Christian V., who succeeded his father, Frederick III., in 1670, was the first Danish-Norwegian king who mounted the throne by hereditary right, and was not obliged to sign a charter, dictated by the nobles, in order to be elected. He was a brave and vigorous young man; but he early disappointed those who had placed great hopes in him, as he wasted his time and strength on hunting and other amusements, and left the government to the care of his favorites, who were often incapable and selfish men. He loved pomp and splendor, and sought to imitate the extravagant Louis XIV. of France, spending much more money than the treasury could afford. He especially fancied everything that was German, and surrounded himself with indigent German noblemen, whom he helped to make their fortunes in Denmark. At court the language spoken was the German, the ministers preached in German, actors played in German, and the highest officers were Germans. As many of the old noble families had withdrawn from the capital, where they no longer exercised their old influence, and had retired to their estates, where they were still powerful on account of their wealth, King Christian, determined to secure other support for the throne, created a new and higher nobility, and established the titles and ranks recognized in Germany. Thus he filled his court with counts and barons, and adopted the strict etiquette and ceremonies of the French court. He also established two orders of knighthood, the order of Dannebrog and the order of the Elephant. In Norway, the earldom (county) of Laurvik was established (1671) for the benefit of the king's friend and half-brother, Ulrik Frederick Gyldenlöve, whose descendants, the Counts of Danneskiold-Laurvik, and later Ahlefeldt-Laurvik, for a long time owned this beautiful county. The old royal estate Sem, together with the deanery of Tunsberg, was made into another earldom (1673) for the then very powerful Minister of State Griffenfeld, who called himself Count of Griffenfeld and Tunsberg; after he had fallen from grace, this county was transferred to his rival, Gyldenlöve, who, with the permission of the king, sold a part of it--afterward called Jarlsberg--to the German-born field-marshal of Norway, Gustav Wilhelm Wedel, the progenitor of the family of Wedel-Jarlsberg. Rosendal, the only barony in Norway, was founded, in 1678, by Ludvig-Rosenkrands, a Danish nobleman, who, by marriage, had come into possession of large estates in Bergen Stift.