Origin from 1536
King Christian III, victorious in the Count's Feud, a civil war fought partly over religion, moved decisively against the old church once he held the throne. In October 1536 he arrested the Catholic bishops and had the Rigsdag confirm the abolition of episcopal authority, and the Church Ordinance of 1537, drafted with help from Luther's own colleague Johannes Bugenhagen, reorganised the church on Lutheran lines with the king as its head. Norway, a subordinate kingdom under the same Danish-Norwegian crown, received the same reformation by royal decree rather than through any separate national movement of its own, its own church structure brought into line with Copenhagen's across the years that followed.
Facts
Dates
End Year1537 is the Church Ordinance that reorganised the Danish-Norwegian church on Lutheran lines, following the October 1536 arrest of the Catholic bishops; Norway's own ecclesiastical structure was brought into full conformity across the years immediately after, by royal decree from Copenhagen rather than a separate Norwegian movement. Learn More
How Lutheranism Was Established in Denmark and Norway
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
King Christian III of Denmark emerged victorious from the Count's Feud, a civil war fought partly over religion, and moved decisively against the old church once he held the throne. In October 1536 he arrested the kingdom's Catholic bishops and had the Rigsdag confirm the abolition of episcopal authority outright. The Church Ordinance of 1537, drafted with help from Johannes Bugenhagen, one of Martin Luther's own colleagues, reorganised the Danish church on Lutheran lines with the king himself at its head.
Norway received the same reformation without any separate national movement of its own. As a subordinate kingdom under the shared Danish Norwegian crown, its church structure was simply brought into line with Copenhagen's by royal decree over the years that followed, the reform imposed from above rather than fought for or debated locally.
What this changed for Christianity's spread was the conversion of an entire dual kingdom to Lutheranism inside little more than a year, achieved by arresting a handful of bishops and securing one parliamentary vote rather than by any prolonged theological contest. Bugenhagen's own hand in drafting the new church order ties this reformation directly to Luther's German one, even as it arrived here by the swifter and blunter instrument of royal command rather than decades of argument and war.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Occurred In
The decree was issued from Copenhagen; Norway, a subordinate kingdom under the same crown, received the same reformation without a separate national movement, named in the description rather than given a second edge.
Spread Event Of
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.