30
October 1536 A.D. Lutheranism
Made Official in Denmark
Graves,
Dan. “Lutheranism Made Official in Denmark.”
Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/lutheranism-made-official-in-denmark-11629962.html. Accessed 5 Jun 2014.
Christian II, King of Denmark,
Norway and Sweden was so cruel that his own people booted him off the throne in
1522. He had killed Danish nobles and an archbishop, lost Sweden through
brutality, and allowed his Dutch mistress to control government finances. As
odd as it may seem, his follies cleared the way for the reformation in Denmark.
The Danes asked his uncle
Frederick to occupy the throne. Needing Catholic support, Frederick I promised
to crush the Lutherans.
Halting Lutheran ideas was
important to the Catholic church. Reform teaching was leaking across the German
border into Denmark. Catholic leaders feared Denmark would follow Germany and
go Protestant.
On the other hand, the peasants
griped that the church owned forty percent of the land. Although they paid
heavy church taxes, the church did not meet their growing appetite for
spiritual things. No wonder they listened to reformers when they came.
Frederick I did not keep his
promise to fine and kill Lutherans. When the bishops complained, Frederick
replied that "the king governs life and property but not the soul."
Although he helped Catholics collect their tithes and shielded them from
violence, he appointed reformers to vacant church positions. Hans Tausen, the
first Lutheran to preach openly in Denmark, did so under a letter of protection
from the king.
When Frederick died, Denmark's
Catholics revolted. Duke Christian defeated them and was crowned King Christian
III. He locked up Catholic bishops, blaming them for the rebellion. The new
king reformed the church with the help of Lutherans such as Peter Palladius, a
teacher who could explain complicated theology so simply that
common folk could understand it. Christian III even preached the new ideas
himself.
At a Diet of Estates of the
Realms, Catholic bishops were officially dismissed. On this date, October 30, 1536, a bill
redistributed power between the church and the state. Lutheranism became the
official religion of Denmark and Christian III promised to appoint new bishops.
In 1537 the king made the break with Rome irreversible when he ordered reformer
Johann Bugenhagen to consecrate bishops outside of the apostolic succession.
Bibliography:
1. Durant, Will. The Reformation; a history of European
Civilization, 1300-1564. Part VI of The Story of Civilization. New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.
2. Fabricius, A. llustreret Dansmarkshistorie for Folket.
Rittendorf and Auguurd, 1854. Source of the image.
3. Grell, Ole Peter, editor. The Scandinavian Reformation. Cambridge
University Press, 1995.
4. Ottosen, Knud. A Short History of the Churches of Scandinavia. Arhus:
Dept. of Church History, Universitetet, 1986.
5. Skarsten, Trygve R. "The Scandinavian Reformation; Ramifications
for Lutheran confessional identity" in Let Christ be Christ : theology, ethics & world
religions in the two kingdoms : essays in honor of the sixty-fifth birthday of
Charles L. Manske; edited by Daniel N. Harmelink. Huntington Beach,
Calif. : Tentatio Press, 1999.
6. Various encyclopedia and internet articles and items from histories of
Sweden.
Last updated April,
2007.
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