Christian III

Christian III
Portrait by Jakob Binck, 1550
King of Denmark (more...)
Reign	4 July 1534 – 1 January 1559
Coronation	12 August 1537 Copenhagen Cathedral
Predecessor	Frederick I
Successor	Frederick II
King of Norway
Reign	1537–1559
Coronation	12 August 1537, Copenhagen
Predecessor	Frederick I
Successor	Frederick II
Born	(1503-08-12)12 August 1503 Gottorp
Died	1 January 1559(1559-01-01) (aged 55) Koldinghus
Burial	Roskilde Cathedral
Spouse	Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
Issue	Anna, Electress of Saxony Frederick II of Denmark Magnus, Duke of Holstein John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg Dorothea, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
House	Oldenburg
Father	Frederick I of Denmark
Mother	Anna of Brandenburg
Religion	Lutheran

Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as king of Denmark from 1534 until his death and Norway from 1537 until his death. During his reign, Christian established Lutheranism as the state religion within his realms as part of the Protestant Reformation.

Christian was the eldest son of future king Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg. He was born at Gottorf Castle which Frederick I had made a primary residence. In 1514, when he was just ten years old, Christian's mother died. Four years later, his father remarried to Sophie of Pomerania (1498–1568). In 1523, Frederick I was elected king of Denmark in the place of his nephew, Christian II. The young prince Christian's first public service after his father became king was gaining the submission of Copenhagen, which stood firm for the fugitive Christian II. As stadtholder of the Duchies of Holstein and Schleswig in 1526, and as viceroy of Norway in 1529, Christian III displayed considerable administrative ability.

Christian's earliest teacher, Wolfgang von Utenhof, and his Lutheran tutor, the military general Johann Rantzau, were both zealous reformers who had an influence on the young prince. At their urging, while traveling in Germany in 1521, he made himself present at the Diet of Worms to hear Martin Luther speak. Luther's arguments intrigued him. The prince made no secret of his Lutheran views. His outspokenness brought him into conflict, not only with the Roman Catholic Rigsraad, but also with his cautious and temporizing father. At his own court at Schleswig he did his best to introduce the Protestant Reformation, despite the opposition of the bishops. He made the Lutheran Church the State Church of Schleswig-Holstein with the Church Ordinance of 1528.