The Mad Princes of Denmark - Mildly Interactive AAR

[quicksabre]

Hello! I am planning to run a semi-interactive AAR (rules approved by @Qorten) where the goals and personality of each monarch are directed by a different commenter. Format will be varied depending on what the events inspire me to write, but will probably largely be informal narrative or history book. Here are the rules:

Each update will cover one monarch, unless I need to break up a monarch’s reign into multiple posts.

At the end of a monarch’s reign, the first commenter to reply can describe what the next monarch’s goals and personality will be (Edit: If you are the first commenter and don't want to participate, that's fine too. Just leave a note saying that you are skipping your right to describe the monarch, and the second (or third, etc) commenter can do it). I will interpret these goals and personalities based on 1) the detail of the description (the more detailed the description, the more nuanced the monarch will be) 2) the relevant monarch stats and perks. For example, if my monarch’s goal is to ‘attack France’ a poor monarch might just DoW within a few months of taking the throne, while a good monarch might work to create an opportunity to fight them on favorable terms. Alternatively, if the monarch is described as ‘a patient man looking for an opportunity to reduce the might of his French rival’ I will take a more cautious approach regardless of the monarch stats. Feel free to get as nuanced or simple as you like! Also, feel free to describe bad monarchs! One of the things I am excited for in this play through is having to deal with more setbacks than I do in a typical gameplay-oriented playthrough.

When describing a monarch, please describe personalities and goals only. I plan to play each monarch through before posting an update, so you won’t have an opportunity to give input on specific events. I will do my best to make decisions based on the vision of the monarch you described, however! Also, I take all responsibility for bad player decisions.

You may post a short ‘first’/‘reserved’ message to hold the spot to give yourself time to edit the post and write a more in-depth description of the monarch if you want. Please don’t use this to hold a spot while you go do something else. If it has been more than a few hours and I notice a ‘reserve’ post is still up, I reserve the right to open the floor again.

I would like to keep this first come first served for now, but if you want to participate and find you are unable ever to get the first reply to describe a monarch, message me and I will reserve it for you. If I have reserved a spot for you, I will message you. Please post within 24 hours or let me know if it will be longer.

I will be playing as Denmark because I feel that there are a lot of opportunities for different styles of gameplay - Land game, naval game, colonial game, Protestant, Catholic, trader, HRE, diplomat, etc. all seem like viable options for Denmark. Further, Denmark is powerful enough that I don’t feel I need to be playing optimally for the game to run smoothly, but also isn’t so powerful that I can stomp everyone no matter how crazy you all decide to make the Danish kings. Finally, the fact that I could make a silly reference to Hamlet in the title sealed the deal.

I will not be playing on ironman, but I will let you know if I do anything that would be disallowed (save scumming, console, etc). I don’t plan to do anything that would be disallowed by ironman, but depending on where this goes I’d like to have the option, at least, of changing things for the sake of the story. Since there are no specific goals for this run I don't know how long it will go, but I hope we have fun along the way!

Edit: I should probably mention that I have all DLC except Dharma, and am not using any mods.

 

[quicksabre]

Chapter 1: King Christopher III Von Wittelsbach: The Christian Viking.

When King Christopher III Von Wittelsbach was chosen as King of Denmark in 1440, he knew little of Scandinavia. Chosen at least as much for the local nobility's belief that he would be easily controlled as his blood relation with his uncle the recently deposed King Eric, he was initially held in contempt by much of the nobility. But to their eventual dismay, King Christopher was cunning, ambitious, and unscrupulous (if also frequently brash and abrasive), and willing to take unusual measures to achieve his goals (most notably, for example, keeping a woman as his chief military advisor, or attempting to stoke something of a 15th century national identity in Scandinavia through reference to a pagan past). He was also one of the greatest battlefield commanders of his age. Christopher's long-term goal appears to have been the unification of the lands of the House of Wittelsbach under his own line. But domestic concerns distracted him for the first decades of his reign, and strong support for the successors of Bavaria and the Palatinate hindered his attempts to claim those thrones for himself. For much of the early part of his reign, Christopher had to be content with just the family holdings.

1446, King Christopher inherits a bit of land in Germany, which he will use to fund his campaigns in Denmark and England.

The Early Decades
In March 1445 Christopher's Uncle Eric left his stronghold in Gotland and landed an army in Skane in an effort to retake his throne from his nephew, but was soundly beaten by the young king. Christopher followed his victory in the field by sailing to Gotland, besieging his uncle's castle, and brutally putting his uncle's supporters to the sword.

The victry proved Christopher's skill in battle and willingness to fight for his right to rule, something the local nobility were unwilling to tolerate for long. In 1447 local lords began agitating for more power. In response, Christopher seized their lands, sparking rebellions throughout Denmark, which were brutally repressed. Those lords that did not rebel were gradually brought into an elaborate court life that, while expensive, kept them occupied and close at hand.

[Just in case I thought my five shock one siege general in 1444 wasn't good enough, the game gave me some extra infantry combat ability.]

[Yes, this happened a couple years later while I was already at war with England. I figured something like this takes time to set up, though.]

Despite these successes, King Cristopher recognized that his rule was tenuous. To prove the legitimacy of his Bavarian house in the eyes of his Scandinavian subjects, he concocted a scheme to rekindle a rivalry across the North Sea and link himself with the old Scandinavian kingdoms in England. Shortly before Eric had landed in Skane, Christopher secretly sent envoys to France to negotiate the conditions of Danish entry into the newly rekindled fighting of the Hundred Years War. Meanwhile, he prepared for the coming conflict. Based on experience gained during his campaigns in Skane, King Christopher's chief advisor and confidant, Katarina Arenstorff, developed new infantry pike squares and prepared the nobility for war.

The relationship between King Christopher and Arenstorff was scandalous, to say the least, and many contemporaries at court suggested that his unwillingness to get married and produce an heir was due to her influence. Modern histories debate the nature of their relationship, but generally agree that Christopher's unwillingness to get married was due to the fact that he had someone specific in mind - Princess Adel de Valois - rather than an attachment to his advisor. Indeed, the idea that Christopher would do something romantic at the expense of the political flies in the face of all of his other actions. [Gameplay note: I developed tech 4 with it's all-important tactics bonus right before going to war, but forgot to take a screenshot]

Christopher secretly moved his army to Orkney and secured access through Scotland. Although Scotland and Denmark had their differences, Scotland's recent humiliation at English hands made them more than happy to allow the Danish army through to fight their common foe. In 1449 half of the English army was shipped to Brittany in an effort to retake English continental holdings. The English plan had been to quickly ferry the rest of the army across as well, but before they could they received notice of Denmark's alliance with France and declaration of war. The English army on the continent was destroyed as the Marches came under siege. When Northumberland fell a year later, Christopher caught and destroyed the remainder of the English army in the field before moving to secure most of northern England.

Above: France was already winning the war soundly when the Danish arrived, and thus the treaty that brought about Danish entry was not as favorable as it might have been. Fortunately for Denmark, Christopher was never one to actually pay attention to a deal once it was on paper. Below: Reinforcements would not be enough to save Richard Plantagenet's army from King Christopher's veteran pike squares.

In June, 1451, just two years after entering the war, Christopher made peace with England without the consent of his French allies. He secured a foothold in the old Danelaw and minor war indemnities. France was, of course, unhappy with the situation, but eventually decided to maintain the alliance. Christopher had already married Princess Adel and both kingdoms were interested in making further gains against the English.

The Danelaw returns to the British Isles.

The next decade was relatively quiet. In an effort to reign in the Swedes, Christopher created the Danish Constitution, an effort that largely backfired, consolidated his holdings in England while staking claims on the surrounding areas, brought Frans Gersdorff to court alongside Katarina, and unsuccessfully tried to push a claim on Bavaria. He also had a son, born in November 1455. [I'm sorry, I lost a bunch of screenshots I tried to take in this decade. Thankfully nothing too crazy. I took all of the monarch points and the Swedish rivalry with the Scandinavian constitution event. I decided Christopher would be unwilling to back down at the expense of his own legitimacy. There was a regency for Bavaria, and I tried to claim their throne, but because the ruling dynasty was technically the queen regent (of another dynasty) it wouldn't let me since the ruling family was not of my dynasty. Then The Bavarian Prince came of age at 15 with a 3 year old son ( ) with a strong claim, so once again I couldn't claim the throne due to the strong claim. Christopher also apparently had his spies in England listening in on peoples' confessions, which seemed appropriate. Also look at that heir! No hunting allowed for him. I also picked up a cardinal and annexed Holstein to clear up another relationship slot.]

In the early 1460s Christopher's fellow Wittelsbachs went to war over the territory of Oberpfalz. In 1463, Christopher openly declared for the Elector of the Palatinate, who was at that point losing the war, hoping to be able to gain a large foothold in his family's German lands. Danish intervention undoubtedly saved the Palatinate, but the Elector was unwilling to press the war and made peace shortly thereafter. A disgusted Christopher tore up his alliance and turned his attention back to England.

[I tried to go after the Wittelsbach lands and this was my best opportunity... It didn't even give me Vassalize as an option, though. At least Christopher's English adventures went well (spoiler alert).]

Although Katarina died of influenza during the war with Bavaria, Christopher continued her military reforms. Not only did he introduce the Arquebus to his army [Mil tech 6 with another nice tactics bonus], he laid the foundation for an aggressive military doctrine that would influence Danish military leadership throughout the early modern period. [Also, just to make Christopher even MORE of a badass general, he got his 6th shock pip while drilling between the wars. I also took the +1 combat modifier from your capital's terrain (farmlands), so I was frequently getting net +5-6 on my shock rolls against England].

Determined to put his new military doctrines to the test, Christopher looked to press his claims in England. Rallying French and Scottish support by promising extensive in Normandy and Ireland, respectively, Christopher declared war on England in 1467, rushing his army south to London to catch an English force there while the English were still mustering. The result was a complete rout of nearly half the English army.

A year later, in 1468, Christopher caught the rest of English pushing north as they tried to intercept a Scottish army in the Marches.

By the end of 1469, London had fallen.

The war would last nearly a year and a half longer, but from there the war was decided and it was mostly mopping up. Nothing else that could happen would radically change the outcome.

[... Oh.] King Christopher III dies in Wales shortly after the surrender of the last English stronghold in the area.

On February 15th, 1471, King Frederik I von Wittelsbach ascends to the thrones of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. His father left him with a strong army (although admittedly much of that strength was Christopher himself), a stable economy, and good alliances. But he also left the 15-year-old Frederik with a won war. How will the young king conclude his father's conflicts? What will he do with his father's conquests? Will he manage to placate the Swedish nobility and hold the Union together? What does HE want out of this life?

Here is the situation in which Frederik finds himself:

The war:

His army:

Diplomacy:

His court:

And Danish missions:

 

[quicksabre]

King Frederik ascended to the throne in the midst of a victorious war abroad but growing trouble back home. His ability to maintain control over his three thrones would define the central challenges of his reign, and his greatest successes were in the prosperity of the realm under his guidance.

As soon as he received word of his father's death, Frederick opened communication with England to end the war. Three months later, peace was signed. It was widely considered very generous, both to England and to France. Denmark only claimed the remainder of Scottish Marches and Northumbria, which could easily be integrated into local Danish administrative regions, while giving France all of Normandy. War indemnities were split evenly between Denmark and France. Frederik also did not continue his father's policy of sending privateers to English waters while not at war. Frederik hoped that such a treaty would lead to a protracted peace on the British isles.

But trouble was only beginning for Frederik. Back at home, the sidelined Nobility and Guilds saw Frederik's conciliatory nature as possible weakness, and decided to test the mettle of their new monarch. The Swedish Nobility, too, began to assert their independence.

Frederik moved his army back to Denmark and aggressively attacked Burgher and Noble strongholds, seizing their land for the crown, although not without making some token concessions. These actions firmly entrenched the power of the Danish crown while preventing all-out civil war.

[In-game, these two disasters happened a few years apart, as did the events shown here (as you can probably tell by the differences in loyalty). But in-history, I consider them all related].

The Swedish nobility were not so easily dealt with, and would be the focus of foreign policy throughout Frederik's reign. By 1475, he had become convinced that the only way to coerce the Swedish nobles into cooperation was a show of force. Unwilling to turn his pikes on his own realm and risk outright civil war, however, Frederick chose as his target the Duke of Burgundy. Burgundy had been the target of aggressive posturing by Christopher III in an effort to woo the French, and Frederik hoped that by making good on some of those threats he could improve his realm's image and help subdue both internal and external threats. The French agreed to join the war in repayment for Frederik's generosity with the English treaty. Many in Denmark hoped it would be a relatively short and easy conflict. In December 1475, Denmark declared war with French support.

[In-game, I needed more Splendor fast to get the 'Danish Subjects' age bonus in order to keep Sweden in line. After developing Copenhagen (see below), the easiest age objective seemed to be a humiliation war. Since I had gained 9 favors in the English peace, I could get France involved even without a promise of territory. I figured with their help, what could possibly go wrong?].

Frederik left the initial stages of the campaign to his general Bent Schack. Schack quickly moved into the low countries and secured Burgundian forts in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Unfortunately, Burgundy managed to catch France's armies before they could consolidate, crushing them and putting Paris under siege. Schack rushed south to help but the fortress at Rethelois blocked his path. The defenders put up a valiant defense and, unable to seize the fortress in time, Schack was forced to send word back to Copenhagen that France had reneged on their agreement and signed a separate peace with Burgundy.

France makes separate peace with Burgundy in January 1479, three years after the war began, claiming exhaustion from the war (a story that was demonstrated false when they later went back to war as soon as the truce ended - see image on right). After much deliberation, Frederik decides to continue the war without French support.

By the time the fortress at Rethelois finally fell 10 months later, Burgundy and her allies had swept around the back of Danish lines and put Amsterdam under siege. At this point, Frederik secretly moved south through Germany and took personal command of the army, leading his outnumbered forces to a narrow victory, relieving the siege [I didn't want to make Frederik a general, but between his 6 military skill and the Offensive bonuses, I figured he would be good. I was not disappointed. He also rolled 6 shock and I knew I needed him in command; I did forget to take a screenshot of the battle, though].

The Burgundians retreated behind their fortress walls in Calais and Picardie, but rather than Pursue Frederick moved south and besieged Barrois. The Burgundians moved to retake Rethelois, which would have cut the Danish army off from their homeland. But undeterred, Frederik seized the fortress in only a few months in a masterful siege. A large force of Burgundian allied and vassal troops, moving to the relief of Rethelois, were intercepted and destroyed. This was the tipping point for the Burgundian war.

The Battle of Barrois, April 1481.

Eight months later, Dijonnais, seat of the Burgundian court, fell to Frederik. The Burgundian garrison at Rethelois, led by Schack, had held for over a year and a half, preventing any sort of relief force getting to the Burgundian capital. With the Danish army in Burgone completely cut off from reinforcements, many historians now consider this valiant defense the decisive battle of the war. Indeed, Frederik seems to have thought so as well, because following the war Schack was reinstated to his position as commander of the Danish army.

[I had a long debate about whether to try to relieve the siege at Rethelois or take the Burgundian capital ASAP. But since I was completely out of manpower and low on cash, I finally decided to go for the siege and give the garrison up for lost. If I could take the capital I hoped it would be enough to get my humiliation, especially since Burgundy would lose their ticking warscore. But the garrison held off for six months at 57%! True heroes.]

Although the war had not gone to plan, it was enough to secure Frederik's strategic objecting of maintaining hold of the Swedish nobility. Not content with this tenuous progress, however, Frederik also established a new Danish diplomatic corps, focused in particular on the crown's relationships with its various and diverse constituent holdings.

Although the war with Burgundy tends dominate historical accounts of Frederik's reign, it was far from the only event of importance. In 1472, Frederik married the Scottish Princess Margret, ending tensions between the two realms while complicating the status of Orkney and the Faroe islands. While such an alliance was, arguably, favorable (although also arguably unfavorable, given its eventual consequences) to the Danish king, their heir was born a mere three months after and at the time the marriage was widely regarded as a marriage of courtly love as much as politics. Indeed, Frederik had met the princess a year earlier while touring the Scottish Marches as part of his efforts to better integrate the Danelaw into his realm.

Frederik's reign is mostly remembered for his foreign policy, in large part due to the legacy of his diplomatic corps. But while these achievements are mixed - a 'generous' peace with an old rival, a protracted war for little gain, and love marriage that resulted in the loss of territory for one of his kingdoms - his domestic achievements are usually highly underrated. In addition to curbing the power of the estates, Frederik made substantial progress integrating his English possessions, pacified his Swedish subjects, took in Byzantine scholars, patronized education and the arts, and oversaw the creation of new trade deals and the expansion of the Danish merchant marine.

Frederik's domestic achievements also include large-scale expansion of the capital and funding the construction of new markets, churches, and workshops across Denmark.

Frederik's reign would not last, however, and with it fell also the von Wittelsbachs in Scandinavia. In 1487, fever claimed the life of the child of Frederik and Margaret.

Soon after, Frederik himself succumbed to a burst ulcer, leaving a power vacuum and no clear heir. In 1489, the Danish nobility invited King Christian I de Valois, Frederik's maternal cousin, to take the thrones of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Margaret, who had angled for the throne herself, did manage to take Orkney and the Faroe islands with her when she left [technically I lost these territories right after the event 17 years earlier, but it seems like a better explanation that they were lost in a power struggle between the Scottish Queen with her claims and the new French king]

Danish court at the ascent of Christian I de Valois:

The situation in Europe

The Danish army.

