CHAPTER V.

CHRISTIAN III. PROCLAIMED KING—TRIUMPH OF THE REFORMATION IN DENMARK, NORWAY, AND ICELAND.

(1533 to 1550.)

Vigorous Prosecution of the War by the new King—The Enemy driven from the Provinces—Siege of Copenhagen—Extreme Sufferings of the besieged Town—Entry of Christian into his Capital—His Determination to crush the temporal Power of the Bishops—Arrest of the Bishops—General Council of the Nation—Bill of Indictment against the Bishops—Their Deprivation—Their Liberation—The King’s Invitation to Pomeranus—Reorganization of the Church by Pomeranus—New Constitution of the Church—The Reformation in Norway—In the main a Work of the Government—The Reformation in Iceland—The two Bishops of Iceland—Oddur’s Translation of the New Testament—An Evangelical Bishop—His Death—Popish Reaction—Triumph of the Gospel 211