He could not all at once throw off convictions which were dear to him and accept contrary opinions. Believing, however, that it was no business of his to regulate matters of faith, he determined to hold the balance even, and in his capacity of king to lean neither to one side nor to the other. There were some points of resemblance between this prince and Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, who, though he did not immediately declare for the Reformation, allowed full liberty to Luther’s teaching. Christian’s uncle felt himself free to keep the promises which he had made to the nobles, and he thereby won their liking. He did not deprive the clergy of their pomp or their wealth; and with respect to the reformers and their disciples, instead of persecuting them with fire and sword as the Pope required him to do, he let them alone, and did them neither good nor harm. If the Reformation was to be established in Denmark, it would be so not by the power of the king, but by the power of God and of the people. The state would not interfere. Frederick as king, moreover, thus continued what he had begun as duke.
Before Frederick was seated on the throne of Denmark, the Reformation had begun in the duchies.[[249]] Husum, a town situated on the coast of the North Sea, at a distance of six or seven leagues from Schleswig, had seen this light arise which was afterwards to make glad so many souls in these lands. The chapter of Husum was dependent on the cathedral church of Schleswig, in which twenty-four vicars discharged the functions of the idle or absent prebendaries. One of them, Herrmann Tast, awakened by the earliest sound of the Reformation, had seized the Bible and read the works of Luther; and about 1520 he publicly professed the truth which he had discovered. He gained over one of his colleagues. One of the principal men of the town, a learned man and the son of a natural daughter of Duke Frederick, took Tast under his protection, and assigned him a room in his own house in which he might set forth the riches which he had discovered. The number of his hearers increased to such an extent that, in 1522, he was obliged to hold his meetings in the open air, in the cemetery. He used to take his stand under a lime-tree, and begin by singing Luther’s psalm Eine feste Burg; and there, on that field of the dead, he proclaimed the words of the Son of God. Many of those who had heard them had received the new life. Tast did not long confine himself to preaching the Gospel at Husum, but began to visit the country districts, the towns and villages, diffusing the knowledge |Edict Of Toleration.| of the Saviour in all the country round. Many of the townsmen and the nobles believed. The old bishop of Schleswig, a tolerant man, and acquainted with the views of Frederick, winked at the progress of evangelical doctrine. Frederick, as soon as he became king, promulgated an edict by which religious liberty was formally established for the two opposing parties. Offering due homage to the sovereignty of God in matters of the soul, he suppressed in its presence his own kingly authority. ‘Let no one,’ said he, ‘do any injury to his neighbor in his estate, his honor, or his body, on account either of papist or Lutheran doctrine; but let every one act with respect to religion as his own conscience dictates and in such a manner that he may be able to give a good account to Almighty God.’[[250]]
One work there was, however, essential to the progress of the Gospel, which the Danish clergy would not have allowed to be done. This was the translation and printing of the Holy Scriptures in the vulgar tongue. If Frederick had sanctioned it, he would have violated his neutrality. How to overcome this difficulty? It was got over in a surprising way. It was Frederick’s opponent, his terrible and unfortunate nephew, formerly the ally of the Pope, who accomplished this work, or at least who caused it to be done by those about him. Michelsen, the burgomaster of Malmoe, had followed the king in his disgrace, leaving behind him his wife, his daughter, and his property. The latter was confiscated. Christian II., who, since he heard Luther, was full of zeal for evangelical doctrine, and perhaps also saw that it was the most powerful weapon for the humiliation of his enemy, the Roman hierarchy, urged the ex-burgomaster, who had become his private secretary, to complete and to publish the Danish translation of the New Testament which was already began. The translators had made use of the Vulgate and of the translations of Erasmus and Luther. Luther’s, especially, had been followed by Michelsen in the translation of the apostolical epistles, with which he was entrusted. This Danish translation was printed at Leipzig in small quarto, in 1524, under the sanction and with the assistance of Christian; and it was sent into Denmark from one of the ports of the Netherlands, probably from Antwerp, whence likewise Tyndale’s English translation had gone forth. There were three prefaces; two of them were translated from Luther, and the third was written by Michelsen.
In this preface the ex-burgomaster did not spare the priests. The famous placards published in France, in 1534, were not more severe. Michelsen believed that in order to make known the Gospel of Christ it was necessary to destroy the power of the clergy. ‘These blasphemers,’ he said, ‘by publishing their anti-christian bulls and their ecclesiastical laws, have obscured the Holy Scriptures, and blinded the simple flock of Christ. With lying lips and hearts callous to the miseries of others, they have so preached to the people their useless verbiage that we have been unable to learn any thing except what their pretended sanctity deigned to tell us. But now God, in his unsearchable grace, has taken pity on our wretchedness, and has begun to reveal to his people his holy word, so that, as he had foretold by one of his prophets, their errors, their perfidy, and their tyranny shall be known to all the world.’[[251]] At the same time Michelsen exhorted the Danes to make use of their rights and liberty in drawing at the very fountain-head of the truth.
