Christian III reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established Lutheranism as the state religion within his realms as part of the Protestant Reformation, and was the first King of Denmark-Norway.
Portrait by Jakob Binck, 1550
Painting depicting Christian III at Glücksborg
King Christian III on Norwegian silver coin (Gimsøydaleren) from 1546
Seal of Christian III
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther, a 1529 portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder
The title page of the Swedish Gustav Vasa Bible, translated by brothers Olaus Petri and Laurentius Petri and Laurentius Andreae
A Hundskirche replica
The University of Jena in Germany, the center of Gnesio-Lutheran activity leading up to the Formula of Concord, and a center of Lutheran orthodoxy