• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Danish - Scottish Relations 1513-1542 by Stephen D. Cooper A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Department of History, May' 1962. McGill University, Montreal. PREFACE During the last fifteen years, a cons!derable interest has been shown by historians in the histories of countries thst are relatively small and were formerly of no importance in the general scheme of world politics. We have seen a multitude of works on numerous states in Latin .l\merica, Asia., and lately, Africa. The achievements of peoples without a history i~ the western European concept of the term are presented to us as a pageant of peoples striv::tng to free themselves from 6olonial domination and being prey to the disruptive forces of our mass civilization. Looking over this output of books., we are tempted to ask ourselvea why other areas which, on the contrsry., nave played an import­ ant part in the history of man and which now contribute a distinctive philosop~y of life have been almost completely relegated to the shadows of obscurity? ':!.he Scandinavian countries provide a good example of this. ln the hiatory of western civiliza.tion, from the time when the first Vikings left the shelter of their vikas '(:rotee tcd by the loft y mountains of t11eir fjords, and went out to England, Ire land., Normandy, r~orthern Russia., Constantin­ ople, Iceland, Greenland, and even Vineland, thrOl:gh the times of Queen Margarethe, Christian II, Gustavus Adolphus, Charles XII., Bernadotte, Bishop GrunJing, S9)'ren Kirkegaard., Henryk Ibsen, August Strindberg, and Hans Christiar... Anderson to our own days when they have evolveà both a new form of democracy and a new concept of the social responsibility of the state to the ind:ividual, they have exerted not a little influence on the development of society. In choosing to gain an appreciation of their contribut­ ion, we of the English-speaking world are not offered much of an opportuni t:l due to the pauc 1 ty of ma te rial in English­ or for that matter French and German- which has Oeen tile result of a lack of interest in Scandinavia. The total works on Danish history in Englisil amount to less than a dozen. In Swed"t.sh history there is "considerably" more - about twenty-five --, while the Norwegians and Icelanders have to be content with two or three apiece. This thesis on the relationship between Demnark and Scotlanci in the important period of the beginning of the Reformation and of the National State is an attempt to add something to our knowledge of Scandinavian history. In this crucial period two nations, similar in many ways, established a very close and cordial connection in matters of politics and trade. The way in wbich they responded to the various challenges of the early sixteenth century was rather similar, but in the main problem, that of religion, Denmark was to adopt the Reformed faith a quarter of a century before Scot­ land. In dealing with this topic, I have run into many difficulties. In ~ddition to the lack of sources in the more important Europea.n languages, there was also the lack of being ~ble te obtain secondary Danish sources and J.:;he almost non-existence of prirnary material. 'rhe sources used in the preparation are not very extensive, but I am of the opinion that they are the greater pa of what exists, both nere and in the archives of Denmark. A second major difficulty was the lack of material on 3cot­ land. The Scots have had the same misfortune as the 3candinav:tans in having their history regarded as not being of importance and this lack of interest~ except for the Bonnie Prince Char'lie period, h3s elso been the cause of a lack of production. In investigating this subject, I have found what I regard to be an interest::tng and significant aspect of early modern history and wish to show how two nations regarded as bei.ng of no importence have made, in their own ways, contributions to this crucial per:tod of European history. I would like to thank the staffs of the Princeton and McGill libraries, especially the inter-library loan service of the latter, for tneir help in obtaining sources. I ahould also like to thank my typist, Mrs. Madden, and above a.ll, my Director of Studies, D:t". w.s. Reid for his great help, knowledge of the period, and encouragement at a time when all did not seem to be going well. Table of Contents Preface Chapter I Danish-Scottish Relations in the First Two Decades of the Sixteenth Century Chapter II The Failure of Christian II 1 s Government Chapter III Scottish Reaction to the Danish Political Revolt Chapter IV The Danish Reformation and its Influence on Danish-Scottish Relations Chapter V Support of Christian II 1 s Lost Cause Chapter VI A New Era Appendix Bibliography CHAPTER I: DANIS!