Program contains violence. Young children should watch with an adult.
CHRISTIANSBORG CASTLE 1770
That there is one of the most dangerous kisses in Denmark's history.
It's Christian VII's German physician, Struensee -
- who starts an affair with young Queen Caroline Matilda.
They're playing with fire because we're in a time of absolutism -
- where the king has unlimited power.
Even to execute people.
It's a society where common people know their place and duties -
- and foreigners are made slaves. But it's also a time of change.
From Europe come the Enlightenment's new ideas about freedom and equality -
- that challenge the absolutist worldview.
And slowly but surely, the farmers' journey from oppression -
- to greater freedom and a better life begins.
This is The Story of Denmark.
Of how a country became a country and a people a people.
It's the tale of a nation that experienced both dizzying greatness -
- and total decline.
Through war and love, poverty and prosperity.
Absolutism and democracy.
All that has formed the Denmark that we know today.
This is our story.
ABSOLUTISM AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT
The royal family has no real power today. But it wasn't always that way.
When Amalienborg was built, Danes lived under absolutism -
- where the king decided everything.
But how is it that the country's fate was placed in one man's hands -
- and what will it mean for Denmark?
We begin our story in 1659, the year before absolutism begins.
Denmark is at war with Sweden -
- and Copenhagen is besieged by 10,000 Swedish soldiers.
At the city walls, Danish soldiers are ready to defend the capital -
- which has never before been so close to falling.
The siege of Copenhagen means life or death for Denmark.
The Swedish king wants to destroy Copenhagen -
- dismantle the Danish state, and make Denmark a Swedish territory.
Denmark's king, Frederick III, is urged by his advisers -
- to save himself and leave Copenhagen.
But he says the famous words, "I shall die in my nest."
He becomes the personification of the city's defenses.
It gives the people hope.
One night in February, the Swedes begin their largest attack on Copenhagen.
Thousands of soldiers try to storm the city's walls -
- but after fierce fighting, the soldiers and people -
- manage to fend off the attack.
Only 17 Danes are killed, while 1500 Swedish soldiers -
- are wounded or killed at the walls.
Shortly after, the Swedes give up their attempt to conquer Denmark.
That Frederick III saved Copenhagen and the kingdom -
- is in many ways a miracle, and he becomes incredibly popular.
The people of Copenhagen hail him as the nation's savior.
It won't be the last time Frederick III changes Denmark's history.
Because now he's in charge of the country's reconstruction.
THE CITADEL COPENHAGEN
In 1660, Denmark finally emerges from many years of war with Sweden -
- where we narrowly avoided total annihilation as a country.
To better defend Copenhagen in the future -
- we build The Citadel.
But the wars have left Denmark on the brink of ruin.
Our cities were robbed, they're full of beggars -
- and the most vulnerable live under squalid conditions, sick and hungry.
To save Denmark from ruin, Frederick III calls in the Church, the bourgeoisie -
- and last, but not least, the nobility to a big crisis meeting.
Denmark has been an elective monarchy where the king and his noble council -
- rule the country together.
But the nobles don't want to pay, and it's rumored -
- they'll soon leave Copenhagen.
Frederick III was very frustrated to be a king without power.
He had to beg the nobles for money for his projects. They decided, not him.
And the people are also dissatisfied with the nobles -
- who shirked their responsibilities in the war against Sweden.
In an ideal world, the nobility would have protected the country -
- so that Copenhagen would never have been besieged -
- and the Swedes would never have gotten close to the capital -
- because they would have been stopped long before.
Frederick III has had enough of the nobility -
- and with the support of the Church and the bourgeoisie -
- he plans a coup in order to rule Denmark alone.
To get the nobles to relinquish power, he locks Copenhagen's gates -
- and declares martial law.
He locks the nobles and council inside and says to them:
You'll stay in Copenhagen until you accept my terms.
This is definitely a psychological power play.
The mood in Copenhagen is tense, and it comes to a clash -
- between the nobility and the city's people.
I doubt Frederick III would have pulled a Stockholm Bloodbath -
- but he was so good at reading people -
- that he broke the nobility in just three days.
The nobility have given up. The king's coup is a success.
Shortly after, Frederick III is hailed our first absolute monarch -
- by the city's people in front of Copenhagen Castle.
The introduction of absolutism in Denmark brings a very strong central power -
- so we can defend the kingdom against the Swedes and other aggressors.
