raised upon the Subjects by the name of Danegelt Till at last King Ethelred weary of these Exactions and willing to shake them off plotted with his Subjects to kill all the Danes as they slept in their Beds Which Plot took effect according to expectation on St. Brice's night Nov. 12. Anno 1012. Sueno was then King of Denmark to which Crown he added Norway by Conquest He being a right Valiant Prince heard no sooner of the Nocturnal Exploit of the English but he prepared a mighty Fleet in order to revenge so great an Outrage and Dishonour done to his Nation He came over himself with his Fleet unto England and the dreadful noise of his Approach compelled King Ethelred to fly Away he goes into Normandy leaving his poor Subjects to the Mercy of a cruel Invader who breathed nothing but Revenge The Danes having thus by the Valour and good fortune of Sueno their King recovered their Power in England obtained at last the Kingdom in the Person of his younger Son Canute A Temperate Prince and who did really deserve the Title of Great Besides the Crown of England he got the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway upon the Decease of his Brother Olaus and conquered that of Sweden Thus he was King of England Denmark Norway and Sweden But unhappily for his Posterity he opened a way to their Exclusion from the Crown of England when he sent back his Danish Forces into their Country A very Impolitick Act as if a Kingdom got by Force could be held by Favour 'T is true he reigned twenty Years and at his Death left the Crown of England to Harold his base Son But then the Danes Interest here grew so weak that in less than seven years this Crown returned to the Saxon Line For King Harold reigned but four years and died without Issue To whom succeeded his Brother Hardy Canute King of Denmark who reigned here but about two Years and was the last King of the Danish Race in England Thus the Danes had here in all but three Kings of their Nation viz. Canute the Great and his two Sons Harold and Hardy Canute who reigned here all three but about 26 years To Hardy Canute succeeded his half Brother Edward surnamed the Confessor the seventh Son of Ethelred by Emma his Queen Goodwine Earl of Kent being the main Instrument in setting him up The Saxon Line being thus re-inthroned we must now follow the Danes into Denmark and take a view of their Transactions in the North. Canute the Second aforesaid had a Sisters Son called Sueno who was his next Successor but one in Denmark This Sueno restored the Kingdom of Norway to the Norvegians But it was again united to Denmark in the Reign of Aquin King of Norway by his Marriage with Margaret Daughter of Waldemar the Third King of Denmark that is above three hundred Years ago In which State it has continued ever since Aquin being dead his Widow Queen Margaret took up the Reins of the Government And not being contented with two Crowns she ventured them to get that of Sweden as a Crown that had gone away from her Ancestors and that by course should have fallen to the share of her Husband Albert of Mecklemburg was then King of Sweden This Semiramis of the North challenges him as an Usurper raises an Army against him fights him routs his Army and takes the King Prisoner So that Albert was fain to resign his Crown to Margaret as her due This brave Queen having thus united the three Kingdoms under her Command caused an Act of State to be passed in Calmar one of the chief Towns in Sweden for the Perpetuation of this Union unto her Successors the Law and Privileges of each Kingdom continuing as before they were Her immediate Successor was Eric Duke of Pomeren her own Sisters Son Him she adopted for her next Heir and he was accordingly chosen in her life time King of the three Kingdoms into which he succeeded actually after her Decease Anno 1422. Having reigned about 27 years he resigned his Kingdoms Anno 1439. This Resignation was followed by an Anarchy which lasted six years At last viz. Anno 1445 Christopher Count Palatine of the Rhine and Nephew of Eric being the Son of Margaret his Sister was chosen by the joynt Consent of all the States of these Kingdoms He reigned but three years and died without Issue Whereupon the Swedes grown weary of the Danish Government broke the foresaid Agreement made at Calmar and chose a King of their own The Danes on the other side considering the great Advantage they had got by the Addition of Norway pitched upon Adolph Duke of Sleswick and Earl of Holstein for the next Successor that they might get in those Estates to their Kingdoms But he excused himself by reason of his Age and want of Children and commended to them Christiern Earl of Oldenburg his Nephew and next Heir who was accordingly chosen An. 1448. Adolph dying some years after King Christiern succeeded him in the Estates of Holstein and Sleswick continuing ever since united unto that Crown And from this Christiern the Succession was hitherto continued in his Line As for the Crown of Sweden 't is true the Danes recovered it in the time of the said Christiern For Charles Canute King of Sweden whom the Swedes had chosen on the Death of Christopher King of Denmark and Sweden being upon discontent fled to Dantzick where he ended his days Christiern was called in by a Party of the Swedes and crowned King of Sweden But he was outed again under colour that he had not kept Conditions with them Christiern dying Anno 1482. his