Niklaas IV of Arendaal

 Niklaas IV of Arendaal  ("Niklaas the Good") (1872 - 1917) was the King of Arendaal and Götarike (Suionia) between 1901 and 1917. He was the son of Crown Prince Anders of Arendaal and Elisabeth Franziska of Braunschweig (Wiese), and the grandson of Queen Regent Louisa I of Arendaal, whom he succeeded after her death.

Like his father, during his early life Niklaas came to personify the leisured elite. His reign coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the rise of socialism and the Liberal movement. Niklaas played a role in the modernisation of the Aren Army, Medical Services and Secondary Education system.

He fostered good relations between Arendaal and other major European powers, especially those of Northern Europe, but also those elsewhere. His devoted marriage to Karolina of Franken was considered exemplary and made popular abroad.

Niklaas' affability and popularity, as well as his use of family connections, assisted Arendaal in building and maintaining European alliances.

The political advantages and booming commercial relations which his diplomacy secured also helped to bolster Niklaas' popularity at home, and he is remembered in a positive light by the Aren people.

Niklaas IV was rarely interested in politics, although his views on most issues were notably liberal for the time. His advisors remarked on his habit of treating all people the same, regardless of their social station or background.

He was truly shocked by the ill-treatment of ethnic minorities in other European states. In his letters to his sister Madeleine of Arendaal, Empress of Wiese, he complained that: "Just Because a man has a darker complexion or a different religion from our own, there is no reason why he should be treated as a brute."

He was concerned with providing better health care and education to the poorest members of society, though as a King he himself lived a life of luxury that was often far removed from that of the majority of his subjects. However, his personal charm with people at all levels of society and his strong condemnation of prejudice went a great way to assuage tensions building during his lifetime, both in terms of social tensions in Arendaal and ethnic tensions abroad.

Alongside diplomacy, his main involvement was in charity work, especially the foundation of hospitals. He was also interested in the conservation of historic monuments, notably Goteborg Cathedral (where he would eventually be buried).

Niklaas IV's ascent to the throne directly after his grandmother was due to his father's sudden death in 1897. Contemporaries described their relationship as more like affectionate brothers than father and son.

On Anders' death Niklaas wrote in his diary that he had lost his "best friend and the best of fathers ... I never had a cross word with him in my life. I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief".

Niklaas was affectionate by nature, which helps to explain why he experienced this great loss so deeply. He also grieved sincerely when his grandmother Louisa I died. A dotting father and husband, his relationship with his wife Karolina, Princess of Franken was a close one.

Before he took the throne, Niklaas received criticism for his apparent pursuit of self-indulgent pleasures, but he received great praise for his kindness and good manners as well as for his diplomatic skill. As his daughter Queen Freya I wrote, "his lighter side sometimes obscured the fact that he had both insight and influence."

According to one historian, "He had a tremendous zest for pleasure but he also had a real sense of duty. He was kind and debonair and not undignified – but too human. He was not cold and therefore not a true politician, but he was warm and well-meaning, and this made him a good and beloved King".

Sadly, Niklaas, like his father, would also die at the age of only 45 after a brief illness usually identified as pneumonia. The sudden and unexpected death of the King triggered a wave of national mourning.

So great was his international popularity that his sudden passing was considered a tragedy throughout Europe. Tens of thousands lined the streets of Emyn Arnen to see his funeral procession. In accordance with his wishes, he was buried in Goteborg Cathedral.

Family, Marriage and Children
King Niklaas IV of Arendaal married Princess Karolina of Franken. Their children included:
 * Freya I of Arendaal (1898 - 1945) - who succeeded his father as ruler of Arendaal in 1917
 * Louise of Arendaal, Queen of Anglyn (b. 1902) - Consort of Alfred VI of Anglyn, mother of the current King Roderick IV
 * Magnus, Grand Duke of Stockholm (1905 - 1990)

Siblings

 * Madeleine of Arendaal, Empress of Wiese - sister. Consort of Emperor Karl III of Wiese

Other Royal Relations

 * Jean of Montelimar, Prince Consort of Arendaal - son-in-law
 * Eliana of Arendaal, Queen of Great Engellex - aunt. Consort of Edward I of Great Engellex
 * Charlotte of Arendaal, Queen of Montelimar - aunt. Consort of King Louis XI of Montelimar
 * King Sven V of Arendaal - grandson
 * Marie of Arendaal, Empress of the Talemantine Empire - granddaughter. Consort to Emperor Waylon X of the Talemantine Empire
 * Alienora of Arendaal, Queen of Eiffelland - granddaughter. Consort to King Heinrich IV von Dietz-Hadamar of Eiffelland
 * Helena of Arendaal, Queen of Great Engellex - granddaughter. Consort of King Edward II of Great Engellex
 * Eliska of Arendaal, Queen of Cambria - granddaughter. Consort of King Owain IV of Cambria
 * Gisela of Arendaal, Queen of Eiffelland - greataunt. Consort of Philipp V of Eiffelland
 * Lilliana of Arendaal, Empress of the Talemantine Empire - greataunt. Consort of Emperor Waylon IX of the Talemantine Empire
 * Isabella of Arendaal, Queen of Franken - greataunt (grandmother's half-sister). Consort of King Thomas VI von Franken
 * Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm II of Wiese - nephew. Current Emperor of Wiese

Ancestors
's ancestors in four generations: