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King of Denmark and Norway | |
| Predecessor | John |
| Successor | Frederick I |
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King of Sweden | |
| Predecessor | John |
| Successor | Gustav I |
| Born | 1 July 1481 Nyborg Castle, Denmark |
| Died | 20 July 1556 Kalundborg Castle |
| Queen | Isabella of Spain |
Christian II of Denmark was born on 1 July 1481 to King John and Christine of Saxony. In 1513 King John of Denmark died and the lords of Denmark and Norway elected Christian straight away. However, Sweden didn't accept him until 1520, when he crushed Swedish rebels with an army. He decided that Sweden would be an inheritable kingdom and wanted Denmark to rule over Sweden, but this centralism angered Sweden and the clergy. After Sweden rebelled, it took two years for him to lose the throne in Denmark and Norway and he went to the Netherlands for a time, with this the Kalmar Union fell apart. Now his uncle Frederick I was king of Denmark and Norway and Gustav I from a noble Vasa family was king of Sweden. In 1532 he tried to return to his throne with an army from the Netherlands, this failed and he was imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Family[]
In 1515 he married Princess Isabella of Spain, daughter of the future Queen Joanna I of Spain. They had six children, but only three survived:
- Prince John of Denmark (1518 - 1532)
- Prince Philip of Denmark (1519 - 1520)
- Prince Maxmilian of Denmark (1520 - 1520)
- Duchess Dorothea of Lorraine (1520 - 1564)
- Duchess Christina of Milan (1522 - 1588)
- Stillborn Son (1523 - 1523)