Danish ideas

Splendor and age objectives. I had planned to start Denmark's Golden Age under Frederik, but he died just before I was going to do it. Will Christian I lead Denmark there instead? Or does his reign point in another direction?

Danish technology

What kind of ruler with Christian I be for Denmark? Will he be able to hold the kingdoms together and lead them into the new century? What challenges await?

 

[quicksabre]

Christian I may have lacked the battlefield genius of his predecessors, but between the strong nation they left for him and his ruthless foreign policy he secured more territory for Denmark during his short reign than both of them combined.

Many of Christian's contemporaries decried his ruthless cruelty. Modern historians credit it both for the effectiveness of his expansionist policies and the unrest he suffered at home.

Realpolitik was Christian I only priority during his reign. He pursued his ruthless expansionist agenda, containment against Muscovy, and suppression of unrest at home at the expense of the decency and cultural patronage of his predecessor.


Christian I began his reign with a radical overhaul of Danish foreign relations, largely at the expense of Frederik's Diplomatic Corps. He abandoned his alliance with Scotland, proclaiming them traitors and enemies of Denmark for their seizure of Orkney, sent diplomats east in an effort to check the rise of Muscovy, and established a more belligerent foreign policy.

As soon as he could fabricate the slimmest reason for war, Christian invaded England. He made it clear that he had ambitions to bring the whole of Great Britain under his control, and a weakened England with few allies made easy pickings. The English blue water navy, although crippled by loss of ports in the past few decades, still easily outclassed Denmark's. Thus Danish forces would be split during the campaign. Danish troops focused on invading England from the Danelaw, while Norwegian and Swedish troops defended Scandinavia from invasion through Jutland as well as naval landings. As it turned out, Swedish troops were reluctant to defend Danish soil, a sign of things to come. Danish forts in Jutland, held, however, and Schack's army in England smashed the English army and occupied the country over the course of about two years.

During the war, Christian's French ties helped him bring thousands of French soldiers into the Danish military - soldiers that he would badly need in the near future.

In the ensuing peace, Christian demanded the eastern Midlands and East Anglia, expanding the Danelaw across the entire east coast of England.

With the large quantities of English land now under Danish rule, the suggestion was put forth that an Englishman should perhaps be set up as heir apparent. This proposal was soundly rejected by Christian, who, in response, married a local noblewoman to improve his own ties to Denmark.

If Christian I survives to take the throne, he will be the first Danish king in nearly a century (Since Queen Margarette) to possess Danish ancestry.


With that business out of the way, and just over a year after concluding peace with England, Christian took the realm to war once again. This time, he planned to make good on Danish claims in Estonia in order to form a buffer against Russian encroachment, while at the same time giving him an opportunity to invade Scotland without hurting his relationship with France, to whom Scotland was allied.

The wars are exceptionally one-sided, although Christian earned the ire of his Swedish subjects for allowing Livonian troops to press into Finland and even Sweden proper while he was busy in Scotland. In the end, though, the outcome was inevitable due to the balance of forces and Christian's ability to to defeat the Livonian-Scotish alliance in detail. He made separate peace with Scotland, claiming the marches, reclaiming Orkney, and adding the Hebrides to Norway. He also forced Scotland to annul their alliance with France, opening the door to future direct conquests.

The Livonian order ceded northern Estonia and the island of Osel.

Just before the conclusion of this war in 1496, grave news was received from the British Isles - a massive rebellion in East Anglia and a second in the Scottish Marches Just as Danish troops arrived in England to begin quelling the rebellion, news arrived that the Swedish lords were supporting a pretender to the Swedish throne. It seemed Christian's empire might be falling apart. Finally, to make matters worse, the Estonians were not happy about their new overlords either, and used the distraction to rebel almost as soon as they were conquered [well, not really. But each of these rebellions happened while the previous was still ongoing; also screenshot of Scottish revolt missing, sorry].

The revolts on the Isles are readily crushed within the year, but Christian recognizes that he needs to better fortify the southern Danelaw, prompting the construction of new castles in Oxford and Derby.

The situation in Sweden and Estonia was, as it turned out, similarly straightforward. Concentrated rebellions might have posed a threat to Christian's power, but rebel forces were spread out and unable (and probably unwilling) to cooperate with one another. As a result, although most enjoyed early success, they were defeated in detail over the course of several years. That is not to say that Denmark made it through unscathed. By the end of the campaign Danish manpower reserves were entirely exhausted, unless Christian would be willing to slacken recruitment standards.

Christian would not live to see his triumph, however. On May 27th, 1500, he was struck by a stray arrow while leading the siege against the rebel occupied fortress in Estonia, leaving his wife Dorothea as regent for their 9 year old son.

Dorothea doesn't have much time to rule. What will her short reign hold for Denmark? Will she continue her husband's conquests? Or try to use the time to regroup and rebuild to leave her son with a strong nation?


Here is the situation in Europe.

Danish court.

Danish Diplomacy.

Danish technology.

Danish military.

[Question to readers - I'm inclined to treat regencies as term-limited monarchs and ask for input and role play them the same way. That said, since the rule is guaranteed to be short, I wonder whether you as readers are still interested in guiding them? I appreciate that those of you who have made monarch posts have let others guide subsequent monarchs, but you are, of course, always welcome to post for a new monarch later no matter how many you have posted for in the past, and this is doubly true of regents. If you are not as interested in regents, however, then I'm happy just to play them through or count them toward their ward's reign. I would also be willing potentially to allow regents to attempt to seize power in their own right, not in game (I'm not sure that's possible?), but via some off-screen dice rolling followed by console commanding. What do you all think of those four options? 1) treat them like all other monarchs 2) Just play them 3) count them toward their ward's reign [so in this case we'd just describe Christian II and pretend Dorothea is basically acting as he would] 4) Try to do something special with regencies, at least for the highly ambitious ones, that might have them stick around longer.]

 

[quicksabre]

Queen Regent Dorothea was appalled by the human toll of her husband's wars. Although she did not follow him on campaign, she did travel the realm and observed fields laying empty as young men had been pulled away from them to fill her husband's army as he tried to grow the army even as it suffered tens of thousands of casualties. She became determined to make her reign one of prolonged peace. Try as she might, however, peace would not come, at least not to the extent she desired.

Such difficulties needed to be dealt with in the usual way. However, as the army suffered casualties, rather than try to rebuild it she simply had the units reorganized and disbanded the excess.

Still, Dorothea pursued a policy of maintaining peace in her realm, and after two years of initial problems, was largely successful, albeit sometimes at her personal expense.

These internal distractions, however, cover the fact that compared with the rest of Europe, these were peaceful times in Denmark. A calm before the storm, so to speak.

[I'm sure it's just a fad]

[We never did trust the Scotts anyway...]

[Ho, um. Well, they are Germans, after all. No one in DENMARK would ever believe this nonsense, right? Right.]

Queen Regent Dorothea largely ignored these goings on, expecting that to get involve would upset her carefully crafted balance of peace.

Meanwhile, as Europeans squabbled over eternity, the mortal world itself was about to become a much larger place.

[Colonialism spawned in Provence of all places.]

But the Queen Regent's reign was short, and soon her son was ready to inherit the throne. On December 12, 1505, the coronation of Christian II took place. And he was promptly met with an ultimatum from the Norwegian lords.

How will King Christian II respond to these demands? What action will he take in the growing dissent within Christendom? What of these new lands across the sea? Christian II has been left with the smallest army Denmark has possessed since Christopher III, but it is highly advanced. He has the largest economy Denmark has ever possessed, but it is relatively backwards. He has a powerful ally in his cousins in France but growing dissent among his Swedish and Norwegian subjects. What does the future hold for Denmark in these turbulent times?

Religious map mode:

Institutions map mode:

 

[quicksabre]

King Christian II's reign was one of consolidation, internal conciliation, and careful external diplomacy. His reign with an ultimatum from the Norwegian nobility, seeking nominal concessions, to which Christian II acquiesced in order to maintain the union and prevent uprisings across his realm.

This would be a pattern throughout his reign - a focus on preventing unrest and general tolerance of those who did not openly oppose him, as well as supporting those in need at the expense of the royal treasury so long as it meant keeping the peace. To these ends, he expanded the powers of the royal council, used realm resources to settle disputes among feuding nobles, defended religious minorities from persecution, turned a blind eye to wrongs that did not directly harm the populace, and vigorously prosecuted wrongs that did.

In addition to coping with crises, Christian II took several long-term policy steps toward forming a pluralistic, more peaceful society in Denmark. First, he embraced humanistic thinking, creating laws protecting cultural and religious minorities in Denmark. Second, not only did Christian II actively integrated the Norwegian and Swedish crowns into kingdom, reducing the risk of coordinated rebellion, but he expanded Norwegian and Swedish involvement in Danish government, giving them a seat at the table and creating a long-term interest in the Kingdom's success.

In 1511, Norway is fully integrated into the Danish crown. Sweden followed suit in 1519.
Christian adopts renaissance ideas on humanism into his governing policy, and expands the role of Norwegian and Swedish subjects in the realm's governance.

This vigorous policy paid off, and Christian II did not face a single open rebellion in Danish lands for the entirely of his long 30-year reign. This record is especially impressive in light of his conversion. While other realms faced widespread religious unrest, Denmark did not. Following the bloodshed of his father's reign, in particular his father's own untimely death, and the widespread revolts of his mother's regency, we know that Christian II began to question the primacy of Papal teachings. He read widely of both Scottish and German reformers and refused to take action against the spread of protestantism in his own lands. But Christian II was also a practical ruler looking to give Denmark a period of rest and recovery following the previous decade and a half of bloodshed, and he did not openly convert, fearing it would create large-scale unrest. Thus when he eventually did convert, instead of choosing the more widespread Lutheranism that had begun in Scotland and taken hold in northern Germany, Christian II converted to a much smaller protestant sect that had begun in Ireland. These reformers preached asceticism and discipline, and believed that salvation was a personal matter, rather than something that should be mediated by a larger church. In 1519, Christian officially broke with Rome.

Christian II was introspective as a ruler, preferring to promote domestic tranquility rather than strength abroad. His religious choices reflected this nature. [Also, while I wasn't able to set it up effectively in this narrative due to the fact that I'm updating as I play (and also am not sure I'm that creative), but I found it really interesting that all three protestant sects arose in the British Isles in this play through - Obviously Anglicanism started in England, but Protestant started in Scotland and Reformed started in Ireland.]

Christian II married a local noble, but the couple never got along well. In 1510, Christian II legitimized his bastard son Frederik and largely ignored his wife for the rest of his rule.

Although internal matters were the primary focus of Christian's reign, he did pursue certain foreign policy goals, with mixed success. In the early part of his reign he made diplomatic inroads into the Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire, even, for a brief moment, becoming a favorite to win the next Imperial election.

Most notably, he extended protection to other reformed realms, expanding Denmark's sphere of influence into Ireland and parts of northern Germany.

[Also East Fresia. I forgot to screen shot it]

This, protection, however, would soon be tested when the Lutheran Stuarts in Scotland inherited the largest kingdom in Ireland, Thormond, in 1526. Shortly thereafter, Scotland declared war on the last major independent kingdom on the island, Munster. Immediately after his conversion, Christian II had pursued a policy of general Protestant cooperation. The Scottish Kings, however, refused to let bygones be bygones and would not entertain offers of cooperation from Denmark. As such, Christian considered it his duty to defend his Irish bothers in faith before the Scotts could stamp out the Irish Reformed Church.

Christian II makes overtures to Scotland, but is rebuked with prejudice.

As such, he chooses to defend his Irish brothers against Scottish invasion.

Danish forces made quick work of the Scottish, occupying most of the country even while sending an expedition to Scotland's ally in Livonia. Christian II's ability to project power in this war is a testament to the successes of the early part of his reign: stability at home meant men of fighting age had not perished in endless rebellions; the centralization of the Swedish and Norwegian forces with Denmark's had grown the army to record size, notwithstanding the extent to which his mother had shrunk it.

Scottish forces are routed and destroyed in Ireland. The war lasted just over a year, from March 1527 to May 1528.

In the peace treaty, signed in May of 1528, Thormund was forced to cede large tracts of land to Munster, while Denmark received their claims in Estonia. Christian II had hoped to acquire Shetland as well, with their large Norwegian population. But after the war Munster agreed to Danish sovereignty, bringing more than half of Ireland into a loose confederation with the Danelaw.

After his success on the Isles, one major challenge remained for Christian's reign: The War of Moldovan Succession. As Christian II's diplomatic focus shifted to Germany, the Low Countries, and Ireland, the alliance his father had forged with Novgorod in order to check Muscovite expansion seems to Christian to be a risky waste of diplomatic capital. He dissolved the alliance and sent those diplomats elsewhere. Almost immediately, however, Muscovy took advantage of Novgorod's isolated position to annex those lands forcefully, giving Muscovy a long, direct border with Denmark across Karelia. Recognizing his mistake, Christian built new forts in Finland and forged an alliance with Poland to act as a check against any Muscovite ambitions in Scandinavia. This alliance led directly to the first open conflict between Denmark and Muscovy. [Something makes me doubt it will be the last...].

In the fall of 1529, the Moldovan prince died suddenly and without an heir. The local nobility invited the Polish king to take the throne, but the Walachia king also possessed a claim. With Muscovy's backing, Wallachia declared war on Poland. Both sides called on their allies and soon all of eastern and northern Europe was embroiled in bloody conflict.

War breaks out, and Denmark is in the thick of it.

Despite numerical parity, the Danish army proved superior to that of the Russians. Muscovy tried to press into Danish Estonia but was repulsed by the Danish general Kasper Lingby and his veterans of the war with Livonia.

Lingby pressed into Pskov as Danish troops were rushed from the Danelaw to Finland. These soldiers pressed into Russia and besieged Novgorod, seizing and sacking the city in April 1531. Equipped with numerous cannons and experienced in sieges, veteran Danish troops quickly sieged fortress after fortress, pressing deep into Russian territory and eventually taking Moscow itself.

By the fall of 1532, Polish troops had repelled Muscovite incursions into Poland and the Wallachian advance into Moldova. Polish allies were sieging down Romanian cities and Danish troops had begun the siege of Moscow. The war would be over within a year.

In 1533, peace was signed, bringing the 5-year war to an end. Modern estimates suggest the military fatalities of the war numbered in the quarter millions, including tens of thousands who died in the Russian winters, with untold countless civilian casualties. For all of that human suffering, however, relatively little changed, and Eastern Europe remained a powder keg.

After the war Christian returned to his more peaceful, conciliatory internal focus, trying to spread the teachings of his Irish Reformed Church and bringing additional small European states into Danish protection. Only a few years later, in 1537, he died, leaving his bastard son Frederik II as King of Denmark. Denmark is at the peak of its power thus far. Where will Frederik take the realm? Will he accept his father's religion or return to the folds of Rome? Will he remain a largely peaceful protector or try to get involved in the affairs of the HRE and eastern Europe? Will he try to become a conquerer? Look to the sea? Or remain introspective?

[This was a longer update, and we are about 100 years into the game. So I'm going to post a second update with a general overview of the known world]

 

[quicksabre]

Danish Court:

Danish Government:

Danish Diplomacy:

Danish Economy:

Danish Technology:

Danish Ideas:

Danish Missions:

Danish Religion:

Danish Military:

Danish Subjects:

Danish Age Objectives:

Danish Diplomatic ties:

European religions:

European Political Map:

That new world thing everyone is raving about. Visible Colonizers are Castile/Spain and Brittany.

Great Powers:

 

[quicksabre]

Frederik I is widely remembered by history as an absentee king and eve, sometimes, something of an idiot. I would argue, however that he was no stupid so much as single-minded. Frederik had come of age during the War of Moldovan Succession, and developed a deep hatred for Muscovy. He was also jealous of how well-loved his father was, and therefore sought to rectify what was widely seen as his father's only mistake - allowing Novgorod to fall to their southern neighbor. Thus the entire focus of Frederik's reign became revenge on the Muscovites and the liberation of Novgorod. He largely ignored events happening at home, unless he felt that they could be used for war against Muscovy.

But when it came to war with Muscovy, hot or cold, Frederik spare no expense, monetary, diplomatic, or human. In 1541, Frederik's spies learned that Russia was planning an invasion of Kazan. In secret, he dispatched an envoy to Kazan, promising aid should Russia invade. Notice was given to the Russian court of Danish protection after the gears of war had been set in motion, and Denmark and Russia went to war mere years after their previous peace.

Russian armies invaded Kazan, easily occupying much of the Khanate. But Danish troops moved quickly as well, occupying Novgorod, Pskov, and Smolensk, as well as much of Karelia before the Russians returned from the east. Between the strong martial traditions begun by Christopher III, however, combined with new tactical innovations in the use of gunpowder weapons [tech 12], Danish arms proved superior to the Russians in all engagements, however, even after the Russian armies moved to engage them. This would be a pattern for the remainder of the war as well as those that followed.

Battle of Polotsk, March 7, 1543. Danish forced intercept a Russian relief column, surrounding and destroying it.

