_Reformation and Reaction--The Sons of Gustavus I._
Eric XIV. succeeded his father in 1560, commencing his reign under the
most brilliant of auspices. But the old King Gustavus had foreseen that
his sons would cause danger to the realm which he with infinite care
had built up. After his forty years’ work of construction followed
forty years of destruction which his elder sons brought to bear upon
it. Fortunately, that work was so solid that it withstood this bravely,
to rise rejuvenated when loving hands anew were laid to it.
King Eric was one of the most gifted monarchs of his time, handsome,
eloquent, learned, a fine linguist, a musician and artist. But
his sharp reason carried him to the excess of suspicion, his
artistic temperament into hysterics, and he was vain, overbearing,
quick-tempered, licentious and cruel. His leaning toward mysticism made
him devoted to astrology.
Eric’s first ambition was to reduce the power of the dukes, convoking a
Riksdag at Arboga, in 1561, where the “Arboga Articles” were formulated
for such purpose, the dukes being forced to acquiesce. In order to
reduce the distance between the dukes and the nobility, King Eric, at
his coronation--celebrated with a lavish display of pomp at Upsala
in June of the same year--instituted hereditary dignities of counts
and barons. Svante Sture, Peter Brahe the Elder and Gustavus Johnsson
Tre Rosor were created counts, the first and third one the sons of
Christine Gyllenstierna, Peter Brahe being a cousin of Gustavus Vasa.
Among the barons were Sten Leijonhufvud, Gustavus Stenbock, relatives
of the dukes, and Clas Kristersson Horn (of Aminne). Only small
fiefs were given with the new dignities, which were nothing but an
outward sign of the distinction existing between a higher aristocracy
already extant and the lower nobility. In order to strengthen his
connection with the nobles, Eric made the estate on which a noble
fixed his domicile exempt from _russtjenst_. He was jealous of his
power and dignity, for which reasons he held sharp supervision over
his officials. He instituted a supreme court, consisting of twelve
men of low birth, who every three years made a tour of the country to
hold court in the name of the king. These justices were the creatures
of Eric, and soon brought on themselves discredit and hatred through
their servile and cruel acts. Among these justices was Gœran Persson,
an able and powerful man, revengeful and cruel, who soon rose to be the
favorite and influential adviser of his master.
Eric was intent upon making a great match, wooing Elizabeth of England,
Mary Stuart of Scotland, Renata of Lothringia and Christine of Hesse,
with more or less success, overlooking Margaret of Valois, who was
anxious to marry him. His mistress, Carin Monsdotter, a child of the
people, but beautiful and of a noble character, for whom he had formed
a secret attachment, finally was made his queen.
The German Order which held Esthonia and Livonia suffered during this
period considerably through Russian invasions. The town of Reval,
with a large part of Esthonia, was ceded to Sweden in 1562, upon
the receipt of a loan, Eric immediately giving his attention to the
depressed and enslaved peasants of that section. Later the grandmaster
of the Order turned Livonia over to the king of Poland, who, in need
of money, placed seven castles of this province at the disposal of
John, duke of Finland. John had tendered a loan to the Polish king
and married his sister Catherine. Eric considered these negotiations
as harmful to his royal authority, and he asked his brother to give
account of them in person. John refused, making the royal emissaries
his prisoners. The Swedish Riksdag condemned John to death for high
treason, and an army was despatched to Finland, which carried back Duke
John and his consort as prisoners. John’s sentence was commuted to
imprisonment at Gripsholm, proud Catherine choosing to share the fate
of her husband (1563). The prison life of the ducal couple at Gripsholm
was not an unpleasant one. They enjoyed a great deal of liberty and
luxury at the splendid castle in Lake Mælar, King Eric sending his
brother a copy of Boccaccio’s “Decamerone” in German, to read for a
pastime. The duke read the work and translated it into Swedish. The
room called “king John’s prison,” which is still preserved with the
artistic decoration which Duke Charles later bestowed on it, served as
sleeping apartment for the prisoners, and there Catherine gave life
to two children, one of whom was to become the founder of the Polish
line of Vasa kings. It is said that Duke Magnus became a prey to the
disposition of insanity latent in his family, by being forced to
sign the death sentence of his brother John, King Eric being anxious
of having him share the responsibility. Magnus lived until quite an
advanced age, but was never cured of his mental ailment. Even in his
best hours he was not of very bright intellect. While sojourning at
the castle of Vadstena, by the Lake Vetter, he had the vision of a
mermaid, who coaxed him to follow her. The duke jumped from the window
of his apartment into the moat below. He did not sustain any serious
injury, but the incident made the unhappy prince famous in tradition
and song.
In May, 1560, a war commenced with Denmark which, with several
intermissions, lasted for seven years. It has been called The Seven
Years’ War of the North. About the same time that Eric became king
of Sweden, the young ambitious Frederic II. ascended the throne of
Denmark. In the days of Gustavus I., Christian III. had appropriated
the Swedish emblem of three crowns for the Danish seal of state, as
if by this proclaiming that the Union was considered still extant or
that it could be re-established at the opportune moment. King Gustavus
had protested, but with no result. When King Frederic kept up the
irritating fact of preserving the Swedish emblem, King Eric answered by
placing the emblems of Denmark and Norway in the Swedish seal of state.
This made things worse and served as a nominal cause for war. The
principal interest at stake was the supremacy in the Baltic provinces.
The diocese of Œsel, which had accepted a Danish protectorate, was
governed by a brother of the Danish king, who had entered into an
alliance with Poland against Sweden, Denmark also joining it.
In May, 1563, a Swedish fleet, commanded by Jacob Bagge, left Sweden
to bring Princess Christine of Hesse, the promised bride of King Eric.
