Editing History of Denmark (section)

==== 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''
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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}}).