[POTN] 2.4 - Christian's home affairs

Following the execution of Corfitz Ulfeldt, King Frederik continued centralising power in his realm, leading to many dissents fleeing Copenhagen and Denmark in general. Norway, while still subjected to these policies, was less affected, and became the refuge of many less prominent dissents.

The Norwegian Army, however, was placed under tight supervision on Frederik's command, and Christian was practically stripped of all power in the military, as Frederik was paranoid about a possible revolt led by his half-brothers. Christian, meanwhile, mostly refrained from military activities following the birth of his son, both to focus on his family and to prevent Frederik's suspicions. Indeed, in the months following Olav's birth, Maren became pregnant again, much to Christian's surprise.

A healthy girl was born in the early morning of 14th May, 1650, and was baptised Princess Elisabeth Leonora soon afterwards. The birth of a new girl brought the young couple much joy, though their passion didn't cease with the new addition to the family.

As the tension in Copenhagen heightened, the couple began considering leaving Christiania for somewhere farther away from Copenhagen. Nonetheless, by the time Ulfeldt was executed, Maren was once again heavily pregnant. It was thus decided for her to first give birth in Christiania, and the family would head off to the western city of Bergen afterwards.

In the afternoon of 28th July, 1651, Maren gave birth to their third child, also a girl. She was named Sophie Maria, and the family began moving west to Bergen not long after her birth. By mid-August, Christian purchased a castle in the outskirts of Bergen, and settled down with his wife and their three infants. Maren, despite having given birth to three children in three years, had mostly smooth deliveries, and recovered very readily afterwards.

Bergen, as the largest city in Norway, was the hub for many Norwegian intellectuals and scholars. They were often invited by Christian to be his guests, sharing their thoughts about the Norwegian language and culture with him.

From 1648, Christian had been working to develop a standard orthography for the Norwegian language, instead of using the Danish orthography like Norwegians had done for centuries. Many scholars were invited by Christian to help with the task, aiming to refine the spellings to accurately express the sounds in Norwegian that were distinct from Danish sounds.

While the initial proposal was completed in Christiania, many intellectuals in Bergen managed to refine the proposal, trying to make sure the orthography would be useful for differing Norwegian dialects, collected by Christian from different parts of the nation in his early military years.

The winter in late 1651 proved important for the project. Many intellectuals visited Christian's castle in those months, finalising the details and made the final adjustments. Jens Bjelke, the Chancellor of Norway and Maren's father, was invited to Christian's place in early 1652, and the project was presented to him.

The Chancellor received the proposal well, with the convincing presence of many famous scholars. With his support, Christian was finally able publish the proposal to the Norwegian public.

On 17th May, 1652, the proposal was simultaneously published in Bergen and Christiania. It did not get too much attention initially, but most of the ones who read the proposal were highly appreciative. Through them, the new orthography spread through Norway quickly, and became very well-known in a few years' time across the nation.

King Frederik received the news in Copenhagen after several months. He was very alarmed by the news, deeming it a proof of Christian's increasing influence in Norway. Policies were made to prevent Christian's return to the Norwegian Army, and Christian was banned from serving in the Dano-Norwegian military, along with his brother Valdemar.

At this point, Maren was, once again, pregnant. As usual, Christian spent much time tending to his wife, and stayed with her practically all the time, with the orthography project completed.

Still, Maren seemed to be suffering from more serious pregnancy symptoms than before, with the pain and dizziness worse than she ever experienced in the previous pregnancies.

By November, Maren became so heavily pregnant that even moving was exhausting for her. Christian stayed by her side all the time, tending to all her needs, looking forward to the new addition to the family.

In the frosty Christmas morning of 25th December, 1652, Maren, now 28, was once again giving birth. This time, however, it was not like the smooth deliveries before. The pain during labour was much more unbearable than before, even with the assistance of the midwives. After hours of difficult labour, a small and weak infant boy was finally pushed out. Nonetheless, Maren's pain did not cease for some reason.

After a few minutes of contemplation, a midwife spotted another infant inside Maren's body, still struggling to get out.

The midwives, recognising the potential danger, immediately helped extracting the other infant out. It was another boy, even smaller and weaker than the previous one.

Maren, falling into a deep slumber, slowly regained strength through the night, no longer in danger as before. Still, she remained obviously weaker than before for a couple of months, requiring Christian to continue taking care of her.

The boys, however, remained weak and fragile, in the care of the midwives and nurses. For the first couple of nights, it almost seemed unlikely for them to survive, given how fragile infants could be. For many days, Christian would visit the boys every day, praying for their survival silently, hoping that God would listen to his prayers and grant the boys healthy lives. By the turn of the year, the boys' conditions finally improved, and began showing signs resembling healthy, energetic infants.

After the first week of January 1653, the boys finally mostly recovered. While they remained more fragile than most of their peers, they still managed to survive healthily under their parent's care.

The boys were eventually baptised in Bergen in late January, and their names were finally confirmed by Maren and Christian. The elder, bigger one, was named Håkon Magnus, and the younger, smaller one, was named Sverre Eirik.

The names were, again, chosen from the Norwegian kings of old, signifying their ties to the Norwegian nation. Following the difficult childbirth, however, Maren became less active, and took some time to fully recover from it. No longer as sturdy as before, Maren fell ill more easily, and Christian began to treat her more gently and patiently.

Thus, the next pregnancy did not come as soon as they did before, and the family enjoyed some peaceful family time with their five infants messing around the castle. Christian, unwilling to pressure the kids so early on, refrained from hiring tutors for the time.

While some governesses were hired as usual, the couple still spent most of their time with their kids, unlike most noble parents, who would employ servants to take up the responsibility of caring for their children entirely.