It is well over a century ago that the Danish historian, C. F. Allen, published his seminal five-volume study of Scandinavia in the Reformation period, entitled: De tre nordiske Rigers Historie. Since then, however, hardly any works, apart from a few surveys, have focussed on the Reformation of Scandinavia as a whole. Instead, subsequent scholars of Scandinavian Reformation history have restricted their research to one or, at most, two of the Nordic countries, normally their own country, thus reflecting a national division which in many ways was a product of the Reformation. This volume will remedy this situation by providing, for the first time in English, a detailed history of the Scandinavian Reformation from its evangelical beginning in the 1520s until its institutionalisation in the first half of the seventeenth century, when Protestant territorial churches had been firmly established in the Nordic kingdoms. At the same time it will, of course, also make available in English the most recent research into the Reformation of the Nordic countries.

In such a tightly conceived volume as the present a considerable amount of flexibility and co-operation from my five contributors has been absolutely essential for the successful conclusion of this enterprise. For this, I thank them, and also for the patience and generosity with which they have accepted most of my editorial interventions.