TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION UNDER THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., THE
PEACEFUL.
(1527-1533.)
Tausen, the son of the peasant of Kiertminde, was still in the convent
of Viborg, and wore the dress of the Johannites; but he was fearlessly
propagating the doctrines of the Reformation. A singular monk, that!
said the friends of the prior, Peter Jansen. Fearing that he had a wolf
in his sheepfold, the prior drove Tausen out of his monastery. The
townsmen received him with enthusiasm. They took him to the cemetery of
the Dominicans; and the reformer, taking his stand on a tombstone,
preached to a crowd of living men as they stood or sat upon the
sepulchres of the dead. Ere long the church of the Franciscans was
opened to him. In the morning the monks said mass in the church, and in
the afternoon Tausen and his friends preached there the Word of God.
Sometimes on going out from the service controversy was kindled, and
laymen and monks came to high words, and even to blows. Then the bishop
prohibited the preaching; and this largely increased the number of
laymen who were impatient to hear the man of whom the monks were so much
afraid. The bishop took other measures. Foot-soldiers and horsemen had
orders to prevent the townsmen from going to the church in which Tausen
preached. But the laymen, still more resolute than the priests,
barricaded with chains the streets by which the troops were to arrive;
and then, leaving a certain number of their own party to defend the
barricades, went to the service armed from head to foot. At this news
the bishop in alarm ordered the gates of his palace to be closed; and,
fancying that he already saw the townsmen marching to the assault, put
himself in a state of defence. Thus was the message of peace accompanied
by very warlike circumstances. [Sidenote: Churches Assigned To
Evangelicals.] The king interposed. He deemed it just that the
evangelicals as well as the Catholics should have freedom to worship
God, and therefore assigned to the townsmen the churches of the
Franciscans and Dominicans. The monks, enraged, closed the doors of the
churches; the townsmen opened them by force. The monks, terrified, then
flew for refuge to their cells. In a little while the music of hymns
composed by Tausen, and sung by his flock, reached their ears, and
somewhat calmed their fluttering hearts. The reformers wished to be
fair. They left to the monks for their worship the vaulted galleries
which surrounded the church. But the soldiery did not show so much
toleration. One day four horsemen, another day fifteen, says a
historian,[280] came and took up their quarters in these galleries. It
amounted almost to a dragonnade. The singing of the monks and the
tramping of the horses must have made very inharmonious music. The king
had certainly nothing to do with this annoyance. More strife was
inevitable. The two mendicant orders, who depended for their livelihood
on the charity of the people, no longer receiving any gifts, found
themselves soon reduced to the greatest straits. The Franciscans sold a
silver chalice; but this went only a little way. They then adopted the
plan of going away; and in this prudent scheme the townsmen were eager
to give them assistance. In fact the latter set themselves to the
business so zealously that some thought they were driving the monks
away. Liberty was indeed the general law of the kingdom, but it was not
always respected in details.[281]
The monks went away; but printers, booksellers, and books came to the
town. The contrast is characteristic. In all towns in which the
Reformation obtained a footing, a printing press was at the same time
established. Out of the struggles of the Reformation sprang up
everywhere a taste for reading. One day the arrival of a bookseller,
named Johann Weingarten, caused great joy at Viborg. Tausen immediately
took advantage of the circumstance, and began to compose a work which he
entitled—_Pastoral and Episcopal Letter of Jesus Christ_. In it Christ
himself addresses the people of Denmark. They had forsaken him to seek
rest in the idol Baal which was at Rome. But Christ returns to those who
desert him, and offers them the grace of the love of God. ‘Hear you not
the sound of these trumpets which my prophets have been blowing these
ten years past? They make the holy word of the Gospel to resound in the
whole world. Go whither it calls you. Do not fear because you are but
few in number. It is no hard task for me to give a little flock the
victory over a great multitude.’ Many writings of a similar kind
followed. Tausen thus with all his might urged his people along in the
path of the truth.[282]
Several circumstances favorable to the Reformation successively
occurred. The bishop of Roeskilde, the greatest adversary of the
Reformation, having died, the king chose for his successor Joachim
Roennov,[283] a gentleman of his court, who had resided a long time at
Paris and in other universities. He was of noble rank and a native of
Holstein, a country particularly dear to the king. Unfortunately,
Frederick had made choice of him rather because he was a friend of his
house and capable of defending his sons after his death, than as a
friend of the Gospel. It is not certain that Roennov was a churchman. He
was probably at this time ordained successively deacon, priest, and
bishop. He was obliged to pledge himself not to oppose the preaching of
the Word of God, and this he did willingly. But it happened to him as it
did to Aeneas Sylvius, who, when he once became pope, adopted with the
tiara its principles and its prejudices.
Another measure of the king was more successful. He founded or
authorized the foundation at Malmoe of a school of theology in
conformity with the Holy Scriptures; and among its first professors were
Wormorsen, Tondebinder, and Peter Laurent. The king further required
that the canonries vacant at Copenhagen should be given to men capable
of training priests and students in the true science of theology. Some
of the doctors of Viborg and Malmoe gave soon afterwards the imposition
of hands to young Christian men who were prepared to proclaim the
Gospel. But while doing so, they declared that they did not communicate
to them any sacerdotal unction, which pertained to God alone, but that
they established them in the ministry as men worthy of it.[284]
[Sidenote: Tausen Called To Copenhagen.]
At length, this same year, an important event occurred to crown these
various measures in favor of Protestantism. The king, calmly pursuing
his course, resolved to call Tausen to discharge his ministry in a more
important sphere, namely, at Copenhagen itself, and he appointed him
pastor of the church of St. Nicholas. It cost Tausen some pain to leave
Viborg. He foresaw what opposition and enmities he would have to
encounter in the capital; he did not, however, shrink from it, but set
out. In the course of his journey he let no opportunity slip of
proclaiming the truth. Like St. Paul he preached in season and out of
season. Having met a senator of the kingdom, Count Gyldenstern, a man
held in very high esteem, he announced to him the Gospel. The senator
could not resist the truth. ‘One thing alone perplexes me,’ said he; ‘I
cannot persuade myself that the Church, which has for centuries shone
with so much splendor, can be false, and all this new religion which
Luther preaches, true. The true religion must needs be the most
ancient.’[285] Tausen was able easily to answer that the faith preached
by the reformers is found in the ancient writings of the Apostles. He
then went on his way.
