Christian VIII

Christian VIII (1786-1848), king of Denmark (1839-1848) and Norway (1814), the nephew of Christian VII. Dispatched to Norway as viceroy in 1813, he was chosen king of the country in May 1814, after the Norwegians had rejected the Treaty of Kiel, which ceded Norway to Sweden. The Swedish army then invaded Norway, and in November the legislature agreed on the transfer of the Crown to Charles XIII of Sweden. Christian lived in retirement until 1831 and then served as a Danish councilor of state until his accession to the throne of Denmark. The most important event of his reign was his proclamation in 1846 that Schleswig and Holstein, of which the Danish kings had long been dukes, were indissolubly united to Denmark. He was succeeded by his son Frederick VII, the last king of the direct line of the Oldenburg dynasty.