General Notes

Christian IV (1577-1648), king of Denmark and Norway (1588-1648), the son of
Frederick II. His first years on the throne were dominated by regents, but
after 1596 he ruled in his own right. An independent but not always judicious
ruler, he was above all a man of action. He built up the Danish navy,
encouraged industry and commerce, established a regular postal service, and
founded a series of new towns; as a builder he left a lasting mark on
Copenhagen. His foreign ventures were less fortunate. Despite personal
bravery, he was an undistinguished military leader, and his war against Sweden
from 1611 to 1613 succeeded in halting Swedish expansion into northern Norway
mainly because the Swedes were otherwise engaged. His participation in the
Thirty Years' War was disastrous, although he managed to win a lenient peace
at Lübeck in 1629. Even worse was the second war with Sweden (1643-45) in
which Denmark lost forever considerable territories in the Scandinavian
Peninsula and the Baltic.