632 



DENMARK. 



History. 



War with 

 the Em- 

 peror of 

 Germany. 



Christian 

 defeated by 

 T.lly, 

 A. D. 1626. 



Peace re- 

 stored. 



Dispute 

 with Ham» 

 burgh, 

 A. D. 1630. 



Rapture 

 with 

 Sweden, 

 AD. 1637. 



succeeded by the famous Gustavus Adolphus, who turn- 

 ed the fortune of the war; and in 1613, a peace was 

 concluded by the mediation of the King of England. 

 From 1614 to 1623, Denmark was at peace; and Chris- 

 tian turned his whole attention to the encouragement 

 of trade and commerce. In 1621, a treaty of alliance 

 was concluded between the Kings of England, Den- 

 mark, and Sweden, several of the princes of the empire, 

 and Holland. The object of this treaty was to support 

 the Elector Palatine, in whose favour, in 1623, Christian 

 took up arms, and was appointed head of the league, 

 and commander of the forces of Lower Saxony. He 

 was, however, not equal in military talents or experi- 

 ence to the Imperial general, Count Tilly, by whom he 

 was completely defeated near Rottenburgh, in 1626. 

 His infantry being entirely cut to pieces, he was com- 

 pelled to retreat with his cavalry, continually harassed 

 by the enemy, who followed him into Holstein. In a 

 very short time the whole of this province fell into their 

 hands ; and when Christian attempted to prevent their 

 entrance into Jutland, he was deserted by his troops. 

 The people now suffered severely under the exactions 

 and ravages of the Imperial troops, while the senate in 

 vain endeavoured to bring about a peace. Christian, 

 convinced that he ought to prepare for the worst, re 1 - 

 newed his alliance with England, Sweden, and Hol- 

 land ; and having fitted out a fleet, he recovered part 

 of his dominions. Both sides were now tired of the 

 war, and peace was concluded on condition that his 

 Imperial majesty should not interfere in the affairs of 

 Denmark; that all the places taken from Denmark 

 should be restored; and that his Danish majesty should 

 cede to the Houses of Sleswick and Gottorp all the ter- 

 ritory which belonged to them by hereditary right. In 

 1630, a dispute arose with the city of Hamburgh, in 

 consequence of Christian bestowing on Gluckstadt se- 

 veral important privileges, and imposing duties on all 

 vessels that sailed up the Elbe. The dispute was car- 

 ried on with great acrimony ; and notwithstanding the 

 endeavours of Lubeck and Bremen to reconcile the par- 

 ties, hostilities commenced. Christian assembled a 

 large fleet at the mouth of the Elbe, and was preparing 

 to attack Hamburgh, when he thought proper to de- 

 sist from his enterprise, in consequence of his appre- 

 hension or jealousy of the king of Sweden. The Impe- 

 rial court, which at this period was greatly alarmed at 

 the brilliant conquests of Gustavus in Germany, Avere 

 very anxious to foment the differences between him 

 and Christian ; Pappenheim, the Imperial general, suc- 

 ceeded in irritating Christian against the king of Swe- 

 den ; but the Danish senate suspecting his design, pre- 

 vented a rupture between the two countries. In 16'32, 

 Christian offered his mediation to restore peace to Ger- 

 many ; but as he was suspected of favouring the court 

 of Vienna, Gustavus declined the mediation. In 16'37, 

 the world was astonished by a chimerical enterprise of 

 theDanishking, at once to ruin the commerce of Holland, 

 and to conquer Sweden. In this most rash and absurd un- 

 dertaking, he was to be joined by Spain and the duke 

 of Holstein ; and the former actually embarked a great 

 number of troops ; but the whole scheme was defeated 

 by the victory that Tromp, the Dutch admiral, gained 

 over the Spanish fleet in the British Channel. At the 

 moment, Sweden concealed her indignation at this 

 scheme of Christian's ; but no sooner had she begun 

 to negociate a peace with his Imperial majesty, than 

 general Torttenson entered Denmark with a power- 

 ful army, and advanced as far as Jutland without re- 

 sistance : in this province he was opposed, but with 



such inadequate means, that he soon conquered nearly History, 

 the whole of it. Hitherto Sweden had assigned no V ""T~**" / 

 reason for this sudden commencement of hostilities ; 

