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
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
afterwards of England upon the death of his elder Brother Harold who died not long after his Coronation Anno 1040. He was kindly received by the English but he proved very unkind to ' em For he caused several of the chief Men of the Kingdom to be put to death and he oppressed the People with heavy Taxes To avenge the Injuries done to his Mother Emma by Harold he caused him to be digged out of his Grave and his head to be cast into the Thames Two years after his coming to the Crown he went to a Wedding in Lambeth where he fell off his Chair and died Some thought he had been poisoned However he being dead the English took up Arms and made a riddance of the Danes This is that King Canute which was commonly called Hardy Canute To him succeeded King Magnus in Denmark who governed that Kingdom the space of four years He was Son of Olaus King of Norway Sueno II was Sisters Son of Canute I according to our account by Ulso an English Duke 'T was he that restored the Kingdom of Norway to the Norwegians Harold II was Son of that Sueno There is nothing memorable of him that I can find at present but that he was surnamed the Idle Canute III was Brother of that Harold He attempting to recover England was murdered at the Altar in the Church of St. Albans Anno 1081 and after that ranked among the Martyrs A Son of his called by his Name did likewise suffer Martyrdom and was canonized a Saint Anno 1164 by Pope Alexander IV. The Church of Rome celebrates his Day on the 19th of January I suppose this is that Canute who was murderin the Church of Odensee in Funen whom Heylin mistakes for his Father As for Olaus I find nothing of him that 's memorable Eric I surnamed the Good was Brother of Canute the Saint He being a Religious Prince took a Voyage to Rome and afterwards to the Holy Land with his Queen Bochilde and he died in Cyprus Harold III was base Son of Eric 'T is said he was murdered by his own Brother Eric II called the Bastard a cruel and passionate Prince was also assassinated Eric III Son of Anna Sister of Eric II succeeded him He was surnamed the Lamb because of his sweet Nature But he had no Fortune in his Wars with the Swedes At last he retired into a Monastery and there died Canute IV. was slain at a Feast by his Successor Sueno III who was likewise murdered by his Successor Waldemar I Son of Canute the lawful Son of Eric I by whose means the Rugians and Vandals embraced the Gospel He was the first that reduced the Laws into a set form and Writing And by his Laws the Bishops were to sit with the Council of State in all Causes of moment But they were discharged from that Employment by King Christiern III. Canute V. was the Son of Waldemar and of Sophia Sister to Canute the Fourth Having reigned some time with his Father he at last succeeded him He made War to the Pomeranians and is said to have been married to Mathildis Daughter of Henry the Lion Duke of Saxony Waldemar II Brother of Canute the Fifth was Duke of Sleswick before his coming to the Crown Eric IV Son of Waldemar the Second was married to Agnes the then Marquess of Brandenburgh's Daughter He shewed a great deal of good Conduct in his Government But he was murdered by his Brother Abel the second Son of Waldemar the Second Who did not long enjoy his Usurpation For two years after he came to the Crown by an Act more Cain than Abel-like he was kill'd himself by the Boors in the Friseland War And it is said that the Place where he was inhumed swarmed with Spirits and strange Apparitions Christopher I the youngest Brother of the foresaid Abel and Eric was no Admirer of Prelates He reigned with a various Fortune and at last was taken Prisoner in his War against the Earls of Holstein Some Authors are of opinion that he did not die before the year 1268. Eric V surnamed the Old was Christopher his Son His Reign of twenty eight years was blessed with Peace and Plenty but he was slain by the Practices and Treason of his Officers Mathildis Daughter of Albert called the Great Duke of Brunswick was his Queen By whom he had amongst other Children his Son and Successor Eric VI surnamed the Young who supplanted Christopher his Elder Brother He began his Reign with a severe Punishment of his Father's Murderers He took Rostock now a Hanse Town in Mecklemburg and some other Places and he married with the Sister of Birger King of Sweden by whom he left no Issue Christopher II elder Brother of Eric added the Island of Rugen to the Crown of Denmark and gave Rostock in fief to the Dukes of Mecklemburg The Earls of Holstein beat him out of his Kingdom and he was twice restored to it Waldemar III was Son of Christopher A stout Prince but unfortunate in his Wars with the Hanse Towns which