DENMAR K. 



625 



FJt'tory. he was securely seated on the throne of the three king- 

 ^-"~Y~"""' dams, was to revise the laws of Denmark ; many of 

 them had become obsolete, inapplicable, or insufficient ; 

 into others, many abuses had crept, either in their in- 

 terpretation or administration ; and the changed state 

 and circumstances of the kingdom and of the times, re- 

 quired some new enactments. The plan he followed was 

 that of Valdemar the Second ; and, having directed his 

 deliberate and impartial attention to the subject, he 

 formed a code, distinguished for its wisdom, as well as 

 for its leniency. In 1448, after a reign of seven years 

 over Denmark and Norway, and six years over Sweden, 

 1 during the whole of which he had proved himself a 

 good sovereign, Christopher died. 



Immediately on this event, the Senate of Denmark 

 invited the states of the two other kingdoms to comply 

 with the act of union, by proceeding in concert to the 

 election of a new Icing. This, however, the Swedes 

 absolutely refused to do, electing Charles Canutson, 

 their own countryman, and the avowed enemy of Den- 

 mark, to be their sovereign. The Danes, irritated and 

 surprised at this conduct, assembled a diet at Roschild, 

 and chose Christian of Oldenberg as their sovereign. 

 According to the union of Calmar, a diet, composed of 

 the diets of the three kingdoms, ought to have chosen 

 the sovereign, and drawn up the articles of capitulation 

 for him to sign; but, under the present circumstances, 

 it was found necessary to leave the election to a small 

 number of deputies, most of whom were senators. The 

 Senate, from this period, arrogated to themselves the 

 right of choosing the sovereign, and only occasionally 

 considted the states, out of form. The articles of ca- 

 pitulation which they drew up for Christian, were very 

 numerous. The following are the most important : — 

 The kingdom of Denmark shall continue to be free and 

 elective : he shall not be authorised to call any foreign 

 prince or noble into the kingdom, nor to assign him 

 any revenue, nor to give him any lands in the king- 

 dom, nor to admit him into the senate, without the con- 

 sent of the majority of this body : The king shall not 

 be authorised to make peace or war, nor to undertake 

 any important enterprize, nor to give the command of 

 any fortress, but with the consent and approbation of 

 the senate : He shall not mortgage or alienate any lands 

 or fortresses that depend on the crown, except necessity 

 shall oblige him to do it ; and then only with the con- 

 sent of the senate : He shall conform himself to the ad- 

 vice of the senate, with respect to the manner in which 

 he ought to keep his court : He shall not establish any 

 tax without the consent of the senate. From the na- 

 ture and spirit of these articles, it is abundantly evi- 

 dent that the senate reserved to themselves, hi fact, 

 nearly the whole power of the kingdom ; indeed, no 

 prince ever before ascended the throne of Denmark 

 with such limited authority. In consequence of the 

 character of Christian for moderation, and the facility 

 with which he had agreed to secure the Danes in their 

 rights and privileges, the Norwegians resolved to elect 

 him their sovereign. For this purpose, the states were 

 assembled at Opsto, and the proposals of Christian be- 

 ing accepted of, he was formally proclaimed king of 

 Norway. 



In the mean time, Charles Canutson, whom the 

 Swedes had called to the throne, created such dissatis- 

 faction among them by his capricious and tyrannical 

 conduct, that a majority of the nation began to repent 

 that they had broken the union of Calmar. Christian, 

 aware of this state of things in Sweden, determined to 



V01-. VIJ. PART II. 



in 



abdicates 

 theSvmlibh 



take advantage of it ; and he at length succeeded hi History. 

 compelling Charles Canutson to abdicate the throne, '■"" ~v-*- 

 and was himself proclaimed and crowned king at Up- Can 

 sal : thus the three northern kingdoms were again 

 united under one sovereign, agreeably to the union of ( . 

 Calmar. Almost immediately after Christian was cho- Chriatianof 

 sen king of Sweden, the duke of Sleswick died ; this Denmark 

 duchy and the country of Holstein had long been held elected 

 as fiefs of the crown of Denmark ; and as the duke *■*& 

 died without leaving any heirs, Christian, not only in 

 his character as king of Denmark, but also as near re- 

 lation of the deceased, had just pretensions to those 

 territories. As Christian, however, before he ascended 

 the throne of Denmark, had bound himself to the late 

 duke, never to unite Sleswick and Holstein to the crown 

 of Denmark, he could not directly and openly put in 

 his claims to them ; he adopted more cautious measures : 

 Having assembled the states of these countries, he laid 

 before them his claims, on which, however, he declared 

 he did not mean to insist ; but if they chose to elect 

 him, he was willing to secure their privileges to the 

 fullest extent, and in the most solemn and positive man- 

 ner : he thus succeeded in his object, solemnly decla- 

 ring in the articles that he signed, that he was elected 

 duke of Sleswick and count of Holstein, not as king of 

 Denmark, but by the free will of the states. As soon 

 as he was firmly fixed in the possession of these pro- 

 vinces, he summoned the inhabitants of Hamburgh to 

 pay the homage due to him as count of Holstein ; and 

 on their complying with this summons, he confirmed 

 all their privileges. 



But Sweden could not remain long quiet and con- 

 tented ; the clergy and' the nobles, in particular, were 

 dissatisfied : a rebellion broke out, and the archbishop 

 of Upsal threw off his robes and put himself at the 

 head of a large army. Christian, in this embarrassing 

 predicament, was as much indebted to his character for 

 moderation and good intentions as to his arms ; and at 

 last he succeeded in bringing over the archbishop and 

 most of the clergy to his interests. As, however, the 

 nobility still held out against him, and filled the king- 

 dom with dissensions and turbulence, Christian, in a 

 great measure, withdrew his attempts to subdue them, ' 

 and employed his entire attention in the improvement 

 of his other dominions. A favourite object with him 

 was the establishment of a university at Copenhagen ; 

 before that, all the nobility and people of consequence 

 in Denmark were accustomed to send their sons, at a 

 great expence, to be educated at Cologne or Paris ; in 

 prosecuting his scheme, however, he met with opposi- 

 tion from a quarter from which he did not anticipate it. 

 The clergy were either indifferent or averse to the es- 

 tablishment of the proposed university ; difficulties and 

 delays consequently occurred, and before Cliristian Death «t 

 could complete this and other plans for the benefit and Christian. 

 improvement of his kingdom, he died in the year 14-81, A " '"'' 

 and in the 55th year of his age. Almost all the con^ 

 temporary historians concur in representing him as a 

 prince of great moderation, humanity, and liberality ; 

 he never permitted his resentment or passion to hurry 

 him beyond the bounds of justice ; it was a favourite 

 saying of his, that a king who would be great and reign 

 well, ought to be more compassionate than another 

 man. 



John, the eldest son of Christian, had been received John sue- 

 as heir to the crown of Denmark, during the lifetime <~tedi hi* 

 of his father; and the senate of Norway elected him fa,,,er 

 their sovereign immediately after his father's death. As 

 4k 



