Program contains violence. Young children should watch with an adult.
FREDERIKSBORG CASTLE 1648
The year is 1648.
Denmark's king, Christian IV, is old and sick.
For more than 50 years, he's ruled the country through both glory and decline.
He's been one of the richest and most powerful kings ever -
- but now he's about to die.
And even though he invested everything -
- to put it mildly, things haven't gone as he imagined.
Christian IV is king in a time we call today the Renaissance.
A period where science, art, and culture blossom.
Where a small upper class cultivates music and fashion -
- while the rest of the Danes must work hard to put bread on the table.
It's a time when religion permeates everything -
- and where the people will get used to a new form of Christianity.
And as the Church's new leader, the king is responsible for -
- ensuring the Danes are pious and worthy churchgoers -
- at whatever cost.
This is The Story of Denmark.
Of how a country became a country and a people a people.
It's the tale of a nation that experienced both dizzying greatness -
- and total decline.
Through war and love, poverty and prosperity.
Absolutism and democracy.
All that has formed the Denmark that we know today.
This is our story.
REFORMATION AND RENAISSANCE
In Denmark, we have freedom of religion. We can believe what we like.
We can even believe in nothing at all.
But in the 1600s, Christianity permeated society.
And as an extension of God's arm, it's the king's duty and responsibility -
- to ensure that Danes stay on the right Christian path.
OUR LADY CHURCH COPENHAGEN, 1596
In 1596, Denmark will have a new king.
It's a young and cheerful prince who will take the throne.
He was only 11 years old when his father, Frederick II, died.
Now he's all of 19, and it's his turn to rule the country.
His name is Christian IV -
- and he will become one of the most remarkable kings in Denmark's history -
- famous for his grand gestures, his wars -
- and for ushering Copenhagen into a new era.
The young Christian IV is ambitious on all fronts.
Architecturally, great-looking buildings. There's art and there's culture.
But the big thing is that Denmark will remain the North's greatest power.
Christian IV's kingdom will stretch from Iceland over to the Faroe Islands -
- to northernmost Norway and far into Sweden in the east.
Christian IV was a very lively person who liked wine, women, and song.
But he was also directly accountable to God -
- in respect to whether the Danish people were upstanding Christians.
And that was a responsibility that he was fully aware of -
- and he actually did quite a lot to live up to.
The nobility and the Council of Governors choose the new king -
- who will also become the head of the Church.
And that's a time when religion pervades everything.
We almost can't imagine the role of religion back then.
- The whole environment is religious. - Religion pervaded everything then.
Back then, when someone asked how the world was created -
- and why sometimes there was drought -
- the ones who explained things were the men of the Church.
For example, if drought hit, the priest would explain -
- that God had sent that drought as a punishment for -
- people not living the right way.
Earlier, the Danes were Catholics, but when Christian IV becomes king -
- they no longer meet a Catholic priest in church.
50 years earlier, his grandfather, Christian III, completed -
- what we call the Reformation.
The Catholic Church lost all power and influence in Denmark -
- and became strictly forbidden.
The country broke with the Catholic Church and became Protestant.
The man speaking is Peder Palladius.
He's Zealand's new bishop, and travels around telling people -
- what the Reformation will mean for them.
And remember that it's not just in here that you should pray -
- but also at home.
It's all inspired by Martin Luther, the German monk who -
- in the beginning of the 1500s, breaks with the Catholic Church -
- which he thinks has misunderstood the Bible's message.
One might say that there was a kind of reeducation.
Some things people had learned were no longer right -
- and some things became emphasized in new ways.
The most important thing to Luther was to stress -
- that humanity was saved by faith.
You can no longer expects others to pray for your sins.
The Reformation is a desire to return to the word of the Bible.
That means people are judged more by whether they live a pious life.
People alone are responsible. They can't ask for help -
- from a saint or from the Virgin Mary -
- or pay a priest to pray a little extra for them.
All those possibilities disappear. The whole middle ground -
- between the individual person and God disappears with the Reformation.
Even though early Protestantism is religiously strict -
- the Church emphasizes that the individual himself reads God's word.
And that will mean something for literacy of Danes.