The war ended in 1544 with Kazan taking numerous provinces from Russia. Denmark only got Intermingland in the deal. Although this was a major strategic blow to the Russians - being their only warm water port, Frederik was furious. He had hoped to claim the city of Novgorod and otherwise deal a crippling blow to Muscovy. But even in the face of defeat, Russia was resurgent - declaring themselves the successor of Rome. Frederik promptly broke all diplomatic ties with the Khanate.

Most of the casualties in this war were not Danish, and those that were were predominantly due to Russian winters rather than Russian soldiers.

Russia declares themselves the third Rome, even in the face of (what Frederik believed should have been) a humiliating defeat.

Less then a year later, a diplomat from Poland arrived in Copenhagen, offering land in Livonia and Scotland in exchange for military aid. Frederik was initially disinterested - the Danish military needed to remain in a state of readiness to fight the Russians. He had just gone into debt to acquire experienced German officers and to lay the foundation for a blue water navy to take on the Russian fleet and prove Denmark superior in all facets of war. When he learned that Russia had declared its protection over Livonia, however, Frederik immediately joined the war, readying his veteran armies to return to the forest of Northern Russia.

Frederik plunged his nation into debt to bring the best and brightest military minds to Denmark. Although many question this decision, there can be no denying the Denmark dominated Russia in every conflict.

To Frederik's dismay, Russia dishonored their guarantee, preferring to focus on consolidating their own holdings rather than fighting (and probably losing) someone else's war. The war would end less than 18 months later, a decisive Polish Victory. Denmark participated little as Frederik did not authorize the movement of additional troops to the theaters of war. Local commanders, including the Admiral of the newly-christened Danish Carrack squadron, took the war into their own hands, pressing back the scotts and besieging Livonian forts near Estonia. In the ensuing peace, Denmark received Shetland and parts of Latvia.

Before this war even ended, however, Frederik's spies learned that Russia was planning to invade Lithuania. Frederik pulled together a hasty diplomatic defense of Lithuania, which Russia ignored. Once again, the two powers were at war. [Forgot to screencap the warning that Russia was preparing for war w/ Lithuania]

The war lasted 4 years and claimed 10's of thousands of Danish lives, but in the end, Russia went bankrupt and was forced to disband its entire military. The mighty fortress Moscow itself fell in only a few months. The only branch of the Russian military that put up a defense was the Navy, although even that ended in near total defeat.

In the peace of 1549, Russia ceded Novgorod, Pskov, and parts of Karellia to Denmark. Lithuania received large swaths of land in Belarus and agreed to long-term Danish protection and religious conversion.

With these gains, Frederik was able to restore Novgorod as a sovereign state, although he was not yet able to return its former territorial holdings. Novgorod, however, was not especially grateful, and tensions spiked almost immediately as Frederik refused to allow Novgorod to be ruled by Othorodox leaders and refused to give them any of their former black sea ports in Intermingland.

[I siezed back intermingland immediately, and insisted on conversion... They weren't happy.]

Despite - or perhaps because of - Frederik's best efforts to ignore domestic matters, however, one exceptionally important development occurred. On the island of Fyn, drawn by the prosperity in Denmark - largely untouched by their eastern wars - and the lack of censorship driven by Frederik's laissez faire attitude to domestic matters, religious thinkers, philosophers, and writers gathered in a growing intellectual environment. Soon, they began mass printing their works and distributing them throughout Europe. A silent revolution was brewing in Denmark, and it would soon spread across the known world.

Frederik's reign ended in 1554, several years after the conclusion of his second war with Russia, when he died of unknown causes. His son Christian III de Valois was only 9, leaving his wife Margarete as regent. Where will she steer Denmark during her short time at the tiller? Does she accept her father in law's religion or would she like to return to Rome? Is she willing to fight for those beliefs? Does she share her husband's hatred of Muscovy? Is she willing to remain a bastion in the north or will she set her protectorates free? Or try to expand their holdings?

Here is the Danish court:

Danish diplomatic ties. The alliance with France hasn't been invoked in decades but is still there:

Danish subjects:

And a bit more of the rest of the world - No Europeans are in North America, yet, but several players are dipping their toes into the Caribbean: France is in Bermuda, England and Portugal are on Hispanola, Holland is making inroads into Cuba and a few other islands, Brittany is on the mainland (and Castile is in Brazil).

Also, two entirely unrelated things but I wanted to share: I've never noticed before that Reformed centers of Reformation have a smashed statue in them. That's really cool!

And second, where on earth are these Russian ships retreating? They travelled this far from the White Sea before I lost them. Russia doesn't have any Black Sea ports.

 

[quicksabre]

Queen Regent Margarete Beck knew her time as regent was going to be short, but was confident she could make up for her husband's disinterest in courtly affairs and leave a stronger realm for her son. Under the last two rulers, the various powers of the Kingdom had largely been left to their own devices so long as they did not threaten the peace of the realm. Margarete, however, had plans to exploit them.

New territories were incorporated by default into crown lands, administered by royal officials. Although many of these officials were individually corrupt and variously autonomous, they were largely independent of one another. As a whole, the nobility, clergy and merchant classes had very little unified power in the governance of the realm. On the one hand, this was beneficial to Danish monarchs, who had little to fear from organized uprisings or demands. Margarete, on the other hand, saw them as a massive untapped resource. Only a few months into her reign, Margarete received an offer from a major noble family in Skane requesting export privileges in northern Germany, threatening the local merchants who had been running those businesses for decades.

Margarete sided with the merchants, not only protecting their businesses, but further expanding their power through monopoly charters, the expansion of the admiralty to include increasing numbers of experienced, wealthy, but otherwise lowborn seamen, and granting additional privileges to major trade hubs including York, Bergenhus, and Osel. In exchange, members of the merchant class were to forgive the Crown's debts. Overall this led to a significant increase in the influence of Burghers at court and across the country, which was both beneficial to Danish cities and trade but also carried risks if a less skilled leader allowed them to get out of hand.

Margarete taps the merchant class to pay off Danish debt and improve her position abroad.

But the merchants also took matters into their own hand. A less careful monarch might have allowed the Burghers' power to get out of hand.

Although the Reformed Church had no formal liturgical hierarchy, individual priests and missions could wield substantial influence, particularly in the more remote parts of the country. A year into her reign, Margarete toured the (still largely Catholic) Danish hinterlands to seek their support, providing royal support for their endeavors in exchange for expanded administrative support. This clerical support helped Margarete modernize Danish administration, neglected over the past few decades, and expand crown control in places like Karelia and Finland.

Margarete's foreign policy was more limited, but reflected a similar shrewd political approach. Most notably, she pursued relations with all Protestants, although fell short of joining the Protestant League in opposition to the Empire.

More controversially, she found a way both to harm Russia's ally in Ryazan as well as improve the treasury she would be leaving to her son by sending a company of mercenaries to help Burgundy, at war with several states in the Low Countries as well as Ryazan.

As usual, Danish forces easily defeated their Russian counterparts. Danish troops were more evenly matched against modern western armies, however, even those inferior in number, which perhaps will be a sobering lesson for Christian III [or perhaps not...]

The mercenary expedition was still active when Christian III took the throne in his own name in February 1560. There was some opposition to his ascension, but it was minor and would almost certainly be dealt with easily.

What will Christian III's reign hold for Denmark? Will he be a warrior like his father? An administrator like his mother? Or will he seek other avenues to greatness?

 

[quicksabre]

Christian III de Valois's reign is frequently overlooked in history textbooks. He was not a warrior like his father or a politician like his mother and thus his reign lacks the classic excitement typically found in history books. Further, he died very young - only 24 - and therefore had little time to cement his legacy. But in that short time he laid the foundations for a new direction for Denmark, even if he did not live to see it through to completion.

Christian III was a capable administrator with a vision of stability and prosperity for his realm. His first order of business was to secure the his succession. The French king, as a distant cousin, had the strongest male-line claim, but Christian II's sister had married into the Polish line, and the Polish King claimed the Danish throne through her. Without an heir, Christian III's untimely death would almost certainly lead to a major war consisting of three of the strongest powers in Europe. Thus within his first year Christian married a French princess, and shortly thereafter produced a son, breaking with recent tradition to name him Erik, much to the confusion of the rest of the court.

Christian III spent much of his reign investing in the long-term prosperity of his realm. Most notably, he sent prospectors into the Norwegian countryside in an attempt to find a domestic source of iron and copper. He also invested heavily in construction and the administration. Overall, this led to a period of prosperity and growth. The year 1560 was particularly exceptional in this regard. This economic prosperity gave Christian the flexibility to react with haste to issues like the plague of 1564, limiting its impact and allowing the realm's prosperity to continue to grow.

In order to preserve this domestic tranquility, Christian III took a largely conciliatory approach to foreign policy, renouncing Danish claims on Polish Black Sea ports, restraining the missionary fervor that had guided the foreign policy of his grandfather, and refusing to get involved in temporal religious conflicts.

[not pictured - Denmark, as the most powerful Protestant state in the world, remains uninvolved in the League war]


In addition to his able handing of his noble goal to promote peace and prosperity within his realm, Christian III had a secret ambition, one with the potential to radically alter the course of Danish history. While touring his realms as a child, his imagination was captured by stories of old Norse explorers such as Erik the Red and, in particular, Leif Erikson, discoverer of the legendary Vinland. While paying court to Princess Louise in France, he came across maps of Terra Nova. As had everyone in Europe by the 1560s, he had, of course, heard of Terra Nova, but there in the French court Christian seems to have been the first to make the connection between the "West Indian" colonies being founded and the mythical realms of Norse explorers. When Christian III returned to Denmark, he determined to discover Vinland and reclaim it under the Danish flag, laying the foundations for what would either be a radical shift in Danish history or a vanity project on a massive scale.

First, Christian needed to find Vinland. Then he needed to organize the infrastructure necessary for large-scale colonization. To do this, Christian promoted the printed word, and surrounded himself with learned men of all births and walks of life.

[Christian III promotes the printing industry, as Denmark becomes a marketplace for ideas from across Europe]

Christian III's policy of inviting all capable minds to court severely alienated the hereditary nobility and clerical elites, who considered this their personal privilege, but helped him accomplish his goal to surround himself with the most able advisors and scholars in pursuit of his ambitions. Of all of the bright lowborn minds brought to court during this time, the most notable was Abel Kaas of Ostjylland.

Abel participated in many of Christian III's administrative reforms, but he was also the King's confidant and co-conspirator in their efforts to discover and colonize Vinland. He was also Queen Louise's lover. Christian III had seen his marriage to Louise as a matter of duty rather than a source of any kind of love or passion. Once young Erik was born, he considered that duty largely discharged, and it appears that he rarely, if ever, visited her, preferring to tour his realm, organize economic projects, and hunt for Vinland. Louise, however, was not so content to live a life devoid of passion, or, due to the fact that she was not allowed to accompany Christian on business, any stimulating activities whatsoever. Thus perhaps it should not be a huge surprise that she took a lover. It is a testament to Christian's devotion to his projects that he considered the affair little more than an unfortunate nuisance to keep hushed up. It does not even appear to have hindered his relationship with Kaas, and the two of them continued their own passion project for the rest of the decade.

Over the course of the 1560s, they determined that Vinland was likely in the still largely uncolonized northern portion of Terra Nova, and, through careful reading of currents and winds from Denmark, identified a likely candidate on French maps - a large island just off the coast. By 1569 Kaas and Christian III had organized an expedition and laid the foundations for the long-term expansion of Denmark that colonization would entail. On June 1, 1569, the first expedition to Vinland embarked from Copenhagen.

Christian III was furious to hear reports that Holland had beaten him to the colonization of parts of the island and began making plans for war against the Dutch. These plans would never surface, however, because he died under mysterious circumstances while the voyage to Vinland was still en route, leaving his wife Louise as Queen Regent for their 7-year-old child.

Queen Regent Louise takes over for King Erik I, until he can come of age.

The Vinland colony is still en route when Christian dies.

Queen Regent Louise and her lover Abel Kaas are the most prominent figures in the Danish Court.

The Queen Regent has 8 years until her son comes of age, nearly as long as her husband ruled. How will she rule Denmark during that time? Will she continue the passion project shared by her lover and her husband? Or will she abandon their designs and leave their scheming as a curious footnote in Danish history? Will she try to involve herself in the continent? Focus on her many vassals? On the religious tension growing in Europe? Or will she strike out on her own path and forge an as of yet unforeseen future for Denmark?

 

[quicksabre]

Most modern readers will recognize this era of Danish History from a particularly famous play in which the queen and her lover murder the king to take the crown for themselves, proceeding to drag down the realm and open it to foreign conquest, all while the King's son goes mad whilst agonizingly plotting revenge. It is worth noting, however, that while this story is perhaps slightly more plausible than that pushed by Queen Louise and Abel Kaas themselves - that the Dutch had murdered Christian III (the Dutch had, in fact, maintained quite good relationships with the Danish throughout the 16th Century prior to this point) - it was still a work of explicit propaganda, written by an English dissident and meant to make a mockery of the Danish crown. In truth, we will probably never know what killed Christian III, but whatever killed him, the reign of his Queen was epic and brutal.

Regardless of the factuality of their claims, it only took Queen Louis and Abel Kaas a few months to whip the court into an anti-Dutch frenzy. Soon the adventure to Vinland, which had been the private mad dream of a few close confidants of the king, soon became a rush of emigrants and a full-on jingoistic rallying cry. On June 25, 1570, Queen Louise declared war on Holland.

Her kin in France honored their alliance and joined the war, as did the Poles in September. The Swiss confederation, Trier, and Burgundy rallied to the defense of their dutch allies, while Spain, England, and several smaller German states and Ferrara honored their obligations to the Emperor in Vienna, who vowed to protect Imperial borders against this threat from north, east, and west.

The state of the war on September 7, 1570, after all major participants had declared for one side or the other. Not shown: What was likely Denmark's saving grace, Spain was fighting a crusade in Tunis, defended by the Turks. Thus Spain and Austria began the war somewhat distracted, allowing the Danish alliance some early room to maneuver.

Although it was their machinations and fervor that pressed the country to war, Abel Kaas and Queen Louise did not lead it themselves, other than to insist that a contingent of soldiers be sent to the New World to guard the Danish colony and occupy the Dutch portion of Vinland. Instead, that task fell to Sten Hard, Martial of Denmark. Sten recognized that in addition to a pure numerical deficit, the Danish alliance faced a force concentration problem, as numerous German fortresses separated the allies prevented cooperation and multiple fronts (such as in England and across the Pyrenees) forced Allied forces to disperse. To remedy this, Hard ordered Danish forces to take the offensive along two axes - First, Harald Brockenhuus marched into the Low Countries to seize Dutch forts and open a road to France. Meanwhile, Christian Ebbesen was sent to England with 12,000 soldiers and funds to recruit another 5,000 locally in order to knock England out of the war as quickly as possible. The first major engagement of the war took place outside Darby Castle on April 15, 1571, making Darby the site of the decisive battle of the third English-Danish war in a row. Only six months later, on November 1, London fell to Ebbesen's army knocking the English out of the war. On the same day, the Dutch fortress at Den Haag fell to Brockenhuus, clearing the last obstacle impeding Danish forces from linking up with their French allies.

Freeing up these Danish armies to move into France happened none too soon. The west German states of the Imperial alliance had focused their efforts on invading France. Imperial forces had made rapid headway in Northeastern France and by November 1571 an Imperial army had besieged Paris.

[Danish advances in the first 15 months of war. By this time all three Danish thrusts had achieved their initial objectives]

Ebbesen's army was embarking for France from Norfolk, as a third army under Karl Arenstorff arrived from the Russian frontier, tasked with putting pressure on the eastern side of Imperial territory. Meanwhile, Brockenhuus took the initiative and advantage of a mild winter to sweep south through Flanders and into France, defeating a Burgundian army at Valois before it had a chance to link up with the army besieging Paris, then joining with French reinforcements to crush a portion of the besieging army before it could escape.

Brockenhuus and his French allies pursued the retreating Imperials, joined by the French and the newly-disembarked Ebbesen, as Arenstorff blocked their lines of retreat into Germany. The Imperial armies were crushed and within only a few months the Allies had entirely reversed the tide of the war in France, pressing all the way to the Rhine and beyond. But the unmitigated Danish success was about to end, and the war was about to move into its second phase, replacing the war of maneuver with a war of attrition. The Spanish, after nearly two years of distraction in North Africa, arrived in Gascony in force. Austria, meanwhile, had, in anticipation of imminent peace with the Ottomans, had disengaged from that war and advanced into Poland.

Hard's plan for the second phase of the war was for Poland and Denmark to link up and drive Austria out of Poland and then push into the Empire while France drove the Spanish back across the Pyrenees. Unfortunately, his compatriots in those countries had other ideas. Drunk on victory, both realm's leaders pressed their armies into western Germany, allowing the Spanish to seize important border forts and the Austrians to capture several Polish castles. With his allies unwilling to cooperate, Hard was forced to press for an end to the war as quickly as possible, first encouraging Queen Louise to make peace with secondary participants in the war in exchange for indemnities to keep the armies paid, and second by driving deep into Germany to engage the Austrians directly.