A Danish fleet met them, at the island of Bornholm, and greeted the
Swedish ships with some shots from their sharply loaded cannon. The
Swedes returned the fire and a naval battle followed, which ended
in a defeat for the Danes, who lost their flagship. When Jacob Bagge
arrived in Rostock, where he was to meet the princess, her father was
found unwilling to let her sail on account of the insecurity brought
about by the commencing naval hostilities. This would under ordinary
circumstances have enraged the vain and sensitive king, but Eric forgot
his rage in his delight at the naval victory. Jacob Bagge was rewarded
with a triumphal entry into Stockholm upon his return. He entered
the city on foot with a golden chain round his neck, followed by his
sub-commanders and surrounded by the banners taken during the battle.
The prisoners followed, in chains and with shaved heads. The king’s
fool was dancing in front of them, playing on his fiddle. A Danish
herald soon afterward reached Stockholm, declaring war with great pomp
and ceremony on behalf of his royal master. The city of Lubeck sent a
messenger to Stockholm on a similar errand, but was not received by the
king. “Since he is sent by the mayor and council of his town and other
similar lard-mongers, let him be heard and answered by the mayor and
council of Stockholm,” was the royal order.
Jacob Bagge was ordered to sea with the Swedish fleet later in the
summer of the same year. He met the united fleets of Denmark and Lubeck
at the island of Œland, in the Baltic. A terrible battle ensued, which
lasted until the fleets were separated by the darkness of the night,
without victory being won by either side. Jacob Bagge started out
with his fleet again in the spring of the following year, commanding
a new flagship, “The Matchless,” which carried two hundred cannon,
most of them made out of church bells confiscated by Gustavus Vasa. A
new battle was delivered between the islands of Gothland and Œland.
The majority of the Swedish ships had by a gale been separated from
the admiral and his flagship, but Jacob Bagge fought valiantly for
a whole day, continuing the battle the next morning. A catastrophe
brought it to a close. “The Matchless” caught fire through some act of
negligence, a barrel of powder exploding between the decks. Jacob Bagge
then surrendered, and was taken on board one of the ships of Lubeck.
The enemies took possession of the “The Matchless” in order to plunder
it, but the immense ship exploded with a tremendous roar, sinking with
everybody who was on board. Jacob Bagge did not long remain in Danish
captivity. He returned, to be greeted with the greatest distinction,
and died as governor-general of Stockholm.
The war on land was at the beginning carried on only through mutual
invasions, both sides giving proofs of cruelty and vandalism. Elfsborg
surrendered to the Danes. A Swedish army, commanded by King Eric in
person, entered the province of Halland, pillaging and plundering
and laying siege to the town of Halmstad. King Eric suddenly raised
the siege, when news came that King Frederic was approaching with an
army. The Swedish troops scattered in various directions, one division
being met and defeated by the Danes. The whole of Northern Norway
was invaded by Swedish troops and temporarily subjugated. The entire
kingdom of Norway was very near being altogether absorbed by Sweden.
This would have been a happy solution of the Scandinavian question.
Norway would have become one in language with Sweden and would have
shared her glorious epoch of political grandeur which was to follow.
The best families of Norway would have been entered side by side with
the Swedish nobility at the knightly chapterhouse of Stockholm, and
the countries would have had their later democratic and cultural
development in common. But King Eric was too restless and undecided to
make any lasting conquest, or union, possible. When Claude Collard, a
young French nobleman, who was the conqueror of Northern Norway, was
taken by surprise and captured, King Eric, to avenge this, devastated
forty church parishes in Norway. The Danes invaded and plundered the
provinces of West Gothland and Smaland, while the Swedes pillaged
Bleking and Scania. The king had given orders that the population of a
whole district should be killed. He wrote later about the fulfilment
of this cruel command: “God granted luck, so that thousands of men
were killed on the road and in the woods.” The province of Scania
was devastated to a distance of one hundred miles from the Swedish
frontier. A new invasion into Halland was made, in 1565, when Duke
Charles, then fifteen years of age, commanded the artillery. The town
of Varberg was attacked, but valiantly defended by the Danes. The young
duke upon this occasion gave the first proof of his indomitable energy.
He led the attack and persuaded the Swedes, by word and action, not to
give it up. At last the walls were taken, the town being pillaged and
burned. All men who could carry arms were killed, except a force of
one hundred and fifty men of hired troops who entered Swedish service.
A young French captain, Pontus de la Gardie, of a noble family of
Languedoc, was among the latter. This man and his descendants were
destined to play an important part in Swedish history.
Clas Kristersson Horn was made commander of the Swedish navy after
Jacob Bagge, in which position he covered his name with glory. He won a
naval battle at Œland (in 1564) which lasted for two days. In the next
year he added several victorious battles to his record, among which
the principal ones were fought at Buchow, by the coast of Mecklenburg,
and at the island of Bornholm. When he went to sea in the spring of
1566 no enemy dared appear. The united fleets of Denmark and Lubeck at
last started out, but were defeated by Clas Horn at the island of Œland
after a vehement battle. The vanquished fleets were caught in a gale in
which sixteen ships perished with seven thousand men. Clas Horn with
his Swedish fleet was master of the sea. In the following year no fleet
appeared to meet his. The efforts of Gustavus I. to set the Swedish
fleet in good order thus proved to be of the greatest consequence.
The Danes were superior in the hostilities on land during the latter
part of the war, thanks principally to their eminent commander, Daniel
Rantzau. He made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the town of
Varberg, but gained, at Axtorna, a battle over a superior Swedish army
(in 1565). When Rantzau saw the Swedes approaching for an attack, he
held prayer with his troops, whereupon he arranged them for resistance.
The Swedish infantry captured the Danish stronghold and artillery,
but the hired German troops of the Swedish wings turned into flight.
