This book considers the role played by Denmark's King Frederik II (1559-88) in the international diplomacy of the 'age of religious wars'. As Europe's leading Lutheran sovereign, Frederik commanded great influence; his conviction that an international Catholic 'conspiracy' threatened to destroy Protestantism led him to work towards the creation of a Protestant alliance that included both Calvinist and Lutheran states. Lockhart examines the role of religion in Frederik's foreign policy, the motivations behind the king's alliance-building projects, and the reasons behind the ultimate failure of Frederik's policies. This volume will be of interest to students of early modern diplomacy, sixteenth-century Protestantism, and the Scandinavian monarchies in the early modern period.
Author(s): Paul Lockhart
Series: The Northern World. North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 A.D. Peoples, Economies and Cultures, 10
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 388
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Note on Conventions
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Maps
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 An Emerging Power, 1536–1572
The legacy of Christian III, 1536–59
Frederik II
Resources: military, naval, and financial
Chapter 3 Religion and Foreign Policy, 1559–1572
Frederik II and the state church
Confessional identity and foreign policy, 1559–72
Chapter 4 Two Weddings and a Conspiracy, 1572–1577
The ‘Bloody Wedding’ and the Baltic threat, 1572–80
The Papist conspiracy
Chapter 5 Protestant Solidarity and the Imperial Crisis, 1577–1583
Catholic resurgence and Protestant solidarity
Frederik II and the ‘Book of Discord’
Prospects for a Protestant alliance, 1577–83
Realignment
Chapter 6 The Common Cause, 1583–1585
Their ambitions have become as one
This manifestly wanton and devilish act
The English initiative, 1585
Chapter 7 The Third Peril, 1586–1588
To spare the blood of thousands
Towards Lüneburg
The Dutch quagmire
I have little hope
Chapter 8 Retreat
The Regency and isolationism
But our pious king of Denmark has passed over to God too soon
Bibliography
Index
THE NORTHERN WORLD