confederated against him and vanquished him in many Battels Margaret Daughter of Waldemar the Third gave her self in Marriage to Aquin King of Norway and so united the Kingdoms They had a Son named Olaus a hopeful Prince but he died young Aquin her Husband and Olaus her Son being dead she stood still at the Helm and not contented with two Crowns she put in for a third In short she attempted by force of Arms to recover the Crown of Sweden She raised a fine Army and appeared at the head of it Albert Duke of Mecklemburg was then King of Sweden He was Son of Euphemia the Sister of Magnus IV. of Sweden and got that Crown to the prejudice of Aquin the Husband of Margaret For you must know that Magnus IV. King both of Sweden and Norway had two Sons Eric and Aquin aforesaid Eric his eldest Son was his designed Successor in the Crown of Sweden whilst in his Life-time he bestow'd the Crown of Norway upon Aquin. Eric dies before his Father and after his death the Father himself was outed of his Kingdom by the practice of Albert his Nephew aforesaid Queen Margaret therefore having raised a good Army undertook to do her self Justice and to dispossess Albert of his Inchroachments By that time Albert was grown a worse Tyrant than his Predecessor which made the Nobility that had raised him up to the Throne seek the means to unthrone him So that all things seemed to concur for the Success of Queen Margarets Design And indeed such was her Valour and the Fortune of her Arms that she gave the Swedes Battel in the Year 1387 defeated their Army and took their King Prisoner A bloody Battel it was says my Author Albert was kept Prisoner for the space of seven years To get his Liberty he freely resigned his Kingdom to Margaret and so went to his own Country where he died Upon his Resignation Anno 1394 she caused
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
Roger Manley A prodigious History and scarce to be parallelled by any Where you will find those two Kings fighting hand to hand for no less than a Crown the King of Sweden with a wonderful Resolution and continued Successes the King of Denmark with an undaunted Courage and indefatigable Indeavours to beat back so swift an Invader and stop him in his Career Whereupon a Treaty by the Mediation of England was concluded at Roschild in the Month of February 1658. By which Treaty the King of Sweden was to restore the Places he had taken from the Danes and were then possessed by him And the King of Denmark in consideration of the said Restitution as also for a Recompence of the Damages caused by this War did give and grant to his Majesty of Sweden and his Heirs for ever the Country of Schonen with the incorporate Provinces of Halland and Bleking besides the Island of Bornholm together with the Castles Towns and Territories of Bahuys and Drontheim in Norway the Secular and Ecclesiastick Jurisdiction which the King of Denmark had over some Places in the Isle of Rugen and all Places whatsoever taken from the Swedes during this War Those were Bremerford a good place in the Dutchy of Bremen the Bellemore Sconce lying upon the Elb and the Leher Sconce commanding the Weser The taking of which whilst the Swedes were deeply ingaged in Poland was the Occasion of this unhappy War to the Crown of Denmark To which I shall only add this material Article granted by King Frederick to King Charles by the said Treaty viz. That all Swedish Ships whatsoever in the Sound and Belt are by virtue of the said Treaty to be free and exempted from all Customs Inquisitions Visitation Arrest or any other Molestation whatsoever producing only a right Sea-pass in the King of Denmarks Custom-Houses of Elsineur and Newburg By this Treaty 't is plain that King Frederick was a great Loser and yet a great Saver considering the desperate Posture of his Affairs in that Juncture of time His Crown was clipped but still he had a Crown And 't is observable that the two Kings upon this Treaty had a friendly Interview with plain dealing and little or nothing of Royal Formality The Relation of which I shall have occasion to give you in another Place And yet soon after this the War broke out again For King Charles pretending that King Frederick had not performed his Articles prepared for a second Invasion upon Denmark and did it with so much Prudence and Secrecy that whilst some thought him gone towards Prussia others towards Pomeren but none towards Denmark he came from Wismar to Oldeslo then to Kiel in Holstein from thence by Sea to Corsoer in Seland and so straight before Copenhagen in August 1658. My Design is not to give you the particulars of this famous Siege which is already so well done in the forementioned History Only I shall tell you in general that the Pate of Denmark depended now if ever on the invincible Courage and Conduct