Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/162

* DENMARK. 128 DENMARK. original inhaliitants liml been crowded out by wandering tribes of Gernianie stock, and Jutland and the islaniN bad become the homes of Saxons, Angle*. an<i .lutes. The tlermanic occupation was complete about the second century of our era, but this was followed by an invasion of the Danes in the tilth and sixth centuries. Less in- lUienced than the other Teutonic peoples by the Konians, the inhabitants in the Scandinavian countries developed a striking and characteristic civilization, marked by a warlike and adven- turous spirit, which sent them as Vjkings and conquerors over all Europe and as far as Amer- ica, (.'hristiaiiity made its way into Denmark as early as the lifth or si.vth century. After the ninth century we find a united Danish kingdom growing out of the petty principalities into which the country was divided. We hear of Danish kings as early as the beginning of the tenth century, when Gorm the Old (e. 900-3.")) showed hini-clf a bitter opponent of Christian- ity; but the first Danish ruler of prominence wiis Svend (Sweyn) I., of the Forked Beard (985-1014), a redoubtable sovereign who for a brief period imposed his yoke upon England. Svend's son. Ivnut or Canute (died 103.'j). King of ICngland and Demnark. was a really great sov- ereisni. under whom the conversion of the Danes to Christianity was cunii)leted and much was done to civilize the kingdom and bring it into order. After his death the northern empire which he had created fell apart, and the Odinic dynasty of the Skjoldungs became extinct in 1047. Svend Estridsen, son of Knut's sister, now ascended the throne. Internal dissensions and external «ars led here as elsewhere to the intro- duction of a feudal system. A new era of bril- liant achievements began with Valdcniar T., the Great (llo7-S2l. and continued under Knot VI. ( llS-21-20:2 1 and Valdcniar II.. the Victorious (1202-411. These kings extended the conquests of Denmark far into (Icrman and W'cndic lands and made the Baltic little more than a Danish sea. The jealousy of the German princes and the treachery of his vassals combined to rob Val- dcniar 11. of these conquests. His death in 1241 was followed by a century of anarchy, during which the kingddm was brought near to destruc- tion under the vicious rule of his sons and grand- sons, rnder Valdcniar IV. (1340-T.">). the last of the Estridsen line. Denmark rccovercil for a time the conquests of the elder Valdemars. and the national laws were collected into a well-digested code. From 137."> until 1412 Valdeniar's daugh- ter, the great Margaret, ruled Denmark, at first as regent for her young son Olaf, and after his death as Queen. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were united under her sovereignly, and this was confirmed in 1397 by the act known as the Vnion of Kalmar. Margaret's sueccssor. Erik (1412- 39), the son of her niece, undid her work with fatal rapidity, lost his triple kingdom, and died in obscurity. After the short reign of his nephew. Christopher of Bavaria, the Danes, on the death of the latter in 1448. reasserted their ancient right of election to the throne, and chose for their King Christian of Olih-nbiirg, a de- scendant of tile old royal family through his maternal ancestress. Kikissa. the great-grand- daughter of Valdi'iiiar II. Christian I. was the father of the Oldenburg line, which continued unbroken till the death of Frederick VII. in 1863. Christian was chosen ruler by the estates of Schleswig and llolstein in 1400, promising for his successors that they should forever leave the two lands united. As rulers of llolstein (which was induditi in th» Holy Konian Empire), the kings of Denmark became members of the Ger- manic body. Christian I.'s reign was followed by half a century of cnntiniious warfare and anarchy in Scamliiiavia. The tyranny of ( lirislian II. (1.513-23) eo>t him his tliroiie. His bloody atrocities in Sweilen were followed by the suc- cessful vindication of the independence of that countrj- by Gustavus Vasa. Christian's subjects chose his uncle, Frederick I. (1523-33). to be their King, while Sweden was forever sc|iarated from Denmark. Under Christian II. Denmark first began to enter into extensive treaty relations with other European .States. Christian III. (1534-59), in whose reign the Ueforiiialion was established, united the Schleswig-IlolMcin duiliics in perpetuity to the Crown. His partition of the greater part of these ])rovinces among his brothers became a source of much mischief. Frederick II. (1559-88) further complicated matters in regard to the duchies by making additional partitions in favor of his brother, the founder of the llolstein-Sonderburg family. He wa.s succeeded by Christian IV. ( 15S8-lti4S i . who was one of the ablest of Danish rulers, allhough his foreign wars were disastrous, while liis liberal and wise internal jiolicy was cramped in evi'iy direction by the nobles. He fought for Protes- tantism in Germany in the Tliirty Years' War and was utterly defeated. Toward the end of his reign he engaged in an unsuccessful war against Sweden, which now bccami' the dominant power on the Baltic. In the reign of Christian's son, Frederick 111. (1048-70). Denmark had f. surrender all In-r ]iossessions in the Swedish ])ortion of the Scandinavian |)eninsula. In 1000 Frederick 111., with the assistance of the clergy and the burghers, who had joined him in opposing the pretensions of the nobles, de- clared the crown hereditary, and the n)yal authority absolute, and ushered in a new rCginie. The power of the nobility was redticed, but the peasantry and burghers pndited little by the change. JIany improvements were, however, etrected in the mode of administering the laws, ami the Danish kings, although autiK-rats, cxcrcisi'ii a mild rule. The aludition of serfdom was liegiiii in 177 by Christian VII. (1700-1808). but was not finally completed till twenty years later: it was extended to the Schleswig-llolstein duchies in 1804. The misfortunes due to the rclatiims maintained by Denmark with Xapoleon brought the country to the verge of ruin, by plung- ing it into war with Sweden. England. l!u-,sia. and Prussia, and although it speedily ralliivl from the losses inllieted in 1801 by the battle of Copenhagen, the fresli rupture with the Allies, which ended in the compulsory surremlcr to the English of the entire llei't. after the destructive bombardment of Copenhagen (September, 1807), completely paralyzed the nation. By the Peace of Kiel in 1814 Frederick VI. of Dt-nmark ( 1808-39) was compelled to cede Norway to Sweilen. The diseimtent that had long bi'cn pre- vailing in Schleswig and llolstein devel(q)ccl after 1830 into mutual aiiiiiiosily between tlii' Danish anil (ierman pcqiutation. The anticipali'd failure of heirs to the throne complicated (he qiicsliims at issue, and in 1848, immediately after the succession of Frederick VII., the German element