Frederick IV

▪ elector Palatine of the Rhine

byname  Frederick The Righteous,  German  Friedrich Der Aufrichtige 

born March 5, 1574, Amberg, Palatinate

died Sept. 19, 1610, Heidelberg

      elector Palatine of the Rhine, only surviving son of the elector Louis VI.

      Frederick's father died in October 1583, when the young elector came under the guardianship of his uncle John Casimir, an ardent Calvinist. In January 1592, on the death of John Casimir, Frederick undertook the government of the Palatinate and continued his uncle's policies of hostility to the Catholic Church and the Habsburgs and cooperation with foreign Protestants. He was often in communication with Henry of Navarre, afterward Henry IV of France, and like him was unremitting in his efforts to conclude a league among the German Protestants. After many delays the Union of Evangelical Estates (Protestant Union) was actually formed in May 1608, under the leadership of the elector, and he took a prominent part in directing the operations of the union until his death. Frederick was very extravagant, and liked to surround himself with pomp and luxury.

▪ king of Denmark and Norway

born Oct. 11, 1671, Copenhagen

died Oct. 12, 1730, Odense, Den.

 king of Denmark and Norway (1699–1730), who succeeded his father, King Christian V. He continued the Danish efforts to sever the House of Gottorp's link with Sweden, but his first attempt to do so, in 1700 at the outbreak of the Great Northern War, was checked by Charles XII of Sweden. Frederick then accepted the Treaty of Traventhal (1700), but he reentered the war in 1709, and at the Peace of Frederiksborg (1720) Denmark obtained English and French guarantees for the sole possession of the Duchy of Schleswig by the Danish crown, though remaining administratively separate. At home the King introduced reforms. A local militia was instituted in 1701. The legal bond tying peasants to the land on which they worked was partially abolished in eastern Denmark after 1702. On the crown estates Frederick reorganized defense measures and established 240 elementary schools. His private life, however, often aroused indignation. Having married Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow in 1695, he entered into two morganatic marriages during her lifetime. The second of these, in 1712, was with Anna Sophie, daughter of the chancellor, Conrad, Count Reventlow, and after Louise's death (1721), despite opposition within the royal family, he raised Anna Sophie to the dignity of queen.

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