of King Frederick Who upon the sight of these unexpected Invaders being prompted to make a timely Retreat into Norway or Holland declared with a Royal Magnanimity that he would live and die in his Nest and not survive the Fate and Glory of his Country In short this War continued as long as King Charles lived And though a Treaty was on foot to be influenced by the Mediation and Sea-Forces of England and Holland yet the Business was so carried on that no Treaty was made till after the Death of King Charles Who dying in the Year 1660. of a malignant Fever at Gottenburg in Sweden left his Crown and Conquests to Charles his Son the present King of Sweden Soon after his Death the Treaty of Peace was concluded much upon the Basis of the Roschild Treaty But the Government of Drontheim in Norway was by this Treaty restored to King Frederick Who died February the 9th in the Year 1670 being 61 years old Since that time there has been another Rupture betwixt these two Northen Crowns in the late Wars which have imbrued Europe in so much Blood Where both the present King of Denmark Christiern V. and the Illustrious Prince George his only Brother have given such proofs of their Personal Valor as becomes the Royal Issue of so magnanimous a Prince as King Frederick 'T was in this War that the Swedes were routed out of Germany Pomeren they lost to the Elector of Brandenburg Wismar in Mecklemburg and several Places in Schonen to the King of Denmark Where the Danes overpowred them frequently in Field-Fights and in Sieges neither did they come off less triumphantly at Sea And though the most Christian King forced the Danes at last as well as Brandenburg to a Restitution yet they had the satisfaction of having revenged in some measure their former Quarrel with the Swedes So true it is that of all humane Things none is more subject to Vicissitude than the Issues of War Thus having brought this Monarchy from the first Rise thereof to its present State through a continued Series of the most material Changes I shall now with all the clearness and brevity I can prosecute my main Design In order to which I must in the first place give an Account of Denmark then of Norway and lastly of some other Estates and Dominions belonging to this Crown Of DENMARK in general THE Kingdom of DENMARK lies East from Scotland and the North of England at least 300 miles by Sea the nearest Parts The same is called Denmark or Danemark i. e. the Country of the Danes whose Original you shall hear of afterwards The best and greatest Part of it is the Peninsule called Jutland otherwise the Cimbrick Chersonese from its ancient Name Cimbrica Chersonesus The rest does consist of Islands the principal of which are Seland and Funen As to the Country of Schonen formerly part of Denmark 't was by the Roschild Treaty transferred to the Crown of Sweden and incorporated with it So that it does not belong to my Subject The whole Country is almost surrounded with the Sea nothing but the South Parts of the Peninsule bordering upon any Land The Peninsule lies Westward and the Islands Eastward The Ocean goes round about that as far as the little Belt which parts it from Funen Situate it is betwixt the fifty fourth and fifty ninth Degrees of Northern Latitude and consequently altogether in the Northern Temperate Zone the Skau or Skagen which is the most Northern Point of Denmark being no less than eight Degrees and a half distant from the Arctick Circle where begins the Frigid Zone Accordingly there the longest day is somewhat above 18 hours and at Altena near Hamburg in the South Parts of the Chersonese not quite 17. In short this Country lies parallel to all that Tract of Ground which is from Hull in Yorkshire to Dornock in the furthest Parts of Scotland At 20 Leagues or 60 miles a Degree
called from Wiburg the Episcopal See situate on a River which runs Northward into the Bay of Limfort South of that lies the District of Arhusen so called from Arhusen the chief place hereof Situate East-Southward from Wiburg by the Sea side and being a Port of good note few miles above the lesser Belt Opposite to which is Rinkoping on the West-side of the Peninsule thirteen Leagues distant from Arhusen Westward and ten from Ripen Northward This is a noted Sea Port on the German Ocean The Diocese of Ripen is the most Southern and the largest of all The same is so denominated from Ripen the Episcopal See seated on the West-side of the Peninsule near the German Ocean and fortified with a Castle Under this Diocese there are no less than thirty Herets or Perfectures 282 Parishes seven walled Towns and ten Royal Castles Amongst these Towns I cannot but take a particular notice of Fredericks-Ode The taking of which by the Swedes Nov. 4. Anno 1657. under the Conduct of Marshal Wrangel did not only give them the