1100-1200: Catholicism is the only approved Christian denomination in most of Europe, including Denmark. Sweden is also increasingly dominated by Christianity, and pagan religious practice comes to be suppressed.

1900s: Following the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, a Danish Lutheran Church and Swedish Lutheran Church form and quickly gain dominance over Catholicism, a trend that continues in the twentieth century.

Today: More than 90 percent of both Danes and Swedes are Lutheran.

1100-1200: Skåne is officially a province of Denmark. Danish control of the Baltic-North Sea waterway that separates Skåne from mainland Denmark helps to make Denmark a major maritime power.

1900s: Following bitter struggles in the medieval and renaissance periods, Skåne is officially a province of Sweden.

Today: Skåne is still a Swedish province, but ownership is no longer an issue, since Sweden and Denmark...