Son John succeeded him and the Swedes then overpowred by the Moscovites received him as their King But their turn being served they expelled him also To John succeeded Anno 1513. his Son Christiern the Second the Nero of the North who recovered once more the Crown of Sweden But he used his Subjects so insolently at home and his Victory in Sweden so cruelly that he was driven out of Denmark by his Uncle Frederick and out of Sweden by Gustave Eric descended from the ancient Kings of Sweden Thus the Danes recovered no less than three times the Crown of Sweden till they were utterly dispossessed of it by the foresaid Eric Anno 1523 in whose House it has continued ever since And such is the Vicissitude of humane Affairs that whereas in former Ages the Crown of Sweden was subject to Denmark in this our Age that of Denmark was twice reduced to such straits by the Swedes that the whole Kingdom of Denmark was in a manner confined within the Walls of Copenhagen and then in the greatest Distress imaginable All which hapned within the compass of four years viz. in the years 1657. 1658. 1659. 1660 under the late Reigns of Charles the Ninth King of Sweden and of Frederic the Third King of Denmark The History of which Wars you will find accurately written by Sir
THE PRESENT STATE OF DENMARK By GVY MIEGE Author of the New Cosmography or Survey of the whole World LONDON Printed for Tho. Basset at the George in Fleetstreet near St. Dunstan's Church 1683. To His Royal Highness THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE GEORGE THE KING of Denmark's only Brother May it please Your Royal Highness THE Liberty I take to offer You this Work is not out of Presumption It is a Debt I come to pay an Homage I come to render to Your ROYAL HIGHNESS 'T is Your R.H. has occasion'd it upon the News of your happy Marriage with the Princess Which has diffused so great a Joy through the whole Nation that it had certainly broke out into Extraordinary and Publick Demonstrations at any other Conjuncture However it has created a Desire to know the estate of a Kingdom which has given us so Illustrious a Prince by his Birth so famous for his Courage and so Amiable by that Sweetness of Disposition which has already gained him so many Hearts in this Realm Therefore to satisfy the Publick I have undertaken this short Description of the State of Denmark in writing of which I had the advantage of speaking well of Denmark without having need to flatter And I am perswaded it will be so much the more Acceptable to Your ROYAL HIGHNESS and the Publick If it shall have the Fortune to please 't will be no small Satisfaction to me and I should think my self very happy to have done Something that had the Honour to be approved by so great a Prince For whom my Prayers to Heaven shall be to pour down its most benign Influences upon Your ROYAL HIGHNESS to crown your Marriage with a glorious Off-spring that this happy Alliance may prove an eternal Bond of Amity between the two Kingdoms of England and Denmark and that Your ROYAL HIGHNESS may all the days of your Life be the Delight of your Friends and Terrour of your Enemies I humbly beg of Y. R. H. to accept of these Marks of the Zeal I have for your Service and to believe that none can be with more Veneration than I am YOVR ROYAL HIGHNESSE'S Most humbly devoted Servant GVY MIEGE READER HERE you have a Short but Comprehensive Description of the State of Denmark which may be called Multum in Parvo The Occasion for Writing of it is easy to guess at Before the late Marriage of GEORGE Prince of Denmark with the Lady ANN the English had no other Interest in that Countrey but that of a Northern Trade And the Truth is few People minded it but such as traded that Way But now these two Crowns are come to a closer Vnion 't is worth our while to look back and to consider the State of that Monarchy wherein the English Nation has so great an Interest in the Prince's Person A Monarchy which has been in former times most formidable both to France and England and which has to this day the Command of the Baltick in a far better manner than the Venetians can pretend it of their Gulf. A Monarchy of great Latitude if we consider all the accessory Estates to the Crown of Denmark as the Kingdom of Norway with the Isles of Schetland Feroe and Iseland besides the Coast of Groenland in Terra Polaris Arctica and New-Denmark in the Northern America In Germany West of the Dutchy of Bremen the King of Denmark has got of late years the fruitful Counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst In Africk he has Frederixburg upon the Coast of Guinea besides some Holds in Asia As for the Kingdom of Denmark it self which is the main Thing of all I have had the advantage of knowing the Country not only by reading Authors upon that Subject but also by my own Experience when I was there an Attendant on the Right Honourable the Earl of Carlisle in his Northern Embassy's What material Changes have hapned there since I got out of my Memoires So that you have really in this small Tract the State of Denmark both Ancient and Modern Wherein you will find not only Geography but a great deal of History both Civil and Natural POSTSCRIPT Upon the finishing of this Book at the Press I was not a little surprised to see another get the start of it being of this very size upon the same Subject and bearing the same Title The Style whereof might have been more polite the Matter better digested the Impression much neater and the Faults less numerous had not the Book as I am informed been hurry'd into the World for the preventing of This. But some People will run though they make more Haste than good Speed ERRATA PAge 7. l. 2. for was read has p. 10. l. 12. for upon r. of p. 17. l. 13. 