Editing Christian III of Denmark (section)

=== After the war and coup d'état in Norway ===
{{Main|Reformation in Denmark-Norway and Holstein}}

A mutual confidence between a king who had conquered his kingdom and a people who had stood in arms against him was not attainable immediately. The circumstances under which Christian III ascended the throne exposed Denmark to the danger of foreign domination. It was with the help of the gentry of the Germanic duchies that Christian had captured Denmark. [[Holstein]] and German noblemen had led his armies and directed his diplomacy. The first six years of Christian III's reign were marked by a contest between the Danish ''[[Rigsraadet]]'' and the German counsellors, both of whom sought to rule through the king. Though the Danish party won a victory at the outset, by obtaining the insertion in the [[charter]] of provisions stipulating that only native-born Danes should fill the highest dignities of the state, the king's German counsellors continued paramount during his early reign.<ref name="nbl" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thereformation.info/denmark.htm |title=Denmark and Norway |publisher=thereformation.info |access-date=August 15, 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Bain|1911}}

The triumph of Christian III would eventually bring about an end to Catholic Christianity in Denmark, but Catholics still controlled the [[Council of State (Denmark)|Council of State]]. Christian III ordered the arrest of three of the bishops on the State Council by his German mercenaries (12 August 1536). Some Catholic bishops were later executed on his orders.

Christian's debt for the [[Count's Feud]] was enormous and confiscating the Church lands (farmed by peasants who had been free from vassalage duties to the nobles) enabled him to pay down the debt to his creditors.<ref name="nbl" />

Christian's [[Protestantism|Protestant]] policies led Denmark toward the [[Reformation in Denmark-Norway and Holstein|establishment]] of [[Lutheranism]] as the [[Danish National Church]] (''Folkekirke''). This occurred officially on 30 October 1536 when the reconstituted State Council adopted the [[Kirchenordnung|Lutheran Ordinances]] designed by  German theologian [[Johannes Bugenhagen]] (1485–1558), which outlined church organization, liturgy, and accepted religious practice. Monasteries, nunneries, and priories, were closed and the property taken by the crown (see [[Chronicle of the Expulsion of the Grayfriars]]). Vast tracts of land were handed out to the king's supporters, the royal land was rapidly expanded from one-sixth of the national land before the religious reform to 60% after the religious reform.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://snl.no/folkekirke |title=folkekirke |publisher=Store norske leksikon |author=Hallgeir Elstad |access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/johannes-bugenhagen/ |title=Johannes Bugenhagen |website=reformation500.csl.edu/|date=14 April 2014 |access-date=December 1, 2019}}</ref>

In 1537, Christian's [[coup d'état]] in Norway made it a hereditary kingdom in a [[real union]] with Denmark that would last until 1814. He also made [[Church of Norway|Lutheranism]] the [[state religion]] in Norway,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kirken.no/nb-NO/om-kirken/aktuelt/2017---et-kirkehistorisk-merkear/|title=2017 – et kirkehistorisk merkeår|date=2017-12-30|website=Den norske kirke, Kirkerådet|access-date=2018-06-22}}</ref> and on 2 September 1537 he appointed [[Gjeble Pederssøn]] as its first Lutheran bishop.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Gjeble Pederssøn |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |editor-last=Godal | editor-first=Anne Marit | editor-link=Anne Marit Godal |publisher=Norsk nettleksikon |location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/Gjeble_Pederssøn|language=no|access-date=26 July 2018}}</ref>