Research topic: Christian II

Christian II 1481-1559, king of Denmark and Norway (1513-23) and Sweden (1520-23), son and successor of King John. After several unsuccessful attempts, he asserted claim to Sweden by force. However, his wholesale massacre of Swedish nobles at Stockholm (1520) alienated the Swedes, who raised Gustavus Vasa to the throne as Gustavus I , thus ending the Kalmar Union . In Denmark, Christian earned the hatred of the nobles and high clergy by thorough reforms in favor of the lower and middle classes, by inviting Lutheran preachers to Copenhagen, and by placing Sigbrit, mother of his Dutch mistress,... Read more