14. r. most part p. 31. l. 16. blot out formerly p. 108. l. 23. r. 64th p. 111. last line r. to drive p. 127. l. 10. r. to the Czar THE PRESENT STATE OF DENMARK A Prefatory Discourse of the Rise and Progress of this Monarchy THE State of Denmark the Description whereof I take in hand has been in former Ages a great and formidable State Gotricus or Godfrey was the first King of Note that took upon him the Danish Government Which hapned in the Year of our Lord 797. And 't was about this time that the Danes first began to infest the Coasts of England that they invaded Frizeland with a Fleet of 200 Sail and would have indangered the great Monarchy of France if the Death of Godfrey and the Quarrels that arose about the Succession after his Decease had not kept them off At last their Affairs at home being composed again they employ'd their whole Forces against England as the weaker Enemy This hapned in the beginning of the ninth Century that is in the time of Egbert the last King of the West-Saxons and the first of England Which being now reduced from a State of Heptarchy into that of a Monarchy was unhappily disturbed by these new Guests Who having filled up the void Rooms of the Juites and Angles in Jutland formerly called the Cimbrick Chersonese thought it convenient to follow them into Britain also So that next to the Saxons the Danes were the most considerable Actors in the Stage of England Where they continued about 225 years during which time they first erected many small Sovereignties Till after several Checks given them by King Alfred his Son Edward and Athelstan Edward's Son they were at last brought by King Edred under the English Government and compelled by him to be christened So that they lived with the English mixed in Marriages and Alliance and incorporated with them But toward the latter end of the tenth Century in the Reign of King Ethelred a weak Prince the Danes began again to grow upon the English Insomuch that the King was sain to buy his Peace of them at the yearly Tribute of ten thousand Pounds inhanced soon after to forty thousand A vast Sum in those Times which was
Cattel being the two main Things that are exported out of Denmark the first by Sea and the last by Land over into Germany the Incomes of Custom-houses as to other Commodities are not exceeding great But on the other side the Accession of the Crown-Lands is not inconsiderable In short the Kings Revenues are such that he keeps a handsom Court and maintains a good Fleet with several Garrisons he has in his numerous Forts and Frontire-Places As to the Forces which he is able to raise that may best be seen by some of his Royal Predecessors particular Undertakings As of Christiern II who at the Request of Henry II. of France sent a Fleet of a hundred Sail into Scotland and therein no fewer than 10000 Souldiers And of Frederick his Uncle then Duke of Holstein who in his Wars against this Christiern whose Removal from the Crown he had projected brought 50000 Men into the Field to make good his Quarrel In short considering the many Ports and Islands this Crown is Master of both within the Baltick and without it cannot be but the King may suddenly raise a strong Power at Sea And then considering that each of the Nobility which are here numerous enough is bound to find a certain number of Horse upon all Occasions as are those also who hold Lands of the King which the Danes call Verlehninge there is no doubt but he is able to make good Levies for a sudden Service especially in defence of his Dominions For State-Affairs the King has his Council of State with whose Advice he determines either of Peace or War enters into new Leagues or Confederacies and imposes Taxes upon his Subjects as occasion requires In this Juncture of time this Court seems engaged with France with an Eye upon Sweden in order perhaps to recover from that Crown by the Assistance of France what has been formerly extorted from the Crown of Denmark by the Treaty of Roschild Schonen is a fine Country East of Seland which till that Treaty belonged to Denmark and if the King of Denmark should attempt to recover it by such means as God has put into his hands 't were but repelling Force by Force and endeavouring to regain that by Force of Arms which Charles Gustave by the terrour of his Arms extorted from Frederick I pass by the Act of Calmar whereby the Swedes bound themselves to a perpetual Union with Denmark under the lawful Successors of Queen Margaret Which Act was afterwards confirmed upon the Coronation of Eric her immediate Successor For all Causes and Controversies such is the Constitution of this Crown that they are first to be decided in the Herets or Prefectures where they first arise From whence it is lawful to appeal to the Judge of the Province from him to the Chancellor of the Kingdom and finally to the King and Council Having said thus much as to the Government of Denmark and of the King as Supreme thereof I shall now present you with the Chronological Succession of the Kings of Denmark with an Historical Abstract of those Kings Lives that have any thing worth taking