Dietrich of Oldenburg
Encyclopedia
Derrick or Dietrich of Oldenburg, Latin-based anglicization also Theoderic of Oldenburg (c. 1398 – February 14, 1440), nicknamed Theoderic the Lucky or the Fortunate (Teudericus Fortunatus), was a feudal lord in northern Germany
, holding the counties of Delmenhorst
and Oldenburg
. He was called "Fortunatus" as he was able to secure Delmenhorst for his branch of the Oldenburgs.
Dietrich is the father of Christian I of Denmark
, a male-line ancestor to the present-day Danish
throne under Margaret II of Denmark as well as the last czar of imperial Russia, Nicolas II. He is also a male line ancestor of Charles, Prince of Wales as well as William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales.
Dietrich’s father, Christian V, managed to gain the upper hand when Conrad II's son Maurice IV died in 1420. After this, most of the Oldenburg family patrimony was under the power of Dietrich’s branch. However, the house had several minor branches who had estates and claims, as was usual in any medieval fief.
Dietrich of Oldenburg was the grandson of Ingeborg of Itzehoe, a Holstein princess who had married count Conrad I of Oldenburg. After the death in 1350 of her only brother, Count Gerhard V of Holstein-Itzehoe-Plön, Ingeborg and her issue were the heirs of her own grandmother Ingeborg of Sweden (d. ca. 1290, first wife of Gerhard II of Plön-Itzehoe), the eldest daughter of King Valdemar of Sweden and Queen Sophia, who herself was the eldest daughter of the sonless King Eric IV of Denmark
and his wife Jutta of Saxony
. Since other legitimate descent from King Valdemar apparently was extinct by this time, Dietrich was considered the heir general of Kings Valdemar I of Sweden and Eric IV of Denmark.
Dietrich succeeded his father as head of the House of Oldenburg in 1423.
(born in about 1398-1400, died 1436), widow of Prince Balthasar of Mecklenburg and daughter of the murdered Duke Gerhard VI of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Elisabeth of Brunswick
, thus sister of the reigning Duke Adolf VIII. All his legitimate children were born of the second wife.
His second marriage strengthened this interest in Scandinavian monarchies, since Helvig was a descendant of King Eric V of Denmark
, King Haakon V of Norway
and King Magnus I of Sweden
.
At this time, all Scandinavia lived under the Kalmar Union
erected by Queen Margaret I of Denmark
. In 1387 she had lost her own heir Olav IV of Norway
, the new heirs now being Eric of Pomerania
, and his sister Catherine who was married with a prince of the Palatinate and Bavaria.
Count Theodoric of Oldenburg is said to have been a rival claimant to the crowns of Sweden
and Denmark
during the reign of Eric VII/ Eric XIII, whose succession was through Christopher I of Denmark
, the younger brother of the murdered Eric IV, and through Magnus I of Sweden, younger brother of the deposed King Valdemar.
Count Theodoric had three surviving sons and one daughter:
and its derivatives, the British Royal Family
, the pretenders to the Kingdom of the Hellenes, the Norwegian royal family
, and the last Russian czars of Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, holding the counties of Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst is an urban district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located 10 km/6 miles west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is 25 km/15 miles to the northwest. The city has a total area of 62.36 km²...
and Oldenburg
Oldenburg (state)
Oldenburg — named after its capital, the town of Oldenburg — was a state in the north of present-day Germany. Oldenburg survived from 1180 until 1918 as a county, duchy and grand duchy, and from 1918 until 1946 as a free state. It was located near the mouth of the River Weser...
. He was called "Fortunatus" as he was able to secure Delmenhorst for his branch of the Oldenburgs.
Dietrich is the father of Christian I of Denmark
Christian I of Denmark
Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
, a male-line ancestor to the present-day Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
throne under Margaret II of Denmark as well as the last czar of imperial Russia, Nicolas II. He is also a male line ancestor of Charles, Prince of Wales as well as William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales.
Lineage
Dietrich of Oldenburg was the son of Count Christian V of Oldenburg (who became count in about 1398 and died in 1423) and his wife, Countess Agnes of Honstein. His grandfather, Count Conrad I of Oldenburg (d. ca. 1368) had left his lands divided between his father and his uncle Conrad II.Dietrich’s father, Christian V, managed to gain the upper hand when Conrad II's son Maurice IV died in 1420. After this, most of the Oldenburg family patrimony was under the power of Dietrich’s branch. However, the house had several minor branches who had estates and claims, as was usual in any medieval fief.
