Includes bibliographical references and index.

List of illustrations -- List of maps -- Note on conventions -- Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- Ch. 1 Introduction 1 -- Ch. 2 An emerging power, 1536-1572 13 -- The legacy of Christian III, 1536-59 14 -- Frederik II 29 -- Resources : military, naval, and financial 55 -- Ch. 3 Religion and foreign policy, 1559-1572 63 -- Frederik II and the state church 65 -- Confessional identity and foreign policy, 1559-72 83 -- Ch. 4 Two weddings and a conspiracy, 1572-1577 101 -- The 'bloody wedding' and the Baltic threat, 1572-80 104 -- The Papist conspiracy 128 -- Ch. 5 Protestant solidarity and the imperial crisis, 1577-1583 143 -- Catholic resurgence and protestant solidarity 145 -- Frederik II and the 'book of discord' 157 -- Prospects for a protestant alliance, 1577-83 174 -- Realignment 189 -- Ch. 6 The common cause, 1583-1585 202 -- Their ambitions have become as one 202 -- This manifestly wanton and devilish act 219 -- The English initiative, 1585 225 -- Ch. 7 The third peril, 1586-1588 242 -- To spare the blood of thousands 243 -- Towards Luneburg 252 -- The Dutch quagmire 273 -- I have little hope 290 -- Ch. 8 Retreat 298 -- The regency and isolationism 300 -- But our pious king of Denmark has passed over to God too soon. 308 -- Bibliography 329 -- Index 339.

This book considers the role played by Denmark's King Frederik II (1559-88) in the international diplomacy of the 'age of religious wars'. As Europe's leading Lutheran sovereign, Frederik commanded great influence; his conviction that an international Catholic 'conspiracy' threatened to destroy Protestantism led him to work towards the creation of a Protestant alliance that included both Calvinist and Lutheran states. Lockhart examines the role of religion in Frederik's foreign policy, the motivations behind the king's alliance-building projects, and the reasons behind the ultimate failure of Frederik's policies. This volume will be of interest to students of early modern diplomacy, sixteenth-century Protestantism, and the Scandinavian monarchies in the early modern period.

Description based on print version record.