Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559), a monarch under the Kalmar Union, reigned as King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523.

As king, Christian tried to maintain the Kalmar Union between the Scandinavian countries which brought him to war with Sweden, lasting between 1518 and 1523.

Though he captured the country in 1520, the subsequent slaughter of leading Swedish nobility, churchmen, and others, known as the Stockholm Bloodbath, caused the Swedes to rise against his rule.

He attempted to bring in a radical reform of the Danish state in 1521–22, which would have strengthened the rights of commoners at the expense of the nobles and clergy.

Christian was born at Nyborg Castle in 1481 as the son of John, King of Denmark and his wife, Christina of Saxony.

[1] During his administration in Norway, he attempted to deprive the Norwegian nobility of its traditional influence exercised through the Rigsraadet privy council, leading to controversy with the latter.

[1] Christian's succession to the thrones of Norway and Denmark was confirmed at the Herredag assembly of notables from the three northern kingdoms, which met at Copenhagen in 1513.

[1] Whilst visiting Bergen in 1507 or 1509, Christian fell in love with a Norwegian girl of Dutch heritage, named Dyveke Sigbritsdatter.

The anti-Danish faction, headed by the regent Sten Sture the Younger, was opposed by the pro-Danish party led by Archbishop Gustav Trolle.

In 1517 Christian dispatched ships and soldiers to the relief of the archbishop's fortress of Stäket, but was defeated by Sture and his peasant levies at Vedila.

Gyllenstierna used the fact that the Swedish Diet had made a 'swearing in common' (sammansvärjning) in 1517, which had bound the nobles to Sture's cause, in defence of her husband's followers.

[7][2] The bloodbath, rather than cementing Christian's control of the Swedish throne, led in short order to Sweden's secession from the Kalmar Union.

He visited most of the large cities, made the personal acquaintance of Quentin Matsys and Albrecht Dürer, and met Erasmus, with whom he discussed the Protestant Reformation.

On 20 January 1523, the herredag at Viborg offered the Danish crown to Christian's uncle, Duke Frederick of Holstein.

Popular agitation against Fredrick I in Denmark centered on Søren Norby, who gathered an army of peasants in Scania, but was defeated in 1525.

Stories of solitary confinement in small dark chambers are inaccurate; King Christian was treated like a nobleman, particularly in his old age, and he was allowed to host parties, go hunting, and wander freely as long as he did not go beyond the Kalundborg town boundaries.

The mayor of Lübeck, Jürgen Wullenwever, took advantage of the resulting interregnum to conspire for the restoration of Christian II to the throne of Denmark.

[citation needed] He has been regarded as both a hypocritical tyrant and a progressive despot, who wanted to create an absolute monarchy based upon "free citizens".

[citation needed] His psychological weaknesses have caught the interest of historians, especially his frequently mentioned irresolution, which as years passed seemed to dominate his acts.

It relates the tangled history of Christian II reign and downfall as seen by the (fictional) Mikkel Thøgersen, a loyal follower of king.

The Corridors of Time by Danish-American science fiction writer Poul Anderson includes a section where a modern American travels in time to 16th Century Denmark, arriving there shortly after Christian II's downfall – where he meets and befriends a diehard follower of the deposed King, and the two of them share various adventures.