During the middle ages the language of administration in Denmark was first Latin, later low German and Danish. In he duchies Slesvic and Holstein low German was the administrative language centrally (in the royal chancery in Copenhagen) and until 1550 and locally and in the church until about 1600 when high German took over. In Norway Danish was the language of administration from about 1500 and the language of the church after the reformation 1537. During the whole period Danish, German and Latin were political languages but with different functions. Danish and German were the languages of negotiation spoken by the political actors (king and nobility) whereas Latin was the language of the intellectual elite, often pompous but sometimes also very outspoken. After the introduction of absolutism the language of negotiation officially was abolished but lived on in the form of advice and supplication.