Editing Christian IV of Denmark (section)

===Thirty Years' War===
{{Main|Thirty Years' War}}
[[File:ChristianIV of denmark receives homage.jpg|thumb|left|Christian IV receives homage from the countries of Europe as mediator in the [[Thirty Years' War]].<br/>[[Grisaille]] by [[Adrian van de Venne]], 1643.]]
Christian IV had obtained for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe.<ref>Paul D. Lockhart, ''Denmark, 1513–1660: the Rise and Decline of a Renaissance Monarchy'' (Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref> Denmark was funded by tolls on the [[Øresund]] and also by extensive war-reparations from Sweden.<ref>Wilson, Peter. "Europe's Tragedy". Penguin, 2009, pp.&nbsp;400–433</ref> Denmark's intervention in the Thirty Years' War was aided by France and by Charles I of England, who agreed to help subsidise the war partly because Christian was the uncle of both the Stuart king and his sister [[Elizabeth of Bohemia]] through their mother, [[Anne of Denmark]]. Some 13,700 Scottish soldiers were to be sent as allies to help Christian IV under the command of General [[Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Nithsdale]].<ref>Murdoch and Grosjean, pp. 43–46</ref> Moreover, some 6000 English troops under Sir [[Charles Morgan (military governor)|Charles Morgan]] also eventually arrived to bolster the defence of Denmark though it took longer for these to arrive than Christian hoped, not least due to the ongoing British campaigns against France and Spain. Thus Christian, as war-leader of the Lower Saxon Circle, entered the war with an army of only 20,000 mercenaries, some of his allies from Britain and a national army 15,000 strong, leading them as Duke of Holstein rather than as King of Denmark.

Despite the growing power of Roman Catholics in North Germany, and the threat to the Danish holdings in the [[Schleswig-Holstein]] duchies, Christian for a time stayed his hand. The urgent solicitations of other powers, and his fear that Gustavus Adolphus should supplant him as the champion of the Protestant cause, finally led him to enter the war on 9 May 1625.<ref name="Britannica" /> He also feared that Sweden could use a war to further expand their holdings in the Baltic Sea. Christian embarked on a military campaign which was later known in Denmark and Norway as "The Emperor War" ({{langx|da|Kejserkrigen}}, {{langx|no|Keiserkrigen}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lockhart |first=Paul Douglas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TkteH2TrSSsC&pg=PA166 |title=Denmark, 1513–1660: the Rise and Decline of a Renaissance Monarchy |publisher=[[Oxford University]] Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-927121-4 |page=166 |access-date=7 August 2009}}</ref>

He had at his disposal from 19,000 to 25,000 people, and at first gained some successes but on 27 August 1626 he was routed by [[Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly]] in the [[Battle of Lutter]].<ref name="Britannica" /> Christian had not thoroughly planned the advance against the combined forces of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and the [[Catholic League (German)|Catholic League]], as promises of military support from the Netherlands and England did not materialise.<ref name="kejserkrigen">"Gads Historieleksikon", 3rd edition, 2006. Paul Ulff-Møller, "''Kejserkrigen''", p. 352. {{ISBN|87-12-04259-5}}</ref> In the summer of 1627 both Tilly and [[Albrecht von Wallenstein]] occupied the duchies and the whole peninsula of [[Jutland]].<ref name="Britannica" />

Christian now formed an alliance with Sweden on 1 January 1628, as he and Gustavus Adolphus shared the reluctance of German expansion in the Baltic region.<ref name="kejserkrigen" /> Gustavus Adolphus pledged to assist Denmark with a fleet in case of need, and shortly afterwards a Swedo-Danish army and fleet compelled Wallenstein to raise the [[Battle of Stralsund (1628)|siege of Stralsund]]. Thus with the help of Sweden, the superior sea-power enabled Denmark to tide over her worst difficulties, and in May 1629 Christian was able to conclude peace with the emperor in the [[Treaty of Lübeck]], without any diminution of territory.<ref name="Britannica" /> However, the treaty bound Christian not to interfere in the Thirty Years' War any further, removing any Danish obstacles when Gustavus Adolphus entered the war in 1630.<ref name="kejserkrigen" />