In December 1472, an Allied army defeated an Imperial force at Oberlausitz, ending any hope of an Austrian counterattack and convincing most of the west German states, as well as Switzerland, to bow out of the war. This victory was followed in February by the Battle of Wismar, halting a desperate Austrian gambit to seize Denmark and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. These were the last major engagements of the Eastern theater.

These victories were not enough to keep the coalition together, however. A few months later, Poland dropped out of the war, leaving a grudge match of the Great Powers Austria and Spain vs. Denmark and France.

With the Austrian army largely neutralized, Hard redirected Arenstorff's army from Switzerland to Southern France. The French had just won a decisive victory at Roussilon leaving southern France clear of Spanish forces except the garrison at Larbourd. His objective was to support the French in retaking the fortress, securing the Pyrenees and preventing Spanish incursions into France. This expedition was supported by Admiral Sigrun Lillienskjold who was to blockade Larbourd and prevent Spanish transports from moving soldiers behind French lines. Arenstorff would later be reinforced by additional soldiers under Tobias Beilke, redeploying from Poland. Unfortunately for Arenstorff, the French ignored Larbourd, preferring to move against Spanish assets in Italy. In quick succession the Spanish engaged and defeated Lillienskjold's fleet, then snuck an army into Gascony, surprising and utterly destroying Arenstorff's army. Only a handful of stragglers, including Arenstorff himself, returned to Denmark, with the rest being killed, wounded, or captured by the Spanish. Following this defeat, Beilke's army was redirected to Italy in an effort to knock Ferrara out of the war and attack weaker Spanish forces in Italy.

Fortunately for the Danes, Lillienskjold had managed to escape with at least a portion of his force intact, allowing him to repell an attempted Spanish counterattack by sea.

Another year of siege warfare followed as the French rallied for a final defense of the Pyrenees and Denmark occupied most of Austria and northern Italy. in the fall of 1574 Austria finally recognized the inevitable and accepted the humiliation of having been unable to defend the Empire from an external threat. Nine months later, Spain also bowed out of the war, accepting the status quo ante bellum.

With both of her great power protectors now out of the war, Holland accepted a 'punishing' peace to the satisfaction of Louise and Kaas. In the Treaty of Amsterdam, Holland ceded Vinland to Denmark and several majority-Reformed provinces to Denmark's protectorate East Frisia. This peace cut mainland Holland in half both geographically and in overall size. They were also to pay a large war indemnity as well as ongoing reparations.

To Queen Louis's annoyance, East Frisia succumbed to Imperial pressure and released the county of Friesland as an independent county, returning it to the Empire. Thus Friesland became the only Reformed realm of any size in Europe not under Danish protection. In short order it was invaded by its neighbors. In better news, however, Holland's punishment continued as Flemish forces took advantage of its newly weakened state and lack of allies to take its own bite from Dutch lands.

Combatants suffered half a million casualties not to mention major loss of money and material [I should have taken a screenshot of the devastation map mode!]. War, it seems, was growing more brutal. Surely this would be the end of conflict in Europe? But maybe not. A new war of even greater magnitude was already brewing in Germany:

European states square off over religious differences.

Back in Denmark tensions were also brewing. Once they had whipped up fury for their colonial adventure and associated war, Louise and Kaas took a largely hand-off approach to governance, delegating more power to local lords and allowing religious doctrine to slip, further alienating the clergy.

Even more critical, their affair was now open and explicit. Further, with the war dragging on, Martial Sten Hard and Chief Diplomat Torbald von Trampe were growing increasingly powerful and increasingly willing to push back against the authority of the queen and her lover. Their case was made easier as mismanagement and neglect were driving the Danish economy to ruin - by 1576 only the massive war indemnities paid by the defeated parties kept the danish economy afloat, being responsible for over 15% of money entering the Danish treasury from all sources. Overall, this created a fractious court environment, eroding the legitimacy of the ruling couple and creating openings for new powers to emerge. Most notably among them was an economic reformer named Peder Oxe, who rose to prominence in the aftermath of the Dano-Dutch War.

Oxe was backed by both Hard and von Trampe, who began pressuring the Queen to remove Kaas and replace him with their compatriot. Events came to a head when a rumor began circulating that Queen Louise meant to bypass Erik in favor of his younger brother Frederik. Although the boys had grown up together and were quite close, Frederik was widely suspected to be the bastard son of Louise and Abel Kaas, a rumor Erik vehemently denied, at least as a child. When Erik was moved out of Copenhagen and into to one of his mother's country estates shortly before his 15th birthday, however, it shattered the fault lines in the court. On November 1, 1576, Erik I came of age. On that day, on Sten Hard's orders and backed by von Trampe and Oxe, Admiral Lillienskjold led sailors from the 5th fleet to the palace to seize the Queen and place her under house arrest. Meanwhile, General Brockenhuus led 14,000 troops to secure Erik and declare him king. Unwilling to threaten a direct peer with his coup (and thus setting precedent for his own removal), and hoping to maintain the legitimacy of his actions, Hard refrained from also arresting Abel Kaas, hoping instead that Erik would have him replaced in short order. This caution angered Oxe and weakened the pro-Erik coalition at court.

Here is the situation in Denmark and at court following the declaration of Erik I as King of Denmark:

The Danish Court. [I am going to edit the save file to change Frederik's claim to reflect his ambiguous parentage in this story.]. Note Brockenhuus's 1st Army moving to engage the Queen's supporters in Jutland.

The Danish military

The Danish economy. Note the reliance on war reparations.

The known world. After five years of bloody conflict, Denmark is unopposed in the norther New World and dominant in northern Europe.

What will Erik I's reign mean for Denmark? What will he do with Abel Kaas? And with his brother and his mother? And once he deals with internal chaos, how will he greet the rest of Europe? Will he continue his father's dream of colonization? Will he choose to meddle in Imperial politics press for a Protestant Empire? Will he renew his grandfather's crusades against Russia? Or try to reclaim the lands of his protectorates in Lithuania, Prussia, and Ireland? Will he eschew bloodshed in favor of trade and science? Or something else entirely?

 

[quicksabre]

Erik I, King of Denmark, came to the throne amidst a coup perpetrated by several chief advisors at court and their supporters. Forces loyal to his mother were quickly stamped out and she faded into obscurity for the remainder of Erik's reign.

Erik I's reign was preoccupied with three main goals - supporting his faith abroad, growing the Danish economy, and, most importantly, dealing with the roving powers of his court. In particular, his de-facto stepfather, Abel Kaas. Erik had ridden into power on the machinations of Kaas's enemies at court, who claimed Kaas had been trying to kidnap Erik and place Frederik on the throne in his place. Unfortunately, despite being a controversial figure within Denmark, Abel Kaas was highly admired throughout the world, and Erik feared long-term repercussions for his removal. In particular, it is likely that removing Kaas would simply have meant that he took employment in another court, potentially drawing foreign support for Louise's faction. Further, Erik seems to have had reservations about using the affair to condemn Kaas to death for treason, since such an act would have further delegitimized his brother Frederik, something he was not yet willing to do.

Erik's indecision created a power vacuum at court, and for the first three years of Erik's reign almost nothing got done that could not be accomplished by a single individual. For example, when Erik suggested protecting the Republic of Friesland, the only independent majority-reformed state in the Holy Roman Empire, from its neighbors in Utrecht, Sten Hard secretly passed an order to General Arenstorff, still stationed in the Low Countries, to execute said support. Arenstorff backed Friesland in exchange for submitting to Danish protection after the war, and quickly defeated Utrecht. The situation was then presented at court as a fait accompli.

During this time most tasks were simply left undone. This alienated both the nobility and the merchant classes even as it allowed them to expand their own influence at the expense of the crown. It also weakened the army and created economic problems that would have serious repercussions in the not-too-distant future.

Most significantly, however, was Denmark's inability and unwillingness to execute war with Russia. In September 1579, Poland declared war on Russia [editor's note - fall is the best time to invade Russia, as everyone knows] and asked their ally Denmark to join. Erik accepted the call to arms, issuing a declaration of war on Russia, and proceeded to refuse to issue any orders to his generals. He did not want to go to war with Russia for Polish gain, even as his advisors urged him that Russia held land that could easily be given to Danish protectorates in Novgorod and Lithuania. The conflict at court came to a head when Hard attempted to issue orders to General Ebbesen in Estonia to march to the relief of a Danish fort in Finland. Denmark's forts along this border (and, indeed, along most of their borders) were outdated and Hard feared that should it fall, the Scandinavian heartland would be exposed to Russian raids. Erik, in a pique of fury, had his entire council executed, replacing Hard, von Trampe, and Kaas with new ministers from outside court. The scientist Tycho Brahe was placed in charge of developing Denmark, and Copenhagen's mayor Markus Hess was placed in charge of Denmark's navy and trade. Most controversially, Erik gave Hard's job to a Russian from Novgorod, Konstantin Lykov. Lykov was a self-made man and a favorite of Erik's, but he too, would soon be forced out of his position (in a less violent way than his predecessor) when he tried to press Erik to support Novgorod in the war against Russia.

The war with Russia ended approximately 5 years after it began, without any Danish participation. Despite this, the Polish pressed Russia to cede large tracts of land to Novgorod in order to weaken their rival. Thus Denmark got to have their cake and eat it, too.

With the court secure and in Erik's pocket, and without distraction from the war, Erik began pushing economic reform and expanding his sphere of protection for Reformed neighbors, first allying the newly-converted Hessian prince and marrying the prince's sister, and second bringing Riga into the Danish sphere of protection.

[Sorry, I forgot a picture of the alliance with Hesse, but I got the marriage that went along with it]

Second, Erik expanded economic programs throughout Denmark. He ended a law from the era of Christian II, which focused on integrating the diverse cultures of Danish lands into a coherent, tax-paying empire, and instead focused that administrative energy on efficient tax collection from Denmark's many protectorates. Further, he promoted urbanization, funded the Grand Banks fisheries, and reopened the metals prospecting efforts of his father.

Unfortunately, this was not enough. When war reparations from Louis's war expired, the Danish economy was still underwater.

[Apologies for this next part... It's pretty silly and doesn't work as well as I'd hoped, but I'm doing it anyway because "dead for a ducat!" was definitely what I was thinking when I pressed the 'declare war' button on this one...]

Markus Hess: Why, how now, Erik!
King Erik: What's the matter now?
Hess: Have you forgot we have no gold?
Erik: No, by the rood, not so:
The Germans have stopped paying;
And--would it were not so!—we have no gold.
Hess: Nay, then, I'll set those to you and make them give us more.
Erik: Come, come, and sit you down; they shall not budge;
They go not till I set them up a force
Where they may see the inmost right of it.
Hess: What wilt thou do? thou wilt not destroy them?
War?, War, now?!
Barclay Douglas: What, war?! Now? My Liege!
Erik: [Drawing] How now! They are rats! Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Douglas: It will be done! [exits]
Hess: O me, what hast thou done?

After only 10 years, Denmark was back at war with the Empire and her Spanish allies, but this time without French support and without Spain fighting a distraction war in North Africa. That said, the overall trajectory of this war was fairly similar to the last - Denmark moved into the Low Countries and then swung its armies around into northern Austria, systematically removing small allies from the war, forcing them to pay war indemnities, and, where possible, 'encouraging' their rulers to convert. From letters written to his Hessian wife, it appears Erik was hoping to convert Flanders, leader of the Protestant League, in order to press for a reformed Empire, but this turned out to be impossible. It is likely that a victory on the scale of that achieved a decade prior would have been impossible, but through concentration of force and Danish generals' vast experience with offensive siege warfare, Danish troops were able to seize key fortresses and enforce peace.

The war featured larger and bloodier battles, but it was ultimately Denmark's superior siege warfare that decided the war, forcing numerous smaller states to bow out of the conflict and finally, facing the near complete occupation of his home territory, the Emperor began to press for peace.

Erik's reign came to an end in June of 1591. He came down with a fever while touring England, and his brother Frederik, parentage still uncertain, took the throne. Denmark has proven its mettle as a Great Power in Europe, but its military is not as dominant as it once was. Its diplomatic corps is stretched thin despite massive expansions as Danish diplomats struggle to maintain multiple alliances and large numbers of protectorates. Still, Denmark's relations with both its allies and vassals remain strong, although both are eyeing Denmark's throne and multiple Danish vassals have cores in Poland. Denmark's economy has also emerged from several decades of uncertainty as strong as ever, and Denmark has joined the colonial game, expanding rapidly in Vinland. How will Frederik lead Denmark into the new century?

[You may notice that I have many more dip points in this image than in the next few. I was in the middle of a bunch of production dev clicks when Frederik III took over, and I decided to finish them. I think that was the wrong decision now, but that's what I did]

Danish Court.

Danish diplomatic ties.

Danish economy

Situation in Northwest Europe

Situation in Northeast Europe

Situation in Canada. Note the English have made inroads here as well. Also, the Danish settlements in Nova Scotia were taken from the Dutch during the war.

Speaking of the dutch, it seems Louise's plan to punish them bore fruit. Their government has since moved its seat to Havana.

Religious situation in Europe. Not sure when Hungary converted to Reformed but nice to see! There was a really strong Protestant surge in Germany and the Isles this game are NO Catholic territories in Germany controlled by Protestant realms. All yellow/blue hashed areas are Protestant lands controlled by catholics, mostly Brandenburg, which is quite big and controls no Catholic territory, although I guess they are trying to hang on to their electorship? But despite this strength within the Empire and the fact that the Protestant League was backed by both France and Portugal, they never pulled the trigger. Maybe Denmark should have pitched in? But then, why would any of our glorious kings fight such a fruitless war? Also, England has succumbed to Protestant rebels, replacing Anglicanism, which will presumably die out soon.

 

[quicksabre]

King Frederik III hated the English. It is widely suspected that this hatred stemmed from the aforementioned English play, which Frederik saw as a young boy and may have been the first time he heard the rumors of his questionable parentage. As King, in a classic example of the Streisand effect, Frederik contributed greatly to the play's popularity by banning it. This is probably the only reason we know this play, or the playwright, today. Frederik's hatred did not stop at the English, however. He also hated the Scots and Irish as well, and is largely responsible for dropping "Irish" off of the "Irish Reformed Church," giving us the "Reformed Church" we know today. It is unclear, however, the extent to which the Scots and Irish are the unfortunate victims of getting grouped in with the English in ignorance, and how much of this was a ploy on Frederik's part to fuel his territorial ambitions on the isles. Regardless of his motivations, Frederik, through one part dogged tenacity, one part astute eye for military talent, and eight parts sheer dumb luck, managed to take Denmark from a major world power when he ascended to the throne in 1591, to the major world power when he died in an army camp in Sussex in 1617.

Frederik's eye for military talent meant that, particularly later in his reign, Danish generals were second to none. [That is military tradition decay reduction, +1 leader shock, and +1 leader maneuver, which stack with the +1 leader shock and +1 leader fire from offensive ideas. I rolled a number of 3-star generals toward the end of his reign]

Frederik III's first order of business on his ascent was to revoke his namesake Frederik I's Act of Danelaw, which gave Denmark's English subjects equal rights under the law as its Scandinavian subjects. This, naturally, infuriated the English and made the integration of the English lands Frederik planned to conquer that much more complicated.

Shortly thereafter, Frederik declared war on England, bringing France and Poland into the war against England, Spain, Ditmarschen, and Switzerland.

Danish forces, led by Frederik himself, easily overwhelmed the English defenders and occupied most of England. Most of the fighting against English forces took place in a new theater of war - North America, as Denmark was forced desperately to rush troops to Canada to resist incursions from English and Spanish colonial militias. Several Danish colonies were burned, but ultimately the threat was contained. In France, however, once again, Danish forces proved unable to defeat the Spanish Tercios as they moved into France. Only French support managed to stave off the Spanish incursions and allow Frederik to sign a favorable peace.

During the war, a strange fever took Frederik's son Neils [it was not a good timeline to be a Danish heir named Neils. Both died of strange fevers]. To avoid returning home or bringing his wife on campaign with him in an effort to produce another heir, he simply legitimized the bastard son of his Welsh mistress. Given Frederik's own violent defense of his parentage, the irony of this move did not escape his contemporaries.

In Frederik's private writings, however, it appears this development troubled him greatly. He worried about his ability to complete his great task of subduing the British isles before his death, leaving the future of that dream to the uncertain future under his estranged queen and infant, bastard son. And so before the English war was fully concluded, Frederik turned his attention north. His own personal army has been looting the English countryside rather than traveling to France to participate in the fight against the Spanish. In 1597, however, after his son's death, Frederik moved his army north and declared war on Scotland, quickly engaging and destroying the Scottish army before occupying all of Scotland and Ireland. Scotland's strongest ally was France, but France was busy fighting the Spanish alongside Denmark and was reluctant to switch sides.

Only a few months later, the Spanish agreed to bow out of the war paying indemnities to Denmark, and the English, with their last major protector eliminated, followed suit, ceding the Western Midlands to Denmark.

With the threat of a two-front war removed, however, France decided to honor the Auld Alliance with Scotland, picking up their cause and joining the war against Denmark, radically altering the balance of power in the conflict. The 150-year alliance between France and Denmark was shattered and the two counties were at war.

The battlefield for this war was the Danish Low Country, and it quickly became apparent that French troops were superior to those of Denmark. This strength differential is probably due to more extensive French use of field artillery as well as the superior staying power of French soldiers. Denmark's continued reliance on heavy cavalry over artillery likely contributed to its poor military performance in this war.

