A Deadly Affair: Count Johann Friedrich Struensee

Count Johann Friedrich Struensee (Prussia, 5th August 1737 – Copenhagen, Denmark, 28th April 1772)

Johann Friedrich Struensee by Hans Hansen after Jens Juel, 1824

Today we mark the death of a polarising figure in Scandinavian court politics, Count Johann Friedrich Struensee. My post on Queen Caroline Mathilde, right back in the early weeks of the Guide, remains a popular item almost a year after it was first published and I thought it might be germane to revisit this turbulent story, with a look at the final act of the life of Struensee.

Struensee was brought into the Danish court to quell the eccentricities of King Christian VII and his decision to emply the doctor was initially applauded by his counsellors, who saw the physician as a much-needed stabilising influence. In fact it was to prove a pivotal moment in the history of the Danish monarchy, shaking the house of Oldenburg to its foundations.  Within a year of Struensee's arrival at court the unhappy Queen Caroline Mathilde and Struensee were lovers; as the king decended deeper into madness, so Struensee's influence at court increased until, in late 1770, he was elected privy counsellor.

Caroline Mathilde by Francis Cotes

By the time of Struensee's rise to power the king was confined and often incoherent, so his former doctor enjoyed a period of virtually unchallenged authority, initiating over a thousand reforms that began with the total restructure of the unwieldy Danish cabinet. One might have expected Christian to be disturbed by these developments but in fact it was the opposite; he delighted in the unusual arrangement, glad to see his wife happy, his own marital responsibilities discharged and the burden of government business lifted from his shoulders. 

However, the ruling classes did not share their monarch's delight and when the queen gave birth to a daughter who was assumed to be Struensee's child, they moved in earnest against him. Facing higher taxes, reduced privilege and more reforms than they knew what to do with, the cabinet and court turned against the queen and her lover, their previously anaemic support for Christian returning with a fervour.

Woodcut depicting the arrest of Johann Friedrich Struensee

On 17th January 1772, Caroline Mathilde and Struensee were arrested. Struensee was charged with usurping royal authority and subjected to interrogation and torture. He mounted an eloquent and passionate defence of his actions but the die was already cast and Struensee was sentenced to have his hand severed and then to be beheaded, drawn and quartered. He was held in readiness for execution at Kastellet in Copenhagen and on 28th April was conveyed to the scaffold.

Woodcut depicting the execution of Johann Friedrich Struensee

Here the grisly sentence was enacted before an audience of tens of thousands. Queen Caroline Mathilde and her daughter were sent into exile in Celle, where the queen died aged just 23, never seeing Denmark again.

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

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Nicolas-Henri Jardin, Royal Building Master

Nicolas-Henri Jardin (St Germain des Noyers, Seine-et-Marne, France, 22nd March 1720 – St Germain des Noyers, Seine-et-Marne, France, 31st August 1799)

Nicolas-Henri Jardin by Peder Als, 1764

Much as I adore my tottering abode on Henrietta Street, there's no denying that it can be a little bit higgledy piggledy. Our subject today is a man who never went near tottering and to whom higgledy piggledy would have been blasphemy; in fact, he was one of the giants of neoclassical architecture and like so many of our recent guests, he hailed from France.

Nicolas-Henri Jardin was barely into double figures when he took up a serious interest in architecture and by the age of 18 was enrolled at the Académie Francaise. A diligent and exemplary student, Jardin became a star student and in 1744 designed a cathedral chancel that won him the Prix de Rome for architecture. With the money he received from the prize he followed so many other artists and creatives to Italy and a place at the prestigious Académie Francaise in Rome, where he would remain until 1748. Here he befriended sculptor Jacques François Joseph Saly and the two would be lifelong friends, with Saly eventually providing Jardin with his greatest opportunities.

Marienlyst Castle, Helsingør

Their studies and roaming concluded, Saly travelled to Denmark to work at the court of King Frederik V whilst Jardin returned to Paris where he would take up the position of resident architect with Michel Tannevot in 1753. In fact, Jardin only remained in Tannevot's employ for a year as the winds of change were blowing through the Danish court. With something of an overhaul of personnel taking place, there was a  need for an innovative, talented architect to complete Frederikskirken, a project begun by Nicolai Eigtved five years earlier, before the architect fell from favour with Frederik.

Saly suggested that his travelling companion from Italy might fit the bill and by the end of 1754, Jardin was in Copenhagen with his apprentice brother, Louis Henri. With a year they were members of Royal Danish Academy of Art, lecturing on architecture under the Director, who just happened to be Jardin's old friend, Saly.

The Yellow Palace, Copenhagen

When Jardin presented the plans for the church to the Royal Building Commission, they were horrified at the enormous expense of the project; not to be deterred, he made minor amendments and resubmitted his work. Once again the Commission balked at the cost yet this time Jardin had already secured the agreement of the King, who declared that work would begin immediately. Due to the complexity of the plans the building process was painfully slow and funds were not always quick to materialise yet Jardin maintained his position of favour at court, taking the role of Royal Building Master in 1760.