Rantzau made an attack upon the deserted infantry, and was victorious
when nightfall ended the battle. The Swedes lost thirty cannon, and
Nils Sture, the son of Count Svante Sture, was able to save the banner
of state only by severing it from the pole and hiding it on his person.
In the following year, Rantzau pillaged Smaland and West Gothland, and
in 1567 he penetrated as far as East Gothland, where he was very near
being caught in a trap by the Swedish troops. The interior struggle of
Sweden caused hostilities to cease for some time.
The sad fate of his brother Magnus also befell King Eric. Evidences
of approaching insanity were frequent and brought on horrible
consequences. By licentiousness, mysticism and astrological speculations
his mind became unsettled. It had been predicted that a blond man would
dethrone him. Eric at first made his brother John the subject of his
suspicions. After the duke’s imprisonment he suspected a rival in Nils
Sture, who also was a blond. Eric accused him of ill behavior in the
battle of Axtorna. The king’s court sentenced him to death, but Lord
Nils escaped with a contumelious entry of mockery into Stockholm, on a
miserable horse, and a crown of straw on his head. But frightened at
the indignation aroused by his shameful act the king tried to undo it,
and sent Lord Nils on an embassy to Lothringia, to bring the king’s
proposal to Princess Renata.
In the commencement of 1567, the king had several of the nobles
arrested, on the suspicion of conspiracy, and carried to the castle
of Upsala, where a Riksdag was convoked. Nils Sture arrived with the
consent and betrothal ring of Princess Renata, but was thrown into
prison. The king asked the Riksdag to pass a sentence of death upon the
accused nobles. When this was refused, he was seized by fear and rage.
Rushing into the prison of Nils Sture, he wounded him in the arm. Lord
Nils drew out the weapon, a dagger, kissing its handle and returning it
to the king, with a prayer for mercy, but was killed by the soldiers at
the command of the king. Eric’s disposition immediately was changed,
and he darted into Count Svante’s prison, begging forgiveness at his
feet. The aged Sture’s answer was that he would forgive all, granted
that no harm was done to his son. The king fled in despair from the
castle and town, followed by some of his soldiers, one of whom he
sent back with an order to kill all the nobles, “except Lord Sten.” As
there were two by that name, these were spared, but Count Svante and
his son Eric Sture, Abraham Stenbock and Ivar Ivarsson were killed. The
Riksdag was forced to pass sentence for high treason upon the murdered
men, at the instigation of Gœran Persson, whose perfidious advice
had continually inflamed the sickened brain of his master. King Eric
was for several days missing, and at last found wandering about in a
peasant’s garb. Cared for by Carin Monsdotter, he slowly regained his
reason, showing evidence of repentance by declaring the murdered nobles
innocent and promising to compensate their families. During this spell
he set free his brother John and dismissed Gœran Persson. But soon his
evil disposition returned, and the resolution of his brothers to free
the country from his rule must be acknowledged as a beneficent one. The
nobles were brought to revolt, when Eric, in July, 1568, proclaimed
Carin as his consort, and had her solemnly crowned Queen of Sweden. The
dukes John and Charles were at first unsuccessful in their efforts,
the king defeating their troops repeatedly. But in 1569 Stockholm was
captured, Gœran Persson killed and the king forced to abdicate. The
sentence passed upon Eric, by the Estates of the Riksdag, stipulated
that he should be “imprisoned, but sustained in a princely manner, for
the rest of his days.”
Eric was at first held imprisoned in his own apartments at the
royal castle, but was transferred to two of the vaults, called the
“apartments of Lord Eskil.” They had served as a treasury during the
reign of Gustavus I., but now stood empty. Queen Carin and her children
were his company. After an unsuccessful attempt at flight, one room
was taken away from him and the windows in the remaining one reduced
in size. The table of the royal prisoner was well provided for, but
he was unmercifully treated by his warders. The cruel Olof Stenbock
once deprived him of all his clothes. In a struggle which followed,
he shot Eric in the arm and let him remain senseless in his blood for
several hours. Some of the members of the former body-guard of Eric
once attempted, but in vain, to set free the unhappy prisoner. In
1569 Eric was removed to Abo in Finland, where he was locked up in a
secure prison. Two years later he was taken to Castellholm, in the
archipelago of Aland, for fear that the Russian czar would liberate him
by violence. Shortly afterward he was removed to the lovely castle of
Gripsholm, where he had spent some of the happiest days of his youth,
and where he once upon a time held his brother John imprisoned. At
Gripsholm there is a gloomy dungeon which is said to have served as
the prison of King Eric, but this is not authentic. Eric was treated
comparatively well while at Gripsholm, enjoying the company of his
family, a good table and plenty of servants. The recording books of the
castle from this period speak of “the court of King Eric.” King John
was, in the meantime, irritated by Russian hostilities and intrigues,
the old supporters of Eric joining in the latter. The appeals of Duke
Charles for the improvement of the condition of his poor imprisoned
brother roused the suspicion of the king, who fostered dark plots
against the prisoner. Eric was removed from Gripsholm and its pleasant
associations, separated from his family and put in hard prison at
Westeros. The warders received instructions to take his life if
necessary. The state council and the archbishop sanctioned this order
of the king. The last prison of the unhappy King Eric was Œrbyhus,
where he suddenly died, exactly at a time when King John’s fears of a
revolt had reached a climax. Rumors that Eric had been poisoned were
current, and Duke Charles also gave utterance of his belief that such
was the case. In spite of the wars, cruelty and evil deeds of King Eric
XIV., the Swedish people of his time had a good deal of devotion for
him and his faithful consort. The country enjoyed good years during his
reign and profited by the wise measures of his father.
