after a short "
interregnum" as the eldest son of the sister of late Duke
Adolphus VIII, Duke of Schleswig (Southern Jutland) and Count of Holstein, of the
Schauenburg fürst clan, who died 4 December 1459, without heirs. Christian's succession was confirmed by the
Estates of the Realm (nobility and representatives) of these
duchies in Ribe 5 March 1460 (
Treaty of Ribe). In 1474 Lauenburg's
liege lord Emperor
Frederick III elevated Christian I as Count of Holstein to Duke of
Holstein, thus becoming an immediate imperial
vassal (see
imperial immediacy).
Later reign Malpaga Castle, where a banquet was offered in his honour by Venetian Captain-General
Colleoni. . Christian's personal territory was at its largest in 1460–1464, before the loss of Sweden. However, many parts of his realm wanted to govern themselves locally, and there were constant struggles. Denmark was his most important center of power. In 1474 Christian travelled two times: in April he went to
Milan (his stay in Lombardy is celebrated by frescoes by
Il Romanino in the
Malpaga Castle) and
Rome, in
Italy, where he met
Pope Sixtus IV. In the autumn same year he visited
Charles of Burgundy, acting as intermediary between him and future emperor
Maximilian I. He stayed in
Burgundy for several months, moving to the
Netherlands in the early 1475. . Acting on a permission from Pope Sixtus IV in 1475 to establish a
university in Denmark, the
University of Copenhagen was inaugurated by Christian on 1 June 1479.
Death and burial s of the
Chapel of the Magi, showing amongst others Jesus carrying his cross on
Via Dolorosa. King Christian died at
Copenhagen Castle on 21 May 1481 at the age of 55. He was interred at the
Chapel of the Magi at
Roskilde Cathedral, a richly decorated
chapel he and Queen Dorothea had erected to serve as a family sepulchral chapel for the
House of Oldenburg. The burials of Christian I and Queen Dorothea are marked with a pair of simple stones, as the chapel itself was to be considered their
sepulchral monument. ==Legacy==