notice of The Danish Authors make a great Catalogue of fabulous Kings since King Dan which being unwilling to impose upon the Publick I shall freely pass over I could begin as Heylin with Gotricus whom he looks upon as the first Legislator of the Danes and the Establisher of their Kingdom But I shall content my self to begin with Harold the first Christian King of Denmark that settled the Christian Religion in those Parts and who began his Reign about the Year 927. The Chronological Succession of the Christian Kings of Denmark since the Year 927. Anno Chr. Reigned 927 HArold I. 48 Years 975 Sueno I. 35. Years 1010 Olaus 10. Years 1020 Canute I. 21. Years 1036 Canute II. 9. Years 1045 Magnus 4. Years 1049 Sueno II. 27. Years 1074 Harold II. 2. Years 1076 Canute III. 9. Years 1085 Olaus 10. Years 1095 Eric I. 7. Years 1102 Harold III. or Nicolas 33. Years 1135 Eric II. 4. Years 1139 Eric III. 8. Years 1147 Canute IV. 8. Years 1155 Sueno III. 2. Years 1157 Waldemar I. 28. Years 1185 Canute V. 18. Years 1202 Waldemar II. 40. Years 1241 Eric IV. 9. Years 1250 Abel 2. Years Anno Chr. Reigned 1252 Christopher I. 7 Years 1259 Eric V. 28. Years 1286 Eric VI. 35. Years 1321 Christopher II. 12. Years 1333 Waldemar III. 42. Years 1376 Margaret with Aquin 36. Years 1412 Eric VII 27. Years 1445 Christopher III. 3. Years 1448 Christiern I. 34. Years 1482 John 32. Years 1513 Christiern II. 10. Years 1523 Frederick I. 11. Years 1534 Christiern III. 24. Years 1559 Frederick II. 29. Years 1588 Christiern IV. 60. Years 1648 Frederick III. 22. Years 1670 Christiern V. the present King  Harold I. according to our Account was converted to the Christian Faith seeing for a Proof of it a Clergy-man carry a burning hot Iron in his hands without any hurt Whereupon he became the Apostle of the North and prudently governed his Dominions His Son being still a Heathen waged War with him and slew him in a Battel Sept. 1. Anno 980. That Son was Sueno I. otherwise called Swain his immediate Successor At first a great Enemy of the Gospel as well as an Usurper of the Throne in his Father life-time and a great Scourge unto the English Being outed of his Estate by Eric King of Sweden he received the Gospel regained his Kingdom and re-established Christianity in it his War on England still continuing He was King of Denmark by Birth and of Norway by Conquest Which last he conquered from Olaus then King of Norway After Sueno's Death both Denmark and Norway fell to the share of his eldest Son Olaus whilst his younger Son Canute fixed in England Olaus having reigned Ten years in the North and dying without Issue left his two Crowns to his Brother Canute I. surnamed the Great but the second Canute in the general Account His Father Sueno being dead he went on in his Conquests against King Edmund surnamed Iron-side who succeeded Ethelred After some Disadvantages he at last came off victorious in a field-Fight Then he challenged his Rival to a single Combat which made them Friends but he obliged him to divide his Kingdom with him Not long after which Edmund having been basely murdered by Edward surnamed the Outlaw his eldest Son King Canute brought the Murderers to a condign Punishment and took upon himself the Government of the whole Kingdom After that he conquered Sweden and brought the Crown of Scotland to a state of Vassalage He married Emma the Widow of Ethelred and Daughter of Richard Duke of Normandy In the year 1027 he went in Pilgrimage to Rome and died eight years after leaving the Northern Crowns to Canute and England to Harold his base Son He had a Daughter called Elfgine who was married to the Emperour Henry III. Canute II second Son of Canute I was first of all King of Denmark and
improved the University of Copenhagen and was a great Admirer of the Learned but especially of Tycho Brahe Sophia his Queen was Daughter of Ulric Duke of Mecklemburg He got by her three Sons and four Daughters His eldest Son Christiern succeeded him but Ulric and John died young and without Issue His eldest Daughter Elizabeth was second Wise to Henry-Julius Duke of Brunswick Ann was given in Marriage to James King of Great Brittain Hedwige to Christiern the Second Elector of Saxony and Augusta to John Adolph Duke of Holstein Christiern IV Son of Frederick the Second Brother of Ann Queen of Great Brittain and Knight of the Garter succeeded his Father at the Age of twelve Years Four Counsellors were appointed to be Regents during his Minority and he was not crowned till the year 1596. In the Month of July Anno 1606 he came over into England to visit the King and Queen He had been long expected when at last News were brought to Court that he was come with eight Ships into the River of Thames and that he anchored before Gravesend This hapned on the seventeenth of July and the next day King James with Prince Henry and divers of the Lords went by Barge to meet this Royal Guest and bring him up to London Where he stayed about four Weeks being entertained all that while with all the Magnificence that could be imagined Both Kings did ride in great state through the City there being Pageants erected in many Places He was shewed the chief Places about the Town as the Royal Exchange the Tower the Monuments at Westminster and that he might have a full Prospect of the City and Suburbs he went to the top of Pauls No manner of Pastime was omitted to divert so welcome a Guest and the Earl of