Gustavus, the son of Eric XIV. and Carin Monsdotter, was born, in
1568, at Nykœping. When Queen Carin was separated from her imprisoned
consort, her children, Gustavus and Sigrid, followed her to Finland,
where she resided at Abo. In 1575 the young prince was harshly taken
away from his mother, at the command of the state council, and sent
to Prussia. The jealous and uneasy King John made him the subject of
cruel persecutions. In spite of these he received a fine education,
and is known to have embraced the Catholic religion. He was kindly
received by King Sigismund of Poland, his cousin, at whose coronation
in Cracow he is said to have been present, in the disguise of a beggar.
A relation of intimate friendship existed between the outlawed prince
and Emperor Rudolph of Austria, both of whom were devoted to the study
of alchemy. King John refused to listen to the appeals for grace and
support which Gustavus repeatedly made to him. Gustavus was not allowed
to see his mother until the year of 1596, when the two had a touching
meeting at Reval. He later made his home in Thorn, but left for Russia,
in 1600, upon an invitation from Czar Boris. He was received in Moscow
as a reigning prince; but when he refused to appear as a pretender to
the Swedish throne, he was imprisoned. At the fall of Boris, Gustavus
was set free, but again put in prison by Dimitri. At the fall of the
latter, in 1607, Gustavus once more regained his liberty, but died in
Casijn, in the same year. This unhappy Gustavus Ericsson Vasa was a man
of fine erudition and pure morals. He was a dreamer and of a sensitive
disposition, being an ardent Catholic and fondly devoted to the country
which had outlawed him.
Sigrid Vasa, the daughter of Eric XIV., was twice married to members
of the Swedish nobility. Ake Henricsson Tott, her son of the first
marriage, was a distinguished warrior in the times of Gustavus II.
Adolphus. Queen Carin died, in 1612, beloved and highly respected, at
the beautiful estate of Liuksiala in Finland, given her in fief by King
John.
_John III._ succeeded Eric, without sharing his power with his younger
brother Charles, as he had promised. John was as learned and highly
talented as Eric, and as vain, restless and unreliable. But while Eric
was a mystic and a sceptic by turns, John was a Catholic, or leaning
toward Catholicism, and a hypocrite who, under the pretence of meekness
and piety, tried to hide his vanity, bad temper and utter selfishness.
Like Gustavus I. and all his other sons, John was devoted to the
fine arts, particularly to architecture, with an ardor that reached
the vehemence of a passion. He planned a vast number of churches and
castles, which he completed, utterly regardless of cost. The Swedish
Castle Renaissance which was established by John and his brothers is
influenced by contemporary Flemish art, severe and majestic in outline,
graceful and profuse in interior decoration. Good specimens of it were
the earlier castles of Stockholm and Svartsjœ, the castle of Vadstena
remains so and, to a great extent, the beautiful and memorable castle
of Gripsholm.
At his coronation, John issued hereditary privileges to the nobility.
_Russtjenst_ became no longer essential. Legal offices were preserved
for the nobles, the king’s supreme court being abandoned. John’s
policy was to win the support of the aristocracy against Charles, who,
indignant and sulky, kept within his duchy, consisting of the provinces
of Sœdermanland and Vermland, with the town of Œrebro in addition.
In 1570, an unsatisfactory peace was made with Denmark, Sweden ceding
all the Norwegian and Danish territory in her possession, together
with the island of Gothland, and agreeing to pay something like one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the return of Elfsborg, held
by the Danes. A friendly relation to hostile Poland commenced with
John’s reign, but a long and bloody war with Russia began in 1570. The
Russians tried repeatedly, but in vain, to capture Reval, plundering
and killing the population of Esthonia, who remained faithful to
Swedish rule. Henric Horn and Clas Tott won laurels for their heroic
deeds, while the war was changed into more modern methods and to a
successful issue by the Swedish general Pontus de la Gardie, who
captured the provinces Keksholm and Ingermanland and the town of Narva.
John III. had set two goals for his ambition: to return the Swedish
church to Catholicism and to make his son Sigismund king of Poland.
The latter he reached at the death of King Stephan in 1589, Sigismund
succeeding him upon the throne. The former ambition John never
attained, after years of stubborn and unreasonable perseverance giving
up this pet idea. John made some attempts to bring order in the
confused conditions of the church, but left it in a worse state of
confusion than he found it. The crown and the aristocracy had deprived
the church of nearly all its property and withheld its income from
it. Archbishop Laurentius Petri complained of the miserable state of
things, the ministers often being useless wretches and the service in
some churches impossible to uphold for sheer lack of money. In 1572
the ecclesiastical matters were arranged at a meeting in Upsala, when
a new church law was introduced, demanding higher qualifications for
the ministers, who were to be elected by their congregations, and
enforcing a school law. Laurentius Petri died in 1573 and was succeeded
by Laurentius Petri Gothus. The new archbishop willingly subscribed
to a set of rules, laid before him by the king, which reintroduced
monasteries, worship of saints and the ceremonies of the Roman church.
Jesuits were invited to the country, but met with little encouragement
from the people. The very climax of John’s reactionary movements was
formed by the introduction of his ritual, Liturgia, which was nothing
else than an adaptation of the Catholic ritual. It was accepted by the
Riksdag of 1577, but Charles refused to accept it for his duchy. The
king had many conflicts with his brother, the latter always giving
in to his wishes, except on this point. Ministers and university
professors who refused to conform to the new ritual, or attacked it,
were sheltered by the duke and, in many instances, given high offices.
The king grew angry, but the duke remained firm and unyielding. When
Queen Catherine died, in 1583, John’s Catholic fervor suffered a
relapse, and ceased altogether after his marriage to young Protestant
Gunilla Bielke, in the following year. He stubbornly stuck to his
Liturgia for some time yet, but exiled the Jesuits, and dismissed with
contumely ministers who had joined the Roman Church. During the last
years of his reign, he said it was best to leave everybody a free
choice in religious matters, regretting his Liturgia--which he once
considered the gem of his own theological system--because it had caused
so much trouble and confusion.