It was a strange thing to see the two rival kings both favoring the Reformation, the bad man by his activity, the good by his neutrality.
The Danish clergy perceived the blow which was struck at them, and they endeavored to evade and to return it. They could no longer resort to force, for the liberal principles of Frederick were opposed to it. A man was therefore sought who could maintain the contest by speech and by writing. Such a man they thought they had found in Paul Eliæ. No one in Denmark was better acquainted with the Reformation than he was; he had for some time gone with it, and afterwards had abandoned it and been rewarded by the favor of the bishops. He was summoned from Jutland, where he then was, to Zealand; and he began at once to act and to preach against the Wittenberg doctrine. But people remembered his antecedents and they had no confidence in him. Instead, therefore, of attacking the friends of the Holy Scriptures, he was obliged to defend himself.[[252]]
The King’s Son In Germany.
If it was a happy circumstance for the Reformation that the king remained neutral between the two religious parties, it was still much to be wished that he should attain to more decision in his faith and in his personal profession of the Gospel. A domestic event occurred to set him free from all fear and all embarrassment. His eldest son, named Christian like the last king, was a young man full of ardor, intelligence, activity and energy. Two or three years before, his father wishing him to see Germany, to reside at a foreign court, and to become better acquainted with the men and the movements of Europe, sent him (in 1520) to his uncle the elector of Brandenburg, appointing for his governor John Rantzau, a man distinguished for his knowledge and his extensive travels. Unfortunately the elector was one of the most violent adversaries of Luther. It might well be feared that the young prince would catch the air, the temper, and the tone of this court, filled as it was with prejudice against the Reformation. The very reverse happened. The severity of the elector and the blind hatred which the prince and his courtiers bore to the Reformation galled the young duke. In the following year his uncle took him with him to Worms, fancying that the condemnation of the heretic by the emperor and the diet would make a powerful impression on the young man. But when Luther spoke and courageously declared that he was ready to die rather than renounce his faith, Christian’s heart beat high and his enthusiastic soul was won to the cause which had such noble champions. This cause became still dearer to him when his uncle the elector joined with the bishops in demanding the violation of the safe-conduct given to Luther. His astonishment and indignation were at their height. Rantzau himself, who had seen the court of Rome, and who in the course of his travels had continual opportunities of making himself intimately acquainted with the corruption of the Church, was completely won over to the cause which was vanquished at Worms. In this town Christian formed an acquaintance with a young man, Peter Svave, who was studying at Wittenberg, and who by his own desire had accompanied Luther to the Diet, and was full of love for the Gospel. Christian obtained leave from his father to attach him to his person, and gave him his entire confidence. As soon as he returned to Holstein Christian declared himself openly for the Reformation. The warmth of his convictions, the eloquence of his faith, his decision of character, and the simplicity and affability of his manners, which won him all hearts, exerted a wholesome influence on the king. At the same time, the prudence, experience, and varied knowledge of Rantzau gave the monarch confidence in the work of which his son’s governor showed himself a zealous partisan.[[253]]
The King’s Declaration Of Faith.
Copenhagen was still in the hands of Christian II.; and Henry Gjoë was in command there, awaiting the succor necessary to enable him to hold his ground. Frederick sent his son to Zealand to press the surrender of the place; and he himself went to Nyborg, in the island of Fionia. Gjoë, finding that further resistance was useless, offered to capitulate. It was agreed that Copenhagen should be given up to King Frederick on the 6th February (1524), and that the garrison should withdraw to any place which it might choose. The young duke Christian signed these articles in the name of the king his father, and had the good news immediately communicated to him. Ten days after the surrender of the capital, on the 16th February, the king made his entry, to the great joy of the inhabitants, who were wearied with an eight months’ siege. Frederick, without making any attack on the dominant Church, at once avowed frankly and fearlessly the evangelical faith. One man of high standing, the councillor of the kingdom, Magnus Gjoë, had embraced the Reformation, and even had a minister in his own house. The king went to the modest meeting which was held there and received the Lord’s Supper in both kinds. He dispensed with all the trivial practices imposed by Rome; and the nobles of Holstein who formed part of his suite and many Danish lords followed his example. The clergy day by day lost the respect which they had enjoyed; and a large number of persons deserted the confessional, sought pardon of God alone, and ceased from their evil ways.[[254]]