Hans, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

King Hans of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; Credit – Wikipedia

King Hans held four royal titles: King of Denmark (1481 – 1513), King of Norway (1483 – 1513), King of Sweden (1497 – 1501), and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig (1482–1513 jointly with his younger brother, the future King Frederik I). Born February 2, 1455, at Aalborghus Castle (link in Danish) in Aalborg, Denmark, he was the third but the eldest surviving of the four sons and the third of the five children of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and Dorothea of Brandenburg.

Hans had four siblings:

Christina of Saxony; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1477, Hans was betrothed to Christina of Saxony, daughter of Ernst, Elector of Saxony and Elisabeth of Bavaria. The couple was married on September 6, 1478, at Copenhagen Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Hans and Christina had six children:

Wall sculpture at St. Canute’s Cathedral depicting King Hans, Queen Christina, and their son Prince Frans who died from the plague; Credit – Wikipedia

At this time, the monarchies of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden elected their kings. King Christian I, Hans’ father, had ensured that his son was appointed as his successor in each of the three kingdoms. However, upon King Christian I’s death in 1481, only Hans’ succession to the Danish throne went smoothly. In Norway, after some negotiations, Hans was recognized as King of Norway in 1483. In Sweden, a power-play game with Hans lasted for six years. Eventually, Hans saw an opportunity to strike, and after his forces defeated Swedish forces in 1497, he was finally crowned King of Sweden. However, in 1501, an uprising in Sweden caused Hans to lose the Swedish crown.

Hans and Christina were visiting Sweden in 1501 before the uprising. During that visit, Hans began a long-term affair with Edel Jernskjæg, one of Christina’s ladies-in-waiting. The affair caused a scandal and a de facto termination of their marriage. From that time on, the marriage of Hans and Christina was one in name only.

During the Swedish uprising, Hans fled Stockholm and left Christina at Stockholm Palace. She bravely defended the palace for eight months but was forced to surrender in May 1502 after her 1,000-man army defending the palace was reduced by deaths to only 70. Christina spent a year under guard as a prisoner in the Vadstena Monastery, finally being released in 1503. After her return to Denmark, Christina lived with her youngest son Frans, separately from King Hans, on her dower lands at Næsbyhoved Castle and in Odense.

Hans tried to enter into negotiations with Sweden but was unsuccessful and so in 1507, he started a war once again, devastating the Swedish coast. Despite this, Hans did not succeed in regaining control of Sweden for the rest of his reign. In 1508, a rebellion in Norway was crushed by Hans’ son, the future King Christian II, who ruled Norway as viceroy. The Hanseatic League, a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in northwestern and central Europe, saw their trade with Sweden severely affected by Denmark’s war, and so they went to war against Denmark in 1510. The Hanseatic League army initially took a heavy toll on Denmark but later Hans won victories that resulted in a peace treaty in April 1512.

In January 1513, King Hans was on his way to Aalborghus Castle when he was thrown by his horse. He became increasingly weaker and on February 20, 1513, at his birthplace Aalborghus Castle, King Hans died from his injuries at the age of 58. He was buried in the Gråbrødre Church of the Franciscan monastery in Odense, Denmark which Queen Christina had chosen as the burial site for her husband and herself. Queen Christina commissioned the famous German sculptor Claus Berg to create a burial chapel in the church of the Franciscan monastery for her and her husband. Berg’s intricately carved and gilded altarpiece is a Danish national treasure. The altarpiece depicts the passion and the crucifixion of Jesus, and the crowning of the Virgin Mary. The base shows members of the royal family including King Hans, Queen Christina, and their son King Christian II.

Claus Berg’s altarpiece; Credit – Wikipedia

Queen Christina survived her husband by eight years, dying on December 8, 1521, aged 59, and was buried with her husband. Their son King Christian II was also interred in the burial chapel in the church of the Franciscan monastery. In 1807, the former Franciscan church was demolished, and Berg’s magnificent altarpiece and the remains of King Hans, his wife Christina, and their son King Christian II were transferred to St. Canute’s Cathedral, also in Odense, Denmark. Christian’s wife Isabella was originally buried in St. Peter’s Abbey in Ghent, Spanish Netherlands, now in Belgium. In 1883, thanks to the efforts of the Danish government, Isabella’s remains and those of her son Hans were transferred to St. Canute’s Cathedral.

Grave of King Hans at St. Canute’s Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

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Kingdom of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • Da.wikipedia.org. 2020. Hans Af Danmark. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_af_Danmark> [Accessed 20 December 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Claus Berg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Berg> [Accessed 20 December 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. John, King Of Denmark. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_Denmark> [Accessed 20 December 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Johann I. (Dänemark, Norwegen Und Schweden). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_I._(D%C3%A4nemark,_Norwegen_und_Schweden)> [Accessed 20 December 2020].