Plunder and Contribution of most part of Jutland but also traced them the way for their further Conquests This was a new Town seated on the lesser Belt indowed with many Priviledges to invite Inhabitants and fortified on the Land-side The Sea-side being pallisadoed from the adjoyning Bulwarks as sar as deep Water was counted strong enough But the Swedes under favour of the Darkness and some false Alarms broke down that wooden Fence and rushing in up to the Saddle-skirts in Water took the Town by Storm Where besides 2000 slain they made above 2000 Prisoners whereof near 200 Officers There they found no less than 33 Colours and 80 Pieces of Canon with other Store of Ammunition and Plunder But the Swedes kept it little above a twelve Month in their hands For about the latter end of the following Year the Emperour the King of Poland and the Elector of Brandenburg being confederated together against the Swedes in their own and the Danes behalf they put the Swedish Forces in Jutland so hard to it that they were fain to quit all their Holds there Upon their quitting of this Place the Confederates resolved but in vain to pursue the Swedes into the Isle of Funen Where they were so warmly received by the Defendants that they were fain to retire before they could reach the shore Here is also in this Diocese the Sea-Port of Colding not above six miles South-west of Fredericks-Ode The same is fortified with a Castle called Arnsburg and here is paid the Toll for the Horses and Oxen which pass this way for Holstein and Germany This Town was taken from the Swedes some time before Fredericks-Ode by Czernesky who commanded the Polish Forces Having forced the Kings Palace he put the whole Garrison to the Sword reserving only the Governour and his Lieutenant to publish his Victory and their own Misfortune I proceed now to South-Jutland which as I said before comprehends the Dukedoms of Sleswick and Holstein Though there are those I confess who look upon Holstein as no part or Member of Jutland but as a Country of it self The first is so called from Sleswick the chief Place of it Seated towards the end of a large Bay or Inlet of the Baltick which runs half way the Peninsule Westward and gives to Sleswick a fair and commodious Haven The Dukedom was first erected by King Eric of Denmark who gave it to Waldemar great Grandchild of Abel a former King Anno 1280 to be held by him under the Right and Sovereignty of the Kings thereof But the Male Issue failing it returned to the Crown and was by Margaret Queen of Denmark conferred on Gerard Earl of Holstein Anno 1386. Afterwards repenting of that Act she extorted it out of the hands of his Widow but it was again recovered by the Valour and good Fortune of his Son Adolphus After whose Death it fell together with Holstein to Christiern of Oldenburg King of Denmark by whom it was incorporated with that Crown Next to Sleswick there are other Places of good note in this Dukedom As Gottorp near Sleswick a strong Castle and the usual Residence of the Dukes of Holstein Gottorp of the Royal Family of Denmark Frederickstad on the River Eyder some fourteen miles West of Gottorp Tonningen a strong Fortress not above eight miles from that to the Westward and seated also on the River Eyder not far from its Influx in to the German Sea but lately dismantled by the King of Denmark The River Eyder is the chief of this Peninsule and was the ancient Boundary betwixt the Saxons and the Danes It rises above Rensburg and parts all the way it runs the Dukedoms of Sleswick and Holstein 'T is from this River that the said Duke of Holstein's Country from Tonningen as far as Husum is called Eyderstede Now Husum lies almost full North of Tonningen commodiously seated on a Bay of the German Sea and fortified with a Castle Both this Place and Tonningen as well as Frederickstad did lately belong to the Duke of that Name North-East from Husum you will find Flensburg a noted Town with a Castle on a Bay of the Baltick Sea called Hever Bay There is a Port so deep so safe and so commodious that the very Ships come up close to the Houses almost every where Further North is Apenrade likewise on the Baltick Sea Six or seven miles further you will find Hadersleben a Town of good note near the Baltick and over against the Island of Funen beautify'd with the fair Castle of Hansburg begun to be built by John the eldest Son of King Christiern I. then Duke of Holstein but finished by Frederick II. King of Denmark This Town and Castle was in the forementioned Wars twice taken by the Swedes but at last restored with the rest There is one Town more in these Parts I thought fit to take notice of and that is Tondern near the German Sea almost opposite to Apenrade aforesaid on the Baltick Betwixt Sleswick and Flensburg is a Territory that goes by the