The war at sea, however, was much more successful for Denmark. Admiral Lillienskjold, still active in his old age, crushed the French fleet and repelled several French attempts to send soldiers into the Baltic. Although he would not live to see the end of the war, the illustrious admiral would ensure that Danish core possessions were safe for the duration of the war.

This situation at sea meant that the French struggled to bring the war directly to Denmark, causing them to make a strategic decision that is largely considered the blunder that cost them the war (and is often compared with the Sicilian expedition of Athens during the Peloponnesian Wars). France decided that if they could not penetrate Danish naval defenses in the Sound, they would instead press east to threaten Danish subjects and attempt to ender Scandinavia through Finland in an effort to force Denmark to capitulate. French and Saxon armies seized several of the outdid Danish forts in Prussia, Lithuania, and Estonia that defended Denmark's eastern frontier, and succeeded in inciting revolts against Danish rule in Novgorod. Unfortunately, they underestimated Frederik's resilience and willingness to sacrifice the livelihoods of his subjects for victory in this war.

Frederik was determined to bring the war to a successful conclusion, and sought help wherever he could find it. Abroad, Pomerania turned out to be the most willing to offer assistance. Domestically, Frederik swallowed his pride and granted concessions to the nobility, largely ostracized under previous rulers, in exchange for help levying additional manpower for the war. This additional manpower, combined with german mercenaries, and additional reinforcements from England, enabled Frederik to refill the ranks of his army and press directly into France.

Aid from abroad and concessions within allows Frederick to continue the war.

With English rebels put down, additional Danish troops can be diverted to fight in France.

Danish troops and German mercenaries, having regrouped in Sjelland and Skane, advanced into Northwest France, supported by naval landings in Normandy by Frederik's army, newly freed from England. By May 1603, Paris fell to Danish troops; Two months later, French relief forces finally showed up, having completed their retreat from Eastern Europe. In the climactic battle of the war, three Danish armies converged on Paris, defeating the French relief force. This was the first and only major victory for Danish forces over the French during the war, but with the routes to inland France now open, and Frederik willing to make peace for monetary concessions only, the French sued for peace.

Scotland made peace shortly after France did, ceding large swaths of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.

Frederik's dogged determination during these conflicts, most importantly his willingness to sacrifice all other domestic and foreign agendas to achieve a favorable outcome, was instrumental in achieving victory against one of the world's strongest powers. There was a darker side, however, in that he largely neglected all aspects of rule that did not contribute directly to these goals. Most notably, Frederik refused aid to the province of Holstein, which was directly in the path of the enemy armies from Germany into Jutland, despite the massive famines that took place there. He also refused both the Norwegian requests for monetary aid to help rebuild the city of Oslo following the great fire of 1614 and the Copenhagen Company's requests for Crown investment in expeditions to India. Finally, he broke another century-old alliance when he refused to honor Poland's call to arms during their invasion of Russia.

But Denmark's economy progressed even without the input of its monarch. The most notable development was the founding of the Copenhagen Company. Although the Danish crown had limited access to most of the New World, independent Danish traders had begun taking an interest in the broader world ever since Frederik I had expanded the Danish Merchant Marine over a century prior. Danish merchants had begun to band together, buying 'shares' in each others ships to help disperse the risk to any one trader. With lower risk on any given investment, money began pouring into Danish merchant companies and shares in ships and later companies themselves became their own commodity for crafty businessmen to buy and sell. As war broke out among Denmark, France, England, and Spain, four of the five strongest maritime powers in the Atlantic (with Portugal being stronger than England but weaker than the other three), and the Danish navy proved superior to that of her foes, the Danish flag became the safest under which a merchant could choose to sail. With that, ambitious merchants from across Europe began flocking to Copenhagen. As the successful banded together to produce new, larger trade companies, and eventually bought out their competitors, the overarching Copenhagen Company was born. This was the first true, multinational corporation in a world that would never be the same.

This global trade network was creating a new class of person - the nouveau riche. As a result, the old nobility began enforcing increasingly strict social codes as part of their effort to maintain relevance and status, which in turn led to the growth of new industries and trade opportunities, further growing the nouveau riche. The long-term repercussions of these developments would not be felt for many decades, however, and for now the old regime was able to hold onto and even consolidate power in realms around the world. For that reason, this period is now frequently called the "Age of Absolutism".

But these global and domestic developments were beyond the interest of Frederik III. The moment the truce with England expired, he declared war again - this time to face their Spanish allies without French and Polish help.

Once again, the English were easily defeated and much of the fighting between Denmark and England took place in the New World. The Spanish, however, perhaps learning from French mistakes, opted to move their soldiers to Germany via the Mediterranean and Italy and from there into the Danish Netherlands and Jutland itself. This tactic might have worked out for them. Unfortunately, luck was once again on Frederik's side.

Frederik once again deals the hated English an embarrassing defeat.

In early 1612, less than two years after the war began, the French king died without an heir. Both of his sons had died of a sudden fever, while his adventurous younger brother had gotten himself killed in a battle while leading an army in Switzerland the decade before. He also had no living uncles or male-line cousins. In fact, the closest male-line claimant to the French throne following Charles IX's death in 1612 was none other than King Frederik III of Denmark, who could trace the claim back to their mutual great-great grandfather, Charles VII (assuming Frederik III was, in fact, legitimate) - whose sister Adele had married King Christopher III von Wittelsbach in the 1440s and whose younger son Christian I had been chosen as heir to Frederik I von Wittelsbach once he died without an heir. In a twist of fate, Frederik was also the strongest claimant under a female-line claim, since he was Charles IX's nephew via Frederik's mother Louise, who was Charles' sister. As a final point in Frederik's favor, France and Denmark had retained good relations despite the recent war between them - in particular, their mutual distrust of both Spain and Austria along with their non-overlapping claims in western Europe had helped maintain the alliance for nearly a century and a half, and those factors had not yet abated. These factors combined with Frederik's reputation for being relatively hands-off in his administration and his penchant for divesting more power to the nobility in exchange for military support, and made it so the French nobility were willing to accept Frederik as their new King without much objection. And so on March 8, 1612, Frederik III of Denmark was crowned king of France.

[WritAAR's note: Oh. I see. Good game thanks for playing I guess? Their Liberty Desire is only 21%. I could conceivably even convert them to Reformed and still hold onto the Union...]

Once again, France declared war on Spain. And with most Spanish troops in Germany, there was little opposition to the French invasion. Denmark also rushed additional soldiers to Iberia and within a year and a half Madrid had fallen, with the rest of Spain soon to follow.

That was not to say that Denmark escaped the war without consequence. Spanish armies continued their attempts to besiege Jutland and even managed to sneak past the Danish naval blockade to besiege Copenhagen itself. It was a stark wake up cry that Danish home defenses, which consisted entirely of Late Medieval castles, were massively obsolete in a world increasingly dominated by artillery; or it might have been, to a ruler less single-minded than Frederik.

This threat to the Danish capital was enough to convince Frederik to accept a Spanish peace offer for monetary reparations only. The English were forced to make peace shortly thereafter, ceding London and the surrounding countryside.

Two years later, while waiting for the truce with Scotland to end, King Frederik III de Valois died in the army camp in Sussex, leaving his legitimized bastard son as king of Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, and Canada, Protector of the Isles, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Novgorod; the most powerful man in the world.

[This was a long update. I was planning to wait a century between overview posts, but I feel one could be warented here, so I will post pictures of the world and most of Denmark's national tabs. Let me know if there are any ledger pages or closeups of certain areas of the world you'd like to see! This post took a long time to put together, both playing and writing, so I suspect I won't be able to post another until this weekend or early next week.]

 

[quicksabre]

The Old World:

The New World:

Institutions:

Danish Court:

Danish Government:

Danish Diplomacy:

Danish Economy:

Danish Technology:

Danish Ideas:

Danish Missions:

Danish Policies:

Danish Stability:

Danish Religion:

Danish Military:

Danish Subjects:

Danish Estates:

Great Powers:

Age Bonuses:

 

[quicksabre]

The reign of Maximillian's father, Frederik III, was seen by some historians of the last century as a Golden Age for Denmark.

Well,Frederik surely was a good ruler.Defeated the Spanish multiple times,PU'ed France,and made his country the Nr.1 Great Power.I think historians will fondly remember Frederik's reign as a golden era!

Although modern history is more sympathetic to to the plight of the common people under Frederik III, all historians, past and present, have come to see the reign of Maximillian the Bastard as a dark era. Ravaged by war and a mad, paranoid king, th...

Maximillian: Who the **** are you?
quicksabre: Uh.... I'm the narrator. I'm telling the history of Denmark... [looks around confused]. Wait, why do I have a name now?
Maximillian: You're doing a terrible job. My reign was the greatest Golden Age that Denmark has ever seen.
quicksabre: You see, given the wars, the human suffering, the paranoia, most historians consider....
Maximillian: Ha! They are all nasty and unfair. The wars were not my fault, but they were glorious wars anyway. We were surrounded by enemies and I fought them all.
quicksabre: But you made those enemies by antagonizing all of your neighbors and subjects!
Maximillian: LIES!! I'll have your HEAD! YOUR HEAD!!!
quicksabre: .......
Maximillian: GUARDS!!
Guard: Your Grace?
Maximillian: This man is sentenced to DEATH! Put his head on a stake!
Guard: ..... Who, your Grace?
Maximillian: HIM!
Guard: I.... There is no one there, your Grace.
Maximillian: Narrator!!
quicksabre: I am here.
Maximillian: Why can't I kill you!?
quicksabre: Killing doesn't solve everything. It's a lesson you never learned, sadly.
Maximillian: I will find a way.
quicksabre: I doubt that.
Maximillian: As always, you underestimate me. I am a clever king. I will show you what a glorious reign I had. You will be so sad you will jump out a window in shame for the lies you told about me.
quicksabre: I suppose a primary source cou......
Maximillian: Behold! My enemies, the Spanish. I know they are my enemies because it says so right here!

quicksabre: Well, actually, what that means is...
Maximillian: And the Polish! They surround my poor vassal Lithuania. They must be my enemies as well. I will take necessary precautions and declare them my rival.

quicksabre: ... *sigh* They wanted to be your friend.
Maximillian: And the French! They are my subjects but they are out to get me.

Maximillian: But they will not get away with it. Let no one ever say that those who oppose me do not get their just desserts.
quicksabre: The historian @atwix thinks you should have spent your time focusing on trade rather than revenge.

Maximillian: It is probably the Catholics. Every Dane knows you cannot trust the Catholics. Therefore, Catholicism is banned in France. Also they will pay their fair share. Once they give me all of their money they will have nothing left with which to oppose me. It is a win-win solution to the French problem. This is what genius looks like.

quicksabre: Those policies in France are universally recognized as the main source of your problems there, not as a solution!
Maximillian: Why are the peasants so unhappy? Don't they know they live in the greatest kingdom in the world with the greatest leader ever known? They should be more grateful.

quicksabre: Maybe because of all the wars they've been forced to fight with their sons and fund with their labor?
Maximillian: But the English are even worse. So ungrateful. No matter. I will show them. London will know the wrath of Maximillian!
quicksabre: Oh, no....

Maximillian: I don't understand why people are so opposed to me. My rule is fair and just. All of my subjects say so. Everyone says so! Except the French, of course, the French are jerks.

Maximillian: I am so mighty, that even new subjects choose to serve me. The French are fools for resisting.

quicksabre: Well, yes, your dealings with your non-French subjects is widely seen as your greatest personal accomplishment during your reign. It's inspiring to see that you value those relationships as well.
Maximillian: But they are unimportant. What is truly important is that I am SURROUNDED by enemies. The only thing to do is beat them at their own game. Our spies will be the best in the world.

quicksabre: Hmm... not what I'd have done, but that might actually be useful if used right.
Maximillian: DEATH TO THE FRENCH!!!
quicksabre: Or not.

Maximillian: The Dutch are back in Vinland!? My grandmother should have taught them a stronger lesson.

Maximillian: I KNEW Poland was my enemy!

Maximillian: Poland is so dirty, it would be unacceptable to a dung beetle who had lost interest in its career and really let itself go. Hahahaha!
quicksabre: I'm not sure how helpful this explanation you're giving us is to history, honestly.

Maximillian: Et tu, Austria? Then fall House of Habsburg!
quicksabre: That isn't how that line goes. Also that is French. Also do you even know who wrote that?

Maximillian: The French!? Ha! I have showed them a lesson they will never forget. What could they possibly do next?
quicksabre: Next? Well, they could, um... I... Hey look over there it's a, um, a... a....
Maximillian: The FRENCH! THIS WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!!
quicksabre: .... a squirrel?

quicksabre: Well, even if self-created, this will be a true test of your abilities in a crisis. What will you do?
Maximillian: We are sure to triumph. Our name is larger and more numerous than that of our foe, who shall no longer be named.
quicksabre: Maybe not the best first priority, but sure.
Maximillian: Furthermore, how can the French hope to win with a dynasty as silly as "de Penthierve"
quicksabre: The Dane was too mad so they picked a Britton
Maximillian: **** right I'm mad!

Maximillian: First we will secure the seas, as Danes always have.

Maximillian: .....
quicksabre: Ouch.

Maximillian: No matter, our mighty soldiers will carry us to victory in France

quicksabre: Good start. Do you care that the French are invading Denmark? And that you can't stop them anymore because even Poland has a bigger fleet than you?

Maximillian: The Realm of Cheese will always do the cowardly thing, but Denmark never will. We will win the war quickly and decisively on their soil. We have already them and their despicable Habsburg lackeys in decisive battle near Paris.

Maximillian: I eagerly await news of our glorious victory and France's imminent surrender.

Maximillian: *Twitch*
quicksabre: A phyrric victory for them at least.
Maximillian: Tell me, Mr. Narrator - this will not be a quick war, will it?
quicksabre: No, I am afraid not.
Maximillian: *Deep Breath* Very well. Then we must prepare to defend our realm, press onward until the despicable allies of the RTSNBN are tired of their fight and we have a chance to drive a wedge through the alliance.
quicksabre: That is wise. You could also consider simply letting the French go, if you hate them so much?.
Maximillian: WHAT!!?? TREASON! Get out of my sight! You are as bad as they are!
First we will slip General Skram's army back across the Channel to crush the isolated French forces trying to seize London.

Maximillian: And we will send an army to the East to fight off the Poles.

Maximillian: Well it WOULD have worked had our general not taken an arrow the moment the battle started!

Maximillian: But regardless, we press on. We will assemble the Lords of the realm and have them provide us with necessary manpower to continue to prosecute the war.

Maximillian: Under new leadership, the army of the East will return to Denmark in coordination with the vanguard of our newly constructed fleet to destroy the Austrian army besieging Copenhagen. No enemy Lord will dine in MY palace.

Maximillian: Hire mercenaries and drive back into Jutland! Reform the fleet!

quicksabre: Wow, that was some decent governance for a change. Well done keeping your head and defending your realm.
Have you thought much about the impact this war is having on your subjects?
Maximillian: They are merely crying. We will fight until the last breath of the Wine Realm has been spent.

Maximillian: The war is ours!! WE WILL DESTROY THEM ALL!!
quicksabre: You know what? I should probably go and let you do your thing.

Maximillian: Victory on all fronts!!!

Maximillian: Marshall!!
Magnus Holstein, Marshal of Denmark: Your Grace!
Maximillian: Pursue them until you catch them or they collapse from exhaustion. Then dispose of them. Without mercy.
Holstein: Your Grace! We have not yet won. The French are regrouping, the English are rebelling, and we are out of recruits for our armies!
Maximillian: Never say the name of our enemy in my Royal Presence. They deserve no acknowledgement in their defeat.
Holstein: I.... Yes, your grace. It will be done.

Maximillian: Recruit every man woman, and child into the army! No one is too young, too old, or too feeble to fight for my glory!!
Holstein: Your Grace, we have standards for recruitment.
Maximillian: Are you suggesting some Danes are not brave enough to fight?
Holstein: No, Your Grace.
Maximillian: Did I stutter?
Holstein: Never, Your Grace.
Maximillian: Then get it done or I will have you join the French after you catch them.
Holstein: Yes, Your Grace.

Holstein: Your Grace! Admiral Lingby was forced to withdraw our ships from the Battle of Jutland, but our fleet has sunk the main French battle line. We control the seas once more!

Maximillian: Did you authorize this retreat?
Holstein: Your Grace, we were surrounded and demoralized, with our objective to sink the main French battle fleet fulfilled! Further fighting would have reversed all of the gains our brave sailors had made in the fight! We would have lost more ships!
Maximillian: Are you a tree that you value wood more than victory?!
Holstein: I... no, Your Grace, but victory will not be had for years! We need our fleet intact, and now that we have sunk so many French ships!
Maximillian: Do you not believe in victory!? I have said victory is at hand and yet you do not believe me!? ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR, MARSHAL?
Holstein: I, no, Your Grace, you said yourself only months ago that....
Maximillian: *Draws sword*
Holstein: Wait what are you doing Maximilian leave the sword down wait don't kill me
Maximillian: I'm sorry talking tree, I must fell you, I'm so sorry.
Holstein: NOOO! *dies*

Sophie Hvide, Queen Consort of Denmark: What have you done!?
Maximillian: There is no room in this court for cowards and pessimists.
Sophie: He was in charge of prosecuting the war!
Maximillian: I will lead the war myself.
Sophie: You cannot keep making enemies or it will be the end of us!
Maximillian: I keep you safe from our enemies!! I deserve gratitude.
Sophie: You have made every enemy we face. And our kingdom is collapsing because of it. You want to talk about what we deserve, we all deserve a better than you!
Maximillian: SILENCE! Know your place, woman! I rule Denmark, not you!

