Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway, and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days makes him the longest-reigning monarch in Scandinavian history.

A member of the House of Oldenburg, Christian began his personal rule of Denmark–Norway in 1596 at the age of 19. He appointed Bishop Peder Winstrup to the royal chaplain in the household of King Christian IV. He is remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious, and proactive Danish-Norwegian kings, having initiated many reforms and projects. Christian IV obtained for his kingdoms a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe.Paul D. Lockhart, Denmark, 1513–1660: the Rise and Decline of a Renaissance Monarchy (2007). He engaged Denmark–Norway in numerous wars, most notably the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated much of Germany, undermined the Danish economy, and cost Denmark–Norway some of its conquered territories.Paul D. Lockhart, Denmark in the Thirty Years’ War, 1618–1648: King Christian IV and the Decline of the Oldenburg State (1996) He rebuilt and renamed the Norwegian capital Oslo as Christiania after himself, a name used until 1925.

Early years

Birth and family

Christian was born at Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark on 12 April 1577 as the third child and eldest son of King Frederick II of Denmark–Norway and Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was descended, through his mother's side, from King John of Denmark, and was thus the first descendant of King John to assume the crown since the deposition of King Christian II.

At the time, Denmark was still an elective monarchy, so in spite of being the eldest son Christian was not automatically heir to the throne. But Norway was a hereditary monarchy, and electing someone else would result in the end of the union of the crowns. However, in 1580, at the age of 3, his father had him elected Prince and successor to the throne of Denmark.

Young king

At the death of his father on 4 April 1588, Christian was just 10 years old. He succeeded to the throne, but as he was still under-age a regency council was set up to serve as the trustees of the royal power while Christian was still growing up. It was led by chancellor Niels Kaas (1535–1594) and consisted of the Rigsraadet council members Peder Munk (1534–1623), Jørgen Ottesen Rosenkrantz (1523–1596) and Christoffer Valkendorff (1525–1601). His mother Queen Dowager Sophie, 30 years old, had wished to play a role in the government, but was denied by the council. At the death of Niels Kaas in 1594, Jørgen Rosenkrantz took over leadership of the regency council.

Coming of age and coronation Christian continued his studies at Sorø Academy where he had a reputation as a headstrong and talented student."Gads Historieleksikon", 3rd edition, 2006. Paul Ulff-Møller, "Christian 4.", pp. 99–100.

In 1595, the Council of the Realm decided that Christian would soon be old enough to assume personal control of the reins of government. On 17 August 1596, at the age of 19, Christian signed his haandfæstning (lit. "Handbinding" viz. curtailment of the monarch's power, a Danish parallel to Magna Carta), which was an identical copy of his father's from 1559.

Twelve days later, on 29 August 1596, Christian IV was crowned at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen by the Bishop of Zealand, Peder Jensen Vinstrup (1549–1614). He was crowned with a new Danish Crown Regalia which had been made for him by Dirich Fyring (1580–1603), assisted by the Nuremberg goldsmith, Corvinius Saur.Kurzer Discurs was Feyrlicheit vnd Geprenge zu Copenhagen ..., Wegener, Schlewig (1596) Account of Christian's coronation in 1596: digitised by the British Library

Marriage On 30 November 1597, he married Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, a daughter of Joachim Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg.

Reign

Military and economic reforms

Christian took an interest in many and varied matters, including a series of domestic reforms and improving Danish national armaments. New fortresses were constructed under the direction of Dutch engineers. The Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which in 1596 had consisted of but twenty-two vessels, in 1610 rose to sixty, some of them built after Christian's own designs. The formation of a national army proved more difficult. Christian had to depend mainly upon hired mercenary troops as was common practice in the times—well before the establishment of standing armies—augmented by native peasant levies recruited for the most part from the peasantry on the crown domains.

Up until the early 1620s, Denmark–Norway's economy profited from general boom conditions in Europe. This inspired Christian to initiate a policy of expanding Denmark–Norway's overseas trade as part of the mercantilist wave fashionable in Europe. He founded a number of merchant cities, and supported the building of factories. He also built a large number of buildings in Dutch Renaissance style.

