The Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein was the transition from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism in the realms ruled by the Copenhagen-based House of Oldenburg in the first half of the sixteenth century. After the break-up of the Kalmar Union in 1521/1523, these realms included the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway and the Duchies of Schleswig (a Danish fief) and Holstein (a German fief), whereby Denmark extended over today's Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe islands, Skåneland and Gotland in Sweden, and Øsel (Saaremaa) in Estonia.
The Protestant Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther's 95 theses in 1517, and reached Holstein and Denmark in the 1520s. Lutheran protagonists like Hans Tausen gained considerable support in the population and from Christian II, and though the latter's successor Frederick I officially condemned the reformatory ideas, he tolerated their spread. His son Christian III officially introduced Lutheranism into his possessions in 1528, and on becoming king in 1536 after the Count's War, Lutheranism became official in all of Denmark-Norway. The Catholic bishops were removed and arrested, and the church was reorganized based on Lutheran church orders drawn under the aegis of Luther's friend Johannes Bugenhagen in 1537 (Denmark-Norway) and 1542 (Holstein).
The Lutheran order established during the Protestant reformation is the common root of the Church of Denmark, the Church of Norway, the Church of Iceland and the Church of the Faroe Islands. It also triggered Denmark's unsuccessful involvement in the Thirty Years' War under Christian IV, who led the defense of a Protestant coalition against the Catholic League's Counter-Reformation.
Thank you Merja.
No comments:
Post a Comment