Frederik VII ruled Denmark from 1848 until 1863. In 1849 he introduced Denmark's first constitution. Despite his great weaknesses as a ruler, he is one of the most remarkable figures among the Danish monarchs. He was an odd individual with a rather unstable temperament, and in many ways he was a black sheep within the royal family. In particular, Frederik VII provoked people with his marriage to Countess Danner, but at the same time he added a completely new popular dimension to the monarchy. Frederik VII had a sense of the mood of the people that enabled him to become something as paradoxical as a royal icon of democracy in Denmark.