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Oscar II

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Oscar II
Oscar II,c. 1900–07
King of Sweden
Reign18 September 1872 –8 December 1907
Coronation12 May 1873
PredecessorCharles XV
SuccessorGustaf V
King of Norway
Reign18 September 1872 –7 June 1905
Coronation18 July 1873
PredecessorCharles IV
SuccessorHaakon VII
Born(1829-01-21)21 January 1829
Stockholm Palace,Stockholm,Sweden
Died8 December 1907(1907-12-08)(aged 78)
Stockholm Palace, Stockholm, Sweden
Burial19 December 1907
Riddarholm Church
Spouse
​
(m.1857)​
Issue
Names
Oscar Fredrik
HouseBernadotte
FatherOscar I of Sweden
MotherJosephine of Leuchtenberg
ReligionLutheran
SignatureOscar II's signature

Oscar II(Oscar Fredrik;[1]21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) wasKing of Swedenfrom 1872 until his death in 1907 andKing of Norwayfrom 1872 to 1905.

Oscar was the son ofKing Oscar IandQueen Josephine.He inherited the Swedish and Norwegian thrones when his brother died in 1872. Oscar II ruled during a time when both countries were undergoing a period of industrialization and rapid technological progress. His reign also saw the gradual decline of theUnion of Sweden and Norway,which culminated in itsdissolution in 1905.In 1905, the throne of Norway was transferred to his grandnephew PrinceCarl of Denmarkunder theregnal nameHaakon VII. When Oscar died in 1907, he was succeeded in Sweden by his eldest son,Gustaf V.

Oscar II is the paternal great-great-grandfather ofKing Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.King Frederik X of Denmarkis Oscar II's descendant through his son Gustaf V.King Harald V of Norway;King Philippe of the Belgians;andHenri, Grand Duke of Luxembourgare also descendants of Oscar II, all through his third sonPrince Carl, Duke of Västergötland.

Early life

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Mauritz Frumerie's 1829 medal showing the three eldest sons ofCrown Prince Oscar:Charles,Gustaf,and Oscar.

Oscar Fredrik was born at theRoyal PalaceinStockholmon 21 January 1829, the third of four sons ofCrown Prince OscarandJosephine of Leuchtenberg.[2]Upon his birth, he was createdDuke of Östergötland.At birth, he was fourth in thesuccession to the Swedish throneafter his father and older brothers, but as a younger son had no immediate prospect of inheriting the throne. During his childhood he was placed in the care of the royal governess, Countess Christina Ulrika Taube.[3]

Prince Oscar entered theRoyal Swedish Navyas a midshipman at the age of eleven, and was appointed junior lieutenant in July 1845. Later he studied atUppsala University,where he distinguished himself in mathematics.[4]On 13 December 1848, was made an honorary member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

On 6 June 1857, Prince Oscar marriedPrincess Sophia of Nassauat theBiebrich Palace,the ducal residence of theDuchy of Nassau.Princess Sophia was the youngest daughter of the deceasedWilhelm, Duke of Nassau,by his second wifePrincess Pauline Friederike Marie of Württemberg,and a half-sister ofAdolf,the then reigningDuke of Nassauand futureGrand Duke of Luxembourg.[2]

AidesDaniel Nordlander(upper left) andFritz von Dardel,Ordnance OfficerFerdinand-Alphonse Hamelin,GeneralHenri-Pierre Castelnau,KingCharles XV of Swedenand Prince Oscar, future King Oscar II of Sweden, at the1867 International ExpositioninParis,France.

Upon the death of his father, King Oscar I, in 1859, Prince Oscar becameheir-presumptiveto the thrones of Sweden and Norway, as his eldest brother KingCharles XV of Sweden/Charles IV of Norwaywas without a legitimate heir, having lost his only son,Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of Södermanland,topneumoniain 1854. His second elder brother,Prince Gustaf, Duke of Uppland,had died oftyphoid feveralready in 1852.