Sweden suffered a great deal through the slack and unsteady government
of King John. He spent unreasonable sums on his court and his craze for
architectural marvels, while always short of funds for the necessities
of war and internal improvements. Commerce and industries suffered and
were brought to a standstill by dearth, hunger and pest. The population
decreased; the towns were made bankrupt and many farms abandoned. Bad
and greedy officials and the recommencing war with Russia increased the
evils. After unsuccessful attempts to have his son leave Poland, where
he had met with many difficulties, John entered into more intimate
relations with his brother, who came to wield a beneficial influence on
the government. John III. died 1592, malcontent and tired of life, his
death being little regretted by the people.
One of the most famous love episodes of Sweden dates from the reign
of John III. It has no bearing upon the affairs of state, but is not
devoid of value as an illustration of the history of civilization,
giving us a glimpse of the private life of the nobles of that period
and the standard of morals of their lives. The episode is told by
Countess Anne Banér in a manuscript by her hand with the title: “In
the following manner my blessed mother’s sister, Lady Sigrid Sture,
lady of Salestad and Geddeholm, related what took place when Lord Eric
Gustafson Stenbock carried away our blessed mother’s sister, Magdalen
Sture, from Hœrningsholm.”
The dowager-countess, Martha Sture, resided at the castle of
Hœrningsholm, enlarged to a four-story structure and fortified with
four corner towers by her consort. She was a sister of Queen Margaret,
the second queen of Gustavus I., and was married to the renounced lover
of that sister, Count Svante Sture. The countess was called “King
Martha,” partly because of her stern power and great authority, partly
because it was known to have been her ambition to see her husband’s
family grace the throne of a country which their forefathers had ruled
as uncrowned kings. She had lived to see her husband and two sons
killed by the insane Eric XIV., but she had yet two sons who would
carry high the glorious name, on which there was not a stain of any
kind. There were five daughters, Sigrid and Anne, married to members of
the influential Bielke family, and Magdalen, Margaret and Christine, as
yet unmarried. There was another young lady at Hœrningsholm, besides
the daughters, the little Princess Sigrid Vasa, the daughter of King
Eric XIV. and Carin Monsdotter, who had received a home with the stern
“King Martha” while her mother was following the tracks of the deposed
monarch from prison to prison.
Between Magdalen Sture and Lord Eric Stenbock a passionate love sprang
up. Lord Eric was a very fine young man, of an influential family and
the brother of the queen-dowager, Catherine, third consort of Gustavus
I. But, unfortunately, he was the nephew of Countess Martha, and, as
a cousin of Magdalen, considered to be too closely related to her to
make a marriage possible. Countess Martha was unwilling to listen
to any appeals, and she was strengthened in her resolution by the
old Archbishop Laurentius Petri, who still held the same opinions as
when he, once upon a time, refused to grant his consent to a marriage
between King Gustavus I. and young Lord Eric’s sister, because she was
a niece of Queen Margaret. The years passed by, but no change came in
the stubborn resistance of “King Martha.” Christmas eve of 1573, Lord
Eric visited Hœrningsholm to remain until New Year. He brought with
him costly presents which he offered as New Year’s gifts to Countess
Martha, her daughters, chaplain and servants. He left to return on Palm
Sunday with his sister Cecilia, the wife of Count Gustavus Tre Rosor.
One morning a few days later, Lady Sigrid Bielke, who was visiting
her mother, entered the so-called rotunda, a large room in one of
the towers which Countess Martha and her daughters used as sleeping
apartment. She was surprised to find her sister Magdalen kneeling and
in tears. Lady Sigrid greeted her: “God bless you, you have a good
deed in mind!” “God grant it were good,” answered Magdalen, rising.
“Certainly it is good to make one’s prayers amid tears,” Sigrid said.
Magdalen caught the hands of her sister and said: “My darling sister,
if all the rest forsake me, you will not turn away your faithful heart
from me.” Sigrid found the words and emotion of her sister strange,
but did not suspect anything. “Why do you use such words to me?” she
answered. “I do not believe that you are going to make an evil-doer
out of yourself; there are none in the Sture family who have carried
themselves in a way to make us turn our hearts away from them.” Tears
came again to the eyes of Magdalen, but Sigrid was called into an
interior room by her mother. Magdalen went to play with one of her
little nieces, when Lord Eric entered. “Dear lady,” he said, “would you
like to see the horse that I have given you? It is now waiting in the
court.” Magdalen rose and left, escorted by her cousin. They met two
of the women of the household, whom Eric commanded to follow them. A
horse and sleigh stood in the vaulted entrance. Magdalen was placed
between the two servants, while Eric took his position back of them
on the runners, holding the reins. In the castle court they met the
chaplain and several of the servants, who thought it a pleasure ride
and let them pass. When they rode down on the frozen lake, the two
servants in the sleigh grasped the importance of the situation for the
first time, and commenced praying Lady Magdalen to return. Lord Eric
silenced them by displaying his short musket. A few moments later they
were surrounded by a force of one hundred men on horseback, who formed
an escort. They were a loan to Lord Eric by Duke Charles.
The excitement at Hœrningsholm was great when the elopement was
discovered. Margaret Sture happened to look through the window at the
moment when the sleigh reached the lake. At her outcry Countess Martha
and Sigrid joined her. The old countess fainted on the stairs when
making for the court, and Sigrid was ordered to follow up the eloping
couple. Countess Cecilia found her aunt on the stairs and hastened
to assure her of the mortification that she felt at the daring and
unsuspected deed of her brother, also expressing some surprise at the
bad manner in which it was accepted. But then the old countess became
wroth, exclaiming: “Go to the devil, and may God punish both you and
your brother! And if you have any part in his scheme of robbing me of
my dear child, betake yourself after him, so that no shame or dishonor
may happen.” Countess Cecilia hastened to her sleigh and reached
Sværdsbro, where her brother was stopping, ahead of Sigrid.
