Johann friedrich struensee samuel adam struensee biography
Vincenza Rico
Scene from Christian VII’s Court by Kristian Zahrtmann – (left to right) King Christian VII, Queen Caroline Mathilde, and Johann Struensee
Introduction
During the late 18th century in Denmark, a German physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee, came to King Christian VII’s court as his personal physician. The mentally unstable king struck up a close friendship with his doctor, while Struensee began an affair with the queen, Caroline Mathilda. During this period, Struensee had a strong influence over the king and used it to become the de facto ruler of Denmark. Struensee was a follower of the Enlightenment and as Denmark’s “dictator”, he passed more than 2200 laws (Struensee’s “Reformstorm”) from 1769 to 1772, which limited the powers of the nobility, changed labor laws, and instituted freedom of the press, among other things. In 1772, the king’s mother with the help of the disenfranchised aristocracy had Struensee arrested, tried for treason, Samuel adams recall.