Denmark becomes officially Lutheran on October 30, 1536, by decree of King Christian III, and in 1537 the reconstituted State Council approves the Lutheran Ordinances, which is worked out by Danish theologians and Johannes Bugenhagen, based on the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Little Catechism.

The government establishes the Danish National Church (Danish: Folkekirken) as the state church.

All of Denmark's Catholic bishops go to prison until such time as they convert to Luther's reform.

The authorities release them when they promise to marry and to support the reforms.

If they agree, they receive property and will spend the rest of their lives as wealthy landowners.

If they refuse conversion, they will die in prison.

The State confiscates Church lands to pay for the armies that had enforced Christian III's election.

Priests swear allegiance to Lutheranism or find new employment.

The new owners turn monks out of their monasteries and abbeys.

Nuns in a few places gain permission to live out their lives in nunneries, though without governmental financial support.

The Crown closes churches, abbeys, priories and cathedrals, giving their property to local nobles or selling it.

The King appoints Danish superintendents (later bishops) to oversee Lutheran orthodoxy in the church.

Denmark becomes part of a Lutheran heartland extending through Scandinavia and northern Germany.

The Catholic Church everywhere in Scandinavia has sealed its fate by supporting hopeless causes: Christian II and the emperor Charles V in Denmark, Norwegian independence in that country, and in Sweden the Kalmar Union.

Geographical distance also prevents them from receiving anything more than a sympathetic ear from Rome.

Upon the death of the Hussite king, the Bohemian estates elect a Polish prince, Vladislav II, as king.

In 1490 Vladislav also becomes king of Hungary, and the Polish Jagellonian line rules both Bohemia and Hungary.

The Jagellonians govern Bohemia as absentee monarchs; their influence in the kingdom is minimal, and effective government falls to the regional nobility.

Czech Catholics accepts the Compact of Basel in 1485 and are reconciled with the Utraquists.

Vladislav's son, King Louis, is decisively defeated by the Ottomans at Mohacs in 1526 and subsequently dies.

As a result, the Turks conquer part of the Kingdom of Hungary; the rest (including Slovakia) comes under Habsburg rule.

The Bohemian estates elect Archduke Ferdinand, younger brother of Emperor Charles V, to succeed Louis as king of Bohemia.

Thus begins almost three centuries of Habsburg rule for both Bohemia and Slovakia.

The Bohemian Kingdom had in several instances had the possibility of becoming a Czech national monarchy.

The failure to establish a native dynasty, however, had prevented such an outcome and left the fate of the Bohemian Kingdom to dynastic politics and foreign rulers.

Although the Bohemian Kingdom evolves neither into a national monarchy nor into a Czech nation-state, the memory of it serves as a source of inspiration and pride for modern Czech nationalists.

Ferdinand, in addition to the lands he receives from his brother, also increases his territorial reach by marrying into the Jagiellon family, the royal family of Hungary and Bohemia.

When his brother-in-law, King Louis, dies fighting the Turks at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, Ferdinand claims the right of succession.

Although the diets representing the nobility of Bohemia (and its dependencies of Moravia and Silesia) do not acknowledge Ferdinand's hereditary rights, they formally elect him king of Bohemia.

As king of Bohemia, he also becomes an elector-prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

In Hungary and in the subordinate Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia, however, Ferdinand faces the rival claim of a Hungarian nobleman and the reality of the Turkish conquest of the country.

He is able to assert authority only over the northern and western edges of the country, which becomes known as Royal Hungary.

His Hungarian rival becomes a vassal of the Turks, ruling over Transylvania in eastern Hungary.

The rest of Hungary will become part of the Ottoman Empire in 1603.

Although Ferdinand undertakes various administrative reforms in order to centralize authority and increase his power, no meaningful integration of the Hereditary Lands and the two newly acquired kingdoms occurs.

In contrast to the authority of kings of Western Europe, where feudal structures are already in decline, Ferdinand's authority continues to rest on the consent of the nobles as expressed in the local diets, which successfully resist administrative centralization.

Maximilian's reforms are not enough to cure the ills of the empire, and relations between it and the princes and ecclesiastical states often are tense.

Disputes frequently involve complicated constellations of powers with occasional interference from abroad, most notably France.

Charles V (r. 1519-56) is elected emperor in 1519 only after he pays large bribes to the seven electors and agrees to many restrictions on his powers, restrictions he often later ignores.

Lutheranism has powerful supporters, but its survival is by no means certain.

Its main opponent is the Habsburg emperor Charles V, who has inherited Spain, the Netherlands, southern Italy, Sicily, and the Austrian lands as patrimony and who hopes to restore the unity of the German Empire by keeping it Roman Catholic.

Charles has been out of Germany between 1521 and 1530, and when he returns he finds that the new religion has won too many adherents to be easily uprooted.

In addition, he cannot devote himself single-mindedly to combating it but also had to struggle with powerful external enemies.

One is Francis I (r. 1515-47) of France, who attacks the empire from the west, having resolved to destroy the power of the Habsburgs.

