Collapse of the Union
In 1524, the nobles managed to force the rebel cities of Copenhagen and Malmo to surrender. Christian II’s attempt to regain the Danish throne failed; he was captured and imprisoned in a fortress. The burgomasters of Copenhagen in Malmo raised the banner of rebellion in the name of Christian II, caused a movement among the peasantry and, relying on the help of the head of the democratic movement in Lübeck, Wullenweber, and on the military forces of Count Christopher Oldenburg, began an open war with the nobility ( Count war ). Part of the nobility was forced to re-recognize Christian II king; but the energy of the yutland nobility and clergy turned the tide in favor of the upper classes.
The power of the nobility reached its climax; a new tool for this was the reformation. At Odense (1526), then in Copenhagen (1530) freedom of conscience was proclaimed; by the end of the reign of Frederick I, reform swept almost the whole of Denmark.
At a meeting in Ryu, the Duke of Christians was elected king, who managed to reconcile with Lubeck and then inflict a series of decisive defeats on the peasants (1535). Copenhagen was forced to surrender (1536).
Christian III (1534 – 1559)
The new king, Christian III , delivered the final blow to the Catholic Church, although it was not he who took advantage of all the benefits of her fall, but one nobility. At a secret meeting of the king and secular members of Rigsdaag (1536), it was decided to suddenly arrest all the bishops. The Copenhagen Diet of the same year legalized this violence, introduced Lutheran teaching as a state religion, decreed the abolition of the episcopate and its replacement by superintendents, and, most importantly, proclaimed the secularization of church property. Only a small part of them was kept for charity, all the others passed into the hands of the nobility both through grants and exchanges, and by virtue of the right given to the nobility to demand the return of all those lands that were ever donated by the nobles of the church.
The nobility was not only freed from this, not only received the right to collect it from their peasants, but seized it in their favor, with the obligation to support the temples. With 25% noble land ownership reached 40%. Deprived of support in the nobility, the Protestant clergy began to lean more and more in favor of an alliance with the oppressed classes, the bourgeoisie and peasants, differing at the same time with the greatest intolerance and hostility towards freedom of thought. Capitulations concluded with Christian III, Frederick II, Christian IV and Frederick III, were successive stages of strengthening the nobility in the political and economic sphere. The influence of the king on the Council was also minimized, since he could only appoint a new member to the outgoing position from candidates chosen by the Riksdag. Appointments to senior positions were arranged under the same conditions. The king was deprived of the opportunity to arm a fleet or army without obtaining prior consent of the Riksdag. Revenues from state-owned lands fell in the 17th century from 36,000 to 10,000.
At first, the triumph of the nobility and the complete restriction of royal power was reflected, most likely, in a beneficial way, on the role of Denmark in international relations. Her strength increased thanks to the complete subordination of Norway, which Riksdag, despite the Union of Kalmar, turned from an equal member of the union into a subordinate province.
A number of talented leaders in the military and political sphere were nominated by the Danish nobility, and all external clashes ended with the victories of Denmark. The Democratics under Frederick II was forced to submit to the will of the Danes.
The seven-year war with Sweden over the question of Livonia and the dominance of the Baltic Sea ended in a victory for Denmark; on the Stettin Peace (1570), Sweden abandoned the disputed areas in favor of Denmark.
The second war with Sweden during the Christian IV, or the so-called Kalmar War, as well as the previous one, arose because of the question of the Baltic Sea, where the Danish fleet began to play a primary role, and like the first, ended with a world that was beneficial to Denmark, despite the fact that Holland, annoyed by the rise of the Sound Dues, took the side of Sweden. By virtue of this world, the Swedes pledged to recognize Denmark’s exclusive right to collect duties from passing ships, the freedom of Denmark’s trade with Livonia and Courland.
The previous dependence of Denmark on the Hansa was completely destroyed. Under Frederick II, the fortress Kronborg (1574–1583) was built on the Sound, and then the duty was gradually increased, which was the “golden bottom” for Denmark. This measure was mainly directed against Lübeck, who entered into an alliance with Sweden in a 7-year war. The forces of Denmark were so great now that Lübeck was forced to confine himself to protests and to return the island of Bornholm, which was in his pledge, ahead of time.
Hamburg’s attempt to play a similar role to Denmark as Lübeck once played ended in complete failure. Fleet expansion; expeditions to remote countries for trading purposes; the acquisition of colonies in eastern India; the formation of trading companies — Icelandic (1602), in whose hands trade passed, which Denmark led through Ganza, East Indian (1616), and so on; the patronage of factory activity, which led to the abolition of (temporarily) workshops under Christian IV (1622) and the proclamation of the freedom to engage in crafts — all of these together contributed to the enrichment of the country, raising money and the nobility and middle class, which had already begun under Christian IV.
This gradual enrichment of the urban bourgeoisie in connection with the transition of the clergy to the lower classes and the increasingly difficult situation in which the all-powerful nobility put the peasants who were still free, gave rise to a new trend of political thought in the early 17th century.
Sources:
Denmark // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
Helge Paludan, Eric Ulsig, Carsten Rasmussen, Hertz Boncerup, Eric Petersen, Henning Poulsen, Søren Rasmussen. History of Denmark