_Christian IV. (1588-1648)_
Frederick II. was succeeded by his son, Christian IV., a king who
became very popular with the Norwegians. Christian was only eleven
years of age at his father's death. According to the desire of the late
king, his widow, Sophia of Mecklenburg, was to act as regent during
Christian's minority, but the powerful Council of State refused to
confirm such regency, and appointed four members of their own body,
Chancellor Niels Kaas, Admiral Peder Munk, and the Counsellors Jorgen
Rosenkrands and Christopher Walkendorf, as regents and guardians of
the prince. Christian was given an excellent education by competent
teachers. He early showed great love for the sea, and Admiral Munk
caused a little frigate to be built expressly for him, and had it
launched in a lake in Jutland, where he was taught by expert sailors
how to navigate his ship.
When he was nineteen years old, Christian assumed the government in his
own name, and was crowned, with great ceremony, in Copenhagen, 1596.
None of the other Danish kings have been so zealous for the welfare
of Norway. He frequently visited the country, and once even (1599)
sailed along the northernmost coast into the White Sea, as he wished
to acquaint himself with the circumstances of the northern boundary
conflict with Sweden. On his return voyage he came to Bergen, where he
witnessed a trial in court, visited the German wharf and watched the
games of the Germans. He attended a jolly party at the apothecary's,
where the guests smashed the windows; the king's crowned monogram was
painted on the new panes. He also visited the peasants and drank toasts
with them, according to their custom. King Christian listened to the
complaints from Norway of the extortions of the Danish prefects, who,
one after another, were deposed from office or compelled to pay heavy
fines. He made the Norwegian-born nobleman, Hans Pederson Basse (or
Little), Chancellor of Norway.
The old Norwegian laws, which were written in the old Norse language,
and therefore now hard to understand, were abolished, and, in their
stead, the king directed the learned chancellor, Hans Pederson Basse,
with the assistance of other experienced men, to elaborate a new code
of laws. Hans Pederson died (November, 1602) before this work was
completed, but his assistant and successor as Chancellor of Norway,
Anders Green, continued it, and the new laws were published in 1604. A
Norwegian ecclesiastical law (Ordinance) was also given, because the
Danish one was not suited for Norway.
Christian IV. had three wars during his long reign, two with Sweden and
one with the Catholics in Germany.
The first Swedish war (1611-1613) was fought principally for Norway's
sake. The Swedish king, Charles IX., called himself, at his coronation,
King of the Lapps, and laid claim to the Norwegian province of Finmark.
There was also a renewal of a conflict about "the three crowns" in
the coats-of-arms. Christian made a successful attack, destroyed the
newly-founded town of Gothenburg, and captured Elfsborg and the town
and fortress of Kalmar; hence this war is called the Kalmar War.
During the war, the old king, Charles IX., died, and was succeeded by
his son, the great Gustavus Adolphus. The war was largely conducted
with foreign mercenaries, as it was not yet usual to have standing
armies. Gustavus Adolphus had secured two such hired armies, which
were to try to proceed across Norway in order to reach Sweden, as
the Kattegat was closed with Danish ships. Colonel Munchaven landed
with eight hundred men from Holland in Söndmöre, where he plundered
the country, then tried in vain to attack Throndhjem, and afterward
proceeded through Stjördalen, where the people had become so
frightened, on account of his depredations, that they did not dare to
offer any resistance. Ravaging and plundering he made his way across
the mountain ridge Kjölen into the province of Jemteland, which he
conquered before joining the army in Sweden. The second foreign army
was given a different reception. It consisted of nine hundred men, who
came from Scotland under the command of Colonel George Sinclair. They
landed at Veblungsnes in Romsdal and proceeded up to Gudbrandsdal.
Under the leadership of Bailiff Lauritz Gram, the brave peasants of
the Gudbrandsdal armed themselves as best they could. The peasants
from the parishes of Lesje, Vaage, Fron, and Ringebu, gathered at the
narrow mountain pass, Kringen, near the river Laugen, to await the
arrival of the enemy. The advance guard was allowed to pass; but on the
arrival of the main body, with Colonel Sinclair himself, the Norwegians
suddenly attacked the Scotchmen, who were all shot down or driven into
the river. The advance guard was then overtaken and killed. Of the
whole force of nine hundred men, not one man, it is said, escaped. At
Kvam's Church a grave is still pointed out as being that of Colonel
Sinclair, and at Kringen there is a plain stone monument bearing this
inscription: "Here Colonel George Sinclair was shot, August 26, 1612."
