Early Life
George was born in Copenhagen, the youngest son of King Frederick III of Denmark and Norway and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His governor from 1661 to 1665 was Otto Grote. He received military training, and undertook a Grand Tour of Europe, spending eight months in 1668–69 in France and mid-1669 in England. His father died in 1670, and George's elder brother, Christian, inherited the Danish throne.
In 1674, George was a candidate for the Polish elective throne, for which he was backed by King Louis XIV of France. George's staunch Lutheranism was a barrier to election in Roman Catholic Poland, and John Sobieski was chosen instead. In 1677, he served with distinction with his elder brother Christian in the Battle of Landskrona against Sweden.
As a Protestant, George was considered a suitable partner for the niece of King Charles II of England, the Lady Anne. Both Denmark and Britain were Protestant countries, and Louis XIV was keen on an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain the power of the Dutch. Anne's uncle Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, and the English Secretary of State for the Northern Department, Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, negotiated a marriage treaty. Anne's father, James, Duke of York, consented to the marriage. He was particularly pleased as it diminished the influence of his other son-in-law, Dutch Stadtholder William of Orange, who was naturally unhappy at the match.
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