Kingdom of Denmark Index

King Frederik X waves from the balcony of Christiansborg Palace shortly after his proclamation as King of Denmark on January 14, 2024

Denmark is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries in Europe. It consists of  Jutland peninsula, bordered by Germany, and 443 named islands. A unified Danish monarchy can be traced back to Gorm the Old who died in 958. In the 10th and 11th centuries, several Kings of Denmark were also Kings of England.

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were ruled together under one monarch from 1397 until 1523 when Sweden seceded and became its own kingdom. In 1814, after the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark lost Norway to Sweden. Eventually, in 1905, the union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved and Norway became its own kingdom. Norway’s first king, Haakon VII, was born Prince Carl of Denmark, a son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark.

The House of Oldenburg reigned in Denmark from 1448 – 1863 when the crown passed to the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a cadet branch of the same house, because there were no Oldenburg heirs.

Below is an indexed listing with links to biographical articles about the Danish Royal Family at Unofficial Royalty.  If it says “Notable Issue” before a name, that means not all of the children for the parent of that person are listed. Also listed below are links to Danish Royal Wedding articles, links to Danish Miscellaneous Articles, and links to the various Danish Content Areas.

Note: Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were ruled together under one monarch from 1397 until 1523 (Kalmar Union) when Sweden seceded and became its own kingdom. From 1450 to 1814, Denmark and Norway were in a union of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway.

House of Gorm (circa 936 –1042)

  • Gorm the Old, King of Denmark (reigned 936 – 958)
    • Notable Issue: Harald I Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway (see below)
  • Harald I Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway (reigned King of Denmark circa 958 –  986, King of Norway circa 970 – 986)
    • Notable Issue: Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Norway, and England (see below)
  • Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, Norway, and England (reigned King of Denmark 986 – 1014, King of Norway 999/1000 – 1014, King of England 1013 – 1014)
    • Notable Issue: Harald II, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway (see below)
  • Harald II, King of Denmark (reigned 1014 – 1018)
  • Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway (reigned King of England 1016 – 1035, King of Denmark and King of Norway 1018–1035)
  • Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark, and Norway (second wife of Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English, her first husband, and second wife of Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, her second husband)
    • Notable Issue:  Harthacnut, King of England, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Harthacnut, King of England, King of Denmark, son of Cnut the Great and Emma of Normandy (reigned King of Denmark 1035 – 1042, King of England 1040 – 1042)

House of Fairhair (1042 – 1047)

  • Magnus the Good, King of Denmark and Norway (reigned King of Denmark 1042 – 1047, King of Norway 1035 – 1047)

House of Estridsen (1047 – 1375)

  • Sweyn II Estridsson, King of Denmark (reigned 1047–1076)
    • Notable Issue: Harald III, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Cnut IV, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Olaf I, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Eric I, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Niels, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Harald III, King of Denmark (reigned 1076 – 1080)
  • Cnut IV, King of Denmark (reigned 1080 – 1086)
  • Olaf I, King of Denmark (reigned 1086 – 1095)
  • Eric I, King of Denmark (reigned 1095 – 1103)
    • Notable Issue: Eric II, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Niels, King of Denmark (reigned 1104 – 1134)
  • Eric II, King of Denmark (reigned 1134 – 1137)
    • Notable Issue: Sweyn III Grathe, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Eric III, King of Denmark (reigned 1137–1146, abdicated)
  • Sweyn III Grathe, King of Denmark (reigned 1146 – 1157)
  • Cnut V, King of Denmark (reigned 1146 – 1157)
  • Valdemar I the Great, King of Denmark (1154 – 1182)
    • Notable Issue: Cnut VI, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Valdemar II, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Cnut VI, King of Denmark (reigned 1170 – 1202)
  • Valdemar II, King of Denmark (reigned 1202 – 1241)
    • Notable Issue: Valdemar III, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Eric IV, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Abel, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Christopher I, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Valdemar III, King of Denmark (reigned 1215 – 1231)
  • Eric IV, King of Denmark (reigned 1232 – 1250)
  • Abel, King of Denmark (reigned 1250 – 1252)
  • Christopher I, King of Denmark (reigned 1252 – 1259)
    • Notable Issue: Eric V, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Eric V, King of Denmark (1259 – 1286)
    • Notable Issue: Eric VI, King of Denmark (see below)
    • Notable Issue: Christopher II, King of Denmark (see below)
  • Eric VI, King of Denmark (reigned 1286 – 1319)
  • Christopher II, King of Denmark (1st reign 1320 – 1326, deposed)
  • Valdemar III, King of Denmark (1326 – 1329, deposed)
  • Christopher II, King of Denmark (2nd reign, 1329 – 1332)
    • Notable Issue: Valdemar IV Atterdag, King of Denmark (see below)
  • The Kingless Period (1332 – 1340) – For eight years after Christopher II’s death, Denmark had no king, and was controlled by the counts. After one of them, Gerhard III of Holstein-Rendsburg was assassinated in 1340, Christopher’s son Valdemar was chosen as King of Denmark
  • Valdemar IV, King of Denmark (reigned 1340 – 1375)
    • Notable Issue: Margrethe I, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (see below)

House of Bjälbo (1376 – 1387)

House of Estridsen (1387 – 1412)

House of Griffin (1396 -1439)

House of Wittelsbach, Palatinate-Neumarkt Branch (1440 – 1448)

House of Oldenburg (1448 – 1863)

Family of King Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Family of King Hans of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Family of King Christian II of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Family of King Frederik I of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Frederik II of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Frederik III of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Frederik IV of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Frederik V of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Frederik VI of Denmark and Norway

Family of King Christian VIII of Denmark

Family of King Frederik VII of Denmark

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1863 – present)

Family of King Christian IX of Denmark

Family of King Frederik VIII of Denmark

Family of King Christian X of Denmark

Family of King Frederik IX of Denmark

Family of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Family of King Frederik X of Denmark 

Danish Royal Weddings

Danish Royal Ceremonies and Events

Danish Royal Churches

Danish Miscellaneous Articles

Danish Content Areas