Maximillian: *smack*
Sophie: *falls*
Neils de Valois, Heir Apparent of Denmark: Mother! *moves to intervene*
Maximillian: Away, Boy! This is not your business!
quicksabre: Ahem. The rest of this scene will not be shown. The outcome is the same, unfortunately, and the Neils Curse continues.

Sophie: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!??
Maximillian: Guards, take her away and keep her away from me!
Guard: *escorts Sophie into house arrest.*
Karl Eka, Steward of Denmark: Your Grace, your heir... The Kingdom cannot afford to the uncertainty of lacking an heir right now.
Maximillian: I have another son. Use him.
Eka: The Bastard, Your Grace? Are you sure that is wise?
Maximillian: Do you suggest Bastards are unfit to rule Denmark?
Eka: *Looks around at bodies* *gulp*. No, Your Grace.
Maximillian: Good. Then make it so.
Eka: Yes, your Grace. *leaves*

Oluf Lunge, Chief Ambassador of Denmark: *enters* Your Grace! We have offers of Peace!
Maximillian: The Kingdom of Cowards has agreed to make peace?
Lunge: Oh, well, yes, Your Grace, but the offer was so bad I rejected it out of hand.

Maximillian: Then why do you disturb the Royal Mind?
Lunge: It's the Austrians Your Grace. They have agreed to go home and cease their support of French Independence.
Maximillian: Let the cowards run. This does not absolve them of their crimes against me, however.
Lunge: As you say, Your Grace.

Messenger: Your Grace, a message from General Sehested. He has driven the Polish out of Finland and Estonia and is pushing into Lithuania.

Maximillian: Who are you?
Messenger: Messenger from general Sehested, Your Grace.
Maximillian: You sound funny. Are you English?
Messenger: No, Your Grace, Frisian.
Maximillian: You sound English. Are you sure?
Messenger: Yes, Your Grace.
Maximillian: Catholic?
Messenger: No, Your Grace, Reformed.
Maximillian: Good. Tell General Sehested to advance faster. We destroy Poland and force them to suffer for their crimes.
Messenger: Your Grace, General Sahested suggests that if General Moltke's army in France moved to Danzig, we could quickly seize the fort there and that would open the road to Warsaw. Besieging the Polish capital would surely encourage the Poles to renounce their support of the Fr.... RTMNBN.
Maximillian: Preposterous! General Sahested should be able to take care of the vile Poles on his own.
Messenger: I....
Maximillian: PUNISH THEM.
Messenger: I... Your Grace, if I may?
Maximillian: *glares* I had better not hear anything cowardly out of you.
Messenger: Of course not, your Grace. I am your most loyal subject, and, while I would not dare suggest that my bravery comes anywhere close to the example set by your Most Noble person, I like to believe that I am a brave servant of Denmark.
Maximillian: Good.
Messenger: What I meant to say, of course, is that General Sehested's forces are pressing into Novgorod, Estonia, and Lithuania. The Polish offer token resistance for the sake of their honor, but obviously they will not defeat us.
Maximillian: As it should be.
Messenger: But even more humiliating, would be to lose their capital without a fight. Without being able to defend it.
Maximillian: Perhaps.
Messenger: All the Polish armies are currently facing General Sehested. There are none in their capital.
Maximillian: Hmmm.... The Poles do deserve the worst we can give them.
Messenger: Your Grace is most wise.
Maximillian: I think seizing their capital without resistance would be a fitting punishment, don't you?
Messenger: The insights offered by Your Grace boggle this simple mind.
Maximillian: Indeed. I know! We will have General Moltke redeploy from the Low Countries to Western Poland. He will seize the fort of Danzig and then march to Warsaw without resistance!
Messenger: A truly cunning plan, your grace.
Maximillian: Indeed. You are truly blessed to have me as your King. Inform General Sehested of my plan. Dismissed!

[one year later]

Lunge: Your Grace! Warsaw has fallen! Poland has renounced their support of Fr... the RTMNBN. We are at peace with the Poles!

Maximillian: Excellent! My plan has worked perfectly. What terms have you extracted from the treacherous Poles.
Lunge: Besides renouncing their support of the Fr... RTMNBN?
Maximillian: Yes of course. How have they been punished? How much gold did you extract from them in apology?
Lunge: Gold, your grace?
Maximillian: Are you deaf man!
Lunge: No, Your Grace. We.... er.... we forced them to give us so much gold. More gold than anyone has seen before!
Maximillian: Excellent! Where is it?
Lunge: I, er... we... um.
Eka: I have it Your Grace! It is being used to pay the army and navy.
Lunge: Yes! Yes we have taken care of it. Nothing to worry about, Your Grace. Ahem.
Eka: Exactly! Nothing to worry about.
Maximillian: Good man! I will make an announcement about how much gold Poland paid us for their betrayal. The world will tremble! *exits*
Eka: *exhale*
Lunge: Oh dear god.....
Eka: Since I saved your butt, you have to tell him our forces have been driven from France and that there are more rebels in England. And that the French have invaded Scotland.

Lunge: Your Grace! Fran.... the RTMNBN is willing to sue for peace acknowledging you as King!

Maximillian: They want me to PAY them? They should pay ME for the privilege of my enlightened rule! Reject it!
Lunge: But Your Grace! Our realm is exhausted! Our subjects no longer want to fight, and people are resisting recruitment.

Maximillian: Bah! I need soldiers, not whiners! DO AS I SAY OR I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD AND YOUR FAMILY'S HEADS!
Lunge: Yes, Your Grace. *Leaves to find Eka*

Eka: There you are, Lord Ambassador. How goes the war?
Lunge: General Moltke has driven the French back from London, but they still hold all of Ireland and Scotland, while the English rebels hold all of the midlands.

Lunge: Admiral Lingby has completely destroyed the French fleet and is supporting General Sehested in his liberation of the Low Countries.

Lunge: We have finally achieved superiority in the war, but it is still a long way from a favorable resolution. Certainly if we define 'favorable' as more punishing to France than status quo ante bellum, which the King certainly does.

Lunge: The French are also facing serious internal problems. Unfortunately many of those problems are local separatist movements. It is likely that if we protract the war for too long, even if we win we will find that France is greatly reduced in size at the end of it.

Lunge: What is the situation internally?
Eka: The situation is grave, the realm is beginning to tear itself apart from the inside. Not just the French separatists and English 'patriots' but from within Denmark itself. I must inform the King.

Lunge: My Lord Steward, I would advise against it. He is in one of his 'moods' I'm afraid.
Eka: Then we should not discuss it with him, I suppose, it will only be counterproductive. We cannot afford to tiptoe around him and trick him into doing the right thing as the country pulls itself apart. I was speaking with the Queen Consort while traveling to oversee grain distributions in Holstein. She is quite perceptive and persuasive. Perhaps she could be a capable proxy for the King. *serious look*

Lunge: A proxy you say? Such a thing would be most helpful to the realm in these times.
Eka: Indeed. Do you think such a thing could be arranged?
Lunge: My Lord Steward, what you suggest will go very badly. If you were to fail, you know the consequences as well as I. If you were to succeed... The heir is very young, and he is not her child.
Eka: I understand. But can the realm wait for Erik to come of age? Survive 12 more years of this?
Lunge: Perhaps not. We should retire and discuss further. *Exit together*

*Flashback Goes Dark*

quicksabre: Oh! Is that it? Ahem. Well then, I'll carry on.

In January and February, 1636, Lunge and Eka built a small conspiracy to overthrow the crown. They recruited the Queen's family in Holstein and readied her to take over as regent. Using the Hvides' personal guard, brought into Copenhagen for this purpose under pretext of escorting their master on a social call, the two councilors secured the council chamber during a meeting with the king, and, in imitation of the toppling of Caesar, stabbed him to death personally. The conspiracy was kept as small as possible to avoid tipping off Maximillian's spies. The Queen Consort, now Queen Regent, took charge immediately, quickly abandoning her house arrest and moving to Copenhagen, bringing a retinue of veteran soldiers with her into the city.

It has been a tumultuous few decades for Denmark. How will Queen Regent Sofie lead the Kingdom forward?


[Note, since I promised to admit to anything that can't be done in an ironman game: I had to tag swap to get the Austrians and Polish to support French independence. I just couldn't imagine the European powers would allow the union to persist without a fight, especially if France was being held against its will. Spain probably should have joined up as well, but we had a truce when the war broke out. And then I definitely would have lost, which wouldn't necessarily have been a bad thing. Also, to the next poster, feel free to describe Sophie's opinion of her dead husband's bastard son for whom she is acting as 'regent'. This isn't CK II, so I will probably have to use more console commands to make things make sense, but I suspect Denmark is not quite out of the woods yet.]

 

[quicksabre]

On February 20, Queen Sophie Hvide arrives to court in Copenhagen to act as regent for the 2-year-old bastard son of her late husband. She is most known in the modern popular imagination as a just and benevolent ruler.

But her legacy is far more complicated than that. She started wars, played politics, and played for power. Although she has been sidelined from the affairs of the realm by her husband, she has been keeping close watch over the realm while under house arrest. She wastes no time in her efforts to set the country aright.

Eka: [bows] My Queen
Lunge: [bows] My Queen
Queen Sophie: So this is Cassius and Brutus. Pray you meet no Antony here.
Eka: I.... Your husband did not like those plays, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: My husband is not here, and I find them quite stimulating.
Lunge: As you say, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: First, we need to set the realm aright.
Eka: So we end the war?
Queen Sophie: Not without first securing the French throne. But my late husband was obsessed with the goings on in the field. The war will not be won until we are secure within our own borders. Lord Steward, immediately organize relief efforts throughout the realm. We will all have to tighten our belts, but let no one starve. Print fliers and hire criers and distribute them with the relief. Let everyone know that these goods are from their benevolent Queen, who has chosen to share the fruits of victory with her subjects.
Eka: Are these the fruits of victory?
Queen Sophie: Of course not. But we must secure every scrap of support we can. Send criers to every village in the realm, thanking them for the sacrifice of their sons.
Eka: Your Grace, those efforts will require years worth of effort.
Queen Sophie: Make it happen.
Eka: ... Yes, your Grace.

Queen Sophie: Lord Chancellor.
Lunge: Yes, your Grace?
Queen Sophie: Send a diplomat to Constantinople to build mutual trust and understanding between our two realms.
Lunge: To the Ottoman court?
Queen Sophie: Yes! I am different from my husband in many ways, but I do not like to repeat myself any more than he does.
Lunge: As you say, your Grace.
Queen Sophie: If Spain were to intervene on behalf of French independence we would surely lose this war. The only reason they have not done so is that they are currently busy fighting the Turks in the Mediterranean. The situation must stay that way until we can secure peace and garner support in France.

Queen Sophie: Finally, this is our new Martial, Matthew Dampier. He has served my father well and will be responsible for our recruitment efforts and coordinating the war.
Dampier: [bows]

Dampier: We have made good progress these past few months. We are retaking fortresses in the Low Countries. The French pretender has no armies on the mainland and we outnumber them nearly 2:1 on the Isles.
Queen Sophie: Good. Lord Chancellor? Please send a declaration of war to Havana.
Lunge: We are declaring war on Dutch, your Grace?
Queen Sophie: What did I say about repeating myself?
Lunge: Of course... I just... We are already in a grueling war.
Dampier: Lord Chancellor, the Dutch are without allies and fighting in another war alone in the New World. They hold territory that interrupts that of our Vinland colony in Vinland. For the security of the colony, we must seize these lands before someone else does. Especially Spain.
Eka: But do we have the soldiers and resources to fight a second war?
Dampier: Yes. There are thousands of soldiers in the Vinland colonies that were unable to return to Europe since our fleet was sunk. They are no longer needed and will easily overwhelm the Dutch defenses. The defenselessness of those Dutch colonies is one of the reasons we need to conquer them immediately.
Queen Sophie: Thank you for that explanation, Lord Martial. I think that clarifies things nicely. Send the declaration, Lord Chancellor.

[1 month later]
Lunge: Welcome, Lord Ambassador.
French Ambassador: Thank you, Lord Chancellor. [turns to the Queen and bows deeply] Your Grace, we have come to request aid from our most gracious Queen Regent.
Lunge: You have come to recognize the Queen's sovereignty?
French Ambassador: Should we not judge the Queen's sovereignty based on her actions toward her subjects? We have come to request aid, and just recompense for actions against France perpetrated by the Danish Crown. Should she grant these things, we may indeed find her more worthy of our respect than her husband.
Lunge: You have come to recognize the Queen's sovereignty?
Queen Sophie: [interrupting] He has come to request aid and justice from his sovereign, is that not so, Ambassador?
French Ambassador: Quite right, your Grace. We are asking for funds for our debts. 184 ducats will be sufficient.
Queen Sophie: And for which parts of France do you speak, Ambassador?
French Ambassador: I speak for the Lords of Normandie, Val Loire, Occitan, and Auvergne, as well as General Caumont. The Lords of Hauts de France and Gascony are in open rebellion and have declared themselves independent. Although they have not yet been recognized by foreign powers. de Penthierve himself has loyalists predominantly in Northeastern France and Ile de France, although we still hold Paris for now. In total there are perhaps 100,000 to 120,000 rebel soldiers in the field.
Queen Sophie: You will have your justice and your funds, Ambassador. Please inform General Caumont that he is now under the command of General Moltke. I will have Sahested target de Penthierve's loyalists and leave Paris unscathed. Lord Martial? See it done.

Eka: Is that all, your Grace? The war is over?
Queen Sophie: The war is not over. There are 100,000 enemies still in arms in France. But we have made an important step today.
Eka: But surely we can end our efforts at propaganda now?
Queen Sophie: No. The efforts to rebuild Denmark must continue. With malice toward none and with charity for all. With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, we must strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the kingdom's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.
Eka: So there is to be no revenge?
Queen Sophie: My husband mistook violence for power. But violence is not power; indeed, violence erodes power. Violence is necessary when you have no power to create a space to build true, lasting power. The violence of the past decade has won us an opening. We must use it to rebuild our power in France, the Danelaw, and even Scandinavia itself.

Thus ended Queen Sophie's famous 'first 30 days'. The apparatus of government was extended as it had never been in order to shore up domestic security and improve prosperity throughout the realm. Sophie is most remembered for her so-called 'heart of gold,' for ending the war with France, and for her distinct take on administration and governance. But she was also no stranger to war, as indicated by her willingness to declare war on Holland almost immediately upon taking over the mantle of government, something that even her husband would likely not have been willing to do. Overall, Queen Sophie was a complex character with strong ambitions who took over at an opportune moment - the tail end of a political and diplomatic crisis that allowed her to implement her ideas but had not entirely drained the realm of resources.

Her famous 'peace' was nothing of the sort. General Sahested and French loyalists spent the better part of a year mopping up resistance in France. Not to mention the ongoing war in the New World.

[The French actually dealt with the Gascon separatists on their own. I'm not sure how. The separatists were only a few months from enforcing their demands when I looked at them around the time of the above screenshot and I thought I was going to have a nice ugly border for Sophie to get mad about. But then I looked again a month later and they were over three years from enforcing their demands.]

But overall there was a shift in focus for the Danish crown. Sophie sponsored the construction and renovation of Universities across the realm - in the old Kalmar capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, the growing eastern Baltic hub in Viborg, and renovating and restoring the University at Oxford.

The diverse locations of these Universities was not an accident. It was part of a longer-term effort to reincorporate the diverse cultures of the realm after decades of uncertainty and instability.

Sophie maintained Maximillian's spy networks, but carefully vetted them of his loyalists, leaving the infrastructure in place but largely replacing the individuals who ran that infrastructure.

She also improved the defenses of Denmark, constructing a new star fort in the marshes of Ditmarchen to protect the approaches to the peninsula.

But Sophie's most important reforms were to Danish trade, as those are what funded the rest of her efforts. When Sophie took over as regent, she inherited a large treasury but also a large budget deficit. Danish trade was at a centuries-long low, despite Denmark's control of some of the most lucrative trading hubs in Europe, with Denmark having lost most of their trade fleet and having been at war with much of continental Europe.

Sophie began a process of reform that would last multiple years. First, she moved the primary infrastructure of Danish trade and tariffs from Copenhagen to London, to better take advantage of trade coming in from the Americas. This had an almost immediate effect on the income the Crown was able to collect from Danish merchants. It would also have long-term consequences for the integration of various parts of the Danish Kingdom.

Sophie also invested heavily in a new Danish merchant marine as well as marketplaces and trade depos around her Kingdom. By the end of her first decade of rule, Danish trade had increased by over 250%.