After the Scotchmen the Norwegians call this war the "Scotch War."
Peace was finally concluded at Knaeröd, January 26, 1613. Gustavus
Adolphus abandoned his claim to the Norwegian Finmark, and Christian
relinquished the captured fortresses upon being paid a million
Rigsdalers. Both countries were again allowed to use the three crowns
in their coats-of-arms.
In his second war Christian IV. was not successful. This was his
participation in the Thirty Years' War as the ally of the German
Protestants against Emperor Ferdinand II. and the Catholics
(1625-1629). After his defeat in the battle of Lutter am Barenberge,
the imperial armies, under Tilly and Wallenstein, overran Holstein,
Schleswig, and Jutland, and, at the Peace of Lubeck, Christian was
obliged to pledge himself not to take any further part in the war.
King Christian's third war was with Sweden. The Swedish king, Gustavus
Adolphus, had been fighting for the cause of the Protestants in
Germany, and, after his fall in 1632, the Swedes continued the war
under his able generals with much success. King Christian viewed with
alarm the growing power of the Swedes, and secretly allied himself with
the enemies of Sweden. The Swedes, however, anticipated his designs,
and, in December, 1643, the Swedish general, Torstensson, left the
scene of war in Bohemia and suddenly invaded Holstein, while another
Swedish army attacked the province of Scania; a Swedish and a Dutch
fleet were to convey these armies over to the Danish isles. The duchies
and Jutland were in a very short time conquered by the Swedes, and it
was only by Christian's wise and prompt proceedings that Funen and the
other islands were saved from falling into the hands of the enemy.
Although King Christian was then an old man of sixty-seven years,
he took command of his fleet, won a battle at Listerdyk, and fought
valiantly in the terrible naval battle of Kolbergheide, Femern, July
1, 1644, where he himself was badly wounded. On account of a lack of
vigilance on the part of the old Danish admiral Galt, the Swedish fleet
succeeded in escaping and uniting with the Dutch, and this combined
fleet, of sixty-four ships, thereupon attacked the Danish one of
seventeen ships, between Lolland and Falster. Unfortunately, a number
of the sailors were ashore, and some of the commanders took to hasty
flight. The remainder gathered around their admiral, the Norwegian,
Pros Nilson Mund, who would neither flee nor surrender, but fought to
the last man against the overwhelming force of the enemy. This defeat
placed Denmark in such a dangerous position that an immediate peace
became an absolute necessity. The peace was concluded at Bromsebro,
August 13, 1645, and King Christian was compelled to cede the Norwegian
provinces of Herjedalen and Jemteland, and the island of Gottland to
Sweden.
In Norway, where the king had lately established a standing army, this
war had been conducted with some success. It was named the Hannibal's
Feud, after the viceroy, Hannibal Sehested, who, with the assistance of
the brave warrior, the clergyman in Ullensaker, Kield Stub, not only
kept the enemy out of Norway, but also collected heavy tributes from
the nearest Swedish provinces. After peace had been concluded, Kield
Stub returned to his pastorate, which he managed to his death, in 1663.
Christian IV. did a great deal to promote the industries and commerce
of Norway. The Hanseatic office in Bergen was held in check, and
Norwegian trading enterprises were encouraged. The mining industry,
which had heretofore been neglected, became quite active. When silver
had been discovered in Sandsvaer, in 1623, he founded the mining-town
of Kongsberg. He also established the copper-works at Röros, where
copper was accidentally discovered by the peasant, Hans Aasen, in
1640. Oslo having been destroyed by fire, King Christian requested
the inhabitants to move across the bay, closer to the fortress of
Akershus, where he laid out the new town, the present capital of
Christiania (1624). At the mouth of the Otter River he founded the town
of Christianssand (1643), which afterward became the seat of the bishop
instead of Stavanger.
King Christian was very often in Norway. The last time was during the
year following the Peace of Bromsebro. After a pleasant sojourn of
seven weeks he returned to Denmark, where, shortly afterward, he died
(February 28, 1648), in the seventy-first year of his life.
Christian IV. was first married to Anna Katherina of Brandenburg,
who died in 1612. In 1615 he entered into a morganatic marriage with
Kristine Munk, a lady of noble family, to whom he gave the title of
Countess of Schleswig-Holstein, and with whom he lived happily many
years. They had several children, among whom was the highly gifted
Eleonora Kristine, who was married to the Danish nobleman, Corfitz
Ulfeld, and who, with her ambitious husband, exerted a great influence
over the king during the latter years of his life.