The evangelical Christians of Copenhagen gave lively demonstrations of
their joy at his arrival; and the zealous doctor saw in a little while
an immense crowd gathered to his preaching. His hearers did not rest
satisfied with merely giving signs of approval of the doctrine which he
preached, but they gained over those who were still halting between the
Gospel and the papacy, so that ere long the majority of the people took
the side of the Word of God. The great truths of salvation till that
time hidden, they said, are now disclosed and presented to us eloquently
and soundly, so that they are impressed on our souls.[286] An impulse
still more powerful was about to be given to the Reformation.
In the month of May, 1530, the Imperial Diet assembled in the free city
of Augsburg. No one doubted that the emperor, who had just been crowned
by the pope in Italy, would be desirous of discharging his obligation to
the latter by compelling the Protestants to prostrate themselves anew
before the triple crown. The Danish prelates, especially, were persuaded
of this. They took a higher tone, and said that if they could but meet
the Lutherans, they would speedily reduce them to silence. They assumed
to give at Copenhagen a rehearsal of the drama which was about to be
acted at Augsburg. The Danish evangelicals, on their part, ardently
desired a conference; and the king himself acknowledged the necessity
for it. He therefore caused proclamation to be made throughout Denmark.
‘The bishops, the prelates on the one side, and the Lutheran preachers,
Master John Tausen and his adherents, on the other side, were invited to
appear at the Diet, before the king and the royal council, for the
purpose of presenting their confession of faith and of defending it, to
the end that one sole Christian religion might be established in the
kingdom.’[287]
[Sidenote: Diet Of Copenhagen.]
The opening of the Diet was fixed for the 20th of July, 1530.
The royal proclamation produced various effects. The prelates affected
to be heartily pleased, and would fain have convinced every body of
their sincerity. But it is not safe to triumph before victory.[288]
The members of the roman party when by themselves were not the same men
as they were in public. ‘Alas!’ they would say to one another, ‘if
Odensee gave freedom to the Protestants, will not Copenhagen deprive the
prelates of their dignities?’
The prelates took council among themselves, and came to the conclusion
that they could not trust to their own strength. Paul Eliæ was the only
man at all fit to cope with Tausen; but the prelates had not entire
confidence in him. Eck and Cochlaeus had refused to venture so far as
Scandinavia. The precentor of the cathedral of Aarhuus, Master George
Samsing, one of the best Danish theologians, was despatched to the
_holy_ city of Cologne to seek after doctors well versed in
Aristotle,[289] masters of arts and bold and subtile mocks, skilled in
the art of hitting hard blows, and of opportunely misleading their
antagonists and their hearers in the labyrinth of distinctions and
syllogisms. The precentor was not very fortunate in his researches; he
succeeded, however, in persuading an unknown doctor named Stagefyr, and
another whose name even is not known.
At length the 20th of July arrived. The assembly of the States was
opened, and the whole nation was attentive to what was about to take
place. On the issue of this conference hung the religious future of
Denmark. On the side of Rome appeared the bishops, not to defend their
doctrine, but to sit as councillors of the kingdom, and, as they
pretended, as judges. The two doctors whom we have mentioned, and
besides them, Eliæ, Muus, Samsing, Wulff the apostolical prothonotary,
and several others came forward after them to defend the papacy. On the
evangelical side, Tausen, Wormorsen, Chrysostom (_guldenmund_), Sadolin,
and Erasmus presented themselves; twenty-two ministers altogether.[290]
During the first eight days the latter continued silent, and did not
take a single step in self-defence; their adversaries the while
proceeding with all the more violence against those whom they called the
_heretics_. Eight days after the opening, Tausen presented himself at
the head of his party and delivered to the king the evangelical
confession which they had drawn up. The king communicated it to the
prelates, and they took the necessary time for its examination.
How would things turn out? Already on the 12th of July, Charles V. had
received from the pope a request that he would destroy by force the
Reformation in Germany, and he was ready to do this. Would it not be the
same at Copenhagen? The young man from Kiertminde, Tausen, as he stood
on the shore of the Great Belt, had seen the waters of the sea scatter
the boats of the fishermen, and advancing furiously on the coast beat
down the trees, overthrow the houses and lay waste the fields. Was not
the Reform threatened with like ruin? Tausen thought so. His friends
therefore and himself, full of boldness, determined to appeal to the
people. They wished at the least that the triumph of their cause should
proceed not so much from a decree of the states as from the free
conviction of their fellow-citizens. They therefore distributed among
themselves the forty-three articles of their confession, and every day
the twenty-two ministers delivered in turn two sermons on the doctrines
which they professed in it. The prelates, who had fancied that they
should see their adversaries in alarm, hiding their convictions like
cowards, were amazed at this unexpected boldness; and the crowds of
hearers which streamed into the churches threw them into a great rage.
They hastened to the king. They entreated him, they obliged him to
prohibit these Lutheran sermons which, they said, infringed on the
rights of the Diet. But Frederick, although overcome for a moment by the
bishops, listened to the representations of the pastors and withdrew his
[Sidenote: Sermons Multiplied.] prohibition. Then the Protestants,
anxious to redeem lost time, preached four sermons every week-day and
twelve every Sunday.[291] If the prelates abounded in the attack, the
reformers superabounded in the defence. The case is, perhaps, unique in
the history of the Reformation. But what a difference between these men!
The activity of the ministers consisted in proclaiming their faith; the
activity of the bishops consisted in imposing on their adversaries
silence, imprisonment, and exile. The prelates took as much pains to
hide their doctrine under a bushel as the evangelicals took to publish
theirs on the house-tops. The former would not on any consideration set
doctrine over against doctrine, lest they should draw laymen into the
struggle. While the ministers were night and day proclaiming the Gospel,
the priests were active only in persecution. According to a Scripture
saying, _they fell asleep and lay down like dumb dogs_; and this, we are
bound to confess, was not the case with the Roman Catholics in other
countries. When two causes in the presence of each other adopt measures
so different, victory is decided.
Sermons alone did not suffice the evangelicals. It was their great
business to make a solemn confession of their faith before the Diet. One
day, which it is not easy to determine, but probably about the end of
July, 1530, Tausen and his friends appeared before the king, the
grandees of the realm, the bishops, and the deputies, and presented,
respectfully but boldly, the statement of their faith. Their declaration
did not possess the perfect form of Melanchthon’s confession, with which
they were at present unacquainted; but it had more clearness and force.
While Luther’s friend, from a wish to spare and even to gain over the
powerful princes who listened to him, had passed over in silence certain
articles which might have given rise to sharp contradiction, Tausen and
his brethren did not think it their duty, in the presence of haughty and
persecuting bishops, either to soften the statement of their doctrines,
or to spare the Romish party.
[Sidenote: The Confession Of Faith.]
‘The Holy Scriptures,’ they said, ‘alone and uncorrupted by the
interpretations, additions, and fables of men,[292] teach all men how
they may obtain salvation from God. (Art. 1 and 2.)
‘He who, in order to obtain eternal life, takes any other way than that
which Scripture teaches, is foolish, blind, and incredulous, however
wise and however holy he may seem to the world.[293] (Art. 3.)
‘The persecutions, the passion, the death, the resurrection, and the
ascension of our Lord have been most certainly accomplished, and have
been given to us to be our righteousness, the discharge of our debt, the
expiation of all our sins.[294] (Art. 7.)
‘The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, who is the comforter
of all Christians, renews by diverse gifts of God our spirits and our
hearts, establishes and unites the true Church in the faith and in the
doctrine of Christ. (Art. 11.)
‘The holy Church is the communion of all those who by one and the same
faith have been made righteous and well-beloved sons of God. And we make
no account of any other Church, however distinguished in outward
appearance, which curses those whom God blesses, rejects those whom God
receives, and pronounces heretics those who teach according to the
truth.[295] (Art. 12, 13.)
‘We believe that marriage, the pious union of man and woman, as it was
instituted in paradise, is holy and honorable in all; that to live
honestly in this state is to lead a chaste life in the sight of God, and
that to forbid it to man and woman is a false semblance of chastity and
a doctrine of the devil.[296] (Art. 20, 21.)
‘We believe that the true Christian mass is nothing else than the
commemoration of the passion and the death of Jesus Christ, the
celebration of the love of God the Father, in which the body of Christ
is eaten and his blood is drunk as a sure pledge that for Christ’s sake
we have obtained the remission of sins.[297] (Art. 26.)
‘We believe that we all, as Christians, are priests in Christ Jesus, our
only and eternal High-priest; and that as such we are to offer ourselves
to God as living and acceptable sacrifices, to preach and to pray. But
among these priests some must be chosen, with the consent of the church,
who may preach to the Church, may administer the sacraments, and serve
it. These are the true bishops or presbyters, words which are completely
synonymous.[298] (Art. 36 and 40.)
‘Lastly, we believe that the head and ruler of the true Christian Church
is Jesus Christ alone, he who is our salvation; and we do not
acknowledge as head any creature in heaven or on earth.’ (Art. 43.)
Other articles prohibited ceremonies not in accordance with the Word of
God; excommunication pronounced against those whom God does not
excommunicate; sacraments which are not instituted in the Scriptures;
distinctions of meats and of days; the monastic life; the service which
consists merely of chants; vigils for the dead, ornaments, cowls, the
tonsure, anointings, or other outward signs of holiness; the withholding
of the cup; the mass; the use of a language which the people do not
understand; the invocation of saints; faith in any other mediator than
Jesus Christ; pretended good works, indulgences, brotherhoods, and other
novelties invented by priests and monks; purgatory; masses for the dead;
the meddling of bishops or presbyters in business matters, in the pomps
and shows of the world, in war, in the command of armies, in judicial
functions, or in any thing not belonging to their office; refusal to
obey princes and magistrates in any thing not contrary to the will of
God; images in the churches, which do no harm indeed to the wise, but
which may lead to idolatry simple men without understanding, and which
ought to be everywhere removed, but only with the consent of the
pastors, the magistrates, and the Church.[299] (Art. 35 to 42.)
Such was the faith of the evangelical Christians of Scandinavia. This
confession is a mirror which reflects their likeness feature for
feature. We are better acquainted with them after reading it, and we see
in them true disciples of the Gospel.
Not so thought the prelates. This confession which the king had placed
in their hands astonished them. They had expected that the Protestants
would be intimidated, and would not venture to publish their faith; and
now they found them putting it forward with great decision. They
determined to present a bill of indictment against these
innovators.[300] ‘We remember,’ they said to the prince, ‘the
engagements which you made on your accession to the throne. Now, John
Tausen and other disciples of Luther allege that the Church, for
thirteen or fourteen centuries, has been tainted with error; that works
are useless; that Christians of both sexes are priests; that all the
convents must be demolished; that man has no free-will, and that every
thing comes to pass by virtue of absolute necessity.’[301]
The prelates, however, shrank from a _vivâ voce_ discussion, which would
have resounded through the whole kingdom. They therefore required the
Protestants to prove their assertions in writing, anxious that every
thing should be confined to writings of which they alone should take
cognizance.
[Sidenote: Reply Of The Evangelicals.]
The evangelicals energetically disproved these charges,[302] and
particularly that of denying freedom and maintaining fatalism. With
regard to the imputation brought against them of recognizing only a
universal priesthood, they said—‘Will you reject a Turk or a Russian who
has received Christian instruction from a layman, if he die before
having been instructed by a priest?[303] There is then a priesthood for
Christians; but no one may hold any office in holy Church without being
appointed to it by the Church, for St. Paul will have _all things done
decently and in order_.’ The evangelicals, who on this point were
completely opposed to the prelates, did not content themselves with
written apologies, but wished for a public disputation, at which they
might defend their faith by word of mouth. This was conceded, and it was
to be held in the royal palace. The halls for the meetings were ready.
But the debates, according to the Protestants, ought to take place in
the vulgar tongue, in order to be understood by the laity. The prelates,
on the other hand, absolutely refused this, and would only agree to
Latin, a language unknown to the people, the townsmen, and even to most
of the nobles. The evangelicals further declared that they would
recognize no other standard of authority than Holy Scripture; and they
added that the king, the members of his council, and the whole people
would be able themselves to discern which of the two parties were in
agreement with it. ‘We acknowledge no other interpreters,’ said the
bishops, ‘than the Fathers and the councils, nor any other judge than
the pope and the next council.’—‘This is a mere subterfuge,’ said the
doctors of the Reformation; ‘you want to prevent the discussion, and
thus escape from an embarrassing position. You will not enter into the
sheepfold by the true door, and you have no care for the sheep of the
Saviour.’—‘Alas!’ exclaimed the members and the creatures of the clergy,
‘if the Lutherans have so much boldness, it is because a sacrilegious
king shuts his eyes to their insolence, nay even instigates them, and
because the infatuated nobles and blameworthy citizens encourage
them.’[304] But it was indeed out of the abundance of their hearts that
the reformers spoke.
[Sidenote: The Two Parties.]
Two parties very unlike each other were now brought face to face. The
theocratic element had long prevailed in Denmark, and still
characterized the party of the bishops. Another principle had appeared
in the midst of this people, which characterized the reformers and their
adherents. This was the religious element. It is a happiness for a
nation when the reign of a theocracy comes to an end; it is on the other
hand a misfortune when the religious element is weakened. There are not
wanting in a nation minds, and these some of the most distinguished,
whose interest is concentrated on secular knowledge and inventions; and
we are very far from wishing to exclude this tendency. Experience shows
that it may exist in the most Christian souls. But if a people is given
up entirely to this industrial propensity, which is so powerful in our
day, if they sacrifice to it the interest which they had previously felt
in religious life, it is just as if the bones which sustain the whole
body were removed from any living animal. This process has been very
much recommended in this age by some philosophers. We do not desire,
however, to see it carried out in the case either of an individual or a
nation.
The evangelical Christians of Denmark soon gave a new proof of the zeal
which inspired them in their endeavor to substitute religion for the
theocracy. Feeling the importance of holding a religious discussion,
they gave way on the question of language. ‘We are ready,’ they wrote to
the king, ‘to hold discussion with the prelates either in Latin or in
Danish;’ and for a whole month they repeated their demand. The Catholic
party had recourse to a subterfuge, and wrote to the king that they
likewise were ready to confer with the preachers either in Latin or in
Danish; but that they ought first to justify themselves in writing
before judges with whom all the world must be satisfied.[305] These
judges were the Danish bishops and Roman cardinals, that is to say,
essentially the pope, who would thus be judge in his own cause. Further,
they raised objections to the disputation itself. ‘The sittings,’ they
said, ‘are to be held in the royal palace, and it would be dangerous to
speak in a place occupied by the body-guards of a prince so devoted to
the heretics.’ It was thought that this fanciful fear of the body-guards
did little credit to the courage of the champions of Rome.[306]
Thus the scheme of the conference broke down. Tausen, Wormorsen,
Sadolin, Gjoë, Erasmus, Jansen, and their brethren were greatly grieved
about it. Ought this refusal of the bishops to check them in their
efforts to establish in Denmark the kingdom of Jesus Christ? They were
not men of a kind to become sluggish and idle after doing ever so
little, or, as another reformer says, ‘to take their eyes from their
brows and place them in their backs.’[307] They thought that in the
service of Christ they must be able to burst the fetters, to triumph
over obstacles, and to run with outstretched arms to the goal. They
appeared before the king and said to him—‘We acknowledge that these
lords are men of birth and honor, competent to give good counsel in the
affairs of the world; but our chief complaint against them is that they
confine themselves to bearing the title of bishops, and do not in any
manner discharge their duty. Not only do they not preach themselves, but
instead of placing in their dioceses well-informed pastors and
preachers, they appoint stupid, ignorant, and profane men, who supply
the Christian people with nothing but ridiculous fables, dreams of
monks, old wives’ tales, and fooleries of players, after the usual
manner of papists.[308] They persecute those who preach the Gospel
freely, and who condemn falsehood and hypocrisy. They give leave to
bands of sellers of indulgences to run to and fro to smother the Word of
God, and to prevent simple folk from receiving it. They shamefully drain
the resources of the poor people, while the real poor are languishing in
distressing necessities. They get a multitude of superstitious masses
said in their cathedrals, for the sake of great revenues, instead of
having preaching there and of offering to God true worship. They try to
prevent Christians, in the exercise of their liberty, from following the
counsels of learned and pious men, and choosing for themselves really
evangelical ministers; and they assign parishes to idle canons and
nobles, who do nothing for the people, allowing any one of them to hold
six or seven benefices. They forbid priests to marry, and thus make
adulterers of most of them. As for what some of these prelates
personally are, we will not speak just now.’[309]
[Sidenote: Appeal To The King.]
The king and the Reichstag thought that the ministers gave a good
account of their cause, and declared that since the Catholics rejected
the disputation, the evangelicals should continue to preach the Word of
God until the meeting of the general council; and the king promised at
the same time his protection to both parties. The majority of the
ministers remained for eight days at Copenhagen, and wished to see
whether any Catholic would present himself for the purpose of
discussion. Eliæ, on whom so many hopes had been built, kept profound
silence; but one Master Mathias, who had not yet spoken, a prey as it
seems to painful doubts, set forth some difficulties, to which Tausen
made victorious reply. Mathias himself, it is said, passed over to the
Protestant party.[310] The objections of Master Mathias were the only
oblation offered to Rome by the priesthood. The appearance of this
solitary unknown champion of the Romish Church, after so many and such
solemn appeals, recalls to mind the story of Julian when he wished to
re-establish with ceremony the feast of Apollo at Antioch: and only one
priest made his appearance, bringing as the whole of the offerings one
goose.[311]
From this time the evangelical cause was in the ascendency in the
kingdom. The bishops left Copenhagen with broken hearts. They trembled
not only for the papacy, but also for their property and their persons.
The bishop of Roeskilde, alarmed with or without reason, sought the
protection of the king, who gave him a safe-conduct. The prince, who was
determined himself to promote the cause of the Gospel in proportion as
God should make it prosper, summoned Chrysostom, Sadolin, and other
ministers besides; and from this time six preachers proclaimed the
Gospel daily in the churches of St. Nicholas, Our Lady, and the Holy
Ghost, and held discussion in the cathedral itself.[312] The king
maintained the privileges of the bishops. But the Reformation was strong
enough in itself to dispense with the aid of the prince. In vain did
Roman Catholicism, at this last moment, lift its dying voice; in vain
did Eliæ publish an apology for the mass; Tausen replied to him; Eliæ
promised a refutation, but gave none. The bishop of Roeskilde then
resorted to other means: he instigated the partisans of the clergy to
hoot at the evangelical ministers, to pursue them with jeering and to
drive them away. The other prelates did the same. Instead of endeavoring
to bring back the people by their kindliness and their pious discourses,
they stirred them up against the Gospel, and thus lost what little
respect they had enjoyed.
[Sidenote: Progress Of The Gospel.]
Nothing could stay the progress of reform. The Danes read the Scriptures
in their own tongue. Day by day new heralds of the Gospel proclaimed to
them the way of salvation. The pure light of the Word of God was shining
in these lands of the north. Their inhabitants were learning to regulate
their actions by that word, and they were astonished to see in what deep
darkness they had lived up to this time.[313] The Reformation rose like
the tide, and covered the country with its waters. Monks quitted their
monasteries, and these buildings were converted into hospitals or were
dedicated to other useful purposes. Unfortunately the townsmen, provoked
by the conduct of the bishops, indulged in rude displays of their
hostility to monachism. The convent of Friars Minor, at Nestved, was
demolished, and a pillory set up on its ruins in token of reprobation.
The hateful yoke under which the clergy and the monks had kept the
people misled men into unbecoming acts of vengeance. The passions which
in the case of the learned broke forth at times in writings full of
bitterness, displayed themselves on the part of the people in acts of
violence.[314] The sixteenth century could not calmly discuss religious
questions; this was one of its weak points; and perhaps other centuries,
proud of their tolerance, were too much like it. A large body of
working-men assembled at Copenhagen on the third day of the Christmas
festival, 1531, and entering the church of Our Lady during the
celebration of the Roman service seized the ornaments and the figures
which were found in it, and broke them to pieces. The church was closed
for some time, but by order of the magistrate the Catholics reoccupied
it. They continued to say mass in it for three years longer. Ten
convents were secularized between 1530 and 1533;[315] but Frederick,
whose constant aim as king was not to lean to either side, protected the
others. The most wealthy monasteries, however, were compelled to
contribute to the necessities of the state. This moderation on the part
of the king, far from raising any obstacle to the progress of the
Reformation, only served to ensure it.
The prince at the same time strengthened his position politically. In
1532, at the request of the Landgrave of Hesse, he entered into the
alliance of Protestant princes of Germany.[316] This was an important
step. Moreover, the prelates and many nobles foresaw, after the diet of
1530, the approaching fall of Catholicism. Aware that the king’s son,
Prince Christian, was a zealous Protestant, they looked round on all
sides for some means of escape from the lot which threatened them. They
finally fixed their hopes on Prince John, son of King Christian II., who
was consequently nephew of Charles V., and was brought up at his court.
They flattered themselves that if this young prince received the crown
at their hands he would re-establish the Romish religion and crush the
Reformation. They therefore agreed amongst themselves to direct all
their efforts to placing John on the throne after the death of the king.
At the same time, some negotiations in which Frederick had been engaged
with the emperor failed. His enemies appeared to be gaining the upper
hand; and every thing announced that a storm was ready to burst forth.
[Sidenote: Intrigues Of Christian II.]
The fallen king, Christian, had not ceased to fill the courts of
Germany, the Netherlands, and England with his complaints and his
solicitations. He perceived that, as Frederick favored Protestantism, he
could not reckon on the Protestants of Denmark. It was only in the
character of head of the Roman Catholic party that he would be able to
recover his crown. Discovering the wind that would carry his vessel to
the point which he wished to reach, he set all sail for it. Some of the
catholic princes advised him to make his peace with the pope; an
infallible means, they said, of inducing all the prelates and adherents
of the Roman faith to declare in his favor. This unhappy prince, so
violent and at the same time so weak, whose sole thought now was to
become king again at whatever cost, did not scruple to sacrifice the
opinions, more or less sincere, which he had openly professed, and
entered into correspondence with the pope with a view to being received
once more into the bosom of the Church.[317] It does not appear that the
negotiations had any result, but they show the weakness of the religious
opinions of the pretender. Christian had more success in another
quarter. Some bold Dutchmen, in hope of gaining something for their navy
and their trade if they reinstated him on the Danish throne, obtained
for him an army and a fleet. The malcontents of Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden hastened to join him. Troll, the ex-archbishop of Upsala, Thure
Janssen, grand-master of the court of Sweden, who was desirous of a
reunion of the three kingdoms, and other influential persons, actively
served him in the countries of the north. He embarked in the month of
October, with ten thousand men, resolved to appear as the defender of
the Catholic faith and the saviour of his country. A violent tempest
came on and shattered many of his ships: a fatal omen in the judgment of
many.[318] When Christian arrived in Norway he had only a few ships.
Nevertheless, the archbishop of Drontheim, primate of Norway, looked on
Christian as the champion of Rome; and with him the other bishops, all
of them zealous Catholics, princes, abbots, priests, gentlemen,
magistrates, and even some of the townsmen and the common people
hastened to join him. Janssen declared that the kingdom would not
support Frederick. ‘I will,’ said the king, ‘persecute the adherents of
Luther, and protect the faith of the Church against the damnable work of
that doctor.’ Norway, opposed to the Reformation, received him with
acclamations; and ere long, in the whole kingdom, only three fortresses
remained to Frederick. Christian was acknowledged king of Norway.
Some of the bishops pledged the church vessels for the purpose of paying
the troops. The senate wrote to the Danish senate to take steps for
Christian’s restoration in Denmark. The terrible man who at Stockholm
had bathed in the blood of his enemies, seemed to be on the point of
triumphing over new rebels. Christian imagined himself already seated on
the triple throne of the north, and indulged himself in the frivolous
pleasure of investiture with all the insignia of royalty. On great
occasions he bore the crown on his head, held the sceptre in his hand,
and played well the great part of monarch in the midst of the small band
of his adherents. If he should succeed, will he be Catholic or
Protestant? All that it is possible to tell is that he will be that
which will best suit the interests of his ambition.
[Sidenote: His Invasion Repulsed.]
Frederick, on his part, perceiving the danger which threatened him, lost
no time in assembling his forces by land and by sea. Knud Gyldenstern,
bishop-elect of Odensee, was placed at their head; and as soon as the
spring had made it possible to attack Norway, a fleet of twenty-five
vessels sailed, at the beginning of May, from Copenhagen roads.
Frederick had received important aid from Sweden. Christian, in his
irritation, saw only a traitor in the great Master Janssen who had
declared for him; and in a fit of anger he put the old man to
death.[319] This passionate and credulous prince, looking on himself as
already king of the whole of Scandinavia, entered Sweden with inadequate
forces. Weakened by this imprudent attack, he was compelled to retire to
Opzlo[320] with the remains of his army. Ere long the Danes themselves
arrived, and during the night set fire to all Christian’s ships; so that
the unhappy prince, driven into a corner of the country whence he could
not escape either by sea or by land, had no choice but to perish arms in
hand or to surrender. He requested an interview with Gyldenstern and his
principal officers; and now as much disheartened as he had before been
presumptuous, he begged them in the most humble tone to tell him what he
was to do. The bishop in command replied, ‘That he must go to the court
of King Frederick, his uncle, who would doubtless grant him favorable
terms’ (July, 1532).
He requested a safe-conduct, and the Danish leaders granted him one
which stipulated for the king, and for two hundred persons of his suite,
friendly entertainment and the honors due to his rank. It was even
stated in it that Christian, after the death of Frederick, might
possibly be elected king by the states. Gyldenstern on his departure
from Copenhagen had been invested with full powers for treating with
Christian, and he made use of them. But the convention, nevertheless,
was not yet sealed when two Danish officers, Skram and Wilkenstede,
arrived in the camp, charged on the part of Frederick with an order by
virtue of which Christian was only to be received at discretion, and on
unconditional surrender to the will of the king. Did these delegates,
finding matters so far advanced, communicate the verbal order which they
had received from the king? Supposing that this order was communicated,
did Christian, reduced to extremities, choose to make an attempt to
influence his uncle? These points do not appear to us to be by any means
cleared up.[321]
However this may be, Christian did all that he could to procure for
himself a kind reception with the prince whom he had undertaken to
dethrone. Finding that the wind was changed, he trimmed his sails anew.
This man, who was as inconsistent in his actions as in his words, and
who had assumed the character of the avenger of insulted Catholicism,
wrote to his uncle an evangelical letter in which he confessed his error
and declared himself penitent. Was he sincere? Or was he a hypocrite?
The latter seems the most probable view. ‘Sire,’ he wrote, ‘I am the
prodigal son who returns to his father, but returns a regenerate son. I
promise you that I will cherish for you, all the rest of my days, the
feelings of a son. Believe me, flesh and blood no longer govern me, but
the spirit of grace which God has miraculously bestowed on me, and which
fills me with an ardent charity for all mankind, and especially for your
Majesty, for the queen, for your sons, for the states of Denmark, and
for their allies the Hanse Towns.’
He forgot no one. ‘I hope that your Majesty will rejoice _with all the
holy angels_ at the change which is wrought in me, and that our
friendship will become all the more solid and more lively for the
conspicuous display of our former enmity. I beg you, Sire, to
communicate this letter to the senate, in order that it may place
confidence in my pious and pacific sentiments.’[322]
[Sidenote: Christian A Prisoner Of State.]
It would be pleasant to believe that Christian, in whom a passionate
ambition had silenced all Christian feeling, was returning in his
misfortune to those sentiments of piety which he had experienced at
Wittenberg. But how could any one trust a capricious man who, according
to the requirements of self-interest, would assume by turns the most
opposite semblances? Shortly after writing this letter, Christian
embarked on the Danish fleet and entered, about the end of July, the
port of Copenhagen. He did not arrive there as a conqueror, as he had
expected to do, but as the conquered. The man who had declared that he
would cast into prison the adherents of Luther was now a prisoner
himself. The dark cloud which seemed on the point of bursting over the
Reformation was dispersed.
The Senate was called together to deliberate on what was to be done.
Frederick was undecided. Gyldenstern, instead of taking the part of the
unhappy man who had, perhaps, been deceived by his fault, accused him of
having violated the agreement by hostile proceedings. The Senate
declared that the convention must be considered as null and void, on the
ground that it was contrary to the orders given by the king to his
envoys, Skram and Wilkenstede. The nobility of Denmark and of Holstein,
the Hanse Towns, jealous of those of Holland which had assisted
Christian, and even Sweden, supported this view. ‘How,’ said they to
Frederick, ‘how can you choose but punish an attempt which might
possibly have overthrown order in the kingdom and have snatched the
crown from your head? Could you let slip the opportunity of putting an
end to continual alarms? Master of your enemy’s person, will you leave
him at liberty, and thus enable him to stir up fatal revolts in Denmark?
If you allow him to go whithersoever he will, he will not fail to engage
in fresh intrigues.’
It was, therefore, resolved to secure the person of Christian.[323]
Pending these deliberations, Christian, who was detained in the port on
board the vessel which had brought him, did not understand why he was
left there. He grew weary, wondered at these intolerable delays, and
began to be somewhat disquieted. All the men who were on board were at
liberty to go ashore and to return; he alone was not allowed to leave
the ship. The officers of the ship attributed the delay which surprised
him to the circumstances of Frederick’s being then at Flensborg, in
Schleswig; and this was, indeed, partly the cause. At length it was
announced to the ex-king that the interview with his uncle would take
place in that town, and that they were going to take him there. A
superior officer of the fleet, furnished with secret instructions, took
command of the ship and gave orders to set sail. The vessel sailed,
escorted by a small squadron; and this, it was said, was a mark of
honor. But the real intent was to prevent any attack being made with a
view to the rescue of the prince.