Without that strong central power, Denmark may not have survived.
ROSENBORG CASTLE COPENHAGEN
WAX STATUE OF FREDERICK III ROSENBORG CASTLE
Absolutism has begun, where one king decides everything.
To demonstrate his power, Frederick III has three silver lions made -
- with tails, manes, and eyes of gold.
They symbolize not only power, but also that he's a just king.
In the Bible, the just King Solomon was surrounded by golden lions.
Even though the state is more effective, when all power belongs to one person -
- it's always risky.
Suppose the king is unable to run the country -
- if he's extremely religious, for example, or only a teenager -
- or maybe even mentally ill.
How would that go for Denmark?
FREDERIKSBORG CASTLE 1671
When Frederick III dies, his young son, Christian V -
- becomes the first king to automatically inherit the throne.
He's anointed with oil as Denmark's new absolute ruler -
- as described in the Old Testament.
Absolutism is a grand vision. You have a monarch -
- chosen by God himself to rule on his behalf.
It was part of that self-image to be surrounded by splendor -
- worthy of God's representative.
As God's representative on Earth, the king is above everyone -
- regardless of their rank or title.
Only he himself can wear the crown.
Christian V's crown is a unique national treasure -
- made from over 2 kilos of genuine gold and more than 2500 diamonds and gems.
It's been worn by all the kings of the absolute monarchy -
- and today is still used as a national symbol -
- on our coins and passports.
The small cross on top symbolizes that only God is above the crown -
- in the class-divided society of the time.
Under absolutism, you're part of a social hierarchy -
- where you don't have the same rights we have today.
And it's not a free democracy.
Most Danes live off the land and belong to the peasant class -
- which is at the bottom of society's social hierarchy.
They live as farmers on so-called tenant farms -
- and are subjects of the local landowner.
It was the landowner who owned the tenant farms -
- and he was obliged to take care of the farmers -
- like a father takes care of his children.
In return, the farmers paid rent and gave up their freedom.
The typical peasant family lived a hardworking life -
- in families very similar to those of today.
There were 60,000 farms in Denmark.
They started a new family when a farm became available.
The women were usually 28-30 and the men slightly older.
That meant that they couldn't have that many children.
The way they raised children was different. The farm was a workplace.
From a very young age, the children took part in real work -
- and there was less focus on being loving towards their children.
People were more inclined to leave them to their own devices.
But the farmers didn't just work on their own farms.
They were also required to work the landowner's land -
- as payment for living on the farm.
And that forced labor was called corvée.
If the farmers disobeyed, the landowner had to punish them -
- by beating or whipping... or worse.
Absolutism is a dictatorship, but it's also a state -
- that assumes the responsibility of providing for the whole population.
The king, placed by God, provides for the state and the people.
And to create a better and more efficient society -
- Christian V now puts Denmark in order.
For the first time, the country's laws are made into Danish law.
The king orders a survey of all Danish roads -
- in order to get a precise overview of Denmark's vast network of roads.
But it's not the king's usual courtiers who are given the task.
It's given to a new type of worker: the scientific expert.
It's scientist Ole Rømer, known for his discovery of the speed of light -
- who is charged with surveying Denmark's roads.
For this, he uses a special wheelbarrow with a built-in distance measurer.
Along the Danish roads, countless milestones are installed -
- by Rømer's people, who traverse tiny Denmark.
Christian V doesn't just survey the roads -
- but also the farmland -
- so he can tax them even more efficiently.
At the same time, a tax system is created like the one we know today.
One of the things that characterizes absolutism is how modern it is -
- in its creation of a new tax system.
Previously, taxes were paid on surplus.
Now, the state's income is based on fixed annual taxes.
Suddenly, the most bizarre things are taxed.
There's a wig tax for how many wigs you have.
There's a fireplace tax for how many fireplaces you have at home.
They find new sources of income to bring in money.
But Christian V also wants to secure Denmark's economy in another way:
With new colonies. He sends a ship to the West Indies -
- and in 1672 it manages to conquer the island of Saint Thomas -
- that the king hopes can bring in sought-after commodities -
- like sugar or coffee.
Christian V wanted a share -
- of the rich overseas trade that was emerging -
- in the 1500s and 1600s.
On board are ex-convicts who are going to work in the colony.
