Volume 1

The universal dictionary of biography and mythology / by J. Thomas.

  • Joseph Thomas
Date:
[1887]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The universal dictionary of biography and mythology / by J. Thomas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    613/646 (page 599)
    acquired the surname of Pious. Alarmed by the eleva- tion of the house of Holstein-Gottorp on the thrones of Sweden and Russia, he formed in 1745 a defensive alliance with France. He died in 1746, leaving the throne to his son, Frederick V. See Riegkls, “Account of the Reign of Christian VI.,” 1798. Christian (or Christiern) VII, King of Denmark, born in January, 1749, was the son of Frederick V., whom he succeeded in January, 1766. His mother was Louisa, daughter of George II. of England. He married in 1766 his cousin Caroline Matilda, a sister of George III. of England. His physician, Struensee, who acquired a paramount influence over him, became chief minister in 1779* but was deprived of power and life by a hostile party in 1772. The king, whose reason was impaired by disease, had no part in the government for many years before his death. In 1784 his son Frederick became regent. Christian died in 1808, and was succeeded by the son just named. (See Struensee, and Caroline Matilda.) See G. L. Baden, “Christiern VII. Regierings Aarbog,” 1833; Mynster, “Sorgetale over Kong Christian VII.,” 1814. Christian (or Christiern) VIII., King of Denmark, the son of the hereditary Prince Frederick, was born in 1786. About 1812 he was appointed Governor or Vice- roy of Norway. The King of Denmark was obliged to cede Norway to Sweden in 1814; but the people of Nor- way protested against that act, and chose Prince Chris- tian as their king. On the approach of Bernadotte with an army, he abdicated, in October, 1814. He suc- ceeded his cousin, Frederick VI., in 1839, and took measures to prepare Denmark for the free institutions which were established in the next reign. He died in January, 1848, leaving the throne to his son, Frederick VII. See “Nouvelle Biographie Gdndrale.” Christian (or Christiern) IX., King of Denmark, son of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Sleswick-Holstein, etc., was born in 1818. He ascended the throne in No- vember, 1863. In the early part of 1864 he waged a very unequal war against Austria, Prussia, and other German powers which claimed Sleswick and Holstein as part of Germany. In August, 1864, he signed a treaty of peace, and ceded Sleswick, Holstein, and Lauenburg to the victors. Christian, (Andrew,) a Danish medical writer, born at Ripen in 1551; died in 1606. Christian or Christien Reisen, (Charles,) an excellent engraver of gems, born in London, of Danish parents, about 1695. He is ranked among the first mod- ern engravers of precious stones, and executed many works, which are in great request. Among them is a portrait of Charles XII. of Sweden. Died in 1725. Chris'tian, (Edward,) professor of the laws of Eng- land in the University of Cambridge. He published an edition of “ Blackstone’s Commentaries,” (1795,) ‘‘Ori- gin of the Two Houses of Parliament,” (1810,) “Bank- rupt Laws,” and other legal works. Died in 1823. Christ ian Augus'tus, Duke of Sleswick-Holstein- Sonderburg-Augustenburg, was born at Copenhagen in 1798. He succeeded his father, Frederick Christian, in 1814, and became the chief of a party which attempted to separate Sleswick and Holstein from Denmark about 1848. He was afterwards banished. Christian, (Frederick Christian Charles Augustus,) Prince, of Sleswick-Holstein, was born in 1831. In i86fc he married Princess Helena. He is a general in the British army and a Knight of the Garter. Christian von Hamle, a German minnesinger, who lived about 1250. Christiani, kRls-te-i'nee, (William Ernest,) a Dan- ish historian, born at Kiel in 1731. He was professor of eloquence and public law at Kiel, and author of a “ History of Sleswick and Holstein,” which is highly commended. Died in 1793. Christie, krls'te, (James,) an English antiquary and auctioneer of London. He published in 1806 a treatise on Etruscan Vases, and in 1815 an “Essay on the Earliest Species of Idolatry, the Worship of the Ele- ments.” Died in 1831. Christie, (Samuel Hunter,) F.R.S., an English magnetist, born in