Lably
Skip to content

House of Oldenburg

European dynasty of German origin

  • 8 min read
  • 10 chapters

Related on Lably

Through United Kingdom

The dynasty rose to prominence when Count Christian of Oldenburg was elected King of Denmark in 1448, of Norway in 1450, and of Sweden in 1457. Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg is the earliest known direct male-line ancestor of King Haakon VIII and King Charles III. King Frederik X is also part of the House of Oldenburg, cognatically.

History

Count Elimar I was first mentioned in 1091. The ancestral home of the family is Oldenburg Castle. In the 12th century, Rastede Monastery near Oldenburg became their house monastery and later their country seat to this day. Marriages of medieval counts of Oldenburg paved the way for their heirs to become kings of the three Scandinavian kingdoms. Through marriage with a descendant of King Valdemar I of Sweden and of King Eric IV of Denmark, a claim to Sweden and Denmark was staked as early as 1350.

At that time, the chief competitor to succeed Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412), queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, to the Northern thrones was the House of Mecklenburg, while other aspirants included the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg. In 1423, Theodoric of Oldenburg married Hedwig of Holstein, a descendant of King Magnus Ladulås of Sweden, of King Haakon V of Norway, and of the kings Eric V and Abel of Denmark. Their son Christian (the abovementioned) became the king of all three kingdoms of the whole Kalmar Union.

Different Oldenburgine branches have reigned in several countries. The House of Oldenburg was briefly poised to claim the British thrones through the marriage of Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark and Norway in 1683; however, due to the early deaths of all their children, the crown passed to the House of Hanover, Oldenburgs not gaining that crown until 2022.

Sign in to keep reading

9 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Early modern

Qing dynastyManchu-led dynasty of China (1644–1912)East India CompanyBritish joint-stock company (1600–1874)Ming dynastyImperial dynasty of China (1368–1644)American Revolutionary War1775–1783 conflict in North AmericaPrussiaGerman state from 1525 to 1947Kingdom of Great BritainSovereign state in Western Europe (1707–1801)