But the long trip and tropical climate will kill most of them.
It surprised them that the climate was so unhealthy -
- with malaria and yellow fever, so the Europeans dropped like flies.
After the Danes' arrival in Saint Thomas, it quickly becomes clear -
- that they need a strong labor force in the tough climate -
- if they want to operate plantations. The solution is slaves from Africa.
THE GOLD COAST, GHANA
One of the darkest chapters in Denmark's history begins in Ghana.
In 1658, a ship under the Danish flag invades Cape Coast Castle here -
- which was previously in Swedish hands.
With this, the first Danish occupation is established in Ghana.
The coast which, at that time, was filled with European forts -
- is called the Gold Coast because the locals traded gold cheaply.
Along the coast here, we build a handful of Danish forts -
- where we don't just trade for gold, but also for people.
Over the course of 150 years -
- we transport around 100,000 Africans from Ghana -
- to a life of slavery in the Danish West Indies.
The slaves were part of the so-called triangular slave trade.
From Denmark, we ship weapons and other wares to Ghana -
- where we exchange them for slaves who are shipped to the West Indies.
Here, we use the slaves to produce cheap raw sugar for Denmark.
There were many cases where they treated the slaves appallingly.
Slavery is a part of our history. It's not a nice chapter.
Under Christian V, slavery is completely acceptable.
But at the end of the 1600s -
- Europe is on the cusp of the Enlightenment -
- where society's old norms begin to be questioned -
- and, with time, also slavery.
There's an awakening of social criticism -
- and religious criticism, a fight for freedom of speech -
- and humanistic ideals around freedom, equality, and brotherhood.
The Enlightenment was a rational worldview -
- that arose from great scientific discoveries.
Popular scientific experiments also reached Denmark -
- where the luminous phosphorus -
- is demonstrated for an entranced Christian V.
In 1700s, the scientific method was understood to be -
- different from the world which God had created.
That alternative didn't exist before.
One of the first to try to spread the Enlightenment's ideas to Denmark -
- is the Norwegian-born author Ludvig Holberg.
It's seen in countless poems, books, and even comedies -
- for the bourgeoisie.
Holberg is one of our most import authors.
He gives us Danish-language theater, and that's incredibly important.
We have a culture of four languages. At university, one speaks Latin.
At court, French and German, and only very broadly, Danish.
Holberg wanted to promote the language to make it more possible -
- to be involved in the discussion of social issues -
- and to shine a light on absolutism.
Holberg tries to inform the citizens through comedy -
- to stir the public and get them to think for themselves.
In particular, "Jeppe on the Mountain", which premiers in 1722 -
- at Denmark's first Danish-language theater, affects us so deeply -
- that today it is one of our most-performed comedies ever.
Jeppe, aren't you dressed yet, you dimwit?
I need time to dress.
I can't go into town like a pig, without pants and a shirt.
The play is about the drunk farmer Jeppe -
- who wakes up one day on the farm and thinks he's become a baron.
In a moment comes one of the most well-known Danish lines ever -
- which are just as relevant today as they were back then.
You're not going to walk. You're going to run.
Damn my wife.
I think she's the Devil's cousin.
People say that Jeppe drinks -
- but they don't say why Jeppe drinks.
Yeah. Why does Jeppe drink? That's a saying today -
- but the line comes all the way from the Enlightenment -
- where it was encouraged to pose critical questions.
And Holberg gives us the answer himself.
The bad woman hits me!
And the landowner's man makes me work like a beast.
Why shouldn't I drink?
Why can't I use the things that nature gives us -
- to drive away my sorrow?
The comedy can't be easily interpreted.
Look how poorly the peasants are being treated.
That's what's given the play such a long run -
- and such incredible popularity.
But not everyone is thrilled by Holberg's comedies -
- and when a quarter of Copenhagen burns in the city's largest fire ever -
- the absolutist priests think that it must be God's punishment -
- for a sinful life with, among other things, the theater.
The priests control legislation. The priests advise the king.
And the priests don't care if people go to the theater -
- have fun, drink excessively.
To control a society, you need to have a tight grip.
In 1730, the curtain drops for Danish theater.
The new absolute monarch, Christian VI -
- bans the theater for religious reasons -
- on Sundays, holidays, and the evenings before.
In other words, all the times when people could see it.
