Everything about Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-jarlsberg totally explained
Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg (
1779 -
1840) was a
Norwegian count and politician. He played an active role in the
constitutional assembly at
Eidsvoll in
1814 and was the first native Norwegian to hold the post of governor (representing the absent king as head of the Norwegian cabinet) during the union with
Sweden.
Wedel-Jarlsberg was born in
Montpellier, France, son of
Frederik Anton Wedel-Jarlsberg. He studied law in
Copenhagen and graduated in
1801. He accepted a commission as the king's official for the district of
Buskerud in
1806. During the Napoleonic Wars, his connections with Sweden increased, and when the appointed and adopted Swedish crown prince,
Carl August died in
1810, his name was mentioned as a possible substitute in a desperate situation.
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was appointed and adopted and changed his name to
Carl Johan.
Count Wedel-Jarlsbergs engagement for a Norwegian union with Sweden didn't diminish. He maintained strongly that Norwegian interests were often contrary to the Danish, and that after the Swedes had adopted a constitution in
1809, Norwegian interests would be more strongly secured in a union with that country. He was of course well aware of the Swedish campaign to incorporate Norway as a substitution for the lost Finnish provinces. In some popular works count Wedel-Jarlsberg has been described as a traitor - a fifth-columnist - which is completely unjust. His opinions were well known to the educated public, and even if he was politically isolated to some extent, his title and position in the Norwegian society never changed much.
During Norway's efforts to secure independence from
Denmark and
Sweden in 1814, he hence advocated a moderate approach to the issue. He was the obvious leader of the party which has been named "the Swedish Party" og "the Negotiation Party". He maintained that Norway wouldn't manage to stand completely alone, alienated from all the leading powers in Europe, which had unanimously guaranteed Norway as a Swedish province. But there's no evidence that his point of view in any sense prevented him from fighting for a Norwegian constitution inspired by those of the
United States and
France, which the Swedish constitution was not. He belonged to the minority in the main topic on the Constitutional Assembly at
Eidsvoll, but he was vindicated by subsequent events.
He was made minister of finance in 1814 and served in this role until 1822. His efforts to restore a Norwegian monetary policy was successful, and he was without contest as the leading force of the government - even with Swedish governors as the formal leaders of the cabinet. His relations with king Carl Johan had at that time cooled to a point where close cooperation was no longer possible. He was elected to
Stortinget in
1824, where he served until
1832. He was president of parliament twice, in
1824 and
1830, and in
1836, after relations with the king had improved again, he was appointed governor and held that post until his death in 1840. The choice of him as governor was a popular one. He was almost unanimously respected because of his obvious political and administrative talents. His status as a nobleman in a country where nobility had been abolished as early as in 1821 (those wearing a title were still maintaining them, but no new titles would ever be given or inherited), didn't diminsh the Norwegians' affection for him. It is beyond doubt that his contributions to diminish the rather aggressive relations between the Parliament - the
Storting - and king Carl Johan were decisive.
Count Wedel-Jarlsberg was married to Karen Anker, the only child of prime minister
Peder Anker. From her family he inherited a vast fortune, consisting mostly of the forests around
Christiania - present day
Oslo.
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