This book considers the role played by Denmark s King Frederik II (1559-88) in the international diplomacy of the age of religious wars. As Europe s leading Lutheran sovereign, Frederik commanded great influence; his conviction that an international Catholic conspiracy threatened to destroy Protestantism led him to work towards the creation of a Protestant alliance that included both Calvinist and Lutheran states.Lockhart examines the role of religion in Frederik s foreign policy, the motivations behind the king s alliance-building projects, and the reasons behind the ultimate failure of Frederik s policies.This volume will be of interest to students of early modern diplomacy, sixteenth-century Protestantism, and the Scandinavian monarchies in the early modern period.