Dietrich of Oldenburg was the grandson of Ingeborg of Itzehoe, a Holstein princess who had married count Conrad I of Oldenburg. After the death in 1350 of her only brother, Count Gerhard V of Holstein-Itzehoe-Plön, Ingeborg and her issue were the heirs of her own grandmother Ingeborg of Sweden (d. ca. 1290, first wife of Gerhard II of Plön-Itzehoe), the eldest daughter of King Valdemar of Sweden and Queen Sophia, who herself was the eldest daughter of the sonless King Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV of Denmark
Eric IV, also known as Eric Ploughpenny , was king of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250. He was the son of King Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal, and brother to King Abel and King Christopher I.-Early life:...
and his wife Jutta of Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. Since other legitimate descent from King Valdemar apparently was extinct by this time, Dietrich was considered the heir general of Kings Valdemar I of Sweden and Eric IV of Denmark.
Dietrich succeeded his father as head of the House of Oldenburg in 1423.
Marriages and children
He had firstly, as a child, married (for reasons of succession and uniting the hereditary fiefs) a distant cousin, Countess Adelheid of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst (who is said to have died already in 1404), daughter of Oldenburg Count Otto IV of Delmenhorst, and in 1423 he married for a second time, Helvig of SchauenburgHelvig of Schauenburg
Helvig of Schauenburg , also known as Hedwig of Schauenburg, was a duchess of Schleswig and a countess of Holstein from the family of Schauenburg, and ancestor of the Danish Royal houses of Oldenburg and Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.She was a daughter of Count Gerhard VI of...
(born in about 1398-1400, died 1436), widow of Prince Balthasar of Mecklenburg and daughter of the murdered Duke Gerhard VI of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife Elisabeth of Brunswick
Elisabeth of Brunswick
Elisabeth of Brunswick and Lunenburg was Duchess consort of Sønderjylland and Schleswig and Countess consort of Holstein-Rendsburg...
, thus sister of the reigning Duke Adolf VIII. All his legitimate children were born of the second wife.
His second marriage strengthened this interest in Scandinavian monarchies, since Helvig was a descendant of King Eric V of Denmark
Eric V of Denmark
Eric V "Klipping" was King of Denmark and son of Christopher I. Until 1264 he ruled under the auspices of his mother, the competent Queen Dowager Margaret Sambiria. Between 1261 and 1262, Eric was a prisoner in Holstein following a military defeat...
, King Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
and King Magnus I of Sweden
Magnus I of Sweden
Magnus I of Sweden, son of Nicholas , later called Magnus the Strong , was a Danish duke who ruled Gothenland in southern Sweden from 1125 to 1130...
.
At this time, all Scandinavia lived under the Kalmar Union
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...
erected by Queen Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I of Denmark
Margaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...
. In 1387 she had lost her own heir Olav IV of Norway
Olav IV of Norway
Olaf II Haakonsson was king of Denmark as Olaf II and king of Norway as Olaf IV . Olaf was son of King Haakon VI of Norway and the grandson of King Magnus IV of Sweden. His mother was Queen Margaret I of Denmark which made him the grandson of King Valdemar IV of Denmark...
, the new heirs now being Eric of Pomerania
Eric of Pomerania
Eric of Pomerania KG was King Eric III of Norway Norwegian Eirik, King Eric VII of Denmark , and as Eric King of Sweden...
, and his sister Catherine who was married with a prince of the Palatinate and Bavaria.
Count Theodoric of Oldenburg is said to have been a rival claimant to the crowns of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
during the reign of Eric VII/ Eric XIII, whose succession was through Christopher I of Denmark
Christopher I of Denmark
Christopher I was King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his wife, Infanta Berengária of Portugal. He succeeded his brothers Eric IV Plovpenning and Abel of Denmark on the throne. Christopher was elected King upon the death of his older brother Abel in...
, the younger brother of the murdered Eric IV, and through Magnus I of Sweden, younger brother of the deposed King Valdemar.
Count Theodoric had three surviving sons and one daughter:
- Christian (1426–1481), who succeeded him as Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, and became later King Christian I of DenmarkChristian I of DenmarkChristian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
, Norway and Sweden, as well as Duke of SchleswigSchleswigSchleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...
and HolsteinHolsteinHolstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
. - Maurice (1428–1464); when his elder brother became king, he was given the County of Delmenhorst.
- Gerhard (1430–1500); when his eldest brother had become king, he was given the county of Oldenburg, and from his other brother's heirs he also inherited Delmenhorst in about 1483. The third son got his name from usages of the mother's HolsteinHolsteinHolstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
clan. - Adelheid (1425–1475), first married count Ernest III of Hohnstein (d. 1454) and then in 1474 Count Gerhard VI of Mansfeld (d. 1492).
Male Line of Descendants
Dietrich of Oldenburg is a direct ancestor to the Danish royal familyDanish Royal Family
The Danish Royal Family includes the Queen of Denmark and her family. All members except the Queen hold the title of Prince/Princess of Denmark with the style of His/Her Royal Highness or His/Her Highness. The Queen is styled Her Majesty. The Queen and her siblings belong to the House of...
and its derivatives, the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, the pretenders to the Kingdom of the Hellenes, the Norwegian royal family
Norwegian Royal Family
The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...
, and the last Russian czars of Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp.