[1] King Christian II. of Denmark (the perpetrator of the massacre
at Stockholm known as the Blood-Bath) fled to Holland in 1523, five
years before the date assigned to this play, in order to escape
death or imprisonment at the hands of his rebellious nobles, who
summoned his uncle, Frederick I., to the throne. Returning to
Denmark in 1532, Christian was thrown into prison, where he spent
the last twenty-seven years of his life.