George of Denmark

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Prince George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland

George, Prince of Denmark ( Danish Prins Jørgen * April 21 jul. / 1. May  1653 greg. In Copenhagen , † October 28 . Jul / 8. November  1708 . Greg in Kensington Palace in London ) was the husband of the Queen Anne of Great Britain .

Life

Coat of arms of Prince George, Duke of Cumberland

Prince Georg was born in Copenhagen in 1653 as the third and youngest son of King Friedrich III. of Denmark (1609–1670) and Sophie Amalie von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1628–1685). He grew up at the Copenhagen court, where he received courtly and officer training. In 1668 and 1669 he went on a grand tour that took him to France, England, Italy and Germany. After the death of his father, the king, in 1670, he returned to Denmark, where his older brother Christian succeeded the throne. In 1674, Georg was briefly under discussion as a candidate for the Polish royal throne, but the candidacy had little chance of success from the start, as Georg, a staunch Lutheran, was not ready to convert to Catholicism. In the Skåne War against Sweden from 1675-77, which was ultimately unsuccessful for Denmark, Georg distinguished himself militarily.

In 1683 he married Anna Stuart (1665-1714), daughter of the Duke of York , the future King James II of England . The marriage was arranged for political reasons, and the couple had never seen each other until shortly before the marriage date. On the one hand, this was intended to strengthen the connection between the Protestant powers England and Denmark-Norway (with the main target against Louis XIV of France), and on the other hand it was hoped that the British would support their main rival at sea, the Netherlands . The marriage between Georg and Anna was still harmonious, but was overshadowed by the early death of all of their children. Of Anne's total of 17 pregnancies, 12 were miscarriages or stillbirths, four children died in infancy (two of smallpox ), and one chronically ill son, William Henry , the Duke of Gloucester, died at the age of 11.

When the Roman Catholic Duke of York became King of England and Ireland as James II ( James II ) and King of Scotland as James VII (James VII) in 1685 , Anne and George became a center of the Protestant opposition against the new king. On November 5, 1688, Wilhelm III landed . coming from Orange from the Netherlands with an invading fleet and army on the south coast of England. As part of the later so-called Glorious Revolution , Jacob II soon lost all support and had to flee to France. Georg and Anne also joined the party of William of Orange, who was crowned king in 1689 together with his wife Maria. In April 1689, George was promoted to Duke of Cumberland , Earl of Kendal and Baron of Okingham in return and received the associated seat in the House of Lords . After the death of William of Orange, Anne Stuart ascended the throne according to the regulations of the Act of Settlement of 1701 and George became Prince Consort at her side, Lord High Admiral and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports .

Georg died in 1708, presumably of a lung disease, and was buried in Westminster Abbey . In 1714 Anne died too, and since she had no surviving children, the Protestant line of the House of Stuart died out with her . His titles of nobility also became extinct. Her successor on the British royal throne was, in accordance with the regulations of the Act of Settlement, the Elector of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , Georg I. Ludwig under the name of Georg I.

After Prince George Prince George County named in Virginia. The Prinz-Jürgen-March , composed by Jeremiah Clarke , was used again and again by the BBC during the Second World War at the beginning of the broadcasts directed to Denmark and after the war it was also adopted as a theme song by BBC World Service .

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Frederick II, King of Denmark and Norway (1534–1588)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Christian IV. King of Denmark and Norway (1577–1648)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sophie of Mecklenburg (1557–1631)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Friedrich III. King of Denmark and Norway (1609–1670)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Joachim Friedrich Elector of Brandenburg (1546–1608)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna Katharina of Brandenburg (1575-1612)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin (1549–1602)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wilhelm the Younger of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , (1535–1592)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georg von Braunschweig-Calenberg (1582–1641)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dorothea of ​​Denmark (1546-1617)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sophie Amalie of Braunschweig-Calenberg (1628–1685)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ludwig V of Hessen-Darmstadt (1577–1626)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna Eleonore of Hessen-Darmstadt (1601–1659)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Magdalena of Brandenburg (1582–1616)
 
 
 
 
 
 

progeny

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester - shortly before his death at eleven in 1700
  • Stillbirth of a daughter († / * May 22, 1684)
  • Maria (June 12, 1685 - February 18, 1687)
  • Anna Sophia (born May 22, 1686 - † February 12, 1687)
  • Stillbirth of a child († / * January 30, 1687)
  • Stillbirth of a son († / * November 1, 1687)
  • Stillbirth of a child († / * April 26, 1688)
  • William (July 24, 1689 - July 30, 1700), Duke of Gloucester
  • Maria (* / † October 24, 1690)
  • Georg (* / † April 27, 1692)
  • Stillbirth of a daughter († / * April 2, 1693)
  • Stillbirth of a daughter († / * January 31, 1694)
  • Stillbirth of a daughter († / * February 28, 1696)
  • Stillbirth of a son († / * September 30, 1696)
  • Stillbirth of a son († / * April 4, 1697)
  • Stillbirth with twins († / * December 1697)
  • Stillbirth of a son († / * September 25, 1698)
  • Stillbirth of a son († / * February 4, 1700)

literature

Web links

Commons : Prince George of Denmark  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The London Gazette : No. 2443, p. 2, April 11, 1689.
Predecessors Office Successors
Maria Beatrice of Modena Royal Consort of England and Ireland
1702–1707 		Title expired
Maria Beatrice of Modena Royal Consort of Scotland
1702–1707 		Title expired
New title created Royal Consort of Great Britain and Ireland
1707–1708 		Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach
personal data
SURNAME George of Denmark
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duke of Cumberland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Husband of the British Queen Anna
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1653
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1708
Place of death London