King of Sweden and Norway

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Accession

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Norwegian coronation medal for Oscar and Sophia

Oscar II became King on 18 September 1872, upon the death of his brother,Charles XVwho died without an heir. At his accession, he adopted ashis mottoBrödrafolkens väl/Broderfolkenes Vel( "The Welfare of the Brother Peoples" ). Hiscoronation as Swedish monarchwas celebrated inStorkyrkanin Stockholm on 12 May 1873, and hiscoronation as Norwegian monarchtwo months later in theNidaros CathedralinTrondheimon 18 July 1873.[2]While the King, his family and theRoyal Courtresided mostly in Sweden, Oscar II made the effort of learning to be fluent inNorwegianand from the very beginning realized the essential difficulties in the maintenance of theunion between the two countries.[4]

Foreign and domestic statecraft

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Photograph of Oscar II,c. 1870s

His acute intelligence and his aloofness from the dynastic considerations affecting most European sovereigns (both his paternal and maternal grandfathers were French military commanders who served underNapoleon I) gave the king considerable weight as an arbitrator in international questions. At the request of the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States in 1889 he appointed theChief Justice of Samoaunder theTreaty of Berlin,and he was again called on to arbitrate inSamoanaffairs in 1899.[4]

Photograph of Oscar II by Gösta Florman,c. 1891

In 1897 he was empowered to appoint a fifth arbitrator if necessary in the Venezuelan dispute, and he was called on to act as umpire in the Anglo-American arbitration treaty that was quashed by theUnited States Senate.He won many friends in the United Kingdom by his outspoken and generous support of Britain at the time of theSecond Boer War(1899–1902), expressed in a declaration printed inThe Timesof 2 May 1900, when continental opinion was almost universally hostile.[4]

He remained a strong supporter of the Navy throughout his life, and frequently visited ships of the fleet. When thecoastal defence shipOscar IIwas launched, he even signed his name on the vessel's aft main gun tower.[5]

The office ofPrime Minister of Swedenwas instituted in 1876.Louis De Geerbecame the first head of government in Sweden to use this title. The most known and powerful first minister of the Crown during the reign of Oscar was the conservative estate ownerErik Gustaf Boström.Boström served as Prime Minister in 1891–1900 and 1902–1905. He was trusted and respected by Oscar II, who had much difficulty approving someone else as prime minister. Over a period of time, the King gave Boström a free hand to select his own ministers without much royal involvement. It was an arrangement (unintentional by both the King and Boström) that furthered the road to parliamentarism.

Science and the arts

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Portrait of Oscar II byAnders Zorn1898

A distinguished writer and musical amateur himself, King Oscar did much to encourage the development of education throughout his dominions. In 1858 a collection of his lyrical and narrative poems,Memorials of the Swedish Fleet,published anonymously, obtained the second prize of theSwedish Academy.His "Contributions to the Military History of Sweden in the Years 1711, 1712, 1713", originally appeared in the Annals of the academy, and were printed separately in 1865. His works, which included his speeches, translations ofHerder'sCidandGoethe'sTorquato Tasso,and a play,Castle Cronberg,were collected in two volumes in 1875–76, and a larger edition, in three volumes, appeared in 1885–88.[4]

His Easter hymn and some other of his poems are familiar throughout the Scandinavian countries. His work onCharles XII of Swedenwere translated into English in 1879. In 1881 he founded the world's firstopen-air museum,atBygdøy,located next to hissummer residencenearOslo(back then known as Christiania). In 1885 he published hisAddress to the Academy of Music,and a translation of one of his essays on music appeared inLiteraturein May 1900. He had a valuable collection of printed and manuscript music, which was readily accessible to the historical student of music.[4]

Being a theater lover, he commissioned a new opera house to be built byAxel Anderbergfor theRoyal Swedish Operawhich was inaugurated on 19 September 1898. It remains as the home of that institution. Oscar II once told playwrightHenrik Ibsenthat hisGhostswas "not a good play". As he was dying, he requested that the theatres not be closed on account of his death. His wishes were respected.

