DENMARK. 



631 



History. 



Norway 

 annexed to 

 the crown 

 of Den- 



mark. 





Christian 

 III dies 

 A. D. 1558, 



Frederic II. 



elected 



kin?. 



Disturb- 

 ances in 

 Holstein. 



War with 

 Sweden. 



Naval en- 

 gagement, 

 jn which 

 the Swedes 

 were vie. 

 turious. 



its power and resource*, so as to be no longer capable 

 of supporting a king ; and as the greatest part of its 

 senators had shewn themselves enemies to the crown cf 

 Denmark ; therefore the said kingdom of Norway shall 

 be, and for ever remain subjected to the crown of Den- 

 mark ; so that in future it shall no more be a kingdom 

 a part, nor shall it any more be so called, but shall be a 

 part of the kingdom of Denmark. It was, however, 

 stipulated, that in case Norway should be engaged in 

 war, the senate and the estates of Denmark should as- 

 sist them. This decree was carried into immediate and 

 full execution. The senate of Norway was suppressed, 

 the states no longer had any influence in the elections, 

 and the Danish nobility were appointed to most of the 

 places of confidence and emolument in that kingdom. 



In 1546, Christian the Second publicly and formally 

 renounced all his claims to the crown of Denmark, 

 binding himself never to go out of the fortress of Cat- 

 tenberg but with the king's consent, and to hold no 

 communication with strangers. Nothing else remark- 

 able occurred during the reign of Christian the Third, 

 who died on the 1st of January 1558. 



He was succeeded by his son Frederic the Second, 

 who greatly resembled him in disposition and charac- 

 ter. His first warlike enterprize was against that part 

 of the Duchy of Holstein, called Ditmarsh, the inhabi- 

 tants of which refused obedience to the kings of Den- 

 mark, or the Dukes of Holstein. In his war against 

 these people, he was joined by Count Rantzaw and 

 Duke Adolphus, who, from the vicinity of their terri- 

 tories to Ditmarsh, were interested in the quarrel. The 

 confederates first attacked and carried by assault the 

 city of M eldorp ; they next proceeded to Heida, where 

 the Dithmarsian army suffered a total defeat. Peace 

 was soon afterwards granted to this people, on condi- 

 tion that they should do homage to the kings of Den- 

 mark and Dukes of Holstein ; that the forts erected by 

 the Dithmarsians should be destroyed, and that the 

 confederate princes should have liberty to build three 

 forts in any part of the country they chose. In 1563, 

 in consequence of some trifling disputes between Frede- 

 ric, and Eric who sat on the throne of Sweden, hos- 

 tilities commenced between the two countries. Frede- 

 ric on this occasion formed an alliance with the inhabi- 

 tants of Lubeck, who had long been at variance with 

 Sweden, on account of the restrictions which that 

 government had imposed on their trade. After a mari- 

 time engagement, in which the Danes were the aggres- 

 sors before any formal declaration of war, and in which 

 they were worsted, Eric, either naturally of a pacific 

 disposition, or alarmed at the great preparations of his 

 opponent, made offers of peace. These were refused 

 by Frederic, who had now an army of 80,000 infantry, 

 a large body of horse, and a strong fleet, besides the 

 squadron of his allies, the Lubeckers. The whole 

 operations of the first campaign, in 1563, consisted in 

 the reduction of Elfsburgh by the Danes. During the 

 winter, the Elector of Saxony and the Prince of Hesse 

 endeavoured to negociate a peace, but the offer was 

 now declined by Eric. As soon as the spring permit- 

 ted it, the hostile fleets put to sea ; an engagement took 

 place, and the Swedes were totally defeated : nor was 

 Eric more successful in his invasion of Norway, from 

 which kingdom his army was obliged to flee with a dis- 

 graceful and ruinous rapidity. He was not, however, 

 dispirited ; and having collected a large fleet, a desperate 

 engagement took place between Wismar and Rostock ; 

 it lasted for three days ; both sides fought with great 

 obstinacy and skill ; on the third day the Danish ad- 



5 



miral was taken ; this decided the batle ; and for the 

 remainder of the year the Swedes remained masters at 

 sea. The war also raged by land. Eric commanded 

 his army in person ; and after several partial engage- 

 ments, a decisive battle took place near Wardeburgh. 