In 1532, Luther's Catechism comes out.
An easy-to-understand book on the right Christian life -
- that all Danes must learn by heart.
The priests find that for the young to understand the material -
- it's much better if they learn to read first.
And the first book people learn is the Catechism.
It's the book everyone reads. Rich and poor, boys and girls.
The Reformation puts increased attention on the faith of the individual -
- with respect to God.
It isn't just about religion. It's about the riches -
- they can get their hands on.
Before the Reformation, the Catholic Church was the largest landowner.
The Church and the monasteries owned about 40% of Denmark's land.
But Christian III confiscates all of it -
- making Danish royalty immensely wealthy in one stroke.
And when Christian IV becomes king, he inherits both goods and gold -
- and holds a coronation unlike any before or ever since.
In the streets of Copenhagen, coins are thrown to the people.
In the fountain of the city square, wine runs instead of water.
And the king himself takes part in a great jousting tournament.
Guests flock from all over Europe, bringing beef, pork, lamb and fish -
- and a bit to drink as well.
In any case, the king bought more than 35,000 glasses into his chambers.
No one will doubt that Christian IV has announced his arrival.
But what's most impressive is the crown Christian IV has made for himself.
It's composed of almost 3 kilos of gold, gemstones, and pearls.
And it's telling of how Christian IV perceived himself as king.
There are three interesting figures. And the same figure appears three times.
It's a pelican pecking himself in the chest.
It symbolizes Jesus, who sacrificed himself for humanity.
Christian IV uses it to show his own Christian faith -
- and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his people.
No one knows how many Danes were there when Christian IV becomes king -
- but it's estimated at between 500,000 and 800,000 people.
But we know he's taken over a prosperous country -
- and things are going well in Denmark at the end of the 1500s.
There's a good market for corn and cattle in Europe -
- and both kings and noblemen can afford to build new, beautiful manors...
...or build up the ones that are already there.
Just after the coronation, Christian IV tears his father's castle down -
- to build a new and still more impressive one: Frederiksborg Castle.
It's elegant enough, but behind the beautiful facades -
- lies a sharply divided society -
- where only 1% of people own farmland.
Most Danes at this time live as farmers in the country -
- and don't own land themselves. They rent it from lords.
Typically, the land is owned by a lord -
- but if you were lucky, you got a piece of land to use yourself.
You signed a contract where the lord says:
You have permission to use a portion of my farm.
In return, you will provide something.
That's to say that there are social classes in the village.
So there are cottagers who just have a little house -
- with a little cabbage garden. And they surely can't live off that.
So they work for the landowners.
So they're servants in the fields. They own nothing at all.
One almost never hears about ordinary people in the 1600s.
Sources mostly speak only about kings and other great men.
But in Sørbymagle Parish in Zealand, there's a priest named Mads Prom -
- who begins writing a biography of his parishioners when they die.
The yellowed pages in the church book give a sense of the life -
- that could be lived in the 1600s.
Two of the fates that stand out are the married couple Knud Andersen -
- and Anne Hansdatter.
Anne and Knud met each other as servants for a landowner.
Then one of the village's small cottages becomes available -
- and it wasn't that expensive to get a lease for a house.
And so they agreed to tie the knot.
They get married and move into the little cottage.
For 19 years, Anne and Knud toil at the cottage.
They have eleven children, eight of whom die young.
But after 19 years, luck smiles on them -
- when half a farmhouse becomes vacant in the village.
And so Knud says, "Yes, I'd like it."
They've saved half a barrel of oats together, with which they pay.
And that was a small step up the social ladder -
- because now they have their own land.
Anne, Knud and their three children can sit down to table in their own house.
But even though they see a brighter future -
- fate will prove to be otherwise.
LUND 2014
In the crypt under Lund Cathedral, Swedish researchers have taken a step -
- on a journey that will enlighten them about life in the 1600s.
Here lies the body of Peder Winstrup -
- who was bishop in Lund back when Skåne was part of Denmark.
It was Peder Winstrup's father who crowned Christian IV -
- and was himself the king's personal priest at Frederiksborg Castle.
For more than 300 years, the bishop has laid in his coffin.
He is the best-preserved body we have from the 1600s in Europe.