After having sailed within sight of the island of Zealand, they passed
before those of Moen, Falster, Laaland, Langeland, and Aero. Christian
was not free from distress of mind. He had been treated at Copenhagen as
a prisoner; and this terrible man, who in a single day had caused the
_élite_ of Sweden to be massacred in nearly analogous circumstances,
questioned with himself what they meant to do with him. A dark cloud
arose in his soul. He strove to cast off the fears which he would fain
believe to be puerile. He dared not disclose to any one the distress
which agitated him, but remained dumb with shame, spite, and grief. The
fleet approached the coast of Schleswig, and he rejoiced that the moment
was not far off when he was to have the interview with his uncle. He was
standing on the deck in deep silence. Suddenly he perceived that the
ship, instead of entering the Gulf of Flensborg, was standing off the
cape to the north [Sidenote: His Fate.] towards the island of Alsen. At
this moment the veil was rent; the unhappy prince discovered the fate
which awaited him. He uttered a cry and burst into tears. He would fain
have arrested the pilot; but he knew that any attempt was useless. He
broke out into bitter complaints, but his voice was soon stifled by
sobs. The fleet continues its course northwards, and entering the strait
of Sonderburg, stops before the town of that name. The gates of the old
impregnable castle open before the fallen king and then close. The
guards set over him conduct him to a gloomy donjon; and they shut up
with him a dwarf who, as if in derision, was to be the sole companion of
the colossus of the North. No sooner has he entered than the door is
walled up behind him. There is no more hope. A single window feebly
lighted up the gloom of this place; and it was through bars of iron that
he, thenceforth, received his food.[324] The monarch who was so long
formidable was treated like the vilest of his people. The king who sat
on three thrones has nothing now to lean on but damp walls. The prince,
nephew of the king, brother-in-law of the emperor Charles the Fifth, of
King Ferdinand, and of Queen Mary; this ally of Henry VIII., of the
princes of Germany and other powerful houses, has no longer any
companion but a wretched dwarf. His food is of the meanest kind, and his
jailers treat him with the utmost rigor. What monarch ever displayed
greater barbarity than he did in the public place at Stockholm, in
October, 1520? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. At the
recollection of that massacre all the people shuddered. The name of
Christian was the terror of the North. Frederick had been obliged to
promise the nobles and the councillors of the crown by a formal
instrument never to restore him to liberty. In vain were some hearts
affected by this vast calamity; in vain were some voices raised in
behalf of the wretched monarch. Public peace requires it, was the reply;
and there was nothing more to be said. Punishment, though delayed, had
at last overtaken him. This strange champion of Roman Catholicism was
ruined, and his disappearance from the stage of the world ensured the
triumph of the Reformation in the whole of Scandinavia.[325]
No sooner was Christian a captive than his kinsmen and his allies
deserted him. The emperor, his brother-in-law, turned his back on him,
and even offered an apology to Frederick for having taken any part in
the last enterprise of his rival. The regency of the Netherlands
informed the victor-king that it was without their knowledge that the
late campaign had been undertaken by any of their subjects.
One man in all Europe, however, had compassion on him, one only, so far
as is known, and endeavored to alleviate his misfortune. This was
Luther. The reformer of course knew well that Christian had said he
would crush the Reformation, and had called it in his proclamation a
damnable work; but the great doctor had the heart of a Christian. King
Frederick received a letter from him in which were these words—‘We know
that God, the just Judge, has given your Majesty the victory over your
nephew, and we do not doubt that you will use this triumph in a humble
and Christian way. Nevertheless, the misfortune of my gracious lord,
King Christian, and the fear lest any should stir up your Majesty
against him, encourage me humbly to entreat you to have pity on your
captive kinsman; to follow the example of Christ who died for us, his
enemies, to the end that we also might be full of compassion towards our
enemies. You will do so the more readily, Sire, because your nephew, as
I am told, was not taken in arms against you, but surrendered himself
into your hands like an erring son into the hands of a father. Your
Majesty will offer a noble sacrifice and render the highest honor to
God, by giving to the poor prisoner a pledge of his grace and of his
fatherly faithfulness. And this good work will be for yourself, on your
death-bed a great consolation, in heaven a great joy, and at the present
time on earth a great honor.’[326]
This letter was written by Luther on the 28th September, 1532.
Frederick, who was not hard-hearted, could not but be touched by it. But
reasons of state were in this case opposed to Christian motives; and
there are considerations which may be put forward in excuse for the
imprisonment of his nephew. It was not within the power of the king to
do what he liked with regard to Christian. The king was in ill health;
he felt greatly the need of rest, and he knew that he should never have
a tranquil moment so long as his antagonist was at large. But these
circumstances were no palliation of the rigorous treatment adopted
towards the prisoner. Reasons of state were in this case opposed to
Christian reason; and the former generally win the day in this world.
Frederick was to be blamed for permitting treatment so severe to be
dealt out to his brother’s son. He did not, however, take vengeance on
the allies of Christian, the Dutch, although he had at first intended to
close the Sound to their ships.
An event had occurred which still further secured the crown to the
younger branch of the family. Prince John, the only son of Christian,
who had been a pupil of the famous Cornelius Agrippa, and of whom the
highest hopes were entertained, died at Ratisbon at the age of fourteen.
In him the elder line became extinct.
[Sidenote: Death Of Frederick.]
Frederick, long threatened with a decline, had taken up his abode for
the sake of quietness in the castle of Gottorp, near Schleswig, his
favorite seat. At the moment of Christian’s entrance into his prison,
the time was not far off when Frederick must quit his throne. In the
spring of 1533, on the 10th of April, Thursday in Passion Week, he died,
at the age of sixty-two. All good men deplored his death.[327] They
proclaimed him a ‘wise, merciful, and virtuous prince.’ They recalled to
mind the moderation which he had displayed in the religious discussions,
and the freedom which he had allowed to conscience; and if the usual
kindness of his character had been wanting in the treatment of
Christian, they attributed it only to the force of circumstances, to the
illness which rendered it impossible for him to direct details, and to
the influence of the leading men. He left four sons: Prince Christian,
of whom we have spoken; Adolphus, who took the title of duke of
Holstein-Gottorp from the castle in which his father died, and who
became the founder of a younger line from which sprang the imperial
family now reigning in Russia;[328] Frederick who became bishop of
Schleswig and afterwards of Hildesheim; and John, the youngest. It is of
the eldest and the youngest sons of this house that we have now to take
notice.