When Lady Sigrid arrived at Sværdsbro, she was admitted through the
lines of soldiers only after some difficulty, finding tailors and
seamsters busy cutting and sewing precious stuffs for clothing for Lady
Magdalen and her servants, “for she left with uncovered head such as
she went and stood in her mother’s house.” Sigrid tried to persuade her
sister to return to her mother, who in her great sorrow was willing to
forgive all if she only came back. Magdalen sat silent for a long time.
Finally she said: “If you can vouchsafe me, that the lady, my mother,
will grant that we shall belong to each other, since I have so dearly
pledged myself to him, I shall return.” This Sigrid could not do, and
Magdalen added, weeping sorely: “The last complication is then as bad
as the first.” Lord Eric entered with his sister Cecilia. When Sigrid
asked where he intended to bring Magdalen, he answered: “To Visingsœ,
to the Countess Beatrix, my sister, where she shall remain until we
obtain the consent to marry of the lady, her mother.” It was arranged
that Cecilia should accompany Magdalen, and Sigrid try her best to win
her mother’s consent. Magdalen sent home to her mother a piece of horn
of the fabulous unicorn; “the only thing I have carried with me from
my father’s house,” she added. This horn, which really was taken from
the incisor of the narwhal, was in those days generally thought to be
authentic and of miraculous power.
Countess Martha was, in her grief and dismay, taken ill. She soon
gathered strength enough to write to King John, her nephew, pleading
her cause. King John at once took action in the matter, calling Lord
Eric to account, and issuing a command to all ministers of the kingdom,
prohibiting them to unite in marriage the two cousins. Eric Stenbock
was on his way to Stockholm when he received the order of the king.
Upon his arrival at the capital, he was imprisoned and deprived of all
his offices. But Lord Eric had powerful friends in Duke Charles and
the Stenbock family. As the king himself did not wish to be without
his service, he was soon set free and reinstalled in his offices. He
succeeded in obtaining the goodwill of the whole Sture family, but
“King Martha” remained irreconcilable. More than a year had passed
since the elopement. One day Lord Eric suddenly appeared at the castle
of Visingsœ. He made, with Magdalen and his aunt, Lady Anne, a journey
into the province of Halland, where a Danish minister joined the two
cousins in marriage. The wedding was celebrated at the home of Eric’s
father, Baron Gustavus Stenbock of Torpa. But Lady Magdalen was not
happy. She grieved because of her mother’s hostile attitude, and
continued to dress in black colors, as she had done ever since she left
her mother. Duke Charles, the queen-dowager, the royal princesses, and
all the members of the state council, yea, the king himself, wrote
letters to the indignant countess, whose ire was rather increased than
diminished thereby.
Finally, after another year and a half, “King Martha” gave in to
the tears and prayers of her daughters. Lady Magdalen returned to
Hœrningsholm after three years of absence. She was not allowed to come
up to the castle at first, but had to dwell in the building occupied by
the baths. As the winter was approaching, and Lady Magdalen was soon
to give life to a child, her brothers and sisters prevailed upon their
mother to receive Lord Eric and his wife at the castle. The event was
arranged in a conspicuous way. Countess Martha was seated in the place
of honor in the great hall of the castle, surrounded by her daughters
and sons-in-law, when Lord Eric entered with Magdalen. When the mother
saw her pale and thin features, she was moved to tears, exclaiming:
“Thou unhappy child!” Magdalen approached her on her knees, and the
countess embraced her, stammering her forgiveness between tears.
Magdalen remained at the castle, where she bore her husband a son, who
was called Gustavus. Lady Martha invited the king, the duke and the
princesses to be present at the baptism, at the same time granting
Magdalen an equal share of inheritance with the other daughters. Lady
Magdalen continued to dress in mourning as a self-imposed punishment
for her disobedience to her mother. One day she was preparing to leave
for a wedding, when her mother asked her the reason why she dressed
thus. When “King Martha” learned why, she took a costly cross of
diamonds intended for the bride and placed it on her daughter’s breast,
telling her to put aside her black dresses. From that day joy and
happiness seemed to return to Lady Magdalen, who commenced to put on
lighter colors and to wear diamonds. Of Magdalen Stenbock--a child of
these Stures, who so often had protected and preserved Sweden--Count
Magnus Stenbock was a lineal descendant, he who during the reign of
Charles XII. saved his country in the hour of its greatest peril and
distress.
_Sigismund_, the son and successor of John III., was not apt to become
more popular than his father. Born at the pleasant prison of Gripsholm,
which yet was a prison, he was of a cold, unsympathetic disposition,
a king of few words and hard to approach. At John’s death, Sigismund
was twenty-six years of age and had reigned several years in Poland.
Charles stepped to the front as the head of the government until
Sigismund’s arrival.
The Protestants, fearing the worst from their new Catholic king,
decided to take firm and early action. The duke ordered a Riksdag at
Upsala in February, 1593, the deliberations being held by the clergy
alone. The Liturgia was abolished with the majority of Catholic church
ceremonies, Luther’s catechisms, L. Petri’s ritual, church visitations,
etc., being reintroduced. Abraham Angermannus was elected archbishop,
and decision made for the re-establishment of the Upsala University.
The duke had not been present at the deliberations, and appeared
displeased because not consulted. He, who was secretly accused of being
a Calvinist, pointed out more Catholic ceremonies to be abolished,
whereupon the decisions won the sanction of the duke, the state council
and the bishops. By this act the Lutheran Church was re-established,
the Augsburgian Confession being laid down by the meeting as its
corner-stone. When this action had been taken, the chairman, Nicolaus
Bothniensis, a young Upsala professor, exclaimed: “Now Sweden has
become _one_ man, and we all have _one_ God.”