The king's preacher, Erik Pontoppidan, called the comedies too sinful -
- saying they awaken God's wrath. Acting becomes impossible now.
Many years pass before Holberg can show his comedies again.
But as one of the first artists here at home -
- he tried to enlighten and improve things during absolutism -
- as well as to portray the harsh lives of the farmers.
"Jeppe on the Mountain" is just a comedy -
- but it tells us something important about life in the country in the 1700s.
Most of the 700,000 Danes in Holberg's time lived like Jeppe -
- on farms like this, where they typically lived as tenant farmers -
- who were subjects of the local landowner.
In "Jeppe on the Mountain", we meet the drunken farmer.
That was a picture of Zealand, where farmers were very much subjugated.
Here we meet many completely demoralized, drunken farmers.
There are ghastly stories from South Zealand -
- where they pushed the farmers -
- and evicted them from the tenant farms when they couldn't pay their taxes.
One of the worst-treated farmers in South Zealand -
- was 70-year-old Troels Eriksen.
Court documents say that when he couldn't pay his taxes on time -
- the local landowner chose to punish him with the so-called wooden horse.
A wooden horse is a horse-shaped form that has a little point on the back -
- on which one can be placed.
It isn't just painful. It's humiliating.
The landowner forces Eriksen to sit on the wooden horse for hours.
He repeats this for several days.
Public punishment was used to as a warning to others.
When the landowner punished his tenant farmers, he didn't want -
- to make it so they couldn't work because they were his workforce.
But the mistreatment of Eriksen isn't finished yet.
He has iron balls placed on his ankles so he won't fall off again.
Depicting the cultural and social aspects of the 1700s without showing -
- how violent the society was would paint a distorted picture.
From the outside, the 1700s society seems very fine and polished.
They socialize and wear wigs and listen to Mozart.
But under the surface is a violent culture.
It's socially acceptable to be violent.
Behind the violent culture, there's also -
- the law and administration, which rule by violence.
It infects the whole society so that everyone punishes everyone.
After three days, the landowner decides Eriksen has had enough and releases him.
But on the way home, he vomits blood. Some days later, he dies.
The landowner gets off with a fine for mistreatment.
They say that Jeppe drinks, but not why Jeppe drinks.
But even if life can be hard, we find time to enjoy ourselves.
At Shrovetide and Christmas especially, we celebrate across the country.
When you have a hard life, letting loose is a kind of survival mechanism.
So in the 1700s, we see that the farmers hold a number of events -
- called play groups where they dance and celebrate.
Especially for Christmas.
At Christmas time, they have a gathering for Christmas festivities -
- and it was tradition to have a number of games we still have today.
So many of the traditions we think of as being for children -
- were started for adults.
Blind man's buff was popular because it involved being touched -
- by others and guessing who it was.
And you could let it be known who you'd like to touch you.
So I think the Christmas festivities could best be characterized -
- as a mixture of entertainment and dating.
It's a time of enjoyment, when young people come together.
You can flirt and be touched by the opposite sex.
It's festive and consensual, and there are boundaries -
- and it's a place to sing and dance.
ROSKILDE CATHEDRAL
Though the farmers love Christmastime, where they can let loose -
- a bit like Christmas celebrations today, the priests see it differently.
To them, Christmas is one of the holiest holidays of all -
- where the birth of Jesus is celebrated, and so it's unacceptable to them -
- to have dancing, drinking, and games with sexual undertones.
When the very religious Christian VI -
- who lies here in Roskilde Cathedral -
- comes to power in 1730, he introduces a number of laws -
- to help the Danes become as religious -
- as he is himself.
Christian VI was a pietist, and that meant -
- he followed a very austere version of Christianity -
- that demanded a particular kind of lifestyle.
Christian VI believes in the sublime and the religious -
- and that people have a personal responsibility to our Lord.
For Denmark, that will mean a slightly more distant state power.
He's a very tough king with a very, very tough moral code.
Through the 1730s, Christian VI introduces mandatory church attendance -
- on Sundays and holidays. Failure to attend -
- meant fines or the pillory.
And festivities were also forbidden on holidays.
In the 1730s, they want to educate -
- and discipline the large rural population -
- because Christian VI's goal is to make the state more efficient.
The farmers can become more productive than they are.
But many young people don't want to farm because the farm is run down -
- or because they have other goals in life.
