The Hansa towns, in making peace with Christian III. after the Count's Feud, had succeeded in retaining their trading privileges in Norway, and, during the greater part of this reign, acted in their old insolent and oppressive manner. In Bergen they made themselves especially obnoxious, so that the people complained bitterly to the king. He finally appointed, as commander in Bergen, the able Danish nobleman, Christopher Walkendorf, who commenced to put limits to the arbitrary and violent conduct of the Germans, and subdued them in such a way that they never regained their old power. After this the Norwegian citizens of Bergen gradually asserted themselves, and soon had the control of the whole fishery trade with the northern districts. Christian III. died on the 1st of January, 1559, at the age of fifty-five years. Although he reigned for twenty-three years, he never visited Norway as king. CHAPTER XLV _Frederick II. (1559-1588)_ Christian III. was succeeded by his oldest son, Frederick II., who was then twenty-five years old. This vain and worthless monarch commenced his reign with a successful war on the liberty-loving Ditmarshers. Later he waged war on the Swedish king, Erik XIV. The causes of this disastrous war, the so-called Northern Seven Years' War (1563-1570), were apparently trivial. Both kings wanted to carry the three crowns in their coats-of-arms, and some Swedish messengers, who were on their way to Germany, had been arrested in Denmark; but the real reasons were the jealousy between the two kings and the desire of the Danes to again unite the three countries under a Danish king. At sea the Danes were unsuccessful, although they had very able admirals in Herluf Trolle and Otto Rud. On land they fared no better in the beginning; but, in 1565, the hero, Daniel Rantzau, won a great victory over a much larger army than his own in the battle of Svarteraa in Halland.