Frederik II and the Protestant Cause: Denmark's Role in the Wars of Religion, 1559-1596 FROM THE PUBLISHER
"This book considers the role played by Denmark's King Frederik II (1559-1588) in the international diplomacy of the 'age of religious wars'. As Europe's leading Lutheran sovereign, Frederik commanded great influence, his conviction that an international Catholic 'conspiracy' threatened to destroy Protestantism led him to work towards the creation of a Protestant alliance that included both Calvinist and Lutheran states." Lockhart examines the role of religion in Frederik's foreign policy, the motivations behind the king's alliance-building projects, and the reasons behind the ultimate failure of Frederik's policies. This volume will be of interest to students of early modern diplomacy, sixteenth-century Protestantism, and the Scandinavian monarchies in the early modern period.
SYNOPSIS
Lockhart (history, Wright State U., Ohio) examines the nature and extent of Danish royal involvement in international Protestantism during Frederick's reign. This involvement was well known at the time, but has been forgotten by modern historians, even Danish ones, he says. Though Scandinavian and Baltic affairs were of greater immediate importance to Denmark and her king, he argues that after the signing of the Stettin settlement in 1570, Frederick's primary foreign policy aims revolved around the wars of religion in France, the Netherlands, and the German states. One of the questions he addresses is why Frederick and his Protestant contemporaries such as Elizabeth I of England were unable to create an international coalition to counter what they agreed was an Catholic conspiracy. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Home