Footnote 280:
Munter, iii. p. 230.
Footnote 281:
_Historia ejectionis monachorum e Dania_, in Pontoppidanus, _Ann._ ii.
p. 821.
Footnote 282:
‘Her haffive . . Klawemaal. En rett christelig Fadzon, &c.—Wiborg,
1528. Munter, iii. p. 233.
Footnote 283:
Munter, iii. p. 250.
Footnote 284:
Munter, iii. pp. 255, 256, 273.
Footnote 285:
‘Si quidem religio vera debuerit esse antiquissima.’—Gerdesius, iii.
p. 372.
Footnote 286:
‘Veritatis antehac obscuratæ atque detectæ majori cum perspicuitate,
soliditate et eloquentia inculcarentur.’—Gerdesius, iii. p. 372.
Footnote 287:
G. Sadolin’s _Bericht vom Reichstage in Kopenhagen_, 1530.
Footnote 288:
‘At vero hi erant ante victoriam triumphi.’—Gerdesius, iii. p. 375.
Footnote 289:
‘Aristotelicos doctores, magistros et monachos.’—_Ibid._ p. 376.
_Danske Magazin_, i. p. 94.
Footnote 290:
Munter, iii. p. 297. Gerdesius, vi. p. 376.
Footnote 291:
Munter, iii. p. 299.
Footnote 292:
‘Nullis interpretationibus, additamentis et commentis humanis
corrupta.’ The confession of faith was drawn up in Danish, but we
quote from the Latin translation made in the seventeenth century by
Pontanus. This document appears to us too important to be entirely
omitted.—Gerdesius, iii. _Monum._ p. 247. Munter, iii. p. 308.
Footnote 293:
The fourth article relates to the Trinity; the fifth to the
incarnation and birth of the Son of God.
Footnote 294:
‘Debiti solutionem, expiationem et satisfactionem pro peccatis nostris
omnibus.’
Footnote 295:
‘Maledicit iis quibus Deus benedicit, rejicit eos quos Deus recipit.’
Footnote 296:
‘Diaboli dogma est.’
Footnote 297:
‘In quâ ejus corpus editur ac sanguis ejus potatur in certum pignus.’
Footnote 298:
‘Veri episcopi sive presbyteri, quæ voces sunt prorsus
synonymæ.’—(Art. 36.)
Footnote 299:
Woldike, _Confessio Hafniensis_.
Footnote 300:
Muhlius, _De Reformatione in Cimbria_, p. 140. Gerdesius, iii.
_Monumenta_, p. 232.
Footnote 301:
‘Hominem liberum arbitrium non habere, et ea quæ in mundo fiunt ita
fieri ut aliter fieri non possint.’—Gerdesius, iii. _Monum._ p. 232.
Footnote 302:
_Apologia concionatorum Evangelicorum._—_Ibid._ p. 234.
Footnote 303:
The reference is doubtless to pagan Russians, Mongols, &c.—Munter,
iii. p. 325.
Footnote 304:
‘Sacrilego principe non solum connivente, verum etiam instigante . . .
. . debacchati sunt concionatores Lutherani.’—_Chron. Schibbyens_.
Munter, iii. p. 330.
Footnote 305:
_Danske Magazin_, i. p. 94.
Footnote 306:
Munter, _Kirchengeschichte_, iii. p. 332.
Footnote 307:
Calvin.
Footnote 308:
‘Stupidis, indoctis et profanis. . . qui fabulas hominum inventiones,
monachorum somnia et hypocriticas anilesque nugas et gerras populo
Christiano pro more papistarum proponunt.’—Gerdesius, _Ann._ iii. p.
383.
Footnote 309:
‘Aber von dem was einige von ihnen selbst sind, davon sprechen wir
jetzt nicht.’—Munter, _Kirchengeschichte_, iii. p. 334.
Footnote 310:
_Danske Magazin_, i. p. 95.
Footnote 311:
_Misopogon_, p. 363.
Footnote 312:
Munter, iii. p. 336.
Footnote 313:
‘Et quantis in tenebris hactenus delituissent
perspicerent.’—Gerdesius, _Ann._ iii. p. 386.
Footnote 314:
Munter, iii. pp. 355, 364.
Footnote 315:
Jacobi, _Historia ejectionis monachorum_. MS. quoted in Munter, iii.
357.
Footnote 316:
Munter, iii. pp. 369-370.
Footnote 317:
Raynald, _ann._ 1530, No. 58. Munter, iii. p. 86. Raumer, ii. p. 144.
Footnote 318:
‘Adverso numine et certantibus contra ventis.’—Gerdesius, _Ann._ iii.
p. 390.
Footnote 319:
Geijer, _Schwedensgeschichte_, ii. p. 81.
Footnote 320:
Opzlo, the former capital of Norway, burnt in 1624, forms at this day
the most ancient part of Christiania.
Footnote 321:
Raumer, ii. p. 146. Mallet, vi. p. 116.
Footnote 322:
‘Epist. Christ. II. ad Regem Fredericum.’—Huitfeld, _Dänische
Chronik_, p. 1378.
Footnote 323:
_Schybbiense Chronicon_, p. 589. Holberg, ii. p. 261. Mallet, vi. p.
117, &c.
Footnote 324:
Geijer, _Geschichte Schwedens_, ii. p. 82.
Footnote 325:
Gerdesius, _Ann._ iii. p. 390. Mallet, _Histoire du Danemark_, vi. p.
125. Schlegel, p. 133.
Footnote 326:
Luther, _Epp._ iv. p. 403 (de Wette).
Footnote 327:
‘Lugentibus omnibus bonis qui gravissimam in morte regis optimi
jacturam faciebant.’—Gerdesius, Ann. iii. p. 391. Huitfeld,
_Dän.-Chronik_, p. 1393.
Footnote 328:
Charles Frederick, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, married Anna Petrowna,
daughter of Peter the Great, and her son, Charles Peter Ulric, was
chosen by the empress Elizabeth, his aunt, to succeed her. He ascended
the throne in 1762, under the name of Peter III., and had for his wife
the famous Catherine II. The emperors descended from this prince are
Paul I., Alexander I., Nicholas I., and Alexander II.