Frederick II of Denmark
| Frederick II | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Hans Knieper or Melchior Lorck, 1581
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| King of Denmark and Norway (more...) | |
| Reign | 1 January 1559 – 4 April 1588 |
| Coronation | 20 August 1559 Copenhagen Cathedral |
| Predecessor | Christian III |
| Successor | Christian IV |
| Born |
1 July 1534 Haderslevhus Castle, Haderslev, Denmark |
| Died | 4 April 1588 (aged 53) Antvorskov Castle, Antvorskov, Denmark |
| Burial | Roskilde Cathedral |
| Spouse | Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow |
| Issue |
Elizabeth, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg Anne, Queen of England and Scotland Christian IV of Denmark Ulrik, Prince-Bishop of Schwerin Augusta, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp Hedwig, Electress of Saxony John, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein |
| House | Oldenburg |
| Father | Christian III of Denmark |
| Mother | Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg |
Frederick II (1 July 1534 – 4 April 1588) was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.
Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. He was hailed as successor to the Throne of Denmark in 1542 and of Norway in 1548. As king, he visited Norway in 1585, when he came to Båhus. Unlike his father, he was strongly affected by military ideals. Already as a young man he made friendship with German war princes. Shortly after his succession he won his first victory with the conquest of Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein by Johan Rantzau during the summer of 1559.
From his predecessor, he inherited the Livonian War. In 1560, he installed his younger brother Magnus of Holstein (1540–1583) in the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek. Frederick largely tried to avoid conflict in Livonia and consolidated amicable relations to Ivan IV in the 1562 Treaty of Mozhaysk. As a vassal of Ivan IV of Russia, Magnus was the titular King of Livonia from 1570 to 1578.
His competition with Sweden for supremacy in the Baltic broke out into open warfare in 1563, the start of the Seven Years' War, the dominating conflict of his rule. He tried in vain to conquer Sweden, which was ruled by his cousin, King Eric XIV. It developed into an extremely expensive war of attrition in which the areas of Scania were ravaged by the Swedes and Norway was almost lost. During this war the king led his army personally on the battlefield but without much result. The conflict damaged his relationship to his noble councillors, however the Sture Murders of 24 May 1567 by the insane King Eric XIV in Sweden helped stabilize the situation in Denmark. After Erik's successor John III of Sweden refused to accept a peace favoring Denmark in the Treaties of Roskilde (1568), the war dragged on until it was ended by a status quo peace in the Treaty of Stettin (1570) that let Denmark save face but also showed the limits of Danish military power.
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