Riksforsamlingen
Encyclopedia
Eidsvoll
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.-Name:...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, that voted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. In Norway, it is often just referred to as Eidsvollsforsamlingen, which means The Assembly of Eidsvoll.
The Assembly
Riksforsamlingen is a Norwegian term approximately meaning "The National Assembly". The prefix "Riks" in Norwegian has a Germanic root (caompare Reichs- in German, Rijks- in Dutch, Rigs- in Danish, Riks- in Swedish), meaning "realm", and "forsamlingen" translates to "the assembly".The Assembly was convened to forge the Norwegian Constitution ("Norges Grunnlov"). The delegates were popularly dubbed Eidsvollsmennene ("The Men of Eidsvoll"). The Assembly met in The Eidsvoll Manor (Eidsvollsbygningen). They met on 10 April outside Eidsvoll church and the assembly was formally opened the next day. The assembly was composed of delegates from around the country. However, the northernmost parts of the country were not represented because of the long distances and lack of time.
The presidents and vice presidents of the assembly were chosen for one week, thus continuously changing. The presidents were: Peder Anker
Peder Anker
Peder Anker was a Norwegian businessman and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1814 until 1822.-Biography:...
(10-17 April), Diderik Hegermann
Diderik Hegermann
Diderik Hegermann was a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly, the Norwegian councillor of state of the 6th Ministry in 1814 and 1814–1815, and Minister of the Army 1815–1816.-References:...
(18-24 April), Jens Schou Fabricius
Jens Schou Fabricius
Jens Schou Fabricius was the Norwegian appointed Minister of the Navy 1817–1818. Fabricius was a rear admiral by profession.-References:...
(25 April-1 May), Christian Adolph Diriks
Christian Adolph Diriks
Christian Adolph Diriks was a Norwegian lawyer and statesman, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814.. He was born in Copenhagen, the son of maritime captain Boye Boyesen Dyriks and Marie Elisabeth Stoppel...
(2-8 May), Christian Magnus Falsen
Christian Magnus Falsen
Christian Magnus Falsen was a Norwegian constitutional father, statesman, jurist, and historian. He was an important member of the constitutional assembly and was one of the writers of the constitutional laws....
(9-16 May) and Georg Sverdrup
Georg Sverdrup
Georg Sverdrup , born Jørgen Sverdrup, was a Norwegian philologist, who is well known for being a member of Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814 and later the parliament. He was also responsible for building the first Norwegian university library...
(17-20 May). Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie
Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie
Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie was a Norwegian constitutional father, known for being the constitutional assembly's writer. -Background:...
was the assembly's permanent secretary.
The assembly agreed upon the text of the Constitution on 17 May 1814. Sverdrup, who was the last president, gave the final speech. The Constitution was signed and dated 18 May 1814, but the 17th of May is today celebrated as the Norwegian National Day
National Day
The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint or a ruler . Often the day is not called "National Day"...
. The members said farewell on 20 May, when they held each other's hands saying "United and loyal until the mountains of Dovre crumble!"
Background
Forced in early 1814 to sign the Treaty of KielTreaty of Kiel
The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 in Kiel...
as an ally of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the later phase of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the king of Denmark-Norway had to cede Norway to the king of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The people of Norway, never consulted, objected to the royal sell-out. The vice-roy and heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederik
Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
, took the lead in an insurrection and called a Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll. The Norwegian Constitution of 17 May formalised Norway’s independence after nearly 400 years of union with Denmark. On the same day, Christian Frederik was elected King of Norway. As a result of this, Sweden invaded Norway. After a campaign of two weeks, a peace treaty (The Convention of Moss
Convention of Moss
The Convention of Moss was a cease fire agreement, signed August 14, 1814, between the Swedish King and the Norwegian Storting. It followed the Swedish-Norwegian War due to Norway's claim to sovereignty...
) was concluded. King Christian Frederik was forced to abdicate, but Norway remained nominally independent and kept its Constitution with only such amendments as were required to allow it to enter into a loose personal union
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....
with Sweden. On 4 November, the Storting amended the Constitution accordingly, and elected the Swedish king King Charles XIII
Charles XIII of Sweden
Charles XIII & II also Carl, , was King of Sweden from 1809 and King of Norway from 1814 until his death...
as king of Norway. Although the two states retained their separate governments and institutions, except for the king and the foreign service, Norwegians grew increasingly discontented with the union, which had been forced upon them. In 1905 the union was peacefully dissolved, giving Norway its full independence.
See also
- List of members of the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly
- Constitution of NorwayConstitution of NorwayThe Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...
- Norway in 1814Norway in 18141814 was a pivotal year in the history of Norway. It started with Norway in a union with the Kingdom of Denmark subject to a naval blockade being ceded to the king of Sweden. In May a constitutional convention declared Norway an independent kingdom. By the end of the year the Norwegian parliament...
- Norwegian Constitution DayNorwegian Constitution DayNorwegian Constitution Day is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai or syttande mai , Nasjonaldagen or Grunnlovsdagen , although the latter is less frequent.- Historical...
- History of NorwayHistory of NorwayThe history of human settlement in what is present day Norway goes back at least 11,000 years, to the late Paleolithic. Archaeological finds in the county of Møre og Romsdal have been dated to 9,200 BC and are probably the remains of settlers from Doggerland, an area now submerged in the North Sea,...