Editing Frederick II of Denmark (section)

=== Northern Seven Years' War ===
{{Further|Northern Seven Years' War}}King Frederick's competition with Sweden for supremacy in the [[Baltic region|Baltic]] broke out into open warfare in 1563, the start of the [[Northern Seven Years' War]], the dominating conflict of his rule.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Frederik 2 – Udforsk slottet – Kronborg Slot – Slotte og haver – Kongelige Slotte|url=https://kongeligeslotte.dk/da/slotte-og-haver/kronborg-slot/udforsk-kronborg-slot/frederik-2.html|access-date=23 July 2020|website=kongeligeslotte.dk}}</ref>

The leading councillors, [[Johan Friis]] foremost among them, had feared a Swedish onslaught for several years, and after the succession of Frederick II's first cousin, the ambitious and unbalanced [[Eric XIV of Sweden|Eric XIV]] (reigned 1560–1568) to the [[Gustav I of Sweden|Vasa]] throne a confrontation appeared inevitable. Still, few councillors wanted war, and they preferred to wait until it was forced upon them, while Frederik preferred a [[Preemptive war|preemptive strike]]. Despite its initial opposition to the war, the [[Riksråd|Council of the Realm]] went along with the king. Frederik II, wisely, made no effort to exclude the council from the direction of the war, and though he retained chief operational control he entrusted much responsibility to his councillors, including Holger Ottesen [[Rosenkrantz (noble family)|Rosenkrants]], [[Marshal]] [[Otte Krumpen]], and [[Admiral]] [[Herluf Trolle]].<ref name=":13">Lockhart, Paul D., page 39</ref>
[[File:Fredrik_II_conqueres_Älvsborg_1563.jpg|left|thumb|460x460px|Frederick II of Denmark-Norway [[Siege of Älvsborg (1563)|attacking Älvsborg]], 1563.]]
Only one constitutional crisis emerged during [[Northern Seven Years' War|the war]]; in late 1569, after six years of war, the Council decided not to provide the king with further grants of taxation. The war had been costly, both in lives and in gold, but since 1565 Denmark-Norway had made no appreciable gains. The council had already asked Frederik to make peace, and he had made a half-hearted attempt to do so in 1568, but neither Frederik nor his [[Eric XIV of Sweden|Swedish opponent]] was willing to concede defeat.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Jensen, Frede P.|title=Danmarks konflikt med Sverige 1563–1570|date=1982|publisher=Den danske historiske forening|isbn=87-87462-19-2|pages=286–94|oclc=185811858}}</ref>

The war developed into an extremely expensive [[war of attrition]] in which the areas of [[Scania]] were ravaged by the Swedes, and [[Norway]] was almost lost. During this war, King Frederick II led his army personally on the battlefield, but although with some small success, overall without much result.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

The council, in cutting off financial support, had hoped to coerce the king into ending the war. Frederik felt betrayed, and after some reflection, Frederick felt that the only honourable recourse was [[abdication]].<ref name=":14" /> With his [[letter of resignation]] in the hands of the councillors, he left [[Copenhagen|the capital]] to go hunting in the [[Rural area|countryside]]. The king, still unmarried, had no heir, and consequently the [[Council of the Realm (Denmark)|Council of the Realm]] had good reason to fear another leaderless [[interregnum]] and even another civil war. It played into the king's hands; the Council begging for his return to the throne and allowed him to summon a [[Diet (assembly)|Diet]] to consider additional [[Tax levy|tax levies]].<ref name=":14" />

The conflict damaged his relationship with his noble councillors; however, the later [[Sture murders]] of 24 May 1567 by the insane King Eric XIV in Sweden, eventually helped stabilize the situation in Denmark-Norway. After King [[John III of Sweden]], King Eric's successor, refused to accept a peace favoring Denmark-Norway in the [[Treaties of Roskilde (1568)]], the ongoing war dragged on until it was ended by a status quo peace in the [[Treaty of Stettin (1570)]], that let Denmark-Norway save face but also show limits of Danish and Norwegian military power.<ref name=":33">{{cite web|title=Frederik 2|url=https://snl.no/Frederik_2|access-date=15 August 2016|publisher=Store norske leksikon}}</ref>

Frederik II learned a great deal about kingship during the war with Sweden. He learned to include the [[Council of the Realm (Denmark)|Council of the Realm]] in most matters of policy, but he also learned that it was possible to manipulate the council, even to bend it to his own will, without humiliating it or undermining its authority.<ref name=":13" /> He would later come to master this ability and use it extensively.<ref name=":13" />