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Frederick V of Denmark

1723–1766

Born
31 Mar 1723, Copenhagen Castle
Country of birth
Denmark
Died
14 Jan 1766, Christiansborg Palace
facts
11
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Copenhagen Castle

    Birth, Copenhagen Castle

  2. Child born: Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark

    Birth

  3. Child born: Sophia Magdalena of Denmark

    Birth, Christiansborg Palace

  4. Event · Monarch of Denmark

    Event

  5. Event · Monarch of Norway

    Event

  6. Child born: Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark

    Birth, Copenhagen

  7. Child born: Christian VII of Denmark

    Birth, Christiansborg Palace

  8. Child born: Princess Louise of Denmark

    Birth, Christiansborg Palace

  9. Child born: Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark

    Birth, Christiansborg Palace

  10. Died · Christiansborg Palace

    Death, Christiansborg Palace

What was it like?

The world around Copenhagen Castle, 1723: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Frederick was Monarch of Norway from 1746 to 1766.

Known for

Titles held

  • Monarch of Norway1746–1766
  • Monarch of Denmark1746–1766
Fashion
Around 1725–1749

Men's hat styles changed

Men switched from tall conical hats to low, broad-brimmed black felt hats during the 1700s.

Around 1725–1749

Skirt colors indicated status

Women used skirt colors to signal status: red for unmarried girls, green for married women, and blue for festive occasions.

Music
Around 1725–1749

Common Instruments for Village Dancing

Village dances commonly featured the violin as the main instrument, alongside traditional drone instruments like the hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, and drums.

Around 1725–1749

Minuet Popularity Among Ordinary People

In the 1740s, peasants danced the minuet at fine occasions, and authorities even caught guests dancing it at a suburban Copenhagen inn in 1736.

Daily life
Around 1725–1749

Long school days and restricted access

Formal schooling for boys in Danish towns involved long days, typically running from 6:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., except on Wednesdays when it ended at 8:00 a.m. Girls were generally barred from these schools, though some were taught by female teachers who were restricted to instructing girls regardless of age.

Around 1725–1749

Naval school pay in rye

At the Nyboder naval housing, school was integrated into naval service, and part of the boys' pay was 4.5 kg of rye per month. Boys entered school at 6 years old and remained until confirmation, focusing on training for future work as sailors or specialists.

Food
Around 1725–1749

Clarifying coffee with fish skin

Coffee was boiled in copper kettles and sometimes clarified with a piece of dried flounder skin, as coffee filters did not exist.

Around 1725–1749

Herring was the common daily meal

For ordinary people, salted herring eaten with water porridge was the most common daily meal, often consumed morning, noon, and evening.

Work
Around 1726–1749

Day laborer earnings in Odense

A common day laborer in Odense earned 16 skilling for a 12-hour workday during summer, and 12 skilling during winter.

News and letters
Around 1725–1729

Mail collection in Aabenraa

Residents of Aabenraa had to pick up their mail at the customs house in Toldsted until the first royal postmaster was appointed in the town in 1729.

Around 1725–1749

Travel time by carriage and foot

In the early Danish postal system, the route between Copenhagen and Hamburg used carriages, while others were served by foot messengers with a travel time of 8 days.

During their lifetime

  1. 1728

    1728 Copenhagen fire destroys city infrastructure

    In 1728, a massive fire in Copenhagen destroyed 74 streets and 1,670 of the city's 4,087 houses, leading to the creation of a fire insurance company.

  2. 1733

    1733 stavnsbånd law restricts peasant movement

    In 1733, the state introduced the stavnsbånd, a law forbidding men between 14 and 36 years old from leaving the estate where they were born.

  3. 1740

    1740s cattle plague destroys livestock numbers

    Beginning in the mid-1740s, a devastating cattle plague killed between 300,000 and 400,000 animals by the time it subsided in 1752.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.