Count's Feud

The Count's Feud (Danish Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–1536 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark.

Related Topics:
Civil war - Denmark - 1534 - 1536 - Reformation

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The Count's Feud takes its name from the Protestant Count Christoffer of Oldenburg, who supported the Catholic King Christian II, deposed in 1523 and at that time being held in prison.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Christoffer of Oldenburg - Catholic - Christian II - 1523

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After Frederick I's death in 1533, the Jutland nobility proclaimed his son, then Duke Christian of Gottorf (Danish Gottorp), as King under the name Christian III. Meanwhile, Count Christoffer organized an uprising against the new king, demanding that Christian II be set free. Supported by Lübeck and troops from Oldenburg and Mecklenburg, parts of the Zealand and Scania nobilities rose up, together with cities such as Copenhagen and Malmö. The violence itself began in 1534, when a privateer captain who had earlier been in Christian II's service, Klemen Andersen, called Skipper Clement, at Count Christoffer's request instigated the peasants of Vendsyssel and North Jutland to rise up against the nobles. The headquarters for the revolt came to be in Aalborg. A large number of plantations were burned down in northern and western Jutland.

Related Topics:
Frederick I - 1533 - Jutland - Nobility - Gottorf - Christian III - Lübeck - Oldenburg - Mecklenburg - Zealand - Scania - Copenhagen - Malmö - 1534 - Privateer - Skipper Clement - Vendsyssel - North Jutland - Aalborg

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On 10 August 1534, Count Christoffer accepted Scania for Christian II's rule. The month before, Christoffer was heralded as regent on Christian II's behalf by the Zealand Council in Ringsted.

Related Topics:
10 August - 1534 - Scania - Regent - Ringsted

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An army of nobles under the leadership of Niels Brock and Holger Rosenkrantz was defeated at the Battle of Svenstrup on 16 October 1534.

Related Topics:
Niels Brock - Holger Rosenkrantz - Battle of Svenstrup - 16 October - 1534

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Christian III in the meantime forced a peace with Lübeck, from which great reinforcements could be freed up to fight against the rebels. Under the leadership of Johan Rantzau, the royal troops pursued the peasants all the way to Aalborg, where the latter, under the leadership of Skipper Clement, had taken refuge behind the city's fortifications.

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On 18 December, Rantzau's troops stormed the city, and it fell. At least 2,000 people are thought to have lost their lives in the storming of the city and in the plundering of the following days. For his part, Skipper Clement, badly wounded, managed to escape, but a few days later was recognized by a peasant in Storvorde east of Aalborg and handed over to Rantzau. Skipper Clement was later sentenced to death by the judicial council in Viborg and executed in 1536.

Related Topics:
18 December - Storvorde - Viborg - 1536

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Fortune did not fare well for the rebels on the Swedish front, either. The Swedish King Gustav Vasa sent a Swedish army to the aid of Christian III, which invaded Scania at Loshult and plundered, burned, and murdered their way throughout the Gønge area as it advanced toward the town of Vä. Later, a Swedish army invaded Hallandia, which was destroyed by fire and sword. The Scanian nobles sided with the Swedes, but Tyge Krabbe in Helsingborg Castle supported Count Christoffer. In January of 1535, the Swedes and the army of nobles advanced on Helsingborg. An army consisting of residents of Lübeck and Malmö under Jørgen Kock was entrenched outside of the castle, and in a decisive moment, Tyge Krabbe suddenly had the castle's cannons open fire against its defenders, after which he opened the castle to the Swedes, who set fire to Helsingborg and reduced the town to ashes. With that, Denmark east of the Sound was lost for Count Christoffer.

Related Topics:
Swedish - Gustav Vasa - Scania - Loshult - Vä - Hallandia - Tyge Krabbe - Helsingborg - 1535 - Jørgen Kock - Sound

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After the victory at Aalborg, Rantzau brought his troops to Funen, and on 11 June 1535, they fought the Battle of Øksnebjerg, where the rest of Count Christoffer's army was decisively defeated. Both Copenhagen and Malmö, however, were able to hold out until 1536, when they were forced to capitulate after several months' siege. With this, the Count's Feud was officially over.

Related Topics:
11 June - 1535 - Battle of Øksnebjerg - 1536

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The consequences of the peasant uprising cost all parties dearly. Many were forced to purchase their lives with great gifts both to the king and to the nobles. Moreover, the dissatisfactions of the peasants, which had culminated in the uprising of the Count's Feud, were only made worse, as the nobility began to stick together even more after this incident. Moreover, Christian III's rule, ushered in by this war, saw the rise of royal absolutism in Denmark, and, with it, greater repression of the peasant classes.

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