To ensure young men take up agriculture and military service -
- Christian VI introduces a law that remains infamous -
- for its encroachment on personal freedom: serfdom.
The law says that no man from 14 to 36 years old -
- can leave the area they were born without the landowner's permission.
It's also a social restriction, making it impossible to break free.
Suddenly it's forbidden for a farmer to switch jobs -
- and that is a severe limitation on personal freedom.
Absolutist kings don't just try to control Danes' traditions and freedom -
- but also their private lives.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. One of the 10 commandments -
- which was made into law in the 1700s.
And since the start of absolutism, you risked becoming a social pariah -
- by starting a relationship that wasn't accepted by the Church.
For women who had children outside of marriage -
- it wasn't just disastrous. It was a punishable offense.
According to the absolutist Danish Laws from 1683 -
- relationships and pregnancy out of wedlock were punishable offenses.
A criminal offense that was called the lie law -
- where the third offense for women was whipping.
A lie law sentence was devastating to a young woman's honor.
Losing her honor, it was difficult to get employment or to get married.
It's problematic that we ignore the unpleasant aspects of how it was -
- things that oppose our common narrative about the good old days -
- and how good everything was, and how nice we Danes are.
We weren't so nice. We were rough, vile, violent, often drunk -
- and that was a society we can't relate to today in Denmark.
STORE HEDDINGE ZEALAND, 1704
One of the women sentenced for a relationship outside of marriage -
- is Inger Christensdatter.
She was orphaned at a young age, but fortunately she's been able -
- to become a servant girl at the home of a military captain.
When she's about 22 years old, she meets Oluf Clausen -
- who's a drummer in the military. And even though they aren't married -
- they start a relationship.
Love in those days took as many forms as we have today.
There's many possible scenarios. She could have been in love with him -
- or he could have seduced her and promised her marriage.
We can imagine a lot of things -
- but we'll never know what actually happened to Inger.
Inger finds out she's pregnant, but she's no longer with Oluf -
- and she now finds herself in a difficult situation.
Without a husband, Inger will become a criminal when the child is born.
The Church was against all sex out of wedlock, so it was against the law.
One had to pay a fine equal -
- to what a man earned in a whole year.
In the 1700s, you couldn't get an abortion -
- so Inger needs to see the pregnancy through -
- and she chooses to keep it hidden as long as possible.
One day in March, she goes into labor.
She goes down by the harbor, hiding herself during childbirth.
When she gives birth to a little boy, she doesn't keep him.
She buries him alive in a hole with horse manure -
- to avoid the shame and ostracization of having a child outs of wedlock.
But Inger's newborn baby isn't dead yet.
Two men hear a strange sound and dig in the ground with a boat hook -
- until they suddenly discover the child.
They manage to dig the little boy free -
- and the authorities now begin a search for the guilty woman.
Inger is quickly found and arrested.
Witnesses saw her walk through the city with bloody clothes.
But she won't admit that she birthed a child in secret.
Maybe because she knows what the punishment is.
Eventually, she admits what she's done, when it becomes clear -
- that her child is still alive.
Can I hold him?
When he dies three days later, she's accused not just of hiding the birth -
- but also of murdering a child.
When I hear Inger's story, it floors me.
Because of her weakness and lack of a family -
- she's sacrificed by society as a deterrent to others.
In 1705, Inger Christensdatter is convicted of murdering her child.
The judge calls her deeds unchristian and against God's law.
Therefore, as a warning to others, she is to be executed -
- and have her head put on a stake.
In other words, she's to be beheaded.
But Inger is never executed. She dies in prison.
The sentence is carried out anyway. The body is retrieved -
- and decapitated.
It's not just a symbolic act. It's done in earnest.
Many believe that when Inger is beheaded -
- even if she's already dead, she won't be allowed in Heaven.
Throughout the 1700s, there are hundreds of women -
- who commit the same crime as Inger -
- and in the beginning of the 1700s, most are executed.
Absolutism's religious legislation -
- culminates under Christian VI and his court priest, Erik Pontoppidan.
When the king introduces a law for obligatory confirmation -
- it will have implications for the educational system.
When confirmation begins in 1736, it's quickly discovered -
- that reading skills are lacking.
So that Danish children can learn to read about Christianity -
- in 1739, Christian VI introduces the first nationwide mandatory schooling.
Everyone will go to school, where they will learn to read -
- and they will learn religion.