Name of Anglen From whence England has got its denomination ever since King Egbert whose Ancestors perhaps were born in this Tract of Land caused this Kingdom to be called Engel-lond afterwards turned into England in a Parliament held at Winchester Anno 814. So that the English Nation is not only originally descended from the Saxons and Danes but the very Name of England has its original from thence And if there ought to be any Ties of natural Friendship betwixt two Nations sprung up from the same Root it must be betwixt these Nations especially considering the Uniformity of Manners the Congruity of Religion as to the main Points and the stricter Union of both Crowns by such Royal Matches on both sides as makes the same Bloud run in the Veins of both the Royal Families I said before that the River Eyder was the ancient Boundary betwixt the Saxons and the Danes But
which sails through the Sund into or out of the Baltick And here it is that all forein Ships pay the Toll to the King of Denmark except the Swedes who got themselves off by the Treaty of Roschild In short such is the Strength of this Castle and the narrowness of the Streight that the first seems impregnable and that by the addition of a few Ships the King of Denmark may keep the greatest Fleet that is from passing by him But yet this very Castle was taken by the Swedes in the late Kings time and this famous Structure the Product of eight years Labour and vast Expence fell in the space of three Weeks into the hands of Field-Marshal Wrangel Which was principally effected by a Stratagem then used by the Swedes Who to increase the Terror of the Besieged gave it out that Copenhagen was taken and celebrated this pretended Conquest with the discharges of all their great and small Shot with the Noises of their Drums and Trumpets with Bonfires and all other Demonstrations of Joy Whereupon the Garrison was summoned and threatned with all sorts of extremities if they alone should be so confident as to continue to oppose their victorious Armies The Governours who were then no less than three a stout Triumvirate upon the sordid Suggestions of Fear and a rash Credulity surrendred this strong Place Sept. 6. 1658. And yet they wanted neither Souldiers nor Provisions nor Ammunition but instead of those they wanted indeed Courage Discretion and Fidelity They were afterwards says my Historian condemned by a Council of War at Copenhagen to lose their Heads but pardoned by the Kings Clemency and the Intercession of the Mediators for Peace Tho the truth is the loss of that Place was like to have lost Copenhagen then closely besieged as it was and consequently the whole Kingdom So great and universal a Terror did the News of this unhappy Surrender strike in the Inhabitants that now they look'd upon themselves as irrecoverably ruined and there was scarce any amongst them so resolute but was shaken at this fatal Truth The Swedes on the other side were not little heightned with this Victory whereby they found a great quantity of Gun-powder which they much wanted and great Provision of Cannon and other Instruments of War Neither did they doubt in the least but that Copenhagen would now quickly follow being resolved now they were secure behind to attack it with their united Forces But the Besieged re-assumed their wonted Courage and kept still the Swedes out of doors About three leagues West of Cronenburg you will find Fredericksburg a Royal and stately Pallace pleasantly seated on the North side of a Lake among Woods of Beech. There was anciently a Castle known by the name of Ebelholt and an Abbey dedicated to the holy Ghost King Frederick II. was the Founder of this Palace It has a little Park about it and therein amongst other forein Beasts some fallow Deer transported hither out of England in the Twenty fourth year of Queen Elizabeth Afterwards the Pallace was beautified by Christiern the Fourth with fine Statues and Pictures and other pieces of rare Workmanship But there 's nothing that recommends this Place so much to the Memory of Man as the solemn Interview that hapned here betwixt the late Kings of Sweden and Denmark upon the Conclusion and Ratification of the Roschild Treaty Thither both Kings went says Sir Roger Manley and which is remarkable without any previous Stipulation concerning Gards or Number of Followers a Thing usually practised upon such Occasions but with a frank and Northern simplicity either not mistrusting or unwilling to mistrust each other King Frederick met his new Guest coming from Roskild about two miles from his House Both Kings being at a competent distance alighted out of their Coaches at the same time and approaching on foot saluted each other by joyning their right hands with all the respect and obliging demonstrations of Kindness imaginable And now as