Oscar was also particularly interested in mathematics. In 1889 he set up a contest, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, for "an important discovery in the realm of higher mathematical analysis".[6][7]The contest listed four potential areas of research, one of which was then-body problemincelestial mechanics,relevant to the stability ofthe solar system.Henri Poincare,a professor at theUniversity of Paris,won by submitting an entry showing that even the 3-body problem was unstable, the seminal result in what is now calledchaos theory.[8][9]

King Oscar II was an enthusiast of Arctic exploration. Along with Swedish millionaireOscar Dicksonand Russian magnateAleksandr Mikhaylovich Sibiryakov,he was the patron of a number of pioneering Arctic expeditions in the 1800s. Among the ventures the king sponsored, the most important areAdolf Erik Nordenskiöld's explorations to the Russian Arctic andGreenland,andFridtjof Nansen's Polar journey on theFram.[10]

Oscar was also a generous sponsor of the sciences and personally funded theVega Expedition,which was the first Arctic expedition to navigate through theNortheast Passage,the sea route between Europe and Asia through theArctic Ocean,and the first voyage to circumnavigate Eurasia.

Death

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The political events which led up to the peacefuldissolution of the union between Norway and Swedenin 1905 could hardly have been attained but for the tact and patience of the king himself. He was dethroned on 7 June 1905 by theStortingand renounced theNorwegian throneon 26 October. He declined, indeed, to permit any prince of his house to become king of Norway, but better relations between the two countries were restored before his death.[4]Oscar II died inStockholmon 8 December 1907 at 9:10 am.[11]

Marriage and children

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Oscar II boating.
Engraving byAnders Zorn.

On 6 June 1857 he married inWiesbaden-Biebrich,Duchy of Nassau(located in present-dayHessen,Germany)Princess Sophia Wilhelmina,the youngest daughter ofDuke William of NassauandPrincess Pauline of Württemberg.They had four sons:

  1. King Gustaf V(1858–1950)
  2. Prince Oscar, Duke of Gotland,later known as Prince Oscar Bernadotte,Count of Wisborg(1859–1953)
  3. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland(1861–1951)
  4. Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke(1865–1947)

His eldest son Gustaf was Duke ofVärmlandand succeeded him as King Gustaf V of Sweden from 1907 until 1950, marriedPrincess Victoria of Badenand they had three sons. His second son, Prince Oscar, lost his rights of succession to the throne upon his unequal marriage in 1888 to a formerlady-in-waiting,Ebba Munck af Fulkila,and was granted the title ofPrince Bernadottefirst in Sweden, and from 1892 inLuxembourg,where he also was createdCount of Wisborgas an hereditary title for his marital progeny (Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg,was the half-brother of his mother, Queen Sophia). The other sons of Oscar II were Prince Carl, Duke ofVästergötlandwho marriedPrincess Ingeborg of Denmark;and Prince Eugén, Duke ofNärke,who was well known as an artist and remained a bachelor all his life.

Alleged extramarital children

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Oscar II is also suspected to have had several extramarital children,[12]of which at least five are named:

  • Anna Hofman-Uddgren(1868–1947) by Emma Hammarström (1849–1910)[13]
  • Elin Esping Smitz (1878–1960) by Paulina Mathilda Esping (1858–1878)[14][15]
  • Knut August Ekstam (born 1878, in U.S.A. 1903, death unknown) byMarie Friberg(1852–1934)
  • Florence Stephens(1881–1979) by Elisabeth Kreüger Stephens (1858–1911)[16]
  • Nils Teodor Ekstam (1889–1954) also by Friberg above[17][18]

However, unlike his father, Oscar II never officially recognized any illegitimate children of his.

