by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Kirsten Munk was the morganatic, second wife of Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway. A morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal rank in which inherited titles and privileges cannot be passed on to the spouse or children of the marriage.

Kirsten Munk was born on July 6, 1598, at Nørlund Castle (link in Danish) in Nørager, Denmark. She was the only child of Ludvig Munk (1537 – 1602) and Ellen Marsvin (1572 – 1649). Her father had married late in life, at the age of 52, to the 17-year-old Ellen Marsvin. The family was untitled Danish nobility and Kirsten’s father served as Governor-General of Norway (1577 – 1583) and District Governor and feudal overlord of Hedmark (1587), Lister (1588 – 1589) and Trøndelag (1589 – 1599). Ellen Marsvin’s father Jørgen Marsvin was also of untitled Danish nobility who had served at the Danish royal court and as a District Governor.

Kirsten’s father died in 1602 when she was only four-years-old. In 1607, her mother Ellen married Knud Rud but he died in 1611. With the inheritances from her father and her two husbands, along with her natural business sense, Ellen increased her wealth and became the richest landowner in Denmark.

In 1612, Anna Katharina of Brandenburg, wife of Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway, died. Christian IV had affairs during his marriage and continued having affairs that resulted in several illegitimate children. In 1616, 39-year-old Christian IV became attracted to 18-year-old Kirsten. Kirsten’s astute mother did not want her daughter to become Christian’s mistress and instead negotiated a morganatic marriage between Christian and her daughter due to Kirsten’s status as a noble. Kirsten received properties in her name and was assured of a widow’s pension. Christian and Kirsten were married on December 31, 1615, and Kirsten was not the Queen due to the morganatic marriage and was given the title Countess of Schleswig-Holstein. Despite Christian IV having affairs, he had a close relationship with Kristen, who was described as intelligent and independent, and accompanied the king on his travels.

Christian IV and Kirsten’s children were styled Count and Countess of Schleswig-Holstein and did not have succession rights. Their maternal grandmother Ellen was made their guardian along with their father Christian IV. Ellen was also the trustee for her grandchildren’s allowances and was made responsible for their finances. The children of Christian IV and Kirsten married into the Danish nobility. Through their daughter Leonora Christine, Christian IV and Kirsten are the ancestors of Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein and Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz) and past monarchs King Simeon II of the Bulgarians, King Michael of Romania, King Peter II of Yugoslavia, King Manuel II of Portugal, Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary, King Friedrich August III of Saxony.

• Countess Anna Cathrine of Schleswig-Holstein (1618 -1633), died as a teenager
• Countess Sophie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein (1619 – 1657), married Christian von Pentz
• Countess Leonora Christina of Schleswig-Holstein (1621 – 1698), married Count Corfitz Ulfeldt, had ten children
• Count Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1622 – 1656), killed in battle
• Countess Elisabeth Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein (1623 – 1677), married Hans Lindenov
• Count Frederik Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1625 – 1627), died in childhood
• Countess Christiane of Schleswig-Holstein, twin of Hedwig (1626 – 1670), married Hannibal Sehested
• Countess Hedwig of Schleswig-Holstein, twin of Christiane (1626 – 1678), married Ebbe Ulfeldt
• Countess Maria Katharina of Schleswig-Holstein (born and died 1628), died in infancy
• Dorothea Elisabeth Christiansdatter (1629 – 1687), Christian IV did not recognized her as his child, converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun

In 1627 or 1628, Kirsten, who often accompanied her husband on military campaigns during the Thirty Years War, began a relationship with Count Otto Ludwig von Salm-Kyrburg-Mörchingen, one of King Christian IV’s military leaders. The relationship between Kirsten and Christian IV grew further apart and in November 1628, Kirsten denied Christian IV access to her bedroom. When Kirsten gave birth to her daughter Dorothea Elisabeth ten months later, Christian IV refused to recognize the child as his daughter. In 1630, Christian IV divorced Kirsten. He never remarried but Vibeke Kruse, who had been Kirsten’s chambermaid and then joined the household of Kirsten’s mother after Kirsten’s exile from the court, became his official mistress until he died in 1648.

For the rest of Christian IV’s reign, Kirsten lived under house arrest on her Jutland estates Boller Castle (link in Danish) and Rosenvold (link in Danish). During the last years of Christian IV’s life, Kirsten’s repeated requests to him for mercy were rejected. Finally, when Christian IV was on his deathbed in 1648, he sent for Kirsten but she arrived in Copenhagen after his death.

Five of Christian IV and Kirsten’s daughters had married powerful Danish noblemen, collectively called the Party of the Sons-in-Law, and played important roles in the Danish government from 1648 – 1651. Shortly after Christian IV’s death, the status of Kirsten’s marriage to the late king and the birth of all of her children, including the youngest, were declared legitimate. Vibeke Kruse, whom Kirsten’s children and sons-in-law had long opposed, was immediately removed from the court and died two months after Christian IV, and an unnatural death cannot be ruled out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirsten’s daughter Leonora Christina and her husband Count Corfitz Ulfeldt; Credit – Wikipedia

After the fall of Kirsten’s son-in-law Count Corfitz Ulfeldt, husband of her daughter Leonora Christina, due to rumors that he was associated with a plot to poison King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway, the couple left Denmark and settled in Sweden. The plot was proven to be false but Ulfeldt agreed to accept the offer of King Karl X Gustav of Sweden to enter his service because he wanted to humiliate King Frederik III, who was his wife’s half-brother. Ulfeldt participated in the Swedish invasion of Denmark in the Danish-Swedish War of 1657 – 1658. Kirsten allegedly financially supported the invasion of Denmark by King Karl X Gustav of Sweden. Because of this, the Danish government withdrew the title of Count/Countess of Schleswig-Holstein from Kirsten and her children. Count Corfitz Ulfeldt is considered the most notorious traitor in Danish history.

When Kirsten became ill in early 1658, her daughter Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, wife of the traitor, was not allowed to visit her. On April 19, 1658, Kirsten died at Boller Castle, her estate near Horsens on Jutland in Denmark at the age of 60. Her remains were brought to the city of Odense, now in Denmark but then occupied by Kirsten’s son-in-law Count Corfitz Ulfeldt and the Swedish army. There Kirsten was given a splendid funeral at St. Canute’s Cathedral where she was also buried.

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Works Cited

• Da.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kirsten Munk. [online] Available at: <https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Munk> [Accessed 8 March 2021].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kirsten Munk. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Munk> [Accessed 8 March 2021].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Ellen Marsvin. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Marsvin> [Accessed 8 March 2021].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kirsten Munk. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Munk> [Accessed 8 March 2021].
• Flantzer, Susan. 2021. Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/christian-iv-king-of-denmark-and-norway/> [Accessed 8 March 2021].