Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was signed on February 26, 1658 in the
Danish city
Roskilde. After a devastating defeat in the
Northern Wars , the
King of
Denmark-Norway was forced to give up nearly half his territory to save the rest. The treaties conditions included:
* The immediate ceding of the Danish province Skne to
Sweden.
* The immediate ceding of the Danish province
Blekinge to Sweden.
* The immediate ceding of the Danish province
Halland, which under the terms of the Peace of Brmsebro, negotiated in 1645 was then occupied by Sweden for a term of 30 years, to Sweden.
Encyclopedia
The
Treaty of Roskilde was signed on February 26, 1658 in the
Danish city
Roskilde. After a devastating defeat in the
Northern Wars , the
King of
Denmark-Norway was forced to give up nearly half his territory to save the rest. The treaties conditions included:
- The immediate ceding of the Danish province Skåne to Sweden.
- The immediate ceding of the Danish province Blekinge to Sweden.
- The immediate ceding of the Danish province Halland, which under the terms of the Peace of Brömsebro, negotiated in 1645 was then occupied by Sweden for a term of 30 years, to Sweden.
- The immediate ceding of the Norwegian province of Båhus to Sweden. This effectively secured for Sweden unrestricted access to western trade.
- The immediate ceding of the Norwegian provinces of Trøndelag to Sweden.
- Danish renunciation of all anti-Swedish alliances.
- Danish prevention of any warships hostile to Sweden passing through the straits into the Baltic.
- Restoration of the Duke of Holstein-Gottrop to his estates.
- Danish payment for Swedish occupation forces costs.
- Danish provision of troops to serve Charles in his broader wars.
Background
As the Northern Wars progressed,
Charles X Gustav of Sweden crossed the frozen straits and occupied the Danish island of
Zealand, with the invasion beginning on February 11, 1658. A preliminary treaty, the Treaty of Taastrup, was signed on February 18, 1658 with the final treaty, the Treaty of Roskilde, signed on February 26, 1658.
Although Sweden also invaded Romsdal, Norway the farmers there defied the Swedish taxes and military conscription vigorously, and the Swedish governor was forced to send a full company of soldiers, and 50 cavalry besides, to collect taxes. The occupation was not successful.
Epilogue
The Swedish king was not content with his stunning victory, and at the Swedish Council held at
Gottorp on July 7, Charles X Gustav resolved to wipe his inconvenient rival from the map of
Europe. Without any warning, in defiance of international treaty, he ordered his troops to attack
Denmark-Norway a second time. There followed an attack on the capital
Copenhagen, whose residents successfully defended themselves with help from the
Dutch, who honored their 1649 treaty to defend Denmark against unprovoked invasion by providing naval forces. Trapped on the Danish islands by superior Danish and Dutch forces, Charles was forced to withdraw.while Norwegian forces succeeded expelling the Swedish occupiers from
Trøndelag. Eventually, the resulting Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660 restored Trøndelag to Norway, and also the island of
Bornholm to Denmark. The island of Anholt off the coast of
Halland, was technically never ceded, and thus remained in Dano-Norwegian possession.
The few months of experience with Swedish taxation and conscription left such a bitter taste that it strengthened Dano-Norwegian unity and patriotism, making resistance to Swedish invasions of Denmark-Norway stronger over the next 80 years. This old paragraph is still referred to by a subset of Scanians demanding regional independence and recognition.
References
External links
at the Danish-language Wikisource