Salisbury feasted him at Theobalds four days together At last on the twelfth of August being conducted by the King the Queen and Prince with many other great Lords he departed to his Ships and arrived in eight days at home In July 1614. he came the second time into England but Incognito and with a small Company The Queen was surprised to see him arrived at Somerset House before she knew any thing of his Coming King James was then in Progress in Bedfordshire who heard no sooner of it but he came back He admired his Frankness as well as his Affection and thanked him heartily for both In return whereof he regalled him with all the possible Marks of Kindness and Gratitude And King Christiern returned Aug. 1 extreamly satisfy'd with his Entertainment A rare thing to see Princes converse together with so much Freedom and not kept asunder with Jealousies of State Anno 1610. King Christiern made War against Sweden In the year 1625. the Protestants of Germany made him Head of the League against the Emperour Ferdinand the Second for the Restauration of Count Palatine of the Rhine to his Estates But he was suddenly beat out of all Jutland by the prevailing Imperialists till he compounded the Business upon very good Terms and was restored to all his own Afterwards he turned his Arms against the Swedes in the year 1644 who got several Places from him but the Peace put a stop to their Conquests He reigned sixty years and died at 70 years of age Ann Catharine his Queen was Daughter of Joachim Frederick Elector of Brandenburg He got by her amongst other Children Christiern and Frederick Christiern was chosen King of Denmark in his Fathers life-time He was a very hopeful Prince but unhealthy so that he died before his Royal Father going to drink some Waters in Saxony His Death made room for Frederick III second Son of Christiern the Fourth He was Archbishop of Bremen in Saxony before he came to the Crown upon the Death of his Royal Father and not long after the decease of Christiern his elder Brother who as I said before was King elect This is that magnanimous Prince who by his invincible Constancy has not long since redeemed this Crown from the hands of the Swedes This is that Frederick whose late Calamities served only to set off the greatness of his Courage And as if the same Rules of Providence were appointed for the Royal Families of England and Denmark whilst King Frederick was struggling for his Crown with the Swedes the late Usurpers here kept the Crown from King Charles And as it was their fortune to suffer both together so they had the Comfort to be both the same Year restored to their Dominions 'T is true King Frederick was fain to part with some of the best Jewels of his Crown But that Loss whatever it is is not Irrecoverable and has already been sufficiently made up on the part of his Subjects by their deep sense of Gratitude in making his Crown Hereditary which formerly was but Elective On the 18th of October 1643 some years before he came to the Crown he married with the Lady Sophia Aemilia of Luneburg by whom he got 1. Christiern V now King of Denmark a Prince of a warlike and generous Temper He was born Apr. 18. 1646 and has got Issue by Queen Charlotte his Royal Consort a Princess of the most Ancient and Illustrious House of Hassia Cassel in Germany 2. Prince George born in the year 1653. Whose Royal Birth and Princely Qualifications as well as other Regards have made him in our King's Judgment a proper Match for the Lady Ann. The Solemnity of which Marriage is at hand 3. Anna Sophia married to John George Elector of Saxony 4. Frederica Aemilia married in the Year 1667. to Christiern Albert Duke of Holstein Gottorp 5. Guilliemetta-Ernestina married in the Year 1671. to Count Palatine of the Rhine 6. Vlrica-Eleonora-Sabina married to the present King of Sweden Charles XI The Titles of the King of Denmark run thus Christiern the Fifth by the Grace of God King of Denmark and Norway of the Vandals and Goths Duke of Sleswick Holstein Stormaren and Dithmarsen Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst c. His Arms are Quarterly 1. Or three Lions passant Vert crowned of the first for the Kingdom of Denmark 2. Gules a Lion rampant Or crowned and armed of the first in his paws a Dansk Hatchet Argent for the Kingdom of Norway What Arms belong to him as Duke of Holstein and Sleswick and Earl of Oldenburg I am as yet to seek Lastly to omit nothing that may be essential to this our present Subject I must give some Account of the Dukes of Holstein as being of the Blood-Royal of Denmark and accordingly holding several Estates of that Crown in Holstein The House of Holstein is generally divided into three principal Branches The King of Denmark is the Head of the first Branch and the standing Protector of the Princes of the House of Holstein The other two Branches are that of Holstein Gottorp and that of Holstein Sunderburg The Branch of Holstein Gottorp so called from Gottorp a Castle near Sleswick in Holstein began with Adolph