 The Danish army was commanded by Count Rantzaw ; 

 it was much inferior in number to the Swedes. Eric 

 trusting too much to this circumstance, quitted an ad- 

 vantageous post, attacked the Danes in a narrow defile, 

 where his numbers; could be of little advantage, and was 

 defeated with the loss of 7000 men, and all his artillery. 

 The Danes, however, gained little by this victory but 

 glory ; and the war continued with increased rancour, 

 and with various success. Eric, towards the end of 

 1566, was persuaded to invade Norway, by the repre- 

 sentations of a person who called himself a Norwegian 

 noble, and who persuaded the king that his country- 

 men were ripe for revolt. Eric soon found that he 

 had been deceived, and he was compelled to retire from 

 Norway, after suffering a severe defeat. In 1568, a 

 civil war broke out in Sweden ; and the malcontents 

 concluded a peace with Denmark, on terms very in- 

 jurious to their own country. The war was renewed, 

 and carried on with great bitterness, but with little suc- 

 cess on either side, in 1569, till the end of the follow- 

 ing year, when a more equitable and permanent peace 

 was concluded. The Danish monarchs having gradual- 

 ly increased the duties of the Sound, and having fre- 

 quently exacted them with unnecessary strictness and 

 rigour, the English, Dutch, Lubeckers, and Hanse 

 Towns, remonstrated against them entirely, in the year 

 1583 ; but their remonstrances were in vain, and they 

 were under the necessity of submitting to the mode and 

 extent of these exactions. Towards the conclusion of 

 Frederic's reign, Denmark began to rise in importance 

 among the European powers. An embassy came from 

 Elizabeth, Queen of England, with the order of the 

 garter for the Danish sovereign; and in 1588 a treaty of 

 marriage was proposed between a Princess of Denmark 

 and James the Sixth, King of Scotland. Soon after this, 

 Frederic died, in the 54th year of his age, and in the 

 29th of his reign. 



Christian the Fourth was only eleven years old when 

 his father died; a regency was therefore appointed, 

 who performed their duty both to the young prince and 

 to the kingdom in the most exemplary manner. Every 

 measure was taken which could ensure the proper edu- 

 cation of Christian, and the tranquillity and prosperity 

 of the people. As soon as this prince assumed the royal 

 power, he directed his thoughts and his preparations to 

 a war with Sweden; the pretexts that he urged for 

 commencing this war, were rather frivolous. Charles 

 the Fourth, who then sat on the throne of Sweden, 

 had assumed the title of King of Lapland ; this gave 

 great offence to his. Danish majesty, who regarded Lap* 

 land as a dependence on Norway ; and in his declara- 

 tion of war, this grievance was strongly held forth. 

 Hostilities commenced, on the part of Christian, by the 

 siege of Calmar in l6l 1 . The city was soon taken, but 

 Charles, with an army of 16,000 men, defeated the Da- 

 nish general in the absence of the- king, and obliged 

 him to raise the siege of the citadel. As soon, however, 

 as Christian returned, the siege was renewed, and the 

 citadel surrendered. Bornholm and Oeland also yield- 

 ed to the Danes; and Charles, irritated at these dis- 

 graceful disasters, challenged Christian to single com- 

 bat ; the challenge was contemptuously refused ; and 

 this circumstance is supposed to have occasioned, or 

 hastened the death of the Swedish monarch. He was 



History. 



TheSwedes 

 defeated 

 near War- 

 deburirh. 



Norway 

 unsuccess- 

 fully in- 

 vaded by 

 Sweden, 

 A. D. 15CC. 



Peace con- 

 cluded, 

 A ». 1570. 



Death of 

 Frederic, 

 A. D. 15SS. 



Regency 

 during the 

 minority ef 

 Christian 

 IV. 



War with 

 Sweden, 

 AD. 1611. 



