Grunnlovsforsamlingen Eidsvoll 1814 - painting by
Oscar Wergeland. The speaker is C.M.Falsen and next to him sits W.F.K.Christie.
is a Norwegian term approximately meaning "The National Assembly".
The Assembly
Riksforsamlingen is the name given to the 1814 Constitutional Assembly of
Eidsvoll in
Norway. The prefix "
Riks-" in Norwegian has a Germanic root (
Reichs- in German,
Rijks- in Dutch,
Rigs- in Danish,
Riks- in Swedish), meaning "realm", and "
forsamlingen" is "the assembly".
The Assembly was convened to forge the Norwegian Constitution ("
Norges Grunnlov"). The delegates were popularly dubbed
Eidsvollsmennene ("The Men of Eidsvoll"). The Assembly met in The Eidsvoll manor (
Eidsvollsbygningen). They met April 10 outside Eidsvoll church and the assembly was formally opened the next day. The assembly was composed of delegates from around the country. However, the northernmost parts of the country were not represented because of the the long distances and lack of time.
Who were the president and vice president in the assembly changed continously. The presidents were chosen for one week. Among the ones who served as presidents were
Peder Anker, (the first one),
Frederik Heidmann,
Jens Schou Fabricius,
Christian Magnus Falsen and
Georg Sverdrup (the last one).
Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie was the assembly's permanent secretary.
The assembly agreed to the Constitution on 16 May 1814. Sverdrup was chosen as president the same day. The Constitution was signed and dated 17 May 1814, which has been made the Norwegian
National Day. The members said farewell May 20, when they held each other's hands saying "United and loyal until the mountains of Dovre crumble!"
Background
Forced in early 1814 to sign the
Treaty of Kiel as an ally of
France in the later phase of the
Napoleonic Wars, the king of
Denmark-Norway had to cede Norway to the king of
Sweden. The people of Norway, never consulted, objected to the royal sell-out. The vice-roy and
heir presumptive of Denmark-Norway,
Christian Frederik, took the lead in an insurrection and called a Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll. The Norwegian Constitution of May 17 formalised Norway’s independence after nearly 400 years of union with Denmark. On the same day, Christian Frederik was elected King of Norway. As a result of this, Sweden invaded Norway. After a campaign of two weeks, a peace treaty (The
Convention of Moss) was concluded. King Christian Frederik was forced to abdicate, but Norway remained nominally independent and kept its Constitution with only such amendments as were required to allow it to enter into a loose personal
union with Sweden. On November 4, the
Storting amended the Constitution accordingly, and elected the Swedish king
King Charles XIII as king of Norway. Although the two states retained their separate governments and institutions, except for the king and the foreign service, Norwegians grew increasingly discontented with the union, which had been forced upon them. In 1905 the
union was peacefully dissolved, giving Norway its full independence.
See also
