The siege of Hamar was a short siege that lasted for three days in late June 1537, between the forces of

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishop

Mogens Lauritssøn Mogens Lauritssøn, also known as Magnus Lauretii (died 3 October 1542, Antvorskov Monastery, Zealand, Denmark), was the 27th and last Roman Catholic Bishop of Hamar. Background Nothing is known about the origins of Mogens Lauritssøn. But he ...

and noble

Truid Ulfstand Truid Gregersen Ulfstand (1487 – November 16, 1545) was a Danish nobleman, landowner, and privy council member. He was active in Norway in the 1530s during the time that the country was entering into a real union with Denmark, and was a comman ...

. Truid Ulfstand and his forces came down from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

to arrest the bishop as a part of the

Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein During the Reformation, the territories ruled by the Danish-based House of Oldenburg converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism. After the break-up of the Kalmar Union in 1521/1523, these realms included the kingdoms of Denmark (with the former ...

. The bishop heard that he was going to be arrested and barricaded himself and his men inside his castle at

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

before the Protestant troops came. The Protestant troops where superior both in numbers and military tech, (most of the Protestant troops where German

Landsknecht The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was ...

, but the Catholic troops where mostly peasant militia) and when the Protestant troops arrived they laid siege to the castle. The commander of the Protestant forces had a

parley A parley (from – "to speak") is a discussion or conference, especially one designed to end an argument or hostilities between two groups of people. As a verb, the term can be used in both past and present tense; in present tense the term ...

with the bishop, and gave him three days to surrender or he would burn the castle. On the third day of the siege the bishop surrendered and was taken as a prisoner to Denmark, where he died in

1542 __NOTOC__ Year 1542 ( MDXLII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 6 – In the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, the Spanish colonists create the new town of Mérida. * Jan ...

. According to the

Hamar Chronicle The Hamar Chronicle () is a book written in the 1500s by an unknown author. It describes life in the town of Hamar during the Catholic era (until 1537). The book is an important source for the study of Hamar's history because it describes the settl ...

, when the bishop left the city, he fell on his knees and thanked God for every day he had spent in the city. He asked the city to pray for him and said he would return. Then the chronicle states that he prayed: ''O Gud fader udi himmelen, findes vj icke för, da Gud giffue det vj findis i himmerige. Denne bön bad hand med grædende taare oc sagde, vale, vale, vale''. (O God, Father in heaven, we do not exist for gifts from God, but to find heaven. He prayed this prayer while crying tears, and said farewell, farewell, farewell.) The siege was one of the last stands against the Reformation in Norway, and the Norwegian riksråd was de facto abolished and Denmark-Norway became a

real union Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions in contrast to personal unions; however, they are not as unified as states in a political union. It is a development from personal union and has historically been ...

that would last until 1814. Also the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of Denmark-Norway became the biggest landowner in Norway after confiscating church lands.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamar, Battle of Conflicts in 1537 1537 in Norway Sieges involving Norway Sieges involving Denmark Military history of Denmark–Norway Reformation in Norway European wars of religion Catholic rebellions 16th-century sieges Attacks on castles in Norway

See also

References