Honours

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Portrait of Oscar II wearing theCrown of Eric XIVand mantle, byOscar Björck.King Oscar II was the last crowned Swedish king and was known to enjoy the pomp and ceremony.
National[19]
Foreign[19]

Legacy

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The name and portrait of Oscar II have been used as a trademark forKing Oscar sardinesin Norway since 1902[41](which remains the only brand to have once obtained his "royal permission" [42]) as well asgingerbreadcookies (pepparkakor) and other bakery products made byGöteborgs Kexin Sweden.[43]

Ancestry

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Heraldry

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References

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  1. ^Stockholm City Archives, archive of the Court parish, birth and baptism records, volume C I:5
  2. ^abcNevéus, Torgny (1992–1994)."Oscar II".Svenskt biografiskt lexikon(in Swedish). Vol. 28. p. 377.Retrieved5 May2024.
  3. ^Gustaf Elgenstierna, Den introducerade svenska adelns ättartavlor. 1925–36.
  4. ^abcdefgChisholm 1911.
  5. ^Borgenstam, Curt (2017)."Swedish Coastal Defence Ship Oscar II"(PDF).International Navy Journal.5(1): 65.ISSN2411-3204.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 11 February 2020.Retrieved18 September2018.
  6. ^The scientific legacy of Poincaré.Charpentier, Éric., Ghys, E. (Etienne), Lesne, Annick. Providence, R.I.: American Mathematical Society. 2010. p. 165.ISBN9780821847183.OCLC426389803.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^Stubhaug, Arild (2010)."King Oscar's Prize".Gösta Mittag-Leffler.pp. 377–380.doi:10.1007/978-3-642-11672-8_43.ISBN978-3-642-11671-1.
  8. ^"Chaos",Chaos: An Introduction to Dynamical Systems,Textbooks in Mathematical Sciences, New York, NY: Springer New York, 1996, pp. 105–147,doi:10.1007/0-387-22492-0_3,ISBN978-0-387-94677-1,archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2023,retrieved2 February2022
  9. ^The solution of the n-body problemArchived4 March 2016 at theWayback Machine,Florin Diacu. Mar 2016.
  10. ^Aho, Maire (January 1999), "AE Nordenskiöld Collection included in the Unesco Memory of the World Program",Tietolinja News,FI: Helsinki, archived fromthe originalon 7 July 2007.
  11. ^"Death Of Oscar King Of Sweden. His Son Ascends The Throne And Takes The Title Gustave The Fifth".The New York Times.9 December 1907.Archivedfrom the original on 20 December 2016.Retrieved11 February2017.He Eulogizes His Father Tells Why The Country Should Cherish His Memory. In His Sentiments All Sweden Shares.
  12. ^Gustaf von PlateninBakom den gyllene fasadenBonniersISBN91-0-058048-1p 146
  13. ^Anna Hofmann – varietéstjärna och filmregissör,catalogue of exhibition by that name atStockholms Stadsmuséum1998 with essays by Åke Abrahamsson and Marika Lagercrantz/Lotte Wellton.
  14. ^Demitz, Jacob Truedson (1996).Throne of a Thousand Years.Ludvika, Sweden; Los Angeles: Ristesson Ent. p. 277.ISBN978-91-630-5030-5.
  15. ^"FamSAC of Stockholm & Blair – Family Tree".famsac.tribalpages.com.Archivedfrom the original on 26 March 2022.Retrieved8 July2022.
  16. ^Norlin, Arne (2015).Familjen Bernadotte: makten, myterna, människorna(in Swedish). Stockholm: Fischer & Co. pp. 218–220.ISBN9789186597962.SELIBR17803399.
  17. ^Sherlock Holmes and the King of ScandinaviaArchived16 March 2012 at theWayback MachineThe Swedish Pathological Society
  18. ^Sandberg, Mattias (24 May 2010)."Jakten på den försvunne sonen".Aftonbladet(in Swedish).Archivedfrom the original on 31 October 2013.Retrieved4 May2016.
  19. ^abSveriges statskalender(in Swedish), 1905, p. 438,archivedfrom the original on 21 August 2017,retrieved6 January2018– via runeberg.org
  20. ^Sveriges och Norges statskalender(in Swedish), 1870, p. 568,archivedfrom the original on 25 April 2018,retrieved6 January2018– via runeberg.org
  21. ^Sveriges och Norges statskalender(in Swedish), 1870, p. 690,archivedfrom the original on 19 July 2019,retrieved6 January2018– via runeberg.org