Incredibly, the dry air in the crypt -
- ensured that Peder Winstrup's body did not decay.
He's fantastic. It's a wonderful image of eternal sleep.
Now we'll move him to the same place.
Now researchers can study how the elite lived in Christian IV's time.
To find that out, you need to examine everything found in the coffin -
- and naturally, also look inside of his body.
The first task will be to move the bishop out of the coffin -
- without him going to pieces.
Mentally, we need to prepare ourselves that something can go wrong.
Here's a layer. And there's another layer.
You need to have your hands under here. You need to hold there.
Be careful. Try to hold it as flat as possible.
It's quite amazing.
Christian IV becomes head of a Church that preaches moderation -
- but at the court in Copenhagen, nothing is spared.
Here the cups are full, and there are at least 16 dishes -
- when the partying king holds a dinner.
Christian IV isn't just famous for drinking his guests under the table.
He also quickly becomes one of Europe's richest men.
In the beginning of the 1600s, there are lots of trade ships -
- that pass Kronborg on the way to and from the Baltic Sea.
And they have to pay the Øresund toll every time.
And everything from the Øresund toll goes directly into the king's pockets.
But the young Christian wants to be more than just rich.
For hundreds of years, Denmark and Sweden have fought for power.
Christian IV wants to ensure that Denmark appears to be the North's strongest power.
The fleet still needs to control Øresund and the Baltic Sea especially -
- so that we can still charge the Øresund toll.
So he comes into conflict with Sweden, which he considers the evil neighbor.
The plan is to conquer all of Sweden once and for all.
And in 1611, Christian IV attacks.
For two years, Christian IV fights.
But the Swedes are tough opponents.
Christian IV doesn't win the war -
- but he doesn't lose it, either.
Christian IV wasn't able to conquer Sweden -
- but he was certainly able to capture some parts of Sweden.
To get that back, the Swedes need to pay large reparations for the war.
The king went to war, so it's actually the king who gets a very large amount.
It was ten barrels of gold.
That made the king one of the richest rulers in Northern Europe.
The Kalmar War, as it's now called, makes the king particularly wealthy.
He uses some of the money for the project -
- that will put his name in the history books.
Copenhagen will leave the Middle Ages, becoming a modern European metropolis.
He builds the Stock Exchange with the dragon spire of the merchants.
Here trade will flourish, and Danish ships will sail out -
- to bring exotic wares home.
Later on, he builds the Round Tower for the astronomers.
But one building is closer to Christian IV's heart than any other -
- the summer castle, Rosenborg.
The king builds the castle as a 29-year-old -
- but he continues to expand and change it over the next 30 years.
The castle becomes Denmark's treasure trove -
- and here you can still find many of the time's precious objects.
Objects that show how the king and the elite -
- used the influx of money to embellish themselves in the Renaissance.
CHRISTIAN IV AS A KNIGHT 1598, ROSENBORG
Among the most iconic objects -
- is the crown Christian IV had made for himself.
CHRISTIAN IV'S CROWN 1598, ROSENBORG
But Christian IV also had a sense for more earthly needs.
He has a toilet designed, which was almost unknown at the time.
Without a sewer, however.
The excrement goes straight into the moat.
The toilet is called "The Secret".
And secrets are something one cultivates in the Renaissance.
One of them we find in the king's winter room.
When foreign envoys come into the audience of Christian IV -
- the king has a little surprise up his sleeve.
When he thinks the time is right, he gives a discreet signal.
On the signal from the king, a young servant runs down to the cellar -
- where the king's band, some of Europe's best musicians, is ready.
And soon the music flows through the secret sound channel -
- up through the floor, and into the royal winter room.
300 years before the speaker's invention, it's a mystery to the visitors -
- where the sound is coming from.
This little trick shows Christian IV's sense for self-promotion -
- which is typical for the Renaissance.
THE HISTORICAL MUSEUM AT LUND UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN
In Lund, the researchers have gotten Peder Winstrup out of the coffin.
Now the examination of the unique find begins.
The bishop's fabric is totally unique and isn't found anywhere else.
So we chose to take this from the bishop -
- and save it for posterity.
