CHRISTIAN IV, King of Denmark. — Born 12 Apr. 1577 at Frederiksborg, died 28 Feb. 1648 at Copenhagen. Son of Frederick II and Sophia of Mecklenburg, he ascended the throne in 1596. After various disputes with Sweden over territorial and economic issues, C. declared war on that country in 1611. With the powerful fleet he had built in the first two decades of his reign, he laid siege to Kalmar. After capturing that city and the island of Öland, mediation by James I of England led to peace negotiations concluded in Jan. 1613 at Knærød, which secured Danish predominance in northern Europe.
Intervening in the Thirty Years’ War, C. was defeated by the imperial general Tilly at Lutter am Barenberg (17 Aug. 1626). Crossing the Elbe, the imperial forces seized Holstein, Schleswig and the Jutland peninsula. King C. was forced to sign the Peace of Lübeck (1629) after refusing at the Ulfsbæk conference Gustavus Adolphus’s offer of an alliance to resume the struggle against the imperials. In 1643 C. found himself at war with Sweden once more. Fresh devastation swept the land, ending only with the Peace of Brömsebro (1645), by which Sweden replaced Denmark as the leading power in the North. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest monarchs his country has known, yet his tenacious efforts at construction left no lasting effects. He was declared an opponent of Catholicism and in 1624 decreed the death penalty for monks and priests who settled in the kingdom. — See pl. LVII.