Another threat is posed by the Turks, who are attacking the empire from the east.

Even the papacy at times conspires against its coreligionist because it fears Charles is becoming too powerful.

Luther's ideas soon coalesce into a body of doctrines called Lutheranism.

Powerful supporters such as princes and free cities accepted Lutheranism for many reasons, some because they sincerely support reform, others out of narrow self-interest.

In some areas, a jurisdiction adopts Lutheranism because a large neighboring state has done so.

In other areas, rulers accept it because they seek to retain control over their subjects who have embraced it earlier.

Nearly all the imperial cities become Lutheran, despite the fact that the emperor, to whom they are subordinate, is hostile to the movement.

Historians have found no single convincing explanation of why one area became Lutheran and another did not, because so many social, economic, and religious factors were involved.

Luther magnifies the inherent potency of his ideas by articulating them in a language that is without rival in clarity and force.

He strives to make the Scriptures accessible to ordinary worshipers by translating them into vernacular German.

This he does with such genius that the German dialect he used will become the written language of all of Germany.

Without Luther's translation of the Bible, Germany might have come to use a number of mutually incomprehensible languages, as is the case in the northwestern part of the Holy Roman Empire, where local dialects evolve into what is now modern Dutch.

Luther also writes hymns that are still sung in Christian religious services all over the world.

A less exalted reason for the wide distribution of Luther's doctrines is the development of printing with movable type.

The Reformation creates a demand for all kinds of religious writings.

The readership is so great that the number of books printed in Germany increases from about one hundred and fifty in 1518 to nearly a thousand six years later.

Martin Luther, a professor of theology at Wittenberg University in Saxony, writes on October 31, 1517,  to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting the sale of indulgences.

He encloses in his letter a copy of his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which will come to be known as the Ninety-five Theses.

Luther's primary concern is the sale of indulgences—papal grants of reduced punishment in the afterlife, including releases from purgatory.

First written in Latin, the theses are soon translated into German and widely distributed.

Summoned by church authorities to explain his writings, Luther becomes embroiled in further controversy and in 1520 writes his three most famous tracts, in which he attacks the papacy and exposes church corruption, acknowledges the validity of only two of the seven sacraments, and argues for the supremacy of faith over good works.

In 1521 Luther is summoned to appear before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms.

Refusing to recant his writings, he is banned under the Edict of Worms.

Secreted away by the ruler of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, Luther retreats to the castle of Wartburg, where he works on a translation of the New Testament and writes numerous religious tracts.

The Reformation soon becomes marked by violence and extremism, which is not surprising, given the revolutionary nature of Lutheranism and the economic and political tensions of the period.

The Knights' War of 1522-23, in which members of the lower nobility rebel against the authorities in southwestern Germany, is quickly crushed.

Some of the rampaging knights are ardent supporters of Luther.

The Peasants' War of 1524-25 is more serious, involving as many as three hundred thousand peas ants in southwestern and central Germany.

Influenced somewhat by the new religious ideas but responding mostly to changing economic conditions, the peasants' rebellion spreads quickly, but without coordination.

It also receives support from some dissatisfied city dwellers and from some noblemen of arms who lead its ragged armies.

Although the peasants' rebellion is the largest uprising in German history, it is quickly suppressed, with about one hundred thousand casualties.

In the 1530s, the Anabaptists, a radical Christian sect, seize several towns, their objective being to construct a just society.

They are likewise brutally suppressed by the authorities.

West Europe (1396–1539 CE)

Dynastic Struggles, Maritime Republics, and Reformation Currents

Geography & Environmental Context

West Europe in this age bridged the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through two intertwined spheres.
Mediterranean West Europe encompassed southern France (Languedoc, Provence, the Rhône valley, the French Pyrenees), Monaco, and Corsica—a frontier of mountain uplands, terraced coasts, and river plains tied to Italian and Iberian seas.
Atlantic West Europe ran along the Atlantic and Channel coasts of France, the Loire Valley Burgundy, northern France (including Paris), and the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg)—fertile basins and estuaries linked to Europe’s commercial cores.
From Marseille and Nice to Antwerp, Rouen, and Bordeaux, ports, riverways, and passes bound inland grainlands to sealanes and mercantile emporia.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

The Little Ice Age brought cooler winters, late frosts, and erratic rains.

• Languedoc–Provence & Corsica: Vine and olive belts suffered frost damage in severe winters; storms battered harbors.

• Rhône & Loire valleys; Paris Basin; Burgundy: Alternating floods, droughts, and cold snaps reshaped grain and grape yields.

• Low Countries & Channel coasts: North Sea surges and wetter fields demanded relentless dike upkeep; fisheries endured rougher seas yet remained staples.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Mediterranean sphere: Mixed farming of wheat, barley, rye, and legumes in valleys; vines and olives on coastal terraces; chestnuts in Corsican uplands. Sheep–goat transhumance linked Pyrenean and island pastures to town markets. Marseille, Avignon, Montpellier, Nice, and Ajaccio thrived as fortified, trade-facing towns.

