Danish Kings and Queens

Thank-you to Selwyn for this information.

The Danish royal family is among the oldest in the world; its lineage can be traced back to Gorm the Old in the late 9th century. The early Danish kings expanded their kingdom into parts of Sweden and Norway, and in the 11th century Canute the Great ruled over both Denmark and England.

In 1387 Queen Margrethe ascended the throne and succeeded in uniting Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and parts of Finland in the Union of Kalmar. Sweden and Finland seceded in 1523 but the rest of the union remained until the early 19th century.

Before 1660 the monarchy of Denmark was elected, meaning the king's oldest son did not necessarily inherit the throne. However, after 1660 the monarchy became absolute, and from this time the king's oldest son always took the throne after his father. In 1849 Denmark received a democratic constitution, which changed the monarchy from absolute to constitutional. This meant the king could not act with legislative or political power. However the monarch is still the ceremonial leader of both church and state, and no law can be activated nor can any translation of the bible within the Folkekirke (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark) be authorized without the king or queen's signature.

Display      more options...
NameYearsOther Names
Christian I1448-1481
Christian II1513-1523
Christian III1534-1559
Christian IV1588-1648
Christian IX1863-1906
Christian V1670-1699
Christian VI1730-1746
Christian VII1766-1808
Christian VIII1839-1848
Christian X1912-1947
Christoffer I1252-1259(Christopher)
Christoffer II1320-1326; 1330-1332(Christopher)
Christoffer III of Bavaria1440-1448(Christopher)
Erik I Evergood1095-1103(Eric)
Erik II the Memorable1134-1137(Eric)
Erik III the Lamb1137-1146(Eric)
Erik IV Ploughpenny1241-1250(Eric)
Erik V Klipping1259-1286(Eric)
Erik VI Menved1286-1319(Eric)
Erik VII of Pomerania1412-1439(Eric)
Frederik I1523-1533(Frederick)
Frederik II1559-1588(Frederick)
Frederik III1648-1670(Frederick)
Frederik IV1699-1730(Frederick)
Frederik IX1947-1972(Frederick)
Frederik V1746-1766(Frederick)
Frederik VI1808-1839(Frederick)
Frederik VII1848-1863(Frederick)
Frederik VIII1906-1912(Frederick)
Gorm the Oldc. 936-958
Harald I Bluetooth958-986(Harold)
Harald II1014-1018(Harold)
Harald III Hen1074-1080(Harold)
Knud II the Great1018-1035(Canute, Cnut)
Knud III the Hardy1035-1042(Canute, Hardeknud, Hardicanute, Harthacnut, Knut)
Knud IV the Holy1080-1086(Canute, Knut, Knute)
Knud V Magnussen1146-1157(Canute, Knut)
Knud VI1182-1202(Canute, Knut)
Magnus the Good1042-1047
Margrete I1387-1412(Margaret, Margrethe)
Margrethe II of Denmark1972-(Margaret, Margrete, Alexandrine, Þórhildur, Ingrid)
Oluf I Hunger1086-1095(Olaf)
Oluf II1376-1387(Olaf)
Svend I Forkbeard986-1014(Sven, Swegen, Sweyn)
Svend II1047-1074(Sven, Sweyn)
Svend III Grathe1146-1157(Sven, Sweyn)
Valdemar I the Great1157-1182(Waldemar)
Valdemar II the Victorious1202-1241(Waldemar)
Valdemar III1326-1330(Waldemar)
Valdemar IV Atterdag1340-1375(Waldemar)
53 results