WAlbert of Prussia was a German nobleman who was the 37th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, who after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged from the former Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. Albert was the first European ruler to establish Lutheranism, and thus Protestantism, as the official state religion of his lands. He proved instrumental in the political spread of Protestantism in its early stage, ruling the Prussian lands for nearly six decades (1510–1568).
WAlbrecht VII, the Handsome, Duke of Mecklenburg in Güstrow, was a minor ruler in North Germany of the 16th century. He also asserted claims to Scandinavian thrones based on the royal lineage of the House of Mecklenburg.
WJakob Tordsson Bagge was a Norwegian born, Swedish admiral and nobleman.
WChristian II was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He reigned as King of Denmark and Norway from 1513 until 1523 and of Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in joint rule with his uncle Frederick.
WChristian III reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established Lutheranism as the state religion within his realms as part of the Protestant Reformation.
WChristopher, Count of Oldenburg was German count and regent in eastern Denmark between 1534–36 during the Count's Feud which was named after him.
WKlemen Andersen "Skipper Clement" was a Danish merchant, captain, privateer and leader of the peasant rebellion that was part of the civil war known as the Count's Feud.
WOlav Engelbrektsson was the 28th Archbishop of Norway from 1523 to 1537, the Regent of Norway from 1533 to 1537, a member and later president of the Riksråd, and a member of the Norwegian nobility. He was the last Roman Catholic to be the Archbishop of Norway before he fled to exile in 1537.
WJohan Friis was a Danish statesman. He served as Chancellor under King Christian III of Denmark.
WGustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Riksföreståndare) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Gustav rose to lead the rebel movement following the Stockholm Bloodbath, where his father was executed. Gustav's election as king on 6 June 1523 and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later marked Sweden's final secession from the Kalmar Union.
WJohn of Denmark or John the Elder was the only Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev. The predicate the Elder is sometimes used to distinguish him from his nephew, John the Younger, who held Sønderborg from 1564 as a partitioned-off duke. As a co-ruler in the duchies of Holstein and of Schleswig, John the Elder is numbered as John II, continuing counting King John of Denmark as John I, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig.
WAnne Meinstrup (1475–1535) was a politically active Danish noblewoman, lady-in-waiting and county administrator.
WJohann Oldendorp was a German jurist and reformer.
WJohan Rantzau was a German-Danish general and statesman known for his role in the Count's Feud.
WPeder Skram was a Danish Admiral and naval hero.
WGustav Eriksson Trolle was Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, in two sessions, during the turbulent Reformation events.
WTruid Gregersen Ulfstand was a Danish nobleman, landowner, and privy council member. He was active in Norway in the 1530s during the time that the country was entering into a real union with Denmark, and was a commander in the Danish civil war known as The Count's Feud.
WJürgen Wullenwever was burgomaster of Lübeck from 1533 to 1535, a period of religious, political and trade turmoil.