Germans called all Thieves Cimbers These Cimbri having left their Peninsule the Saxons Jutes and Angles took Possession of it And upon the Removal of these into Britain the greatest part of it was peopled by the Danes who dwelt in the Islands The Danes in general are of a good Stature clear of Complexion well coloured for the most part healthful and long lived Their Language is but a Dialect of the German Tongue From which it does however so differ that the Danes and Germans cannot understand one another unless they do first converse some time together As to their Inclinations they do not vary much therein from the Swedes and Germans Only they are look'd upon to be more crafty than the latter and more ambitious than the former The Women are fair courteous and good Houswives fruitful in bearing of Children and yet delivered of them with great difficulty For Men of Learning they have had Tyche Brahe that renowned Astronomer Hemingius a well known Divine Bartholinus a Physician and Philosopher of very good esteem John Cluverus the Historian c. For great Captains Gotricus or Godfrey who setled the Government of this Kingdom and indangered the great Monarchy of France Sueno and Canute the fortunate Conquerours of England Waldemar III. a right valiant Prince but unsuccessful in his Wars against the Hanse-Towns Christiern II. a great Commander but a cruel Prince Christiern IV. little inferiour to many of his Predecessors Amongst whom we may list Queen Margaret the Semiramis of these Northern Countries a Lady of a Masculine Spirit no less fortunate than daring in her Enterprises This Nation was converted to the Christian Faith in the time of King Harold about 650 years ago Till then it cannot be said that the Christian Religion was rooted here though I read of some Christian Kings before this as Eric and Froto both living in the ninth Century Neither was the Gospel so well fix'd in Harold's time but that the Danes relapsed still for the most part to their ancient Heathenism till they were finally regained by Pope Adrian the Fourth an Englishman In process of time the Popes of Rome would needs pretend some Power and Jurisdiction over them Which when they began to exercise with too much Authority King Waldemar III. the Father of Queen Margaret is said to have return'd this Answer Naturam habemus à Deo Regnum à Subditis Divitias à Parentibus Religionem à Romanâ Ecclesiâ quam si nobis invides renuntiamus per Praesentes That is to say We hold our Life from God our Crown from our Subjects our Riches from our Ancestors our Religion from the Church of Rome which Religion if you envy us we do here remit it by these Presents But this Renunciation though then threatned was not made till afterwards King Frederick I. was he that abolished the whole Mass of Popery using therein the Ministry of Bugenhage a Divine of Pomeren by whom the Danes were reformed according to the Doctrine of the Lutheran Churches And ever since they have continued in that state of Reformation wherein the Church of Denmark differs not much from the Church of England For as they have rejected several Errors and Abuses of the Church of Rome so they have still retained a settled and prescribed Liturgy for all their Churches most of the Holy-days observed in the former Ages the Cross in Baptism Kneeling at the Communion and many other practicable Ceremonies transmitted to us from the Primitive Church The main Point wherein they differ as Lutherans from all other Protestants is the Article of Consubstantiation whereby they believe that in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper the Elements of Bread and Wine remain in Substance with the real Body and Blood of our Saviour after the Consecration Of the Danish Government THis Kingdom has been till of late Elective and not Hereditary whatever Heylin pretends to the contrary 'T is true the Danes have usually preferred the Royal Family and set the eldest Son on the Throne of his Father But because the House of Austria for example has hitherto injoy'd the Imperial Crown above 240 years successively I hope it do's not follow therefore that the Empire is not Elective 'T is well known that in Denmark after the death of Christopher the Crown was transferred to the House of Oldenburg who held it on no other ground but by that of Election And about 160 years ago was not King Christiern II. outed of his Estate and Frederick advanced unto it But Dr. Heylin eludes that by saying that such things have hapned in Estates that were clearly Hereditary and ought to make no Precedent and that Acts of Violence and Force are only justifi'd by the false Topick of Success When all is done 't is undeniable that the Crown of Denmark was formerly Elective if we consider that it was made in due form Hereditary no longer ago than the year 1660 in the Person of King Frederick Which hapned thus soon after the Treaty concluded that very year betwixt his Majesty and the now King of Sweden The Clergy and Commonalty had been always jealous of the great Power of the Nobility and more particularly during the War with Sweden They therefore being now armed especially the People and consequently capable of all things secretly combined together as well out of hate to the Nobles as out of gratitude to the King for his Fortitude in preserving of them to make him Hereditary Monarch of their Crown Their declared Reasons were that being his Majesty had undergone in his War with Sweden all imaginable Dangers and that he had with admirable Constancy and Magnanimmity demonstrated his affection and willingness in Conservation of his People and Kingdom they were of opinion that so great Benefits ought not to be let pass without the demonstration and some extraordinary Marks of their Gratitude Which could not be better expressed than by presenting the Crown to his Majesty's