• Atlantic sphere: Wheat, rye, oats, and barley dominated; Burgundy’s vineyards and the Loire’s orchards supported regional exchange; flax and hemp in Flanders; dairy and cattle in the Low Countries. Paris, Rouen, Dieppe, Bordeaux, Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels anchored urban craft and export economies. Fisheries for herring and cod—salted and barreled—fed towns and long-distance trade.

Technology & Material Culture

• Agriculture: Three-field rotations; water- and windmills; hillside terracing across Provence and Corsica.

• Shipbuilding & seamanship: Mediterranean galleys and Atlantic cogs evolved toward caravels and larger ocean-going hulls; coastal shipyards provisioned fleets from Marseille to Rouen and Antwerp.

• Architecture: Flamboyant Gothic cathedrals in Narbonne and Montpellier; papal complexes at Avignon; Genoese towers on Corsica; Burgundian ducal palaces; Flemish belfries and town halls; early Renaissance idioms appeared in Loire châteaux.

• Print & craft: Lyon, Paris, and Antwerp emerged as printing hubs; Flemish woolens and tapestries, Burgundian wines, and Parisian luxury metalwork set European tastes.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Mediterranean sealanes: Marseille and Monaco linked to Genoa, Naples, and Barcelona; Corsica sat astride Italy–Iberia–Maghreb routes.

• Rhône corridor: Carried salt, wine, and grain north to Lyon and beyond.

• Atlantic & Channel arteries: Bruges (declining by 1500), Antwerp (rising), and Rouen tied northern Europe to Iberia and the Mediterranean; Bordeaux connected the Loire–Garonne basins to the ocean.

• Overland networks: Burgundian roads knit Dijon and Brussels to the Empire and France; pilgrimage roads joined Roussillon, Provence, and the Loire to Santiago de Compostela and Rome.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Catholic orthodoxy & humanism: Monastic houses and cathedrals structured devotion; Avignon’s papal legacy lingered. Lyon and Avignon sustained humanist circles;  Montpellier’s medical school gained renown.

• Burgundian court culture: Under the Valois dukes (Philip the Good, Charles the Bold), Dijon and Brussels patronized Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, and civic pageantry.

• French monarchy & Renaissance: Post–Hundred Years’ War recovery culminated in Francis I’s embrace of Italianate forms and royal patronage along the Loire.

• Netherlandish art: Early Netherlandish painters pioneered oil technique; civic commissions in Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp flourished. Troubadour legacies survived in lyric verse across Provence; confraternities staged processions and charity in town parishes.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Diversified ecologies: Mixed cereals, vines, olives, flax, and livestock spread climatic risk.

• Water & earth works: Terraces and dikes stabilized fragile slopes and polders; flood embankments guarded the Rhône, Loire, and Low Country coasts.

• Storage & exchange: Communal barns, urban granaries, and salt trade mitigated shortfalls; guild aid, hospitals, and beguinages provided social buffers.

Technology & Power Shifts (Conflict Dynamics)

• Hundred Years’ War (to 1453): Though major battles lay north, raids and instability touched Languedoc and Provence. French resurgence culminated in Joan of Arc’s campaigns (1429) and Castillon (1453).

• Aragon–French rivalry: Roussillon oscillated between crowns; Pyrenean frontiers remained militarized.

• Burgundian Wars (1474–1477): Charles the Bold fell at Nancy; his inheritance split—parts to France, the rest to the Habsburgs—reshaping Low Country sovereignty.

• Italian Wars (1494–1559): Drew Provence and Corsica into Valois–Habsburg struggles; Fornovo (1495) and Pavia (1525, capture of Francis I) reverberated through Provençal ports.

• Corsica: Fought over by Genoa and Aragon; Genoa reasserted control, fortifying coasts against Barbary corsairs.

• Naval theaters: Mediterranean galley wars and Adriatic–Aegean rivalries impacted Marseille and Monaco; the Low Countries pivoted toward Habsburg naval finance and Atlantic networks.

Transition (to 1539 CE)

By 1539, West Europe stood as a frontier of empires and a laboratory of recovery and renaissance.
In the Mediterranean, France had consolidated Provence and Roussillon yet suffered reverses in Italy; Genoa controlled Corsica, bracing against French and Ottoman pressure; Marseille and Monaco thrived as naval–mercantile hubs under the shadow of corsair raids.
Across the Atlantic sphere, Burgundy was partitioned between Valois and Habsburg realms; the Low Countries emerged as Europe’s commercial heart, with Antwerp surpassing Bruges as entrepôt to Iberian spice and silver trades.
Humanism animated Lyon and Avignon; Gothic and early Renaissance forms stood side by side; confessional tensions gathered on the horizon.
Poised between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, West Europe entered the mid-16th century as both battlefield and marketplace—its rivers and ports set to channel the coming storms of Reformation and Habsburg–Valois rivalry.