 but as all Europe was astonished and indignant at her 

 conduct, she issued a manifesto, in which she exposed 

 the clandestine treaty, which Denmark had formed with 

 Spain and Holstein. The Swedes still continued to 

 advance, and count Horn, who now commanded them, 

 prepared to invade Funen and Zealand ; but Christian, 

 recovered from his surprise, had put the fortresses into 

 such a good state of defence, that the Swedish general 

 was obliged to desist from his enterprise. Christian, 

 perceiving that the enemy, though prevented from ad- 

 vancing and extending their conquests, still retained 

 those which they had made, resolved to march himself 

 at the head of a powerful army into Sweden. Pie ac- 

 cordingly crossed the Sound, and laid siege to Gotten- 

 burgh, while a large fleet blockaded it by sea. Horn 

 upon this evacuated Denmark, and marched to raise 

 the siege ; this he probably would not have been able 

 to effect, had he not been assisted by the Dutch, who 

 sent a fleet for this purpose. Christian soon afterwards 

 solicited the mediation or the assistance of his Imperial 

 majesty, who, after some delay, took effectual measures 

 for the protection of Denmark. France, about the same 

 period, offered her mediation, which was accepted; 

 but before the terms were adjusted, the Danish fleet defeat of 

 suffered a most severe defeat off' the isle of Femren. The ' le Dar " s ' s 

 Danish admiral, vice admiral, and 12 ships of war, 

 were taken, and 4000 men killed ; several more ships 

 were run on shore ; so that of the whole fleet, only 

 two got safe into port. At length, in 1645, peace was p eac e e>u- 

 concluded, by which Sweden obtained the islands of Wished, 

 Gothland and Oesel, the provinces of Jenetland, and A. D. 164!;. 

 Harndalen, which had belonged to Norway, and the 

 possession of Halland for 30 years : this last was given 

 as a full security of the right of navigation and com- 

 merce in the Sound and Great Belt; on the other 

 hand, Sweden restored to Denmark all the cities, &c. 

 which had been conquered during the war. From the 

 conclusion of this peace till the death of Christian, no- 

 thing memorable occurred. He died in the month of Death of 

 February 1648, at the age of 71, and in the 6'0th year Christian, 

 of his reign. A. D. 164$.. 



" Christian was possessed of admirable qualities of His charac. 

 mind and body, but had a vindictive obstinacy of tern- ter. 

 per, which made him pursue his animosities beyond the 

 dictates of prudence. To his last day he retained all 

 the fire and vehemence of youth ; commanded his fleets 

 and armies in person, after he had worn the crown 

 nearly sixty years ; threw himself in the midst of dan- 

 gers, at an age when the faculties of the mind and bo- 

 dy are usually enervated ; was to the last jealous and 

 tenacious of the dignity of the crown, and the happiness 

 of his people ; though too strict a regard for the former 

 proved all his life the destruction of the latter. On the 

 whole, however, he was a monarch of an able head, 

 strong arm, extensive capacity, and great magnanimi- 

 ty, qualities unhappily tinctured with violent passions, 

 which frequently obscured every ray of understanding, 

 and locked up the exertion of that solid reason with 

 which nature had endowed him." His memory is still 

 held in great esteem and reverence by the Danes. In 

 his reign, the Danish settlements in the East Indies, 

 and the Danish joint companies trading to Greenland 

 and Iceland, were established. 



Christian left many children, but only one that was 

 legitimate, a son named Frederic; he of course had a 

 right to the tin-one : but many of the Danish nobility 



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