Line by Succession Wherein they were the more incouraged by the Example of a neighbouring Kingdom meaning that of Sweden where the same Thing had been done with good Success and notable Advantage to the People This Resolution being taken these two States appointed Deputy's to inform the Senators of their design and desired them to communicate it to the Nobles whom they acknowledged to be the first and most conspicuous Part of the Whole They farther wished them to cooperate in perswading them to a Compliance in this Point that they might all joyntly agree in so reasonable and plausible an Undertaking After great Deliberation they were answered that the Proposition was not so new but that several Discourses had been had about it heretofore and that very important Reasons had been produced Pro and Con in the matter But that the Nobility could not forbear complaining of the Informality used herein namely that a Business of so great weight should not only come abroad so secretly and without the least Communication but also positively be
Angelica The first is made use of by these Islanders to tan their Hides with they having no Bark of Trees For here grow no Trees but some Junipershrubs and Willow-bushes Fruit-trees will not thrive here because perhaps of the Saline damps of the Sea But for Fewel this Country is provided with abundance of Turf Which is so rare good in some Places that Smiths use it instead of Sea-coals to work their Iron with As for Metals and Minerals 't is likely there might be found some Copper and Iron Mines by reason of some small Rivulets running down the Hills in Summer which are found to grow as green as Verdigreace in dry weather In the North Islands there is Talk but in very little quantity On the Sand near the Sea-side there are found in some Places little transparent Stones so hard that with them one may write upon Glass They are generally white or of a blewish white Colour and so polished that they serve to put in Rings They grow in the Clifts and the Sea washes 'em off Here is also to be found some Chrystal but brittle and not to be wrought The Fairies Kidney which some call a Stone and others a West-India Bean is also frequently seen here 'T is shaped like a Heart or Kidney and it has been the Opinion of some People that being kept long it brings forth another Stone According to my Author it has a hard outward Shell of a Chesnut colour with a sweet Kernel within and is brought hither by the Stream from such Places where it falls off its stalk into the Sea The Cattel of Feroe is for the most part little but fat according to the Ground it feeds on The Horses as little as they be are incredibly strong sure and swift though without horse-shooes They feed abroad both Winter and Summer without ever coming under shelter The Cows likewise go often out to Grass the whole Winter provided there fall not too much Snow But the Sheep feed abroad all the Winter over 'T is true that in a hard Winter when there falls a hasty and lasting Snow they suffer incredible hardship especially if the Shepherd be not present to drive them into the Snowshelter Which is a Place in the open fields like a Fold inclosed with fences of Earth and Turf against the North that Sheep may shelter themselves there For then they gather themselves close together in the open field where a great Snow soon covers them So that sometimes they are not to be found and remain a whole Month under the Snow Where they are fain to eat the grass by the roots and the Wool off of one another The wild ones that go often upon the edge of the Clifts over the Sea run also a great hazard after a great Snow For sometimes the Snow tumbles down into the Sea and they along with it hundreds at once Such Accidents as these fall heavy upon the Owners considering that the Riches of these People do's most consist in their Sheep Which being half wild and in some places quite wild cannot casily be driven into a Pound but must be taken with Dogs Now these Dogs are so taught that when the Shepherd will have but one Lamb of the Flock for some occasion he goes into the fields with his Dog and what Lamb he only points at the Dog takes the same presently without hurting it These Dogs are long and small not unlike Grey-hounds which being well taught are much valued because of this Sheeps hunting The Horses also are so well skilled in it that when a Horse overtakes a Sheep he grasps it between his fore-legs till the Man takes it up As wild as these Sheep are they seldom go from their Owner's Ground into another Man's but keep close together every flock by it self and that too in the same Close where it is usual to have several Flocks Northward they are generally white Southward black and coloured A white Sheep set on Lille-Dimen an Islet East of Suderoe changes its colour and grows black in process of time first about the Legs then on the Thighs after that under the Belly and finally all over The Cause whereof is perhaps in the Earth there being found much Brimstone and Saltpeter Here is also great Plenty both of Land and Sea-Fowls some profitable and others damageable some not unlike ours in England others we are strangers to But I shall not insist upon them As for Venomous Beasts such as Serpents and Snakes there 's none to be found here the nature of the Earth being such that it cannot bear them Fish they have in great plenty such as Whiting Flounders a kind of Pilchards they