Everyone is taught Truth Unto the God-Fearing -
- which was written by the court priest, Pontoppidan.
The book contains over 750 religious questions and answers -
- all of which are to be learned by heart.
After a question comes an answer. It was a kind of patterned dialog.
The teacher asked, "What does it mean to honor your father and mother?"
And then they would learn the right answer by rote.
And what is it that incites the lusts of the evil flesh?
Gluttony and drunkenness.
Pontoppidan's teachings aren't just the first schoolbook in Denmark.
It's also one of the most used. Together with the Catechism -
- it was the most frequently printed book in the whole kingdom.
At one point, more than 10,000 copies of the book are printed per year.
But not everyone is thrilled.
Ludvig Holberg in particular was critical of the pietism -
- that had made theater impossible.
For 15 years under Christian VI, it's been a sin to perform theater.
But when the king dies in 1746 -
- pietism loses its grip on Denmark -
- because his 23-year-old son, Frederick V -
- is the polar opposite of his father.
A short time after his father's death, the new, spirited king -
- grants permission for theater to be performed in Copenhagen.
Now the aging Holberg can again stage his comedies -
- both old and new.
And you say I'm a stone. No...
You say to your mother: "A stone can't fly. -
You can't fly. Therefore, you're a stone."
As a playwright, Holberg thought that it was good -
- that it was again possible to stage new pieces.
Many others were relieved that the theater ban was over.
Under Frederick V, the Church begins to lose power -
- while the Enlightenment and the first free debates blossom.
It happens when the king asks the public for proposals -
- to improve Denmark's economy.
Though the king drinks heavily and the state is run by his advisers -
- he becomes popular with the people, who in turn get a Denmark -
- where entertainment and cheer are permitted.
A king that parties with the people is well-liked.
There's theater. There's carnival. There's all the good things in life.
After seeing Holberg's comedy, "Masquerade" -
- Frederick is so entranced that he gives permission -
- to build a large theater house at Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen.
A house that, in time, will pave the way for The Royal Danish Theatre.
The proverb "Not just for pleasure" inscribed over the stage -
- is today an echo of Holberg's ambition to not only entertain -
- but also to inform.
But Copenhagen isn't the only place -
- where the Enlightenment is bringing change.
ACCRA GHANA'S CAPITAL
One of the Gold Coast's largest forts was Danish: Christiansborg.
In modern times, it's been home to the Ghanaian government -
- after various renovations.
It was from here that a large part of Denmark's 100,000 slaves -
- were shipped to the West Indies.
But not everyone managed the long trip over the Atlantic Ocean.
On the way, about 20,000 slaves died of sickness and hunger.
One of those who saw the slave trade close up -
- was the German-born doctor Paul Isert, who worked at the Danish forts.
In a letter, he describes a meeting with a slave that left a deep impression.
What's wrong?
Are your shoes made from the skin of slaves?
No.
The slaves were terrified and thought gunpowder was made from bones.
So black shoe polish could surely be made from slaves, too.
Many of them were convinced they were being sailed across the ocean -
- in order to be eaten.
Slowly, Isert begins to oppose the slave trade.
Finally, he leaves Africa on the slave ship Christiansborg -
- headed towards the Danish West Indies.
Aboard are 452 slaves -
- and only 36 crew to watch them.
Many of the slaves are on the deck, and one early morning he visits them.
A slave uprising is underway, and Isert is caught in the middle of it.
The crew comes to Isert's rescue -
- and he survives the rebellion, which is suppressed after two hours.
The captain gave a fierce counterattack and 34 of the slaves were killed.
After seeing the slaves die for their freedom -
- Isert now becomes one of the time's strongest critics of the slave trade.
When he later travels to Denmark, he's adamant -
- about creating change.
But in Denmark, no one sees anything wrong with slavery.
And at the end of the 1700s, there are slaves in the royal chambers.
When Christian VII becomes king after theater-loving Frederick V -
- he gets a young slave boy that he can play with.
Because Christian VII isn't quite normal.
Moranti?
There's no doubt that Christian VII was mentally unstable.
He was unpredictable. He was what they called crazy.
He becomes more and more ill-suited to govern.
And the king's German physician, Johann Struensee, exploits that.
Struensee was an Enlightenment man. He wanted a modernized society -
- made from new ideals.