In August, 1593, King Sigismund arrived in Sweden, surrounded by
Jesuits and Polish nobles, and with a sum of money wherewith to pay
the expenses of a Catholic revival. To the demands made to sign the
decisions of the Upsala meeting he gave a flat refusal. The conditions
in Stockholm grew perilous, Jesuits and Lutheran ministers preaching
denouncements upon each other in the churches and conflicts between
the Polish troops and the populace taking place. In January, 1594,
Sigismund, accompanied by the state councillors and the members of
the Riksdag, came to Upsala for his father’s funeral and his own
coronation. Duke Charles arrived with 3,000 men, whom he quartered
in the neighborhood. He dismissed the papal legate, Malaspina, and
his Jesuits from the funeral procession, before it entered the
cathedral, and told the king, in behalf of all, that no coronation
would take place before the confessional liberty of the Lutheran Church
was confirmed. The Estates declared themselves ready to sacrifice
their lives for the pure faith. The king still refused his sanction,
whereupon the duke replied that the Riksdag would be dismissed within
twenty-four hours if he insisted. Sigismund gave in, upon the advice of
the Jesuits, who told him that pledges to Lutherans were not binding.
Sigismund was crowned and returned suddenly to Poland.
The king had left matters in an unsatisfactory condition, placing six
governors with great authority in various districts, but leaving the
government to be conducted by the duke and the state council in common.
This little pleased the energetic Charles, who soon called a Riksdag
at Sœderkœping, in 1595, forcing the councillors to sanction this act
and follow him to the Riksdag. In Finland, the governor, Clas Fleming,
had tried to have a peace agreement with Russia postponed as an excuse
to keep the navy and army at his disposal in the interest of the king.
At Sœderkœping, Charles had himself chosen regent, the last vestige of
Catholicism abolished, and the punishment of Fleming decided on. In
consequence, the Catholics were dealt with in a merciless way through
the instigation of the archbishop, whom the duke called an executioner
on account of his recklessness. The convent of Vadstena was closed, its
eleven nuns scattered and its property confiscated. In Finland a bloody
revolt against the oppression of Fleming cost 11,000 people their
lives. It was called the “War of Clubs,” on account of the rude weapons
used by the peasants. The state council refused to consent to Fleming’s
punishment, whereupon the duke suddenly resigned. But he convoked a
Riksdag at Arboga, in 1597, at which the councillors and nobles were
absent, also the burghers. The peasants and clergy were abundantly
represented and cheered the propositions of the duke to the echo. It
was then decided that the king should be asked to return, until which
event the duke was to remain regent, and that peace should be restored
in Finland. Fleming died in the meantime and was succeeded by Arvid
Stolarm, who also was one of the duke’s enemies. The Riksdag at Arboga
was the first in the deliberations of which the state council had not
taken a part. The councillors were disposed to punish the duke; but,
not agreeing as to means, they left the country to seek the king.
King Sigismund arrived in the summer of 1598 with an army of 5,000
Poles, gathering a good deal of strength by reinforcements from
Gothaland. The duke had his stronghold in Svealand, the Dalecarlians
rising to join him. The Uplanders warded off an attempt made by Stolarm
to land with his army; they were led by Nicolaus Bothniensis, the
Upsala professor, who called his exploit “a crusade.” The two princes
met in East Gothland, near Stegeborg. The duke and his peasant army
were surrounded by the king’s cavalry, and would have been doomed if
not for the outcry of one of the king’s followers that his subjects
would be killed on either side. The king gave order to stop the attack,
feeling pity at the sight. The duke was deeply moved by this act and
offered to leave the land with his family. But the deliberations which
followed were without result.
On the 25th of September a battle was fought at Stongebro, near
Linkœping, ending in the defeat of the royal army. An armistice
followed. The conditions of peace were that the king should remain
in Sweden, dismissing his foreign troops, and take charge of the
government. No one should be punished except five of the nobles,
to be placed before a jury of ambassadors. The king agreed to the
conditions, but soon left Sweden never to return. A meeting of nobles
and clergymen, in 1599, accepted him as reigning king if willing to
return within four months. In July, a Riksdag was called at Stockholm,
which declared Sigismund dethroned and his son Vladislav king if sent
to Sweden to be educated in the Lutheran faith. Sigismund took no heed
of these stipulations, planning to regain his throne by force.
Charles followed up the punishment with such unprecedented severity
that it has left a stain upon his memory. Three nobles were beheaded
after Kalmar was taken, and proceeding to Finland, the duke applied
capital punishment to a wide extent, in more than twenty cases at Abo
alone. At a Riksdag in Linkœping, in 1600, the duke appeared as an
accuser against the five imprisoned nobles and several others, eight
state councillors being among them. The accused, thirteen in number,
were sentenced to death for high treason, but the majority were
pardoned upon confession of guilt. The councillors Gustavus Banér, Eric
Sparre, Sten Banér and Ture Bielke were beheaded. They were all men
of learning and great ability, who had faithfully served their king.
During John’s reign they had already suffered years of imprisonment for
intrigues against a hereditary kingdom and a strong government.
_Charles IX._ was chosen king at the bloody Riksdag of Linkœping, and
his son Gustavus Adolphus heir-apparent. The hereditary rights of
Duke John, second son of John III., were acknowledged, and a duchy,
consisting of East Gothland and Leckœ Castle, granted him; but he was
passed over as too young and too closely related to Sigismund. Measures
to strengthen the financial administration and the army were passed.
Sigismund prepared, by alliances with Catholic powers, to gather
support, Charles turning to England and France for the same purpose. A
conflict was unavoidable, and Charles decided to invade the disputed
province of Livonia, which he captured, only to be ousted by the
Polish general, Zamoisky. The castle of Volmar was long and heroically
defended by the Swedes under Jacob de la Gardie, a son of General
Pontus, and Charles Gyllenhielm, an illegitimate son of Charles IX.