call Murt and Cods They take also in Winter time a world of Seaâ—â—â—â—gs in their Vaults or Caves under the Clifts near the Sea whither they retire themselves in September to bring forth their young ones To take them first the Islanders have a peculiar sort of small Boats for to go into those Caves with and they usually go thither with two Boats Whilst the one goes in the other stays without at the entrance of the Cave Between the Boats there is a long Tow of about eighty fathoms that if the Boat which goes in should be filled with Water as it sometimes happens the other may pull it out with the People in it The Cave being narrow they have a pointed stake on each side wherewith they thrust themselves in And that they may see to kill the Seals in so dark a place they carry with them two Candles as thick as a man's Arm. These Candles they hide in the Boat till they be ready for execution Being come so far in the Cave as to feel ground which they try with their pointed slaves first one man leaps out from the Boat into the water as deep as he can wade with a Club in his hand to fell the Seal-dog Then leaps the second man after him holding the Candles in his hands as high as he can that the water may not put them out After them comes the third Man with his felling Club. An old Seal especially if it be a He will not flee from a Man but stands it out stoutly A she is not so fierce and flees from the Man if she can The young ones ly all still and never take notice of men nor light till they come and kill them They all lye on dry ground for they are Amphibious And when the old ones begin to see the Light and the Men coming at them they rise on their Paws with their Jaws open to meet the Blow with or to do mischief if they can Thus standing in their own defence the first man comes on with his Club. And whilst the Seal-dog snatches his Club from his hands and casts it away another man strikes him with his Club over the Neck If he hits him right the Seal falls down in a Swoon and presently the Men cut his Throat When they have done with the old they
Sex that it is hard to discern the one from the other Some say this Island was discovered by Gasper a Swede others by one Eric a Norvegian but when it is not agreed Heylin says it was so far from being known unto the Ancients that it was hardly known to those of Norway till the Year 874. At which time King Harold I suppressing those petty Kings that were then in Norway forced many of them to seek new Dwellings Of which some arrived here where they found room enough to plant in and no great loss if any by the change of their Dwelling Upon their Invitation they were followed afterwards by many of their Friends and Countrymen till at last the Fishing Trade drew thither a great many Strangers especially from Denmark England Holland and the Hanse-Towns Hola in the North and Scalholt in the South both Bishops Sees are the two chief Places of this Island Bestede is a Castle where the Governour makes his Residence Those two Episcopal Sees were founded by the persuasion and procurement of Adelbert Arch-bishop of Bremen by whose means the People of this Island were first converted to the Christian Faith Anno 1070. And to those two Bishops Sees were added in tract of time eight Religious Houses But since this Island was brought under the Crown of Norway that is in the Year 1260 it followed the Fortunes of it in all Changes both of Church and State It was made subject with it to the Kings of Denmark and reformed together with it in Matters of Religion according to the Confession of Augsburg Then the Bishops were reformed into Superintendents and the Revenues of Monasteries converted into other Uses according to the Will and Pleasure of their Lords of Denmark North and West of Iseland lies Groenland in Terra Polaris Arctica A vast Tract of Land at least the Sea-coasts thereof Which being all that is discovered of it hitherto leaves us in doubt whether it is an Island or Continent It is called Groenland or Greenland from the Greenness of it in Summer-time that is in June July and August During which time the Inhabitants in the most Northern Parts of it have no Night at all And yet they scarce feel any heat which makes them go in Furs and Skins all the year round This Country was first discovered says Baudrand by one Eric the Red-haired a Norvegian Anno 982. Who having thus made way for his Countrymen they and the Danes followed him thither So that this Countrey at least the Sea-coasts thereof became Tributary to the Crown of Denmark The most Southern Parts of it were afterwards discovered by Forbisher Davis and Baffin But as yet we have no account of the Inland Parts So that all I have to say farther of this Unknown Land is that Whale-fishing has made it more famous than any thing else To which purpose this Country is much frequented by the two greatest Sea-faring Nations in the World the English and Hollanders New Denmark is a Country that lyes in the North-west Parts of the Northern America and that was discovered by Munk a Dane in the Reign of Christiern the Fourth It s Discovery Name and Situation is all that I can hear of In Africk upon the Coast of Guinea the King of Denmark has a Place called Frederixburg fortify'd with a Castle It lies near Cabo Corso and S. Georgio della Mina In Asia likewise the Danes have their Colonies and before the late Troubles of Bantam in Java there they had a Factory FINIS