Pieter I of Arendaal

Pieter I of Arendaal  ("Pieter the Mad") (1424 - 1477) was the King of Arendaal between 1444 and 1454. He was the son of Queen Regent Madeleine I of Arendaal and Prince Charles of Montelimar. Pieter is famous for suffering from insanity, which became progressively worse and the King was made to abdicate in 1454 in favour of his younger brother Gustav IV. Gustav had acted as Pieter's regent since 1450, due to the latter's increasingly deteriorating mental stability.

From an early age Pieter's probably mental state seems to have been volatile. Modern researchers believe his condition to have been hereditary, possibly a form of schizophrenia. Though he was crowned King in 1444, his administrators and close advisors took care of the day to day business of state throughout his reign. He made an important dynastic match, marrying the daughter of the Talemantine Emperor, Princess Eliana.

She remained his Queen until his abdication, at which point her brother-in-law Gustav IV agreed to obtain an annulment for her marriage. Eliana then married the Grand Duke of Haakonsberg and had issue, remaining a key figure at Gustav's court (for instance, she arranged the marriage of Gustav's son, the future King Harald III to her own niece Ottavia of the Talemantine Empire). Some historians believe that Pieter I never consummated his marriage with Eliana, and many accounts suggest that he would often not recognize her.

Pieter abdication in 1454 spawned rumours that King Gustav IV had engineered his brother's downfall. Such speculation is dismissed by serious historians. The two brothers were considered close, and overwhelming evidence in the form of letters shows that Gustav cared deeply for his sibling's well-being. After his abdication, Pieter I lived comfortably, and often contently, with an entire household of caretakers at Loire Chateau, where Gustav IV visited him frequently.

Pieter never showed the slightest inclination to return to the throne, and treated his former wife as a sister. Pieter's confessor, when writing an account of the King's life, professed of Gustav: "never could a brother be more kind or more gentle".

Pieter may have had an affair with Odette av Sunblad, a member of his household, engaged by Gustav to act as "companion" to Pieter. Her two children are often thought to have been fathered by Pieter, although they were formally recognized by her own husband as his legitimate children. Apparently she loved and cared for Pieter the utmost patience and devotion. She is credited for introducing playing cards to Arendaal, for the amusement of Pieter I during his paroxysms of insanity.

Family, Marriage and Children
King Pieter I of Arendaal married Princess Eliana of the Talemantine Empire. The couple had no surviving issue, and Pieter I was succeeded by his brother Gustav IV

Siblings

 * Gustav IV of Arendaal - brother. Gustav IV became King when Pieter I's abdicated in 1454
 * Sigrid of Arendaal, Holy Germanic Empress - sister. Consort of Emperor Victor the Bold
 * Madeleine of Arendaal, Holy Germanic Empress - sister. Emperor Consort of Heinrich V von Franken
 * Frederika of Arendaal, Queen of Eiffelland - sister. Consort of King Ludwig V of Eiffelland

Other Royal Relations

 * Niccola Grimaldi of Potenza, Queen of Arendaal - sister-in-law (Gustav IV's wife)
 * Harald III of Arendaal - nephew
 * Nikolina of Arendaal, Empress of the Talemantine Empire - niece. Consort of Giovanni Luciano IV of the Talemantine Empire
 * Anne of Arendaal, Queen of Montelimar - niece. Consort of Jean VI of Montelimar, and later Regent of Montelimar
 * Ottavia of the Talemantine Empire, Queen of Arendaal - wife's niece and his nephew’s wife (Harald III's wife)
 * Marguerite I of Arendaal - grand-niece
 * Rurik II of Arendaal - grand-nephew
 * Nissa of Arendaal, Queen of Montelimar - maternal great-aunt and paternal grandmother. Consort to Jean V of Montelimar

Ancestors
's ancestors in four generations: