Sovereignty, Exploration, and Anglo-Danish Relations

Abstract

Beginning in the sixteenth century, the English crown sponsored many voyages of exploration throughout the north Atlantic. These expeditions had many goals including claiming control over what the English believed to be newly discovered lands, and finding a Northwest or a Northeast passage that would give them quick access to lucrative East Asian markets. English involvement in the north Atlantic also expanded during this period as English fishermen sailed further west and north seeking new fishing grounds. As English political and economic claims expanded, Danish rulers increasingly became worried as they believed they had sovereign rights over the entire region based upon Scandinavian settlement of the north Atlantic during the Viking Age. To make real their claims in the north Atlantic, Danish monarchs engaged in diplomacy with the English and sent several voyages to Greenland to re-assert control over Scandinavian communities believed to be living there. This article explores diplomatic tensions between England and Denmark, and the Danish crown’s attempts to exert sovereignty over the north Atlantic and Greenland.