A Crisis of Statehood in the Mid-Seventeenth Century: A Parallel between Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Cover Image

Kryzys państwowości w połowie XVII wieku. Paralela Dania — Rzeczpospolita
A Crisis of Statehood in the Mid-Seventeenth Century: A Parallel between Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Author(s): Krystyna Szelągowska
Subject(s): History, Diplomatic history, Economic history, Political history, Social history, Modern Age, 17th Century
Published by: Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Denmark; Polish-Lithuanian-Commonwealth; comparative studies; Swedish ‘Deluge’

Summary/Abstract: In the 1650s, the Danish Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were hit by a severe crisis that threatened their existence. Although similar in regard to their political, social, and economic systems, both countries dealt with the crisis differently: in Denmark absolutism was introduced, making it possible to modernize the state, while in the Commonwealth reforms failed, and the state descended into downfall. The primary reason was the change of the position of the king and religion, due to the adoption of Lutheranism as the official state church of Denmark in the early sixteenth century.

  • Issue Year: 125/2018
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 303-335
  • Page Count: 33
  • Language: Polish