Throughout his career, Jardin received many prestigious decorations and plaudits but the stability that he enjoyed as a courtier of Frederik was threatened by the death of the old king and the succession of his unstable son, Christian VII. In 1770 it was projected that the church would not be fully completed for almost eighty years and Christian's advisor, Johann Friedrich Struensee, advised that building should stop for a time in order for the country to divert some of the money that was being ploughed into the project. Jardin was paid off and the unfinished church was left to the elements, falling into ruin before construction finally resumed in 1874.

Bernstorff Palace, Copenhagen

With Struensee's disgrace and arrest in 1771, Christian became distrustful of all who were of foreign birth and Jardin took this as his cue to depart Denmark, with Saly leaving his own position just three months later. Jardin exchanged one palace for another, joining the court of Louis XV and continuing in his good fortune until the storm of revolution blew into Paris. Once again the shrewd architect chose his moment to leave the stage and retired to the town where he had been born, seeing out his final years in prosperity.

Frederik's Church, Copenhagen

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

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The Short, Scandalous Life of Queen Caroline Mathilde

Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (London, England, 11th July 1751 - Celle, Germany, 10th May 1775)

Caroline Mathilde by Francis Cotes

She went from the House of Hanover to the court of Denmark and ended in scandalous exile and a tragically early death - today marks the birthday of Queen Caroline Matilde.

One of the women to whom grandmother Gilflurt was often favourably compared for the bloom in her cheeks and the grace of her manners, Caroline Mathilde was the youngest child of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. A world away from the formal manners and customs of the Hanoverian court, Caroline's was raised in seclusion following the death of her father and she enjoyed a relatively simple life, delighting in nature and equestrian pursuits.

This quiet, settled existence was to end at the age of 15 when a very reluctant Caroline Mathilde travelled to Copenhagen to become the wife of her cousin, King Christian VII of Denmark. Known as something of an eccentric, the full extent of Christian's mental illness had yet to show itself and from the start their marriage was a far from happy one. Reluctant to consummate the marriage, Christian preferred to spend time with courtesans and prostitutes, frequenting the brothels of the city whilst rejecting all contact with his wife. With the line of succession in jeapardy, Christian's advisers became to whisper that it would be a shame if the king were to be thought of as impotent; their scheming did the trick and the couple finally produced the all-important heir.

By 1769 Christian's eccentricities growing more and more extreme and his decision to bring doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee to court was applauded by his counsellors, who saw the physician as a much-needed stabilising influence. In fact it was to prove a pivotal moment in the history of the Danish monarchy, shaking the house of Oldenburg to its very foundations.  Within a year the queen and Struensee were lovers and as the king grew more disturbed, so Struensee's influence at court increased until, in late 1770, he was elected privy counsellor (maître des requêtes). With the king confined, Struensee enjoyed a period of virtually unchallenged authority, initiating over a thousand reforms that began with the total restructure of the unwieldy Danish cabinet. One might have expected Christian to be disturbed by these developments but in fact it was the opposite; he delighted in the unusual arrangement, glad to see his wife happy, his own marital responsibilities discharged and the burden of government business lifted from his shoulders.

With the guidance and support of Caroline Mathilde, Struensee's reforms included the abolition of torture, the banning of slavery and widespread vaccination against smallpox for the poor. In fact, his experimental inoculation against the disease had been what first brought him to Caroline's attention when his decisive actions saved the life of her son.

The Time of Struensee was over within 16 months. Outraged by Caroline Mathilde's open liaisons with the doctor and her proclivities for dressing as a man and mixing with the populace of Copenhagen, the birth of a daughter that was assumed to be Struensee's child was the final straw. Facing higher taxes, reduced privilege and more reforms than they knew what to do with, the cabinet and court turned against the queen and her lover, their support for Christian returning with a fervour.

In January 1772, Caroline Mathilde and Struensee were arrested and interrogated. In April of that same year the royal marriage ended in divorce and Struensee went to the scaffold.

Having a king for a brother is always handy and George III successfully petitioned to have Caroline Mathilde released from prison and sent into exile in the Hanovarian Celle Castle; here, the former queen of Denmark devoted herself to charity as well as continuing to plan for the day when she would depose Christian and rule as regent. In fact, Caroline never saw Denmark nor her son again and she died of scarlet fever at the age of just 23.

George III rejected calls for Caroline Mathilde to be buried in Westminster Abbey and she was interred in her place of exile, Celle Castle, the final stop in a life that had been short, scandalous and ultimately tragic.

Read more about the tragic life of Caroline Mathilde in my book, Life in the Georgian Court! 

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

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