If we look at his fantastic gloves with the small embroidery -
- they're completely intact.
The fingers were much too long for Winstrup's fingers -
- but that was modern in the 1600s, that gloves should have extra long fingers.
It seems incredibly strange.
You can take them there, so we can get...
Everything about Winstrup's appearance was made for viewing.
It was clearly to impress, that he should appear as fine as possible.
His pillow and mattress are made of the finest silk -
- a really costly material. And then, of course, that black velour.
And there's no one else who has that in their coffin.
A man in Peder Winstrup's position was very conscious of his attire.
And he wasn't alone in that in the 1600s -
- where the interest in fashion grows dramatically.
And back then, like now, you get inspiration from outside -
- and you need to be up to date on the new trends.
These slit mud pants, the highest fashion among the Danish nobility -
- are inspired by the uniforms of German mercenaries.
And the ruff on his costume comes from Spain.
Through the years, the collars become so wide, they're called mill wheels -
- until they become softer and thinner in the 1620s -
- so they lay like a bib in front of the chest.
Farther down is the so-called codpiece -
- that both covers and highlights the private parts.
Among the elite women, fashion dictates large collars -
- and bell-shaped skirts.
The dresses are called virtue protectors because they are stiff -
- and make it almost impossible to get very close.
But fashion and luxury aren't popular everywhere.
Especially not among the guardians of the proper Protestant teachings.
The priests scold the people for their finery -
- because according to the Church, vanity is a sin -
- that can awaken God's wrath.
The first years after the Reformation are about retraining the Danes -
- in Luther's new version of Christianity.
To convince them that God is loving and merciful -
- and the way to Heaven is through faith, prayer, attending church -
- and a life of moderation.
At the start of the Reformation, there's an expectation that by the word of God -
- we'll get rid of everything having to do with the Catholic Church.
The priests read directly from the New Testament.
You can imagine the words flying into people's ears -
- and descending into their hearts so they become good Christians.
And they're really, really wrong. It's just not that simple.
Despite the Church's message, Danes continue to drink -
- have extramarital sex, and buy expensive luxury goods.
And it's discovered that there are still Danes -
- practicing the Catholic faith in secret.
And there's a panic when it's discovered -
- that there's a ring of Catholics in Malmö.
They're afraid of a subversive movement to turn Denmark Catholic again.
They're terrified of that.
And in the beginning of the 1600s, the Church and the king have had enough.
Before the Reformation, the pope in Rome was the head of the Danish Church -
- but now, it's the king.
So it's Christian IV -
- who's responsible for correcting the Danes' bad behavior.
So they look for a way to take control of the situation.
Christian IV and his religious advisers -
- issue a vast array of laws to control the Danes' behavior.
The king tightens the grip of the Church more and more in Christian IV's time.
We're in the historical period that is historically called the Orthodoxy.
There comes a stream of regulations from Christian IV and his men about -
- how they want to discipline the people. They write in detail about -
- how many people should take part in weddings and funerals.
The reason is again religious. Christian IV is totally confident -
- that if Denmark's people aren't pious and god-fearing -
- then God will punish all of Denmark.
There's a severe crackdown on Catholics, and laws are introduced -
- that prohibit excessive fashion and extramarital sex.
In all respects, they want to make the religiously political state -
- as uniform as possible. Policy is also control.
And when the laws are being written, the Bible becomes a guideline for -
- what they should contain.
We see the criminal courts abide by the principles of the Old Testament.
So an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
That means if you committed an act -
- you were made to suffer in the same way.
If you committed murder, you'd be executed.
They're incredibly shocked when they read about these barbaric punishments.
If you were guilty of blasphemy and had mocked God -
- then your tongue was ripped out.
But the most infamous law Christian IV makes -
- is the law against witchcraft.
Since the Reformation's start, the Church has been against all forms of magic -
- because the Devil is behind it.
The religious motives are again what's important. They were confident -
- that the Devil could jump into a woman and then she could cast spells -
- and destroy the whole parish, creating crop failures -
- ensuring the animals didn't thrive, and that natural disasters would come.
So they had to be stopped.