This cashflow would largely be reinvested into further improving trade, but elements of it were directed toward the security of the realm and of Sophie's rule. In addition to her war with the Dutch to secure the the colony of Vinland, Sophie also annexed the remnants of the Scottish kingdoms to protect Danish merchants in the North Sea and instigated a war between Vinland and the English colony of Massachusetts to expand Danish control of the fur trade. The war with Massachusetts gave Vinland full control of the St. Lawrence watershed (among colonial nations, at least), while the war in Scotland gave Denmark and her tributary state in Munster full control of the British Isles outside of the rump 'English' kingdom centered in Wales and Cornwall.

Her most important investments, however, were probably her dealings with the French nobility. As Danish trade rapidly expanded, Sophie granted them generous export licenses, making the French one of the most important beneficiaries of Danish trade.

Perhaps more importantly, she pressed French claims in Brittany that had gone largely uncontested for decades.

Sophies dealings with the French were not merely a question of a good heart and an effort to patch up a bleeding realm. There was a longer-term motive as well. Sophie was determined not to leave Denmark in the hands of another mad tyrant like her late husband, but she was also conscious of her legitimacy (or lack thereof) in holding the throne for herself. And although by the time Erik was approaching adulthood no one doubted his abilities, there was uncertainty about what kind of king he would be. Thus Queen Sophie took active steps to maintain power following his coronation. And the most obvious place to shore up power was in France and the Danelaw. Both regions had been especially hard hit by the policies of King Maximillian, and neither were especially keen to see the bastard son of the mad bastard king ascend to the throne. So Queen Sophie courted their favor and built a strong personal power base in both regions through trade expansion, privileges, and conquests. Her actions ensured that by the time Erik was crowned King in 1648, she would remain a strong figure at court. At least, a powerful partner in what amounted to a dual monarchy. At most, her broad power base ensured that she would stand a good chance at removing the King if his rule proved not to be to her liking.

And that is the situation when King Erik takes the throne. His Regent has held on to substantial power in Denmark's far-flung realms and the court is also largely loyal to her. But on the bright side, Denmark is stronger than it has ever been, having recovered from the last great war, with a booming trade economy, a powerful ally in Constantinople and a (for now) loyal subject in France as a counterweight against Denmark's many foes on the continent.

What will Erik's reign mean for Denmark? Will he accept dual rulership with Sophie (at least until she dies... She is 60, after all)? Will their goals align? Or will he try to assert himself and risk yet another power struggle within Denmark?

 

[quicksabre]

King Erik II, King of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and France, Protector of the Danelaw and Estonia, Overlord of Ireland, and Guardian of Freisland, was, by all accounts, a capable man. Unfortunately, his rule lacked the heart and moral compass of that of his regent and de-facto co-monarch. Throughout his short reign, he feuded with Queen Sophie and schemed to undermine her whenever possible. In the end he would succeed in bringing her down but would not live long enough afterward to see his own ends through.

Erik II recognized from an early age that Queen Sophie held no particular regard for him outside of his skill as a monarch. He also recognized that should he not meet her exacting standards, he would receive no power at all, and even if he did meet them, she was unlikely to give her power up. But the power she had built, particularly in France, was based largely on her own personality and loyalty to her rather than a more traditional aura of legitimacy, and Erik attempted to exploit this fact. After all, he was the de Valois heir of both Denmark and France, bastard though he was. Erik took his role as heir to be a part, and he excelled at playing it. Queen Sophie allowed his coronation in 1648 and they became co-monarchs. Using his silver tongue and skill with deception, he began secretly skimming off the top of Sophie's hard-earned trade revenue and 'investing' it in opportune places throughout the court.

Early in his reign, Sophie's emphasis on trade, the Danish navy, and the solidification of Denmark's far-flung territories continued to dominate Danish policy. She oversaw the modernizing of Denmark's navy, particularly the switch to modern frigates and race-built galleons, funded in part by selling obsolete ships to fledgling New World states that were struggling to resist encroachment by European powers. These funds in turn went to building newer, more advanced ships.

The protection of North Sea shipping lanes, along with the large influx of goods from the New World and, increasingly Asia, created economic security that had not been seen in Europe since the height of the Roman Empire. This security prompted many enterprising merchants to eschew the protection of the merchant guilds and move the production of goods outside the cities. New methods of organizing and concentrating labor began to dramatically improve production. These new techniques first became widespread in the copper mines of Oslo, but quickly began to spread throughout Europe.

But King Erik was not satisfied with Queen Sophie's retention of power, whatever prosperity it brought to Denmark, and he began slowly to chip away at Sophie's supporters and base of power. First, he drove Marshall Dampier out of court, citing personal issues and arguing that a recruiter was no longer necessary given Denmark's rapidly recovering manpower. Dampier was replaced by the engineer Bent Ebbesen, who would help Erik oversee the modernization of Denmark's border forts, particularly those in Finland and Estonia.

This early attempt to change the balance of power in the Court was reluctantly accepted by Sophie. Although she greatly valued Dampier's leadership and insights, Erik's implicit accusations that she was putting her personal regard for the man over the good of Denmark eventually swayed her. Erik advocated a split responsibility, allowing Sophie to focus on trade and prosperity while he saw to the realm's defenses. Erik argued that Denmark's defenses had not been upgraded since they had been built by King Christian II nearly a century and a half ago, and were not designed to stand up to modern artillery. Having lived through the French and Austrian invasions of her husband, Sophie understood the importance of improving Denmark's fortifications. She also knew first hand the importance of having trusted advisors and subordinates to help with large-scale projects. And no one could deny that Ebbesen was one of the foremost experts of his day. So, eventually, she allowed Erik to replace her protege and begin the construction of new star forts throughout Danish territory.

But Erik was not satisfied. This was, to him, not the end but the beginning. He continued to draw more support for himself, particularly in Sweden and Estonia, and, a few years into his reign, made his move. He arrested Lunge and Eka on charges of treason for murdering King Maximillian almost two decades prior and extracted a confession that they had been acting under the orders of Queen Sophie. With Denmark's Martial Ebbesen loyal to Erik and her most prominent supporters on the council rotting in a cell, Sophie fled to France, where much of the nobility took up arms against Denmark once again.

Clashes between Sophie's faction and Erik's loyalists began erupting in France, threatening to throw the whole realm into chaos.

But Erik had one more scheme up his sleeve. In February 1652, he declared himself Emperor of Scandinavia in an elaborate ceremony and then 'graciously' invited Sophie back to continue to serve as Queen of Denmark and France, stating that "further investigation has revealed that the former Lords Chancellor and Steward had been lying about the good Queen's involvement in the murder in an effort to save their pitiful lives." Both were executed within days.

Of course, Queen Sophie would no longer be a co-equal monarch but rather subservient to the new Scandinavian Emperor. [gameplay note - technically, we are still a few dozen dev shy of becoming and empire in game terms, but I am planning to make the switch as soon as it is possible (it will be when I finish annexing Ireland, which Erik started but didn't finish. In cannon, the Empire began here as far as I'm concerned)]. In the end, however, Sophie, seeking to avoid further bloodshed, receiving promises that she would be able to continue to pursue her agenda, and knowing she would soon pass to God anyway, submitted. Many felt that Sophie abandoned her principles with this submission, but . Still, the implications of Erik's move was lost on no one and French resistance continued well into 1653. Tying up the French nobles required one more concession from Erik: naming his French cousin as heir to Scandinavia. Erik, with no wife yet and no particular interested in a dynasty (only his own personal power), agreed.

From there, Erik's mission to increase his own power accelerated. Dissatisfied with the sprawling bureaucracy required by Sophie's reforms and the legitimacy-through-service her reign engendered, Erik began cracking down on dissidents and local authority, and promoting an increasingly centralized, absolutist government.

Although Erik was fairly isolationist in his foreign policy, he was not above following in Sophie's footsteps and consolidating power in the Danish protectorates. He integrated East Frisia into the realm and, before his death, had begun the process of incorporating Ireland directly under Scandinavian rule.

He also intervened in wars in the Holy Roman Empire in an effort to bypass the Imperial protections and further consolidate power in Burgundy, Lorraine, and the Low Countries.

By 1657 Erik felt he had accrued enough power to openly oppose Queen Sophie. That year he 'suggested' the 70-year-old Queen travel to the New World to pursue her policies of consolidation and oversee the expansion of the fur trade. Recognizing exile, but also dissatisfied with Erik's disinterest in the New World and her lack of autonomy, Sophie agreed. There she oversaw some of the most rapid expansion in Danish colonial history, driving numerous Native confederations away from the borders of Vinland and consolidating the colony's holdings in the far north of North America. For many centuries she was fondly remembered for these actions, although they have been reexamined in a harsher light in recent years. Regardless, Sophie spent the last few years of her life in Vinland, living just long enough to hear word of Erik's untimely death.

With Sophie finally out of the way for good, Erik's scheming turned outward. He used his father's spy networks to undermine his neighbors and rivals and support local separatist movements - particularly separatists interested in uniting with his vassal states in Novgorod and Lithuania.

Erik also began ignoring Sophie's trade initiatives - refusing the help local traders stamp out pirates or provide guarantees against failure.

This led to disputes with the merchant classes. In response, Erik's government refused their requests for financial help managing the growth of cities, which were expanding rapidly due to the new manufacturies. This further eroded trust between the merchants and the Crown, and led to a continued deterioration of Danish trade, and slowed the spread of manufacturies in Scandinavia even as they spread rapidly throughout the rest of Europe - including France.

But Erik would not live to see the consequences of his actions - for good or ill. While touring fortifications on the Russian border in the winter of 1659 he was struck with a fever and died in camp. He was only 27 years old. His young French cousin, Christophe (often called "Christoffer" in Danish histories), took the throne of Scandinavia on December 12, 1659. It was the smoothest transition of power in Scandinavia in living memory. But what will Christoffer's reign mean for Denmark? Can he hold the diverse realm together? Will he emulate Sophie's legitimacy through prosperity or Erik's legitimacy through scheming? Go on wars of conquest like his ancestors? Look overseas for new opportunities? Or forge his own path?

The situation in Europe:

Scandinavian holdings across the world:

Scandinavian court:

Scandinavian economy:

The spread of Manufacturies:

Scandinavian technology:

 

[quicksabre]

[So with King Christophe approaching his Golden Jubilee still kicking, I have decided to divide this update into two. First half today, second half at some point next week, although since I haven't finished playing his reign yet, normal caveats about his lifespan etc. apply. That means there won't be a new Monarch description until after the next update.]

Emperor Christophe was a French Catholic. Denmark had not been Catholic since King Christian II converted to the Irish Reformed Church nearly 150 years prior. The Scandinavian nobility were understandably nervous about the prospect of a Catholic Emperor, and a Frenchman at that. A more politically expedient or lesser man might have converted to secure his power, but Christophe was not a lesser man and considered his faith a paramount piece of his life. And it is perhaps also worth acknowledging that he saw political expedience in a different way than lesser men might have. In a private letter to his younger brother and presumptive heir Charles, Christophe explained:

"The Christian Kings grow rich and powerful off of New Worlds with their furs and spices. We subdue our neighbors and each other. Yet how can God's ultimate global dominion come to pass without a single King from whom to direct his will? For without such a noble, singular personage - a Sun King, if you will, around which all other monarchs orbit - Chrisendom must always be fractured, fighting a civil war within God's kingdoms. So therefore I say to you, our most noble goal must be to achieve God's political dominion, not merely spiritual dominion. And what better realm to unite the great Kingdoms of Christendom than Denmark? We have brought Sweden, Norway, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Estonia, the Low Countries, and even some of the Russian Princes together and held them, by blood, love, or guile. We can do the same in Germany. Universal monarchy is within our grasp, my Brother, and we must see it through. And that is worth a Mass."

Shortly before his Coronation, Christophe called for a grand assembly of the Scandinavian estates in Aarhus. There, he met personally with his many vassals, with clerical leaders, and even with powerful merchants and traders. He reaffirmed Christian II's Edict of Conscience, guaranteeing all Danish citizens the right to worship God as their heart dictated. And to reassure even the most skeptical, the Grand Assembly passed the Compromise of Aarhus, granting local autonomy and further guarantees in exchange for support of Christophe's claim to the throne. Many of Scandinavia's elites were still skeptical, but they were placated for now and had created the foundation for an organized resistance or even rebellion should Christophe go back on his word. And so, for the first time in 150 years, Denmark was ruled by an openly Catholic monarch.

[note that almost all of Germany is Protestant, including Vienna. But the Empire is still Catholic, and so the Emperor and all of the electors are basically the only Catholic princes left, even though much of their land is Protestant]

These skepticisms proved unfounded. Christophe tolerated non-Catholics throughout his reign and held to the Compromise.

And as soon as he was coronated, Christophe turned his attention to yet another Imperial throne. For the time being, Alexander II of Austria had the electors fairly securely locked up for his heir Albrecht, despite the fact that he was merely a figurehead. Christophe began a tour of the Empire, visiting each elector in turn and leaving a permanent embassy in their principalities.

Only two months into his reign, Emperor Christophe received the disappointing news that Alexander II had died, and the electors had already chosen Albrecht as his successor. Albrecht was an even weaker Emperor than Alexander had been and his control of the electors was not strong as his fathers' had been. This undoubtedly created opportunities for foreign meddling in the Empire. On the other hand, however, Albrecht was only a few years older than Christophe, and would have to pass before Christophe would have a chance to become Emperor. To ensure that another opportunity would not be missed, he decided to go on the offensive, both by sending spies and by openly declaring his opposition to the new Emperor.

After several years, it became apparent that a handsome prince and a silver tongue would not be enough, on their own, to win a throne. It would require active intervention, formal treaties, and, perhaps, cutting Austria down to size.

Unfortunately, Austria was in a three-way alliance with Tuscany, which dominated most of Italy, and Spain, Denmark's chief rival. Christophe was uninterested in a general, global war and so looked for ways to wage a proxy war against Austria. He found it in the Baltics. War with the Livonian Order would almost certainly draw in Austrian support, and Christophe already had Casus Belli, since both the Protectorate of Riga and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania claimed Livonian land.

As hoped, Austria sent troops to the Baltic to defend their ally, even as French forces overran Western Germany. The Austrians were beaten soundly in Estonia and Danish forces would go on to Occupy Vienna.

[yes, technically I occupied Vienna before I defeated the army in Estonia. The Austrian AI seemed quite happy to abandon Germany and invade me, so I sent one army to take advantage of it]

In the ensuing peace, Austria was forced to release Baden as a sovereign realm, returned several provinces to their neighbors (including Venice, which was never occupied by Scandinavia but revolted of its own accord), and paid a hefty war indemnity. Shortly thereafter, the Livonian Order also capitulated, ceding all of its land to Riga and Lithuania.

As the war wound down, Christophe received welcome news from Germany. The Elector of Ansbach had indicated a willingness to vote for him should an election take place. Further, the recently-released Baden, as one of the few non-elector Catholic princes in the Empire, was named an elector and also supported Christophe in gratitude.

Christophe did not limit himself to open attacks and honeyed words. He also used Maximillian's spy corp to brutal effect in an effort to undermine the relationships and electoral bids of his rivals.

But mostly King Christophe relied on his charm and persuasiveness. He expanded Denmark's already excellent diplomatic corps to allow him to maintain more diplomats and more relationships in more foreign realms.

He also solidified important alliances, including a marriage to the Princess Agnes of Burgundy. Although political in nature and not particularly passionate - the relationship never produced an heir - Christophe and Agnes seem to have developed a strong and lasting long-distance friendship. As Christophe spent much of his time schmoozing in foreign courts, day to day governance frequently fell to Agnes and she was able to govern largely as she wished. Agnes was a capable and well-learned leader, particularly interested in science and natural philosophy. Among her most important accomplishments were formalizing the rights of the new manufacturies to promote innovation and economic growth. The informality of her role as de-facto regent also allowed her more leeway in choosing her close advisors, and she made good use of this freedom to select only the most accomplished - rather than most well-connected. For almost two decades in the 1670s and 1680s, Denmark was ruled for the first time by a majority female cabinet.

\

[sadly, I don't have a picture of the majority female court, but here are some of Agnes's accomplishments]

To Christophe, however, her most important task was to help him achieve a plurality of electors in a crowded field of candidates.

Although he did not yet have the Throne, Christophe began acting as an Emperor, enforcing peace within the Empire and attempting to curb rebellious princes. These efforts were largely unsuccessful (a harbinger of things to come). In particular Christophe's primary goal of forcefully coercing Frankfurt's vote nearly backfired dramatically [I hoped I could vassalize Frankfurt, but 1) I remembered the 'vassalized elector' penalty and 2) I couldn't anyway].

Even so, a renewed diplomatic push had secured a true majority of electors by the beginning of the 1680s.

And in 1683, Emperor Albrecht VII died suddenly. The Prince Electors chose Emperor Christophe of Scandinavia as the new Emperor of the Romans. Nearly a quarter century after the Compromise that secured his throne, Christophe had achieved his goal of uniting the thrones of Scandinavia, France, and the Holy Roman Empire.

[I have played until 1706 so far and Christophe is still kicking. Christophe's goal has been to solidify his grasp on the Empire as much as possible but that has not proven easy...]