After their surrender the former received for five years a tolerable
treatment, the latter a most severe one for twelve years. After
attempts to place conditions on a better footing in Finland, where the
peasants had long suffered through aristocratic oppression, Charles
increased the army still further and invaded Livonia once more, in
1604. He met with a crushing defeat at Kerkholm, close by Riga, at the
hands of the Pole, Chodkiewitz, losing 9,000 men. But the Poles did not
understand how to use their victory, and the centre of the conflict
changed to Russia.
On Russian territory, the troops of Sigismund and Charles were to meet.
The line of Rurik became extinct in 1598, its last descendant, Dimitri,
being murdered. Great complications ensued with usurpers and two “false
Dimitris” in succession. Sigismund supported the false Dimitris in
order to gain ground and place the royal line of Vasa upon the throne
of Russia after that of Rurik. Charles sided with Vassili Schuisky
against the second false Dimitri. In 1607 an agreement was made that
Sweden, upon the receipt of the province of Kexholm, should send an
army to Russia to support Czar Vassili. In 1609, a small Swedish army,
consisting of Swedes, Finns and some hired troops, entered Russia,
under command of Jacob de la Gardie. It was received at Novgorod with
the blaze of cannon and tolling of church bells. A victory was won at
Tver over the pretender, but further progress was impeded by mutiny
among the hired troops, the stubborn Finns returning home. With his
1,200 faithful Swedes, reinforced by hired troops to 5,000, De la
Gardie made a daring march eastward to Moscow, scaring away the Polish
army, attacking it and making a triumphant entry into the Russian
capital. Sigismund was at Smolensk, and met De la Gardie at Klusina,
winning the battle on account of renewed mutiny of the hired troops in
the Swedish army. De la Gardie was given free leave with 400 men, upon
pledge not to support Czar Vassili, and later captured the promised
Kexholm, while Sigismund’s son Vladislav for a short time became czar
of Russia.
Although the short reign of Charles IX. was filled with continual
warfare, the king never for a moment lost interest in the peaceful
development of the country. He continued his father’s work in
furthering the mining industry, and tried to build up the commerce and
trade relations. He founded the city of Gothenburg, on the western
coast, in the island of Hising, opposite Elfsborg, also founding
the towns of Karlstad, Christinehamn, Mariestad and Philipstad. The
aristocracy looked upon his administration with coldness. It received
sanction of the privileges granted by John III., but nothing more,
except in return for additional _russtjenst_. The peasants were his
favorites and he was surnamed the “Peasant King.” To the Church,
Charles stood in a good relation, supporting its re-established
Reformation with his whole authority. Also the University had in him
a patron, although he severely criticised the too conservative spirit
in both, exchanging a series of pamphlets with the archbishop on
theological questions, firm in his Calvinistic tendencies. To make
the government stronger it was stipulated that four members of the
state council were always to hold the four principal offices, with the
titles of drotsete, kansler (chancellor), admiral and treasurer. The
greatest economy was enforced at court and throughout the whole system
of government, various minor country offices being established for the
enforcement of order, justice and economy. The king was liberal only
with severe orders and harsh words, the artistic tendencies of his
youth succumbing to the cruel necessities of his reign.
In private he was as severe as in public life. His first consort,
Maria of the Palatinate-Zweibrucken, had a quieting influence upon
him, but the second, Christine of Holstein, stern and sharp like the
king, strengthened the harshness and violence of his disposition.
During the last years of his reign, Charles gave his attention to
the critical European situation, desiring to join the Netherlands,
England, France and the Protestant German princes into an alliance
against the forming Catholic league. This man, so assured of his power
to reign and so unscrupulous as to his means, was very careful not to
do any act of importance without the sanction of his people, and for
a long time refused to be called king. In 1604 he agreed to accept
that name, but was in 1606 ready to cede it to Duke John. Still, after
his coronation he admitted the hereditary right of his nephew, who
was a good-natured man without the qualifications of a ruler. At the
Riksdag of Norrkœping, in 1604, the crown was made hereditary among
the descendants of Charles, also in the female line, provided that
the monarch confessed the Lutheran faith and had not accepted the
government of, or residence in, any other country.
The stress placed upon Charles was greater than his originally strong
health could carry. In 1609 he suffered a stroke of paralysis, which
deprived him of his full power of speech. He still stood firm at the
head of the government, with Prince Gustavus Adolphus, now sixteen
years of age, at his side, who took part in the affairs of State and
spoke for the paralytic king. The young and ambitious Christian IV.
of Denmark thought that the opportune moment was come to turn down
the rising power of Sweden. He declared war, in April, 1611, in spite
of the efforts made by King Charles to avoid the conflict, pointing
to Germany, where their joined forces would be needed. Christian
captured the town of Kalmar, while its castle withstood his attacks,
being handed over to him by treason. In his wrath and disgust, Charles
sent word to Christian to meet him in a duel face to face, which the
latter refused to do in a letter of abusive contempt. Gustavus Adolphus
had made a dash into Bleking, capturing the store of provisions at
Christianopel. In the autumn, the war came to a temporary standstill.
Charles started for Stockholm from Kalmar, but was taken ill during
the journey and died at Nykœping, October 11, 1611, surrounded by his
sons and councillors. To his death-bed came the news that Jacob de
la Gardie had captured the important city of Novgorod, and that the
Russians offered the crown to either of his sons, Gustavus Adolphus or
Charles Philip. With Charles died the only worthy son of Gustavus I.
Vasa. In strength of intellect and stern power, he stands first among
Swedish rulers. Devoted to the work of his great father, he educated
the Swedish people, through hardships and sacrifices, to its political
grandeur.