One of the largest states in Europe and the greatest of the Protestant powers, Denmark in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was at the height of its influence. Embracing Norway, Iceland, portions of southern Sweden and northern Germany, the Danish monarchy dominated the vital Baltic trade. However, its geopolitical importance far exceeded its modest resources. Paul Douglas Lockhart examines the short and perhaps unlikely career of Denmark as the major power of northern Europe, exploring its rise to the forefront of European affairs and its subsequent decline in fortunes following its disastrous involvement in the Thirty Years' War.

• Introduction


• Part I - The Development of the Consensual State, 1513-96


• 1: The End of the Medieval Monarchy, 1513-36


• 2: The Rebirth of the Oldenburg Monarchy, 1536-96


• 3: Reformation and Culture


• 4: Commerce, Rural Economy, and the Structure of Society


• 5: The Mistress of the Sound: Denmark and Europe, 1513-96


• Part II - The Age of Christian IV, 1596-1660


• 6: The Activist Monarchy of Christian IV


• 7: Baltic and German Hegemonies: Denmark and Europe, 1596-1629


• 8: Church and Court: Culture in the Age of Christian IV


• 9: The Death of Government by Consensus, 1630-48


• 10: State and Society, Centre and Periphery


• 11: War and Absolutism, 1648-60


• 12: Epilogue


• Glossary


• Bibliographic Essay