Editing History of Denmark (section)

=== The Reformation ===
{{main|Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein}}
[[Image:Hans Tausen - Jacob Kornerup efter maleri i Ribe Domkirke.jpg|thumb|[[Hans Tausen]] was one of the first Lutheran preachers, and later a bishop, in Denmark.]]
The [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], which originated in the German lands in the early 16th century from the ideas of [[Martin Luther]] (1483–1546), had a considerable impact on Denmark. The Danish Reformation started in the mid-1520s. Some Danes wanted access to the [[Bible]] in their own language. In 1524 Hans Mikkelsen and [[Christiern Pedersen]] translated the [[New Testament]] into Danish; it became an instant best-seller.<ref name="runeberg.org"/>

Those who had traveled to [[Wittenberg]] in Saxony and come under the influence of the teachings of [[Martin Luther|Luther]] and his associates included [[Hans Tausen]], a Danish monk in the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of St John Hospitallers]]. On Good Friday in 1525, Tausen used the pulpit at [[Antvorskov]] Abbey Church to proclaim Luther's reforms. His scandalized superiors ordered him out of Zealand and held him in the priory at [[Viborg, Denmark|Viborg]] under close confinement until he should come to his senses.<ref name="runeberg.org">{{cite encyclopedia
|entry-url= https://runeberg.org/dbl/17/
|entry= Tausen, Hans, 1494–1561, evangelisk Reformator og Biskop
|access-date= 2008-09-09
|editor= C. F. Bricka
|editor-link= Carl Frederik Bricka
|year= 1903
|encyclopedia= [[Dansk biografisk leksikon|Dansk Biografiske Lexicon]]
|publisher= Gyldendal
|pages= 100–114
|language= da
}}
</ref>

Townspeople came to see the troublesome monk, and Tausen preached to them from the window of his cell. Within days Tausen's ideas swept through the town. The then radical ideas of Luther found a receptive audience. Tausen's preaching converted ordinary people, merchants, nobles, and monks and even the Prior grew to appreciate Tausen and ordered his release. Tausen preached openly: much to the consternation of Bishop Jøn Friis, who lost his ability to do anything about the Lutherans and retreated to Hald Castle.<ref name="runeberg.org"/>

After preaching in the open air, Tausen gained the use of a small chapel, which soon proved too small for the crowds who attended services in Danish. His followers broke open a Franciscan Abbey so they could listen to Tausen, who packed the church daily for services. The town leaders protected Tausen from the Bishop of Viborg.<ref name="runeberg.org"/>
Viborg became the center for the Danish Reformation for a time. Lutheranism spread quickly to [[Aarhus]] and [[Aalborg]].

Within months King [[Frederick I of Denmark|Frederick]] appointed Tausen as one of his personal chaplains (October 1526) in order to protect him from Catholics. Tausen's version of Luther's ideas spread throughout Denmark. Copenhagen became a hotbed of reformist activity and Tausen moved there to continue his work. His reputation preceded him and the excitement of hearing the liturgy in Danish brought thousands of people out to hear him. With the kings' permission, churches in Copenhagen opened their doors to the Lutherans and held services for Catholics and for Lutherans at different times of the day.

At Our Lady Church, the main church of Copenhagen, Bishop Ronnow refused to admit the "heretics". In December 1531, a mob stormed the [[Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen|Church of Our Lady]] in Copenhagen, encouraged by Copenhagen's fiery mayor, [[Ambrosius Bogbinder]]. They tore down statues and side-altars and destroyed artwork and reliquaries. Frederick I's policy of toleration insisted that the two competing groups share churches and pulpits peacefully, but this satisfied neither Lutherans nor Catholics.

Luther's ideas spread rapidly as a consequence of a powerful combination of popular enthusiasm for church reform and a royal eagerness to secure greater wealth through the seizure of church lands and property. In Denmark the reformation increased the crown's revenues by 300%.

==== Dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church ====
Dissatisfaction with the established Catholic Church had already been widespread in Denmark. Many people viewed the [[tithe]]s and fees — a constant source of irritation for farmers and merchants — as unjust. This became apparent once word got out that King Frederick and his son, [[Christian III of Denmark|Duke Christian]] had no sympathy with Franciscans who persistently made the rounds of the parishes to collect food, money, and clothing in addition to the tithes. Between 1527 and 1536 many towns petitioned the king to close the Franciscan houses.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Krønike om Gråbrodrenes Udjagelse''
</ref>

Frederick obliged by sending letters authorizing the closure of the monasteries, often offering a small sum of money to help the brothers on their way. With the royal letter in hand, mobs forcibly closed [[Franciscan]] abbeys all over Denmark. They beat up monks, two of whom died.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The closure of Franciscan houses occurred systematically in Copenhagen, Viborg, Aalborg, Randers, Malmö and ten other cities; in all, 28 monasteries or houses closed. People literally hounded Franciscan monks out of the towns.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

No other order faced such harsh treatment. Considering how strongly many people felt about removing all traces of Catholic traditions from Danish churches, surprisingly little violence took place. Luther's teaching had become so overwhelmingly popular that Danes systematically cleared churches of statues, paintings, wall-hangings, reliquaries and other Catholic elements without interference. The only exceptions came in individual churches where the local churchmen refused to permit reform.

