Meeting of Notables

The Meeting of Notables (Norwegian: notabelmøtet or stormannsmøtet) was a meeting that took place before Norway declared independence from Denmark in 1814.

In the Treaty of Kiel, Denmark lost the country of Norway to Sweden. Christian Frederik, Prince of Denmark, saw his opportunity to seize the Norwegian throne,^[1] and summoned twenty-one leading figures of society ("notables") to hear them out.^[2]

The meeting took place in Eidsvoll on 16 February 1814. It soon became clear that the principle of popular sovereignty was rooted among the delegates, and if Christian Frederik should ascend the throne, it had to happen in a manner seen as democratic. As such, the meeting of notables agreed to arrange the election for a Norwegian Constituent Assembly, due to convene on 10 April the same year.^[2]

The Constituent Assembly did elect Christian Frederik as King,^[3] but his short reign was stopped when Sweden intervened in the summer.^[4]

List of participants

This is a list of the participants at the Meeting of Notables.^{[citation needed]}

• Christian Frederik, Prince of Denmark
• Fredrik Julius Bech
• Marcus Gjøe Rosenkrantz
• Mathias Otto Leth Sommerhielm
• Jonas Collett
• Poul Christian Holst
• Hans Hagerup Falbe
• Christoffer Anker Bergh
• Niels Treschow
• Georg Sverdrup
• Otto Lütken
• Frederik Gottschalk von Haxthausen
• Christian D. A. Arenfeldt
• Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted
• F. W. Haffner
• Hans Henrik Rode
• F. L. Brock
• Peder Anker
• Carsten Anker
• Peter Anker
• Carsten Tank
• Jacob Nielsen

Of these, only Georg Sverdrup and Peder Anker were members of the Constituent Assembly.^[5]

References

1. ^ Weidling, Tor Ragnar (2007). "Christian Frederik". In Henriksen, Petter (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/notabelm%C3%B8tet. Retrieved 24 June 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Mardal, Magnus A. (2007). "notabelmøtet". In Henriksen, Petter (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/notabelm%C3%B8tet. Retrieved 24 June 2009. 
3. ^ Mardal, Magnus A. (2007). "Riksforsamlingen". In Henriksen, Petter (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Riksforsamlingen. Retrieved 24 June 2009. 
4. ^ Mardal, Magnus A. (2007). "Mossekonvensjonen". In Henriksen, Petter (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Mossekonvensjonen. Retrieved 24 June 2009. 
5. ^ "Riksforsamlingen våren 1814" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). http://www.nsd.uib.no/polsys/index.cfm?urlname=polsys&lan=&MenuItem=N1_1&ChildItem=&State=collapse&UttakNr=103&Periodetekst=-1. Retrieved 24 June 2009.