The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

Two Danish governors, Ludwig and Erik Munk, became notorious for their unheard of cruelties and extortions. The peasants sent repeated complaints to the king and threatened rebellion. At last Erik Munk was sentenced to return all taxes which he had illegally collected, and to restore to a peasant his property, of which he had unlawfully taken possession. Later he was deprived of his office, and committed suicide while in prison.

The city of Frederickstad, which was forced into existence, after the burning of the ancient Sarpsborg, bears the name of Frederick II.

THE NORTH CAPE.

Christian IV. (1588-1648) had not inherited his father's infirmities. He was a man of many excellent qualities; desirous of furthering the welfare of his subjects, but crippled in his efforts by the opposition of the arrogant nobility. What particularly deserves notice was his good disposition toward the Norsemen. Unlike his predecessors, he paid frequent visits to their country, once even penetrating within the Arctic Circle. He listened to the complaints of the people, and punished with fines and imprisonment the Danish officials who ventured to exceed their rights. The old law of Magnus Law-Mender which, on account of the change of the language, was now hard to comprehend, he abolished, and elaborated, in its stead, a Norse law, some regulations of which are yet in force. Also the ecclesiastical law or Ordinance was altered and adapted to the needs of the country. The present capital of Norway, Christiania, was founded by him, as also the city of Christiansand. The discovery of silver at Kongsberg, and of copper at Röraas, gave an impetus to the mining industries of the country, and thereby started the growth of two small towns.

By his kindness, his love of justice, and his interest in their affairs, Christian IV. won the hearts of the Norsemen, as no king of the house of Oldenborg, before or since. Sometimes he dropped in at a peasant's wedding, and drank the health of the bride; watched the games upon the German wharf in Bergen, and attended a party at the apothecary's where the jolly guests smashed all the windows. He had a pair of eyes which nothing escaped; and an active and alert mind which turned his observations to good account. All economical questions interested him; whatever he undertook, he supervised with the most minute care every detail of its execution. With level and square in his pocket he walked about testing the soundness of the work of his carpenters, masons, and architects.

Three great wars, two of which concerned Norway, disturbed the reign of Christian IV. The first, the so-called Kalmar War (1511-1513), occasioned an invasion of Scotch mercenaries hired by the king of Sweden. These came, however, to grief at Kringen in Guldbrandsdale, where the peasants attacked them, and at the first shot killed their commander, Colonel Sinclair. Of the entire force, numbering nine hundred, not one man, it is said, escaped. More fortunate was Colonel Mönnikhofen, who landed with eight hundred Dutch mercenaries in Söndmöre, and made his way, ravaging and plundering, across the frontier. The cause of this war was the assumption, on the part of the Swedish king, Charles IX., of the title of King of the Lapps, and his claim to the Norwegian province of Finmark. Charles died during the hostilities, and his son Gustavus Adolphus made peace at Knaeröd, abandoning both the claim and the title.

The participation of Christian IV. in the Thirty Years' War, as the ally of the oppressed German Protestants, brought him no glory. After his defeat by Tilly at Lutter and Barenberge, the imperial armies overran Sleswick and Jutland, and at the Peace of Lübeck (1629), Christian had to promise nevermore to meddle in German politics. After this humiliation, he could not see, without alarm, the progress of the Swedes in Germany; and could not refrain from placing obstacles in their way. The war was being continued, after the death of Gustavus Adolphus, by able generals and diplomats, who resolved to anticipate the Danish king in his efforts to thwart them. Before Christian suspected that his intentions were revealed, General Torstenson crossed the southern frontier, invaded Holstein, and advanced into Jutland (1643). The Danes were utterly unable to resist the conquering host, and though they hotly contested two naval battles, their inability to cope with the Swedes soon became apparent. Peace was, therefore, concluded at Brömsebro; and Norway was made to pay the costs of Danish incapacity and miscalculation. The two great Norse provinces Jemteland and Herjedale were ceded to Sweden; as also the island of Gottland, which had latterly belonged to Denmark (1647).

In Norway this war was named Hannibal's Feud, after the viceroy Hannibal Sehested, a son-in-law of the king, who, with the aid of the brave parson, Kjeld Stub, guarded the frontier.