People were accused of witchcraft for several hundred years -
- including when the Danes were Catholic. But with the law against witchcraft -
- they tighten their grip on the suspected witches.
When you look in the Bible, it's written:
"You must not let a sorceress live." So to Christian IV, it literally says -
- that one should catch these people and execute the guilty.
There are more witch trials under Christian IV than ever before in Denmark -
- and the most famous of them takes place here in Ribe.
The case against Maren Splids.
Maren Splids runs one of the town's taverns -
- and she's also married to the town's best tailor.
She's well-known and respected in the community, but she also has a temper -
- and has a tendency to curse.
But one day, something happens somewhere else in the town -
- that turns Maren's life upside-down.
Didrik Skrædder, one of her husband's competitors, has thrown up -
- and the vomit looks mysterious.
With the neighboring wives, Didrik's wife now goes to the king's sheriff -
- who lived here at Riberhus Castle, which was just outside of the town.
The sheriff inspects the mysterious vomit -
- maybe here in the writing house, where the remains of the castle lie.
He decides to let the town's priests investigate the case -
- and they have no doubts.
The vomit must be the Devil's work.
That it's women in particular who are convicted as sorceresses, as witches -
- is due to several things.
The first is an old Christian tale that goes far back -
- that it was Eve, the woman, who was to blame for the fall of man.
So it's easier for the Devil to persuade the woman to do harm.
The unrest grows when Didrik remembers that 13 years earlier -
- he quarreled with Maren Splids at her tavern -
- and that she threatened him with all the world's misfortune.
If we take a good look at how the community worked -
- it was a very violent society.
Men especially used violence. So when men threatened with a beating -
- the women simply said, "Something bad will happen to you!"
And then something bad happens, and suddenly they're coupled together.
In Ribe, Maren fights back against the witchcraft accusations.
She makes a case against Didrik Skrædder.
The trial takes place in the middle of town, and here Marin goes at Didrik hard.
Maren calls him a liar and says -
- if her clothes were cut like his, and she had been a man -
- she'd have killed him.
The trial in Ribe ends with Maren Splids' clear acquittal -
- but Didrik Skrædder doesn't give up.
Shortly after, Christian IV receives a complaint from Didrik -
- that Maren wasn't convicted.
And now the king writes to his representative in Ribe.
With the king's personal intervention, it looks bleak for Maren.
More trials come and go...
Mom!
...and she's eventually arrested and taken to a prison in Copenhagen -
- where, after six months, she ends up confessing.
Maren Splids confesses, among other things, that she and other witches -
- held a witch's sabbath in the cemetery at night...
- where they danced and feasted with the Devil -
- who came in the shape of a dog -
- or a cat.
And she also confesses that she spit and stomped on the wafer -
- she got during a church service.
But they're hardly Maren's own words. The confessions happened such that -
- the Church had a list of things they thought witches did.
And then the accused was pressured to confess point by point.
After the confession, Maren will receive her sentence.
Her last hope is that 'the judge' will pardon her.
But Christian IV sentences Maren to death -
- and as a witch, she'll be burned at the stake.
No! No! No!
In Sørbymagle in Zealand, Anne and Knud work in the garden -
- they finally could afford to buy after many years of hard work.
But happiness doesn't last long for them, because shortly after they move in -
- both Knud and Anne become sick.
In the 1600s, different epidemics wash over the land.
The people are hit time and again by typhus and tuberculosis -
- or the dreaded plague.
It was only the rich who could afford a doctor.
For most, doctors couldn't do anything about serious illnesses.
After 18 years on the farm, Anne gets sick and dies -
- and Knud dies six months later.
Priest Mads Prom writes in his parish book that the couple's relatives come -
- and take everything of worth from the little house.
This parish priest says directly that the property was distributed unfairly.
He meant that the creditors took what they wanted -
- and maybe other parts of the family.
There's very little -
- and, according to the priest, too little left for the children.
Anne and Knud's three children try to survive by begging -
- but it's not long before they, too, succumb to death.
In the parish book, the priest writes about one of the girls:
"She, as well as the other children, died of hunger."
Peder Winstrup becomes the last Danish bishop in Lund.
He was a strict steward of Luther's teachings, but reportedly -
- also very fond of life's glamour and delights.
