Count's Feud (1534–36) | |||||||||
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Part of Protestant Reformation | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Christian II Christopher of Oldenburg Free City of Lübeck Skåne Malmø Copenhagen Zealand |
Christian III Duchy of Schleswig Holstein Sweden Duchy of Prussia Jutland |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Christian II Christopher of Oldenburg Skipper Clement † |
Johan Rantzau Gustav I of Sweden |
The Count's Feud (Danish: Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. The Count's Feud takes its name from the Protestant Count Christopher of Oldenburg, who supported the Catholic King Christian II, deposed in 1523, over the election of Christian III.
After Frederick I's death in 1533, the Jutland nobility proclaimed his son, then Duke Christian of Gottorp, as King under the name Christian III. Meanwhile, Count Christoffer organized an uprising against the new king, demanding that Christian II be set free. Supported by Lübeck and troops from Oldenburg and Mecklenburg, parts of the Zealand and Skåne nobilities rose up, together with cities such as Copenhagen and Malmø. The violence itself began in 1534, when a privateer captain who had earlier been in Christian II's service, Klemen Andersen, called Skipper Clement, at Count Christoffer's request instigated the peasants of Vendsyssel and North Jutland to rise up against the nobles. The headquarters for the revolt came to be in Aalborg. A large number of manors were burned down in northern and western Jutland. On 10 August 1534, Count Christoffer accepted Skåne for Christian II's rule. The month before, Christoffer was heralded as regent on Christian II's behalf by the Zealand Council in Ringsted.