[[Image:Christian III of Denmark.jpg|thumb|[[Christian III of Denmark|King Christian III]] carried out the Protestant Reformation in Slesvig, Holsten, Denmark and Norway.]]
[[Frederick I of Denmark|Frederick I]] died in 1533; the Viborg Assembly ({{langx|da|landsting}}) [[Election of Christian III|proclaimed his son, Duke Christian of Schleswig, King Christian III]]. The State Council ({{langx|da|Rigsråd}}) on Zealand, led by the Catholic bishops, took control of the country and refused to recognize the election of Christian III, a staunch Lutheran. The regents feared Christian's zeal for Luther's ideas would tip the balance and disenfranchise Catholics — both peasants and nobles.

The State Council encouraged Count [[Christopher of Oldenburg]] to become Regent of Denmark. Christian III quickly raised an army to enforce his election, including mercenary troops from Germany. Count Christopher raised an army (including troops from [[Mecklenburg]] and [[Duchy of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]] and the Hanseatic League, especially [[Lübeck]]) to restore his Catholic uncle King [[Christian II]] (deposed in 1523). This resulted in a three-year civil war called the [[Count's Feud]] ({{langx|da|Grevens Fejde}}).

==== Count's Feud (1534–1536) ====
Armed rebellion by Catholic peasants led by [[Skipper Clement]] started in northern Jutland. Rebellion swept across [[Funen]], Zealand and Skåne. Christian III's army soundly defeated an army of Catholic nobles at Svenstrup on 16 October 1534. Christian forced a truce with the [[Hanseatic League]], which had sent troops to help Count Christopher. Christian III's army, under [[Johan Rantzau]], chased the rebels all the way back to [[Aalborg]] and then massacred over 2,000 of them inside the city in December 1534.

The Protestants captured Skipper Clement (1534), and later executed him in 1536. Christian III's mercenary troops put an end to Catholic hopes on Zealand and then Funen. Skåne rebels went as far as proclaiming Christian II king again. King [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Vasa]] of Sweden sent two separate armies to ravage [[Halland]] and Skåne into submission. Besiegers finally starved the last hold-outs in the rebellion, Copenhagen and [[Malmø]], into surrender in July 1536. By the spring of 1536, Christian III had taken firm control.

==== State Lutheranism ====
Denmark became officially Lutheran on 30 October 1536 by decree of King Christian III, and in 1537 the reconstituted State Council approved the [[Church Order (Lutheran)|Lutheran Ordinances]] which was worked out by Danish theologians and [[Johannes Bugenhagen]], based on the [[Augsburg Confession]] and Luther's [[Small Catechism|Little Catechism]]. The government established the Danish National Church ({{langx|da|Folkekirken}}) as the [[state church]]. All of Denmark's Catholic bishops went to prison until such time as they converted to Luther's reform. The authorities released them when they promised to marry and to support the reforms.

If they agreed, they received property and spent the rest of their lives as wealthy landowners. If they refused conversion, they died in prison. The State confiscated Church lands to pay for the armies that had enforced Christian III's election. Priests swore allegiance to Lutheranism or found new employment. The new owners turned monks out of their monasteries and abbeys. Nuns in a few places gained permission to live out their lives in nunneries, though without governmental financial support. The Crown closed churches, abbeys, priories and cathedrals, giving their property to local nobles or selling it.

The King appointed Danish superintendents (later bishops) to oversee Lutheran orthodoxy in the church. Denmark became part of a Lutheran heartland extending through Scandinavia and northern Germany. The Catholic Church everywhere in Scandinavia had sealed its fate by supporting hopeless causes: Christian II and the emperor Charles V in Denmark, Norwegian independence in that country, and in Sweden the Kalmar Union. Geographical distance also prevented them from receiving anything more than a sympathetic ear from Rome.

The 17th century saw a period of strict Lutheran [[orthodoxy]] in Denmark, with harsh punishments visited on suspected followers of either [[John Calvin|Calvinism]] or [[Huldrych Zwingli]]. Lutheran authorities treated Catholics harshly — in the fear that they might undermine the king, government, and national church. In a delayed result of the Reformation, Denmark became embroiled in the [[Thirty Years' War]] (1618–1648) on the Protestant side.