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“Another Age Will Damage and Destroy”: The Radicalised Reformation in Denmark-Norway in the Later Part of the Sixteenth Century

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Northern European Reformations

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Abstract

Introducing the Lutheran Reformation in Norway 1537, the Danish King Christian III and the reformers had to adopt a slow pace, carefully bringing about a gradual transition which did not upset the population. The second generation of reformers, however, realised that progress took too long and employed harsher means to eradicate the material culture of the old faith and its abundance of devotional practices. From the 1560s, then, a radicalisation took place, not so much theologically as in terms of rejecting all parts of the existing religious culture, moving closer to Calvinist positions. This development might have been initiated by the necessity of responding to the Tridentine Council. As the Roman church moved closer to a moderate Lutheran position, the reformers radicalised to uphold the distance needed to legitimise the break with the church of their fathers.

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Abbreviations

DI:

Diplomatarium Islandicum

DKL:

Danske Kirkelove 1536–1683

DN:

Diplomatarium Norvegicum, 1018–1570

NRR:

Norske riksregistranter

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bergen, University Museum, Bergen, Norway

    Henrik von Achen

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  1. Henrik von Achen
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Correspondence to Henrik von Achen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Durham University, Durham, UK

    James E. Kelly

  2. University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Henning Laugerud

  3. St Patrick's College, Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland

    Salvador Ryan

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von Achen, H. (2020). “Another Age Will Damage and Destroy”: The Radicalised Reformation in Denmark-Norway in the Later Part of the Sixteenth Century. In: Kelly, J.E., Laugerud, H., Ryan, S. (eds) Northern European Reformations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_4

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-54458-4

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