Visits to England His sister Anne had married King James VI of Scotland, who succeeded to the English throne in 1603. To foster friendly relations between the two kingdoms, Christian paid a state visit to England in 1606. The visit was generally judged to be a success, although the heavy drinking indulged in by English and Danes alike caused some unfavourable comments: both Christian and James had an ability to consume great amounts of alcohol, while remaining lucid, which most of their courtiers did not share. Sir John Harington described an entertainment at Theobalds, a masque of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, as a drunken fiasco, where most of the players simply fell over from the effects of too much wine.Martin Butler, The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 125–127. The royal party went to Upnor Castle and had dinner aboard the Elizabeth Jonas. At Gravesend, when the royal party was on his ship the Admiral, Christian IV provided a firework display built on a small ship or lighter, which brought tears to eyes of King James, although the effect was somewhat spoiled because the show was held in daylight.John Nichols, The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 84, 89–90, 92–93. After an exchange of gifts Christian sailed home, escorted by Robert Mansell with the Vanguard and the Moon.John S. Brewer, Court of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1839), pp. 138–143: Thomas Birch, Court and Times of James the First, vol. 1 (London, 1848), pp. 65–67.

Christian IV visited England again in August 1614, coming incognito to surprise his sister at Denmark House,John S. Brewer, Court of James the First, 2 (London, 1839), pp. 137–138. accompanied only by Andrew Sinclair and a page.Original Letters Relating to the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Scotland vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1851), p. 355. Christian IV was recognised by the queen's dancing master Thomas Cardell and a French servant.J. S. Brewer, Court of King James, 2 (London: Richard Bentley, 1839), 137. He had sailed with only three ships and captured some pirates during the voyage. More ships with his Danish courtiers arrived on 5 August.Allen Hinds, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1613–1615, vol. 13 (London, 1907), pp. 167 no. 348, 170 no. 355. The diplomatic purpose of the visit was kept secret. The Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini heard that Anne of Denmark had written to him about a dispute with King James. Foscarini described Christian as, "above the average in height, dressed in the French fashion. His nature is warlike".Allen Hinds, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1613–1615, vol. 13 (London, 1907), p. 171 no. 356.

Exploration and colonies

Despite Christian's many efforts, the new economic projects did not return a profit. He looked abroad for new income. Christian IV's Expeditions to Greenland involved a series of voyages in the years 1605–1607 to Greenland and to Arctic waterways in order to locate the lost Eastern Norse Settlement and to assert Danish sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were unsuccessful, partly due to leaders lacking experience with the difficult Arctic ice and weather conditions. The pilot on all three trips was English explorer James Hall. An expedition to North America was commissioned in 1619. The expedition was captained by Dano-Norwegian navigator and explorer, Jens Munk. The ships, searching for the Northwest Passage, arrived in Hudson Bay landing at the mouth of Churchill River, settling at what is now Churchill, Manitoba. However, it was a disastrous voyage, with cold, famine, and scurvy killing most of the crew.

In 1618, Christian appointed Admiral Ove Gjedde to lead an expedition and establish a Danish colony in Ceylon. The expedition set sail in 1618, taking two years to reach Ceylon and losing more than half their crew on the way. Upon arriving in May 1620, the establishment of a colony in Ceylon failed,Esther Fihl (2009). "Shipwrecked on the Coromandel: The First Indo–Danish Contact, 1620". Review of Development and Change 14 (1&2): 19–40 but instead the Nayak of Tanjore (now Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu) turned out to be interested in trading opportunities and a treaty was negotiated granting the Danes the village of Tranquebar (or Tarangamabadi) on India's south coast and the right to construct a "stone house" (Fort Dansborg) and levy taxes. The treaty was signed on 20 November 1620, establishing Denmark's first colony in India. Christian also assigned the privilege establishing the Danish East India Company.

Kalmar War

In 1611, he first put his newly organised army to use. Despite the reluctance of Rigsrådet, Christian initiated a war with Sweden for the supremacy of the Baltic Sea. It was later known as the Kalmar War because its chief operation was the Danish capture of Kalmar, the southernmost fortress of Sweden. Christian compelled King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to give way on all essential points at the resulting Treaty of Knäred of 20 January 1613. However, despite Denmark's greater strength, the gains of the war were not decisive.

He now turned his attention to the Thirty Years' War in Germany. Here, his objectives were twofold: first, to obtain control of the great German rivers—the Elbe and the Weser—as a means of securing his dominion of the northern seas; and secondly, to acquire the secularised German Archdiocese of Bremen and Prince-Bishopric of Verden as appanages for his younger sons. He skillfully took advantage of the alarm of the German Protestants after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, to secure co-adjutorship of the See of Bremen for his son Frederick (September 1621). A similar arrangement was reached in November at Verden. Hamburg was also induced to acknowledge the Danish overlordship of Holstein by the compact of Steinburg in July 1621.

Thirty Years' War