tary
kingdom on a footing of approximate equality with Denmark. The period
closed with a widespread revival of the nationalist spirit, one of the
first fruits of which was the obtaining, in 1807, of an administrative
system separate from that of Denmark and, in 1811, of the privilege of
founding at Christiania a national university.[806]

[Footnote 806: Bain, Scandinavia, Chaps. 4, 5, 7,
10, 15; H. H. Boyesen, A History of Norway from the
Earliest Times (2d ed., London, 1900).]

II. THE SWEDISH-NORWEGIAN UNION, 1814-1905

*632. Bernadotte and the Treaty of Kiel.*--As has been pointed out, the
kingdom of Sweden acquired independence of Denmark near the end of the
first quarter of the sixteenth century. The liberation of Norway was
delayed until the era of Napoleon, and when it came it meant, not the
independence which the Norwegians craved, but forced affiliation with
their more numerous and more powerful neighbors on the east. The
succession of events by which the new arrangement was brought about
was engineered principally by Napoleon's ex-marshal Bernadotte. May
28, 1810, Prince Charles Augustus of Augustenburg, whom the Riksdag
had selected as heir to the infirm and childless Charles XIII., died,
and after a notable contest, Bernadotte was agreed upon unanimously by
the four estates (August 21) as the new heir. November 5 the
adventuresome Frenchman received the homage of the estates and was
adopted by the king as crown prince under the name of Charles
John.[807] By reason of the infirmity of the sovereign, Bernadotte
acquired almost at once virtual control of the government. From the
outset he believed it to be impossible for Sweden to recover Finland;
but he believed no less that she might recoup herself, with the assent
of the powers, by the acquisition of the Danish dominion of Norway. In
March and April, 1813, Great Britain and Russia were brought to the
point of giving the desired assent, and by the Treaty of Kiel, January
14, 1814, the king of Denmark, under pressure applied by the (p. 574)
Allies, made the desired surrender.[808]

[Footnote 807: Upon the death of Charles XIII.,
February 5, 1818, the "prince" succeeded to the
throne under the name of Charles XIV. He reigned
until 1844.]

[Footnote 808: C. Schefer, Bernadotte roi (Paris,