-I - SCOTr.t ISH RELATIONS IN THE FIRST TW") DECADE3 OF Th'"S S IXTEEN'I'H CENT!JRY. • The ye!lr 1513 s~w two new monarchs ascend the thrones of the:lr ancient kingdoms. In spite of the five hundred miles of ocean waich separated them, the difference of age, and of experience, they were to fina. much in common between themselv~s and between their realms. James V, l·Ung of Sco-':;land, was an infant of one year ir~ his nursery a110ng the bleak d~rk walls o;~ a Scottish castle. Fê:iction and jealousy surrot;.nded this-infant whose fe. thel', James Dl, had be en k::.lled o:n th(~ blood-soa kec:i. fie lJ of Flodden. 1Ni th t:1e 1{ing on this Septemb~r evE: were ~he pick of the Scottish nation includin~ thirteen Earls, ~ou rte en Lo:.."ds, a~ Archbishop, a bishop, two 1bbo·cs 3nd 1 n~merous knights and gent1emen. This wlld land, as it WôS regarded by the more civilized peopled of Lhe Latin nBtions, was to be governed by a Regent, the King's mother, Queen ~r..:1rg<3ret, who was also the sister of' the man who had sent !Ii;:; nrrnies to invade ne'_" hus band' s kingd.orr.. For Henr'y VIII v.~as not ;.;: man to r~11 vict:.l.J co familJ sentiment when hio natior.a:l. polie:2 was o L .3take. The ZP;lisb threat on t:ne outs leie, ana t:1e factions a meng the :1oDili t:1 which h1:lü Jlways b~en one oZ the dis-cinguisning fe~tures oi' i:r..ternal Scottie!1 afi'airs; bot:1 combineà. to mak~ Queen l'f.~&:::t;aret worry about how 3~e was to keep her son'a kingdom together so tnat when he came into his own he would have a kirzdom. 1. P.Hume Brown,History o:i.' Scotland (Cam'bridg~,l9ll),p.272. -2- Across the North Sea far from the lonely spaces of the Scottish countryside in the flat and populous island of Sjaelland another king who had recently succeeded his rather surveyed his position. Christian II, King of Denmark, King of Norway, King of Sweden, Duke of Schleswig and part of Holstein was thirty-two years of age. His rather King Hans had also left him a realm full of troubles. Denmark was not, like Scotland, a hereditary but an elective kingdom. In its position as Kings of Norway, the house of Oldenburg was secure. Because of this, the eldest son of the reigning king was almost certainly assured of being elected King of Denmark, but this was not achieved without great effort by the reigning king and great concessions which the newly elected heir made in his 11 contract 11 (Haandf~stning) with the I,tigsraad; (Council of State) which was composed of the nobles and clergy anxious to strengthen their position as much as they could. With the coming of each new king the Danish crown lost more and more power and not until Frederik III proclaimed absolutism in 1660 was the scale tipped in the other direction. As kinga of Sweden, the Oldenburgs were in great difficulties~ Nomin­ ally kinga of Sweden, they had considerable trouble enforcing their authority which was exercised to all practical purposes by a Swedish Regent. 2. See Chapter II. 3. See Chapter II. -3- Two kings against their nobles would naturally have had eomething in common, but there was an even closer and more intima te relatio:t between them. Christian' s Aunt Ma:r·grethe, daughter of Christian I had married James III of Scotland. 'l,ht;s Christian II was a first cousin of James IV and a second of James V.4 T:1i~ wa s the era of the discovery of the New ''//or ld and of the eyp~.ms:!.on of trade. Beth Denmark and Scotland were ver:v much interested in the latter. The economie situl!!tion in :>enmark was ch.anging ver;y rapidly. Temporal 1nd spiritual magnates possessed almost three-fourth~ of the land. This me~Hlt that the free peC~tsant was becoming moJ"e of a rarlty ss these rnt~gnates came to own most of them 21lso. At the beglnning of the re1gn of Chri&tian II only twenty percent were free- holders. The ethers were not serfs but were under strict res-crictions as ._!Opyholders. .Since they be gan to be bound to their fttrms and enclosures a rise in ·che amount of grair.

Load more

  154

Copy Link