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316
Account of Denmark
in this age.
HISTORY OF THE SWEDES.
Its military
system.
[1C33—
cealing his design. He called his officers together
on the 6th December, made known to them his
order.s, and promised them good quarters. The
army continued their march with joy, and soon
overran Holstein and Jutland ’.
On the condition of the kingdom of Denmark at
this time we derive some information from the
memoir of a Swedish ministei’, preserved in the
library of Sko Cloister’. It is of the year 1649,
the one succeeding that in which king Christian IV.
terminated his long reign. The author, Magnus
Dureel, refers to his eight years’ sojourn in the
country, as Swedish resident, for a guarantee of his
trustworthiness; since, as he declares, "this nation
from its inborn nature keeps its affairs so secret,
that one cannot, without time and good opportunity,
investigate and comprehend all the points." We
have room only for the leading features.
" As the
kings of Denmark," says the writer,
" have their
hands bound, so that without their council they
can dispose of little touching the jura majestatis,
while the nobility can control both the other
estates and the king himself, and the commons have
not only no votes in state affairs, but are even
deprived of all hope of ever arriving at dignities
and offices; the form of government in Denmark is
thus aristocratical or oligarchical. The foundation
thereto was laid in the time of Frederic I., who
was installed by the nobility against the will of the
burgesses and peasants, who sided with Christian
the Tyrant. He granted to the nobility privileges,
which Frederic II. confirmed, and caused to be re-
corded in a special manifest, and which afterwards
Christian IV. and his son Frederic III. augmented;
so that although many privileges of the nobility are
formidable both to the king and the commonalty,
especially through the warranty of Frederic III.,
they are not easily to be curtailed; as is sufficiently
clear from the fifty-one years’ reign of Christian IV.
It is ordained that Denmark shall be and remain
an elective monarchy, as it anciently liath been,
and that Norway shall be for all time an insepara-
ble province of the cx’own of Denmark. The high
offices are five. The senators have no other stipend
than the chief and best feudatory districts, which
are the marrow and cream of the whole land. It
hath seemed good to their foregoers to constitute
one to be as it were a vice-king, to uphold always
in the government the immunities of the nobility.
This is the office of high steward of Denmark. The
high steward disposes of the revenues of the crown,
provides for the state of the king’s household, as
also for the fleet and other matters, hke to a king’s
lieutenant-general. It is commonly practised that
when any resources, whether from ordinary or
extraordinary taxes, are in hand, the high steward
then forthwith gives an assignment upon them, in
order that nothing may come into the treasury, and
the king be enabled thereby to use such resources
for his own service and the furtherance of his
designs. For this reason also the king of Denmark
hath been consti-ained by degrees to raise the
Sound toll, of which he disposed, and then wished
2 Dec. 26, 1C43, the government received intelligence of
Torstenson’s irruption into Holstein, and wrote to him, Jan.
7, 1644,
" Since Tornskold came home, bringing us your
answer to our letter of May 25 of the past year, we have re-
ceived from you only a single letter, that from Havelberg of
the 6th December. From Denmark we have heard that you
entered Holstein before the middle of December." Reg.
to levy a toll on the Elbe at Gluckstadt, that he
might thereby engross a capital. There are a high
marshal, a grand master of the ordnance, and a
general of engineers. For what else concerns the
higher offices in a well-ordered military system,
there are here hi Denmark none, but these are
filled in time of war either by foreign or native
noblemen. But as Denmark’s state is governed by
many, every man’s greatest interest is to pre-
serve his own. In war the landed estates of the
nobility are ruined, whether it
go prosperously or
unprosperously ; Christian IV. was blamed by the
nobility for having commenced war against their
will, especially upon the emperor, and for having
carried on the war with bad success. He was a
long time king, and had as well from that cause as
from his own courage acquired the respect of the
council, who were all his creatures, so that he
could have an opinion of his own in the like and
other matters. In order to prevent the ci’ovvn
from having such power, it is decreed in the last
manifest, that it shall not be allowed to the king to
choose from the nobility whomsoever he would
have to be of the council, but that the council with
the nobility, in every province where a vacancy
takes place by death, shall present to the king six
native nobles, from whom he shall select one. As
the nobility, which in effect has most power in the
government, loses most in a war, and besides sucks
the marrow of the land, it follows hence that the
Danish state inclines more to peace and quiet than
to war ;
wherefore also the nobility will not permit
any perfect military system to be formed in the
country. Nevertheless, because they greatly dread
the power of their neighbours, especially since the
realm of Denmark begins to be circumscribed by
the forces of the Swedes, through their well-
arranged military system, the nobility have been
compelled to maintain a kind of necessitous militia;
for to organize a perfect military force, neither the
means of the crown nor reasons of state permit
them ;
suice the nobility would have continually to
fear that the king would bind the army to his
interest, and lean upon the commons, who are now
malcontent, but singulai’ly aff’ectioned to the sove-
reign. To this is to be added, that the crown for-
merly did not need to raise a military class, since
the way to Germany stood always open for obtain-
ing men by recruitment. The nobility are unskilled
in military affairs, and very few conversant with
foreign countries. During war a continual contest
prevails for the supreme command.
In every province bands of the strength follow-
ing are to be exercised at the churclies ;
in Zea-
land 2000, in Fyen 1000, in Scania and Bleking
2000, in Jutland 4000, on the lesser islands 1000,
in Norway three regiments numbering 5400, for
the nobility (to every 600 tuns of corn, four men)
4000; in all, 10,400 men. Of the cavalry, the fiefs
and horse-service of the nobility supply 7000 ;
the
bailiffs and clergy, 2000 men. The navy consists of
twenty-four ships of war and si.xteen galliots. Den-
mark and Norway have 106 trading-shi[)s. The
people are for the most part well-practised at sea.
3 Relation concerning the kingdom of Denmark, composed
by Magnus Dureel, resident of her majesty of Sweden.
Dedicated to queen Chri^tina. In the Library of Sko Cloister,
MS. We have subsequently found an abstract of it in Suhm,
Samlinger till den Danske Historic (Collections for Danish
History), ii.
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