  22. ^"The Order of the Norwegian Lion"Archived10 August 2018 at theWayback Machine,The Royal House of Norway.Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  23. ^""A Szent István Rend tagjai"".Archived fromthe originalon 22 December 2010.
  24. ^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden(1880), "Großherzogliche Orden"pp. 60Archived6 August 2020 at theWayback Machine,72Archived6 August 2020 at theWayback Machine
  25. ^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Bayern(1906), "Königliche Orden"p. 7
  26. ^Ferdinand Veldekens (1858).Le livre d'or de l'ordre de Léopold et de la croix de fer.lelong. p.224.Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2023.Retrieved17 December2020.
  27. ^Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1907) [1st pub.:1801].Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1907[State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1907](PDF).Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p. 3.Archived(PDF)from the original on 21 October 2020.Retrieved7 September2020– viada:DIS Danmark.
  28. ^"oscar-iis-franska-raddningsmedalj"[Oscar II's Rescue Medal] (in Swedish). 28 February 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 6 August 2020.Retrieved3 May2020.
  29. ^Staat Hannover (1865).Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1865.Berenberg. p.81.
  30. ^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen(1883), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen",p. 14Archived9 October 2021 at theWayback Machine
  31. ^Cibrario, Luigi (1869).Notizia storica del nobilissimo ordine supremo della santissima Annunziata. Sunto degli statuti, catalogo dei cavalieri(in Italian). Eredi Botta. p.118.Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2023.Retrieved9 May2020.
  32. ^Hình bộ phương tắc (2017).Minh trị thời đại の huân chương ngoại giao nghi lễ(PDF)(in Japanese). Minh trị thánh đức ký niệm học hội kỷ yếu. p. 143.Archived(PDF)from the original on 28 March 2021.Retrieved17 August2020.
  33. ^Journal de MonacoArchived18 March 2022 at theWayback Machine
  34. ^Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau(1866), "Herzogliche Orden"p. 8Archived7 April 2023 at theWayback Machine
  35. ^ab"Königlich Preussische Ordensliste",Preussische Ordens-Liste(in German),1,Berlin:6,935,1886,archivedfrom the original on 18 August 2021,retrieved22 August2021
  36. ^Sachsen (1876).Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1876.Heinrich. p.3.Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2023.Retrieved24 June2020.
  37. ^Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach(1864), "Großherzogliche Hausorden"p. 13Archived30 August 2019 at theWayback Machine
  38. ^"Caballeros de la insigne orden del toisón de oro",Guía Oficial de España(in Spanish), 1887, p. 146,archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2019,retrieved21 March2019
  39. ^Shaw, Wm. A. (1906)The Knights of England,I,London,p. 66
  40. ^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg(1907), "Königliche Orden" p. 28
  41. ^"About King Oscar".kingoscar.com.Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2019.Retrieved7 July2019.
  42. ^"King of the sea".The Norwegian American.7 September 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2019.Retrieved6 July2019.
  43. ^"Kung Oscar"(in Swedish).Göteborgs Kex AB.Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2019.Retrieved7 July2019.

Further reading

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[edit]
Oscar II
Born:21 January 1829Died:8 December 1907
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Sweden
18 September 1872 – 8 December 1907 		Succeeded by
King of Norway
18 September 1872 – 7 June 1905 		Vacant
Title next held by
Haakon VII
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
 — TITULAR —
King of Norway
7 June 1905 – 26 October 1905 		Succeeded by
Claim ended
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oscar_II&oldid=1232066769"