London in 1784. He became pro- fessor of mathematics in the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, about 1838. He contributed many papers on magnetism to the “Philosophical Transactions.” Died in 1865. Christie, (Thomas,) an ingenious Scottish writer, born at Montrose in 1761, lived in London and Paris. As an adversary of Burke, he wrote “Letters on the French Revolution,” (1791.) He also published “Mis- cellanies, Philosophical, Medical, and Moral,” and edited the “Analytic Review,” founded by him in 1788. He went to Surinam, where he died in 1796. Christie, (William Henry Mahony,) an Engli-h astronomer, born at Woolwich in 1845 He became chief assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in 1870, and was appointed astronomer-royal in 1881. Christin, (Charles Gabriel Frederic,) a French jurist, born at Saint-Claude in 1744; died in 1799. Christina, kRls-tee'ni, [Fr. Christine, kK&s'tfen',] Queen of Sweden, born on the 8th of December, 1626, was the only surviving child of Gustavus Adolphus and Maria Eleonora, Princess of Brandenburg. She received a careful, solid, and masculine education. At the death of Gustavus, in 1632, she was proclaimed queen, and the regency was confided to Oxenstiern and four other digni- taries, who directed her education in accordance with the plan of her father. She learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, history, politics, and other sciences, neglecting the usual feminine accomplishments. Her favourite recreations were horseback-riding and the chase. Her mind was strong, her character eccentric and impatient of the etiquette of courts. In 1644 she assumed the direction of the government, and, pursuing a pacific policy, took part in the important treaty of Westphalia in 1648, by which Sweden acquired Pomerania, Bremen, and Verden. Her subjects were proud of her, as the worthy daughter of a hero, and desired that she would choose a husband ; but she evinced a constant aversion to the conjugal yoke. The States of Sweden, with the assent of Christina, in 1649 designated as her successor her cousin Charles Gustavus, who had aspired to her hand. Soon after this event she proposed to abdicate, but was induced by her ministers to change her purpose or postpone its execution. Her eccentricity appeared in the extravagant patronage of literary men, pedants, buffoons, artists, etc. Among the eminent persons whom she attracted to her court were Descartes, Grotius, Salmasius, Naude, Vos- sius, and Bochart. In June, 1654, she gave, while still in the bloom of youth, a remarkable example of contempt for a throne, by a formal abdication, which is variously ascribed to vanity, levity, or magnanimity. According to Voltaire, “she preferred to live with men who think, rather than reign over men without learning or genius.” Some suppose she was ambitious to make a sensation by an extraordinary act of self-denial. She abjured the Protestant for the Catholic religion, and, followed by a numerous suite, became a resident of Rome, where she busied herself in the promotion of arts and in political affairs. On the death of the King of Sweden in 1660, she visited Stockholm, and, it is said, wished to recover the crown; but, receiving no encouragement, she soon returned to Rome. She had reserved the power of life and death over the persons who remained in her service. Her memory is stained with the charge of cruelty to Monaldeschi, her grand-equerry, whom she accused of treason and caused to be put to death, in Paris, in 1656. She founded an academy in Rome, and made rich col- lections of medals and productions of art. Her superior mind and cultivation did not preserve her from chi- merical projects and the vain dreams of astrology. She composed a volume of “ Maxims and Sentences,” and other works. Died in 1689. See Lacombe, “Histoirede Christine,” 1762; Catteau-Cau.e- viu-e, “Histoire de Christine Reine de Suide,” 1815; Archen- holz, “ Memoirs of the Life of Christina,” Stockholm, 4 vols., 1751, in French; John Burbery, “ History of Christina, Queen of Swede- land,” 1658; Anders Fryxell, “Drottning Christinas formyn- dare,” 1838; Henry Woodhead, “Memoirs of Christina of Sweden,” 1863. Christine de France, kRJs'tfen' cl eh fRSNss, Duchess of Savoy, and daughter of Henry IV. of France, was