if their late Enmity had been intirely forgot they both entred the same Coach Which being King Frederick's Coach the King of Sweden stept in first There went with them Mr. Meadow the English Mediator and the Duke of Holstein Sunderburg The Intertainment at Frederixburg was as splendid and magnificent as the Place and Winter-season could afford At Table the Queen of Denmark sat at the Boards end the King of Sweden on the side at her right hand as being the Guest and next below him on the same side the King of Denmark The Provision was sumptuous the Order exact and the Solemnity rare to see two Kings at one Table who had so little before been in Arms one against the other It could not be but very pleasant to hear now those Trumpets and Kettle-drums loudly proclaim Healths which so lately denounced Death In short the Solemnity continued from Thursday to Saturday both Kings lodging two nights under the same Roof At parting they exchanged Horses and other Presents and those Officers of the Danish Court who were particularly appointed to attend the Swedish King were nobly regalled by him On Saturday he took his leave and went to Elsinor the King of Denmark accompanying him part of the way From thence he passed the Sound through the noise and smoak of the Canon of the two Castles of Cronenburg and Elsinburg to take possession of his Purchase in Schonen On the West side of the Island is Corsoer situate on the great Belt over against Nyburg in Funen and fortifyed with a Castle Here August 8. Anno 1658. King Charles of Sweden landed his Army from Kiel in Holstein in his second Expedition against Denmark but five months after the aforesaid Interview of the two Kings at Frederixburg And though this Army was far greater in reputation than numbers yet it met with little or no resistance Those few Gards that were on the Coasts fled at first sight of the Fleet and the Townsmen dissembling what they durst not seem to fear were fain to receive their Invaders as Friends 'T is true the Swedes indeavoured to make them believe that they intended no hostility but were come to assist the King of Denmark against the Designs of some of his rebellious Nobles And therefore King Charles his chief care upon his Landing was to keep his Souldiers from plundering and by quick sending out of Parties of Horse to suppress the Danish Troops which were quartered up and down the Island or at least to hinder their Retreat into Copenhagen Count Tott Lieutenant-General of the Horse led the Van but the King himself did not stir till the day following And though his main hopes of Victory consisted in the quickness of his Motion yet he marched but slowly So that the noise of this Invasion fled to Copenhagen before him and by his slow march he gave the Citizens time enough to recollect themselves from their sudden terrour and take up Arms in their own defence Sixteen miles North of Corsoer stands
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
to the Danes For it has no Walls about it but lyes open on all sides 'T is true it has been destroy'd several times by fire and there is still to be seen some Remains of one of the most stately Churches in the North. But this Place could never recover it self to any thing of its ancient Greatness or Splendour since the Danish Viceroys kept their Residence at Berghen as a more convenient Place and to be sure not so extreme cold as the other For whereas Drontheim is situate in the 24th degree of Northern Latitude a cold Seat for a King or a Vice-Roy Bergen is at least two degrees more Southerly To be short Drontheim is that Place which the Latines called Nidrosia as the Italians call it still to this day And they termed it Nidrosia from Nider a River which runs before it There is a Castle to defend it but none of the strongest And yet it is the largest Prefecture or Government reaching from South to North no less than 500 miles and from the Ocean Westward to the Kingdom of Sweden Eastward at least 100 miles 'T is true this Government by reason of its great Extent is subdivided into the Prefecture of Drontheim properly so called which takes up the Southern Parts and the Prefecture of Salte which takes up the North Parts The Whole by the Roschild Treaty was granted to the Swedes but afterwards restored to the Danes by the next Treaty of the year 1660. East of Drontheim lyes the Countrey of Jempterland formerly part of Norway and as such belonging to the Crown of Denmark But by the Treaty of Bromsbroo Anno 1645 it was yielded to the Swedes to whom it has been subject ever since At last we come to Wardhuis a Government in the sarthest Parts Northward So called from the Town of Wardhuys as that is from the Isle Ward about 120 miles South-East of the North-cape in which it is seated This Place which was but formerly mean and poor