Struensee becomes not just the king's most trusted man -
- but he also gets close to the queen -
- who shares his fascination with the Enlightenment's new ideas.
And during a private reading, they begin an affair.
When Struensee starts a relationship with Caroline Matilda -
- it shows the weaknesses of absolutism.
Because when the king is easily influenced and you can get the queen's favor -
- then a man like Struensee can suddenly possess the real power -
- in Denmark.
But it's a dangerous affair Struensee has begun with the queen.
- at a time where offending royals is punishable by death.
Struensee was aware that there were people who wanted to get rid of him.
If he had the queen on his side, that was much less a concern -
- and it secured his role in the court.
Struensee manipulates the king into signing over 2000 new laws -
- that modernize Denmark with the Enlightenment's new ideas.
Struensee sets in motion a huge agenda of reforms.
He introduces freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
You could print what you wanted.
It would be a departure from the demands traditionally imposed on the farmer -
- a modernization so that the farmer had a better life.
A good example is forced labor, or what was called corvée.
Struensee creates legislation -
- saying how many days of the year -
- a landowner can demand work. That's revolutionary for that time.
He also wanted to abolish torture. There are many, many things -
- that we as a modern society take for granted -
- that Struensee drafted in his sweeping reforms.
Struensee also tried to help vulnerable women -
- who came into unfortunate circumstances.
To avoid the many tragic murders of children, he makes a box -
- where mothers can anonymously leave their newborns.
In the first five days, 24 children are left.
Struensee has had power in Denmark for a couple of years.
He's also been a kind of stepfather to the queen's son, Frederick -
- who one day will be the absolute monarchy's next king.
His ideas were flawless, but his political timing was off.
He made a fatal blunder by having a child with the queen.
That doesn't fly. If somebody wants to get rid of him, now they have a way.
And that will cost him his life.
When the queen gives birth to a daughter, it's rumored Struensee may be the father -
- which makes him enemies at court.
The landowners are already furious about his reforms.
For example, he fixes the terms of forced labor for farmers -
- and ruins the primary income of a large number of landowners.
But the landowners and the court aren't Struensee's only enemies.
When he dismantles the royal guard, he also gets the military on his back.
Shortly after, he's overthrown by Christian VII's stepmother -
- and arrested after a masked ball.
Struensee is imprisoned in The Citadel -
- and the absolute monarchy's men now begin a trial against him.
We've borrowed some of the key evidence from the case.
These garters were found when the queen's room was ransacked.
And during an interrogation, she admits she got them from Struensee.
That confirms the intimate relationship between Struensee and the queen -
- because in those days, a garter was a risque thing -
- to give a woman, much less a queen.
Actually, it is today, as well.
His relationship with the queen means he can be convicted of insulting royalty.
And the punishment is clear, according to Danish law.
First the right hand is cut off. Then, he will be beheaded -
- and finally, drawn and quartered. Even the genitalia will be removed.
In 1772, Struensee is beheaded in Fælledparken in Copenhagen -
- in front of thousands of people.
After, his head is put on a spike as a warning to others.
It's a mock trial to show that if power is threatened -
- it will be suppressed.
The queen, Caroline Matilda, is exiled to Germany -
- where she dies shortly after from illness.
She's forced to leave her two children, Denmark's next kings.
Four-year-old Prince Frederick is now left with his deranged father -
- Christian VII.
In short order, virtually all of Struensee's reforms are repealed -
- and the Enlightenment's ideas about freedom and equality are repealed.
But he left behind the notion -
- that the state should be used to improve society -
- by implementing reforms used not only to fund the army -
- but also to maximize the people's wealth and happiness.
Denmark is now led by conservatives close to crazy Christian VII's stepmother.
But the king's little son Frederick doesn't want to be led by others.
As a teenager, he plans to take power from the people -
- who exiled his mother and executed Struensee.
The 16-year-old Frederick is about to plan a coup -
- but it all depends on whether he can get his crazy father -
- to sign a document that gives him power in Denmark.
The crown prince must have had ice in his veins to get that signature.
It's very unusual that a boy that age could make a play -
- against some powerful and experienced opponents -
- on the other side of the board.
When members of the state council learn what's happened, there's an uproar.
They try to rip the document to pieces.
The disgraceful scene can be seen as a picture of two political systems -
- fighting here.
There's a landowner-friendly, somewhat weak, conservative rule -
- which has no need for necessary but unpopular reforms.