Winstrup was a real bon vivant.
But we know that he became sick.
Two years before his death, he was bedridden.
And in that period, he became emaciated and thin.
He may have lost 30 kilos.
What was it that affected that 75-year-old body?
What illness did he have? That's what we're going to find out.
Samples from the bishop's femur and his hair can tell us -
- what diseases he had and what he ate.
It's incredibly strange -
- to stand here with the bishop's stool. It's really heavy.
Everything in Peder Winstrup's body tells us about the life he lived.
If we look at the teeth, he has only eight left.
And they're in the top of his mouth.
And they're so full of cavities... There are such big holes in them -
- that I can jump in and hide inside of them.
Examination of the desiccated body shows -
- that Peder Winstrup had a lot of the problems we know well today.
He's a person who was a little bit overweight -
- who ate badly, who worked too much -
- felt a lot of stress, and certainly also drank too much -
- of all the sweet wines at dinner.
And that leaves its marks on the body, and that's what we're seeing.
He preached -
- that one should live frugally and modestly -
- and be satisfied with simple things.
But all things considered, Winstrup appears to have been a person -
- who absolutely lived an unhealthy life.
While Christian IV has been fighting Catholics and witches in Denmark -
- a new problem has grown south of the border.
The Thirty Years' War, a war between Protestants and Catholics -
- that's about to set fire to the whole German Empire.
The northern German Protestants ask Christian IV for help -
- and both England and France promise to contribute soldiers and money -
- if the king will join the war.
Christian IV felt obliged -
- to keep the whole population as Lutherans.
And now they see that the Catholic power is growing -
- and becoming a great military power in Europe.
It must be fought theologically and ecclesiastically, but also militarily.
And we can also attribute it to something more personal.
The man was approaching 50 -
- so if he was going to win on the European battlefield -
- it was going to have to be now.
In 1625, Christian IV arrives at Rothenburg Castle in Germany -
- ready to fight.
With him, he has an army of 20,000 soldiers.
But the help from England and France hasn't showed up -
- and in Denmark, the Council and the nobility are asking Christian IV -
- to pull out of the war, which they fear will end in a catastrophe.
And Christian IV must realize that it could go -
- completely different than planned.
But during his morning prayer, Christian IV sees something -
- that makes an overwhelming impression on him.
In 1625, Christian IV has a religious vision -
- that's crucial to the decision he's going to make.
A decision that could end in triumph or catastrophe for Denmark.
The vision of the suffering Christ with the crown of thorns on his head -
- convinces Christian IV that the time has come -
- for him, as king and God's representative on Earth -
- to sacrifice himself, and with his own blood defend his people and his faith -
- like Jesus.
A little south of Hamburg, far from home -
- Christian IV prepares to go to war with the German kaiser.
The first couple of hours, it goes well for the king.
His soldiers bombard the kaiser's troops and force them to retreat.
But then his luck changes.
Several of Christian IV's top officers fall to the enemy's bullets -
- and the king's army can't hold its position.
The Battle of Lutter am Barenberge -
- ends up being one of the bloodiest battles in Danish history.
Christian IV's army is defeated -
- and 4000 of his soldiers are killed.
The king's flight from the battlefield becomes a turning point for Denmark.
The war has been costly in lives and money.
But that won't be the end of it.
A short time after, the German kaiser occupies a large part of Jutland.
30 years after he was crowned king -
- everything is about to crumble for Christian IV.
The wars have drained the treasury, and now the king increases taxes.
In addition to the fees a farmer was required to pay his landowner -
- and the tithe to the Church, they then also had to pay taxes.
The pressure on the farmers was increasing.
The powerful and rich country he dreamed of is hit time and again by misfortune.
The Germans have pulled out of Jutland -
- but now a Swedish army is on the way.
The moment Christian IV put his neck into the Thirty Years' War -
- the Swedes didn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation.
In 1643-1644, a new war with the Swedish breaks out -
- where the Swedes attack Denmark.
A Swedish army occupies Jutland, leading to several large naval battles -
- in which the king himself takes part.
The wars will cost him dearly.
Aside from losing parts of Norway and Gotland -
- in one of the battles he also loses his right eye.