is something improved since the North-East Passage to Archangel was found out by the English it lying in the way for the English and Dutch to touch at as they go to Moscovy But by reason of the extremity of the Cold and long absence of the Sun for some Months together it is hardly habitable and consequently the Sea not navigable In the Summer time the Governour makes shift to reside in it but past that Season he shifts to a warmer Place The Castle was strongly fortify'd by King Frederick the Second as well to command the Natives as to awe the neighbouring Laplanders For Eastward this part of Norway borders upon the Moscovian Southward upon the Swedish Lapland And truly this Government at least the East part of it otherwise known by the name of Finmark may be called the Danish Lapland Here is the great Lake Enarak which parts a great way this Region from the Moscovian Lapland The Norvegians were formerly so warlike a People that they became terrible to the more Southern Nations By whom they were called Normans q.d. Northmen being at that time a mixture of several Nations of the North as of Norvegians and Swedes amongst whom perhaps the Danes did come in In short 't is from them that the fair Province of Normandy in France took that name For as the Romans had been routed there by the French so the French afterwards were routed by the Normans Who about the year 800 began their Irruptions out of their Northern Countreys and did so ransack and plague the Maritime Towns of France and the Netherlands that it was inserted in the Litany From Plague Pestilence and the Fury of the Normans good Lord deliver us Charles the simple to quiet them and to secure himself gave them a part of Neustria from them since called Normannia or Normandy together with the Sovereignty of Britanny enjoy'd by them and their Posterity for many Ages Their first Duke was Rollo Anno 912 from whom in a direct Line the sixth was William called the Conquerour and crowned King of England Anno 1067. But since the Norvegians became subject to the Crown of Denmark their Fury is so much abated and their Spirits have been so quelled that they are grown as cold as their Climate Instead of Invading Nations they are given to Hospitality and far from turning Pirates they are become great Abhorrers of Theft In short they have now the repute of being a sort of good harmless People without any fraud or deceit For which they are indebted to the Danes who by keeping them low have not onely took away their Strength but their Courage And yet it is said some of them are much given to Witchcraft and that they are so expert in it as to be able by keeping good Correspondence with the Prince of the Air drive a Trade of Winds As to Christianity the Norvegians did not imbrace the Gospel till the Reign of Olaus Son of Sueno King of Denmark and Norway that is about the Year 1055. The English assisted in the Work and the good King Olaus was so zealous in it that he was canonized for a Saint after his decease The Reformation was wrought here at the same time and in the same manner as it was in Denmark I said from the beginning that the Norvegians were first conquered by Sueno King of Denmark In whose Line that Crown continued till Sueno II restored it to the Norvegians But afterwards being reunited to the Crown of Denmark by the Marriage of Aquin King of Norway and of Margaret eldest Daughter of Waldemar III King of Denmark it has ever since continued subject to this Crown And though Olaus the only Son of Aquin died without Issue yet the Norvegians liked the Danes so well that they never offered to assert their Liberties But if their stomachs served them now to stir against the Danes where is their strength to do it They are poor and only fit to live as they do in an entire submission to their Prince the King of Denmark and under Him to his Viceroy the Lord Guldenlew Of the Earldoms of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst in Germany IN Germany the King of Denmark possesses the Earldom of Oldenburg and under it That of Delmenhorst The Earldom of Oldenburg is a fine Estate in the North-Parts of Westphaly so called from Oldemburg the chief Place of it and the Head of this Earldom It lies betwixt the German Ocean Northward and the Bishoprick of Munster Southward the Dukedom of Bremen Eastward and East-Friseland Westward The Soil hereof is exceeding rich but in Pastures especially Which breed infinite Herds of Cattel and furnish not this Country only but some of their German Neighbours and many of the more Northern Nations with Horses Beeves Sheep Swine Butter and Cheese Here is also good store of Pulse Barley and Oats plenty of Fruits and Trees of all sorts large Woods well stored with Venison and yielding unto the Gentry the Delights of Hunting But the Air is pretty cold in