The crown prince had a legitimate claim, and his power grab -
- was a promise that now something would happen -
- and that was the agrarian reforms.
Frederick manages to save the document with his father's signature -
- that gives the young crown prince power to approve all future laws.
It's his right to be king. The system appointed him as king.
Of course he wants to be king. Who wouldn't?
Denmark is now led by a teenager -
- but also his close advisers, who took part in the coup.
Christian Reventlow in particular helps the young crown prince -
- implement one of the biggest changes ever seen in Denmark.
It happens with the so-called agrarian reforms -
- that improve the farmers' rights by introducing limits -
- on how much forced labor landowners can demand of farmers.
Last but not least, it abolished serfdom.
Farmers are no longer forced to work in their home villages until age 40.
The reforms also forbid landlords from using punishment like the wooden horse.
Finally, farmers get better opportunities to own their own land -
- which means a historical liberation from the landowner.
The whole process makes it so Frederick, as crown prince -
- gains an enormous popularity among the citizens and the farmers.
He rides on a patriotic wave, seen as the people's wise ruler -
- who is creating a society and monarchy that listens to people -
- and who changes the rules for the benefit of the population.
Efforts are made to streamline agriculture.
Previously, farms had small, scattered plots of land -
- that were worked in common. Now the land is concentrated -
- so farmers are responsible for their own large fields, like we have today.
The agrarian reforms are the catalyst for a social transformation of farmers -
- from despised individuals everyone looked down on -
- to gradually becoming respectable citizens -
- pillars of society, an embodiment of Danishness.
It creates modern society. In my opinion, it's the biggest reform -
- there's ever been in this country.
At the end of the 1700s, Denmark gets not only the agrarian reforms -
- but economic trade is also going well.
Copenhagen has become one of Northern Europe's most central trading centers -
- for sugar and coffee, which we import from the West Indies.
And on the harbor in Copenhagen, the West India Warehouse is built -
- which stocks the wares from the Danish colonies.
The warehouse is used today as a museum and wardrobe.
But the so-called King's Room was also preserved -
- and it's from here that the board of the West India Trading Company -
- managed the imports of goods from the colonies to Denmark.
They trade coffee, tobacco -
- and, of course, the white gold, sugar -
- making the board members some of the richest men in the kingdom.
But one of the board members isn't very keen on the slave trade.
That's Denmark's Finance Minister, Ernst Schimmelmann -
- who inherited his father's plantations, but wants to improve life for the slaves.
He had plantations in the West Indies, and he agonized over them.
He got caught up in the Enlightenment philosophy -
- that was against slavery and wanted to set the slaves free.
One of those who helps set in motion Schimmelmann's plans -
- for improving the slaves' conditions is the idealistic doctor Paul Isert.
He's returned from Africa, where he survived a slave revolt -
- and saw the slaves' desperation up close.
Isert becomes one of Schimmelmann's closest colleagues, and the ambition is -
- is to make Denmark the first country to abolish the slave trade.
Schimmelmann saw some perspective in it.
He saw a mixture of humanism and that we would be a pioneering country.
But there was also surely an economic perspective.
Could we stop shipping slaves from Africa to the West Indies -
- and maintain the plantations that we profit from?
But Isert never sees the reforms of the slave trade.
In 1789, Paul Isert dies of fever here at Christiansborg in Ghana.
But his dream of a future without slavery persists.
In 1792, Schimmelmann gets King Christian VII -
- to sign a declaration that the trading of slaves over the Atlantic -
- will be forbidden.
The slave trade continued for a decade, however, until the law took effect.
And it would take another half-century -
- before we abolished slavery itself.
The slave trade is a very, very important part of our history.
It's a part that shows how disgusting, enterprising people -
- are capable of treating one another.
At the end of the 1700s -
- the Enlightenment has truly arrived in Denmark.
For one, we're the first nation to ban the slave trade.
Two, farmers become freer with the abolition of serfdom -
- showing that Denmark has finally become an enlightened monarchy.
In the next chapter of The Story of Denmark, we've reached the 1800s -
- a century where absolutism is challenged by the people.
The judges have sentenced Orla Lehmann to three months in prison -
- for spreading hate and dissatisfaction with absolutist rule.
Denmark gets its first constitution -
- and the people move from the country to the city -
- and form a totally new class: the workers.