 

[quicksabre]

Christophe was crowned Emperor of the Romans on August 11, 1683, completing what amounted to a decades-long electoral campaign. But the Empire was only a shell of its former glory and the Imperial throne was, at this point, little more than a ceremonial title. The Imperial princes had spent the last few centuries consolidating, giving them a chance to challenge the emperor, and many foreign powers - including Scandinavia and France - controlled large stretches of de jure Imperial land. Further, while Empire was, nominally, Catholic, most of the population was Protestant, as was nearly any Prince that wasn't trying to maintain his status as an Elector. Even Joseph I of Austria, upon losing the election, promptly converted in clear contempt of his new Emperor.

Above: Following the conversion of the Duke of Austria, he became legally ineligible to be Emperor and thus Christophe's hold on the throne greatly increased, even if his authority in the Empire was still weak.


One path for Christophe toward increasing his authority in the Holy Roman Empire would have been to enforce the Empire's religious laws for the first time in 150 years. After almost 25 years holding to his promise not to interfere in his citizen's personal salvation, this would have been an important reversal of the Compromise of Arhus, albeit one that likely would have avoided a major challenge. There was growing support for Catholicism in Estonia and the Danelaw, and it was strong as ever in France, leaving only Scandinavia itself to raise serious objections. And with Christophe's record of tolerance so far and the German princes not having participated in the original agreement, it is unlikely that the Scandinavian nobility would have protested too loudly as long as Christophe remained powerful. But, in general, Christophe granted his German subjects the same religious rights as those of Scandinavia, and only enforced Imperial religious unity on those Princes who, in his mind, had violated their half of the Compromise through open warfare. He was also, understandably, hesitant to plunge the Empire into what would likely be decades of religious civil war. Thus Christophe focused on mediating Imperial disputes, frequently with military force, and made an effort to break up the larger principalities within the Empire.

But these interventions would not be enough for the Empire to once again become a true power. For that, Christophe needed to restore the integrity of the Empire's borders. The chief holders of Imperial land, besides Scandinavia herself, were Tuscany and Poland. As a sign of how fractured the Empire was, both realms were allied with several electors who would likely join a war against Scandinavia if Christoph attempted to enforce the Imperial borders. Thus, he sought other means of bringing them to heel. On April 14, 1692, Christophe declared war on his rival in Spain. Spain was allied with both Austria and Tuscany.

Christophe's armies quickly moved into the Pyrenees, seizing important forts and opening a path to Spain proper, while the Scandinavian navy harried the Spanish coast and managed to lure the Spanish fleet into a decisive battle. The Spanish armies were busy fighting the Portuguese in western Iberia and North Africa, and offered no resistance. French troops poured into Germany and northern Italy, seizing passes in the Alps and putting pressure on Austria's western holdings as well as Tuscany.

But Scandinavia's commitment to Spain and Northern Italy left Denmark itself exposed. Since the War of French Succession, the Scandinavians had built large fortresses in Ditmarschen and Lubeck, assuming that this, along with Scandinavia's powerful Navy, would secure their core territory and allow them to focus elsewhere. For a while, this worked, but Duke Joseph I von Habsburg had a daring plan to embarrass Denmark and end the war quickly. In 1693 reports began trickling to Copenhagen that a large Austrian army had assembled in northern Germany. But Christophe, confident in his defenses and his fleet and unwilling to recall soldiers from their successes elsewhere, ordered General von Trampe from the defense of Estonia instead. von Trampe's army was too small to face Josephs, so Christophe gave him funds to hire mercenaries and prepare to march to the defense of Ditmerchen in early Spring. But joseph the I intercepted communications from Copenhagen to Scandinavian armies northern Italy and presented it to the defenders of Ditmerchen as proof that they had been abandoned. Under the gaze of Austrian artillery, unhappy with the approaching winter, and with elements of the Spanish fleet appearing offshore, Ditmarchen surrendered to Joseph in early December [this was nuts in the game - a random Spanish colonial fleet shows up and turns a -7% into a +7%, then Austria wins the siege tic before the fleet leaves! I couldn't believe it!]. Leaving only a token garrison behind, Joseph I rushed his army north. He caught General von Trampe while von Tramp was still assembling his relief force. In a decisive battle, Scandinavia was defeated on her own home soil.

But this was the low water mark for Scandinavia. Her coastal defenses held long enough for the fleet to be rushed home from Iberia, blocking the straights and frustrating Joseph's plans. A French from northern Italy was also recalled. Elements of von Trampe's scattered forces that were unable to retreat to the islands reformed in the marshes of Ditmerchen and harassed the defenders of the occupied fort preventing its reinforcement. The fleet ferried the rest of his army to join with the French army outside the fort, laid down a formidable artillery barrage, and seized the lightly defended fort in a rapid assault. Joseph's army was now trapped on the Jutland peninsula. When he attempted to break out, he was met by a large Scandinavian force and his army was utterly destroyed in January 1695, and Joseph I was captured.

Austria and Tuscany capitulated later that year, with Tuscany giving up most of her Imperial territory and Austria agreeing to release independent Princes. By the time Spanish forces were ready to face the invaders, they had lost their allies and faced the occupation of much of their core territory, including all of their (largely obsolete) fortresses, by hostile forces. When Christophe offered peace for monetary reparations and concessions in the New World, the Spanish considered the agreement fairly generous and made peace.

This victory heralded a new pattern of warfare that would define Denmark for the rest of Christophe's reign. Wars, while increasingly costly, were also increasingly distant to most of the population of Scandinavia. The military was becoming increasingly professional and it wasn't uncommon for many soldiers to treat it as a career, and to begin to see themselves not farmers, fishers, or miners but as soldiers. This professionalization of the military allowed Christophe to remain nearly continuously at war for the rest of his reign. He fought Portugal over their efforts to subjugate Flanders, and fought a war with Poland in an effort to reduce their influence in the Empire. Member realms who resisted this removal of outside influence were beaten down, and Christophe revoked their religious privileges under the Compromise of Arhus.

This was the pattern of Christophe's foreign (or perhaps domestic?) policy for the remainder of his reign: Fighting nearly constantly to protect the German states from one another and remove foreign influence from the Empire (except Scandinavian influence, of course).

Despite these efforts and hundreds of thousands of deaths, Christophe was never able to solidify his rule in Germany. His refusal to give up French and Scandinavian holdings in the Empire, which he considered an anathema to his dreams of universal monarchy, undermined the credibility of his foreign wars among the Princes, as did his unwillingness to enforce the Empire's religious laws. These setbacks gradually convinced him that universal monarchy in Europe was unattainable and he eventually descended into depression.

But while Christophe struggled abroad, prosperity in Scandinavia only grew under the careful and considered guidance of Agnes the Kind of Burgundy. With the exception of Joseph I's brief expedition to Jutland, Scandinavia and the surrounding waters were left untouched by the ravages of war even as surrounding territories suffered greatly. Scandinavia's stability and power, along with its general acceptance toward foreigners, Queen Agnes's promotion of manufacturies and Sophie's restructured trade incentives meant that Scandinavia became the center of Europe's economic and cultural life. Even outside of Europe, Christophe acquired numerous territories in Eastern America and Western Africa that funneled more and more riches into northern Europe. This period is frequently seen as Scandinavia's Golden Era of the early modern period.

Contemporaneously, beginning in Brunswick and quickly spreading throughout Europe, new intellectual movements sprang up, examining the nature of the human condition and emphasizing reason and individualism. Debates raged in Scandinavia about human nature and the Rights inherent to all people, with topics such as the role and powers and responsibilities of government, the nature of reason and its role in morality, and the morality of the new Atlantic slave economy Christophe had acquired in his wars; Naturalists began extensively cataloging and collecting the natural world and assembling their discoveries in the growing Universities of the age.

These movements were the precursor to the great social upheavals that would shake Europe in the next century. Christophe, however, did not live to see more than vague rumblings. He met these with vague promises and disinterest.

Christophe never had child. His heir apparent throughout his reign was his younger brother Charles. Following his brother's death, Christophe lost his confidant and co-conspirator toward universal monarchy. His nephew (also Charles) became his new heir, but Christophe's frequent time in Germany and his growing depression precluded them from growing close. In the years before his death, Christophe wrote a new will, dividing Empire. Charles, who had received extensive grooming to be Emperor and was as much Danish as French, was to receive Scandinavia. Christophe's cousin would receive France would pass. Estonia would also receive independence, although it would remain a protectorate against Polish incursions. Much of the Danelaw would pass to Christophe's Irish protectorate, which would be granted independence. The Holy Roman Emperor would, of course, be decided by the electors. Many at the time decried the will as a forgery, carried out by Scandinavia's enemies to curb her power or by discontents at court. Some argued that its validity was irrelevant - Danish law and tradition stipulated that the King did not make the decision on succession alone. Still others contended that it was irrelevant - stability demanded a single, strong leader. But many welcomed the news - an opportunity to explore Enlightenment ideals of self-rule and individualism at a national level. Christophe's reasons for this change are unknown. Some historians believe that his struggle to unite the German princes had led him to despair to his dream of universal monarchy and he was simply trying to burn it down. Others argue that Enlightenment ideas of self-rule were making their way even into the courts of Germany and Copenhagen, or that Christophe was simply trying to fulfill his vague promises of representation. Still others agree with many of Christophe's contemporaries that the will was a forgery, or the confused ramblings of a dying mind. We will likely never know; he did not share his reasons, or indeed, even the decision itself, during his lifetime. The will was discovered only upon his death.

[In keeping with @Horn and Ivory 's description, Christophe made moves toward splitting his Empire. But as he was not entirely unsuccessful in the universal monarchy, nor was he wholly successful at splitting the realm. The outcome of the will is still up in the air, as far as I'm concerned, and Karl's reaction is still unknown.]

Religion:

The Empire and Scandinavian Government:

Imperial Authority:

Scandinavian holdings:

The world:

What will Karl's rule hold for Denmark? What will he do with his Uncle's will? Will he press his authority in the Empire by any means necessary - possibly even rescinding his own territory there to promote Imperial integrity, or castrating Scandinavia before the Imperial throne? Will he seek to emulate the ideals of the Enlightenment and reform the government? Or stamp out these dangerous ideas? Will he return Scandinavia to the Reformed Church or remain a Catholic?

 

[quicksabre]

Emperor Karl I's reign was fairly short but no one can deny its impact on Scandinavian society. Although his father and uncle had kept up correspondence until Charle's death, Karl had never personally been close to his uncle. Although born in France, Karl was raised in Copenhagen and identified as Danish more than French. He resented the long shadow his absentee uncle cast, particularly over Karl's father Charles. In many ways, Karl's reign was a reaction to Christophe's, and the new world that was growing up around him. Karl converted to Reformed Church in his youth, making him ineligible to be Christophe's successor as Holy Roman Emperor, ending Scandinavia's hold on that office. He renounced Christophe's Compromise of Arhus, forcing the subsidiary realms to convert to Reformed, began excluding Catholics and members of other protestant denominations from important positions of government and dissolved Catholic monasteries. In an effort to enforce these decrees, Karl expanded Maximillian's spy rings to include what essentially amounted to a secret police.

Karl, along with many of his contemporaries, rejected Christophe's deathbed will, retaining control of France, Ireland, and Estonia-Lithuania. Although some important members of French, Irish, and Baltic society were relieved at the news, for the most part this did not endear him to the nobility of those regions. France had been hit far harder than Scandinavia in Christophe's wars, both in terms of men dying in foreign fields and in terms of enemies infiltrating their land, and many powerful figures in France were eager for the chance to flex their power and pursue their own foreign agendas. Karl's relationship with the French only collapsed further as he squeezed the French countryside to pay for his mounting debts. The Baltic states had actually largely converted back to Catholicism during Christophe's reign, and were unhappy to be ruled by the the whims of Copenhagen. The Irish had seen no enemy soldiers since the War of French Succession, and numerous agitators for self-government were taking advantage of the uncertainty caused by the will to press their cause.

Spain and Poland publicly backed Christophe's will, emboldening the French nobility to resist Karl and bringing international tension in Europe to a head. As it happens, this tension manifested during Karl's reign mostly as acts of petty vandalism against Scandinavian iconography, the abandonment of Scandinavian-backed government buildings, and attacks on minor officials, as well as in French commanders refusing to fight for Scandinavia. But it also began the process of solidifying a French national identity.

[once again, I had to use the console to push these two to support France. The AI is really bad at supporting independence, even of powerful subjects of their rival!]


Temporarily distracting western and central Europe from their new powder keg in France were events in the East. The third estate in Russia, invoking the enlightenment, toppled and beheaded the Tsar and declared the Russian Republic.

Karl responded like any unpopular monarch and promptly declared war on the fledgling Republic with the implicit support of the other Kingdoms of Europe. The war was short and featured no major battles. The Russian Republic was too disorganized and fractured, and was unable to defend their western territories. As Scandinavian troops marched toward the Urals, threatening to topple the Revolution before it had even begun, the Republic frantically offered to 'buy' off the Scandinavians by ceding large tracks of land in Western Russia to Karl's protectorate of Novgorod. Eager to make a name in his own right and convinced adding large tracts of land to the realm would help him do so, Karl accepted and the peace to the great annoyance of his fellow monarchs of Europe.

But despite this setback for the antievolutionaries of Europe, Karl was still a reactionary. He stamped out dissident publications, including blacklisting several prominent figures of the enlightenment. In a misguided effort to contain revolutionary sentiment within his realm, he aggressively curbed the autonomy of local leaders.

In the name of furthering his legacy, Karl also undertook expensive domestic projects throughout the realm - building numerous palaces and churches, filling his court with philosophers and musicians, and instituting a levee system to keep the nobility close and under his direct control.

Finally, Karl oversaw the largest peace-time expansion of the Scandinavian military in history, including the creation of regional training fields to facilitate recruitment, training, and professionalization of local regiments, a major expansion of the Scandinavian artillery corps, the Scandinavian fleet, and the importation of expensive foreign military minds.

Needless to say, these efforts cost money. A lot of money. As mentioned, Karl squeezed French lands especially hard, but he also raised tariffs on his overseas colonies in an effort to raise revenues. His pride, however, prevented him from accepting aid from external sources. Ultimately, even the soaring Danish economy was unable to keep up with Karl's spendthrift, and Scandinavia plunged into debt.

Karl's efforts to overhaul Scandinavia were not limited to domestic affairs. Finding alliances with the Muslim sultanate and Catholic electors distasteful, he dissolved them, instead allying himself with the other major Protestant realm, Christophe's old Imperial rival Austria.

Then, in his first true war, Karl his realm into war with Christophe's dream, the Holy Roman Empire. His stated goals were to seize key ports in the Low Countries and prove that Christophe's reforms had failed to strengthen the Empire. The war would involve Flanders, Tuscany, Bavaria, Bremen, Hesse, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Brandenburg.

Flanders held key ports in the English channel and used them to disrupt Danish trade. Their occupation had been a chief goal of Queen Sophie, but she had been unable to follow through.


Karl personally led forces into the Low countries but met little resistance save a group of armed peasants protesting Flemish taxes. Despite being at war with Flanders, Karl was uninterested in the precedent their success could set. After a brief battle, the peasants surrendered, hoping for leniency from a foreign ruler against whom they were not rebelling. Karl, considering them criminals and traitors, refused to treat them as enemy combatants and slaughtered or drove to ground the entire force in a tragedy known known as the Ghent Massacre. No other Flemish forces offered any resistance in Europe for the duration of the war.

Flanders' allies in Hesse and Bremen did make several efforts in the west, but they were easily overwhelmed.

The majority of the war was fought in Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia. Imperial leadership hoped that a strong, united push against the most weakly defended Danish protectorates could lead to important victories and draw danish attention from the west. In the fall of 1718, Emperor Frederich IV defeated Scandinavian General Engelbrekt in Lithuania, clearing the pat into Novgorod and Estonia.

[I have to say, the AI LOVES going after my eastern holdings. It happens every war. Maybe it thinks Estonia is less well guarded?]


General Engelbrekd retreated to Scandinavian forts in Estonia to prepare his next move, but by late winter Italian reinforcements had arrived and the Imperial forces outnumbered him 2:1. To make matters worse, in Novgorod, Orthodox Christian priests used the distraction to come out into the open in defiance of Karl's laws and soon the Orthodox population in Novgorod was in open rebellion. Only the arrival of general Schlenz by sea in late spring, as well as the extensive fortifications developed by Erik, allowed the Scandinavian forces to keep fighting through 1719 and saved them from total destruction in the east.

Imperial success in the east, however, mattered little. By the beginning of 1720, Brandenburg and all of the the Emperor's personal holdings had been seized by Scandinavian troops. Frederich IV's eastern gambit had failed.

Later that year, Frederich surrendered to Karl, ceding large swathes of Flemish land in the Low Countries.

The next year, Karl received word from Austria that the Turks were invading. Karl believed that this was the Emperor's work, and largely ignored the summons, leaving his armies at home and only dispatching parts of his fleet into the mediterranean to support Austria.

The war, however, was still ongoing when Karl died in February 1723. He was succeeded by his son, Emperor Johan I.

The campaign in the East had largely convinced local nobility that Scandinavian protection was worthwhile. France, however, is still a powder keg, and the Irish are also dissatisfied, forging an alliance with the French should they need to oppose their masters in Copenhagen.

The Danish economy is strong, despite mounting debt.

Karl's reforms have greatly increased the tension among different faiths of the realm, but a centuries-long history of coexistence cannot be overcome so easily.

What comes next for Scandinavia? How will Emperor Johan lead the realm?