But when Christian IV explains it, he doesn't blame himself.
When one loses a war, it's seen as an expression of God's anger.
So it has to be something that someone in Denmark did -
- so God didn't let us win the war.
And so they tighten the screw of the religious laws another turn.
More and more things become forbidden. The punishments are increased.
It called for a disciplining of the people.
Christian IV again tightens religion's grip.
In the churches, guards go around hitting people if they fall asleep.
And in the villages, a form of religious political control ensures -
- that the citizens live a Christian life.
And then the time comes to end the witch trial of Maren Splids.
After long trials and the personal intervention of Christian IV -
- the tavern owner, Maren Splids -
- is led to a place of execution outside of Ribe.
People have come from the morning prayer to witness the execution.
Among the spectators is Didrik Skrædder -
- the man who started the whole case against her.
Maren Splids still has support in town -
- but most are confident that she's in league with the Devil.
The Church didn't accuse anyone of being a witch. It was the locals.
And in the local community, they didn't fool around with witches.
Their magic is harmful magic. People get sick and die from them.
So it's the witches' fault for the evil that exists -
- and there's popular support for killing them.
According to the sentence, as a witch she should suffer "pyre and fire".
In other words, she'll be burned.
Soon, the priest will ask her if she's confessed all her sins -
- because if she does that, God will have mercy on her after death.
Maren Splids is one of at least 1000 Danes burned in the name of religion -
- during the 1500s and 1600s.
The vast majority are women.
FREDERIKSBORG CASTLE
On February 21st, Christian IV goes from Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød -
- to Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen.
His wish is to see the city's towers one last time.
For over 50 years, he's been king of Denmark.
Never before or since has a Danish king or queen -
- stayed in power so long.
He had it all and bet it all, and he lost it all.
You can compare the wealthy kingdom -
- he took over in 1596 with the impoverished country -
- he left in 1648.
The country was more or less destroyed, partly because of the war -
- and partly because of severe taxation.
But at the same time, it wasn't all bleak.
Even if most of the country becomes heavily impoverished -
- the capital has grown larger and richer than ever before.
The Copenhagen merchants are very pleased with Christian IV -
- because they profited from his wars and from the luxurious life of his court.
That's why we have two opposing images of Christian IV -
- the man who controlled everything -
- and the image of Christian IV as the great national king.
But that image, to a great extent, is built in Copenhagen.
Christian IV dies 71 years old at Rosenborg Castle.
It will be his son, Frederick III, who will take over the throne -
- but at the same time, the son inherits the old battle with Sweden.
The Swedes have occupied Poland, and now they attack Denmark from the south.
In the middle of the hard winter, the Swedish army crosses The Little Belt.
Jutland and Funen are already lost. Lolland and Falster are next in line.
And in Copenhagen, fears grow that the Swedes will conquer the capital.
If Copenhagen falls, nothing will be left of Denmark.
To save the country, the Danes must make a costly deal with the Swedes.
With a peace treaty in 1658 in Roskilde, known as The Treaty of Roskilde -
Denmark is forced to surrender Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge to Sweden.
The surrender of Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge in 1658 -
- is undoubtedly the greatest loss in Denmark's history.
The price was huge.
Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge -
- which could be compared to Funen and Zealand, were lost.
Before, Copenhagen was in the middle of the kingdom, and now it's vulnerable -
- on the exterior, very close to the Swedish enemy.
Since the Reformation, kings have tried to make the Danes pious -
- and fight the enemies of the true Protestant faith -
- whether it was fashion, witches, or the German kaiser.
But the country didn't get God's blessing. Misfortune rained down on Denmark.
Only by the skin of our teeth did we avoid total annihilation.
The kingdom is virtually bankrupt and the people are on their knees.
But who knows? Maybe God will again let the light of grace shine -
- over now-smaller Denmark.
The next chapter of The Story of Denmark -
Sweden attacks Denmark again, and the time of absolutism has begun -
- where one king decides everything.
But from the south in Europe come the Enlightenment's new ideas -
- that challenge that power...
It's a movement in the direction of social criticism.
...and help the farmers from oppression to greater freedom.