Henry II was the King of Denmark from 1569 until 1588. He was born the first son and heir of George I of Denmark, and Josephine de la Marck, Queen of Denmark. During the Eight Years' War, as a teenager, he was given command of a small fleet of ships; however, he was soon after attacked and abducted by pirates. It was discovered later that they had sold him to the Swedish government. Thus, for the entirety of his reign, almost two decades, Henry II remained captive and a ward of the Swedish King, part of the Swedish court. This allowed his mother the Queen Dowager Josephine to secure power as regent. In 1588, negotiations between Sweden and Denmark led to Henry II renouncing his Danish throne, allowing his brother Olaf to be crowned King in Denmark as King Olaf V. Olaf would die the following year and be succeeded by his younger brother King George I. Henry II was imprisoned during the Forty Years' War, by the Swedish. Following a siege that took place over the city he was imprisoned in, he was freed by Danish and other Jungist forces, but died several days later due to malnourishment. Historians have called him a "particularly sad historical figure whose misfortune was the result and the cause of long-continued hostility between Denmark and Sweden."
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