Gustav I of Sweden
From Freepedia
Gustav Vasa (May 12, 1496 – September 29, 1560), originally Gustav Eriksson Vasa, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death. He was elected regent in 1521 after leading the rebellion against Christian II of Denmark, who controlled most of Sweden. During his reign Protestantism was introduced in Sweden (Sweden-Finland).
Gustav Vasa was an enigmatic person who has been referred to as both a liberator of the country and as a tyrannic ruler, which has made him the subject of many books. When he got to power in 1523, he was largely unknown, and he became the ruler of a still divided country without a central government. Yet, he managed to remain in power for 37 years, and at his death left behind him a strong central power with uniform rules.
In traditional Swedish history he has been labeled the founder of modern Sweden, and the country's liberator. Gustav liked to compare himself to Moses, who liberated his people and established a state. As a person, Gustav was known for ruthless methods and a bad temperament, but he also loved music, and had a certain sly wit.
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Early life
Gustav's family descended from Birgitta Gustafsdotter Sture, the sister of childless Regent Sten Sture the Elder who had died in 1503 when Gustav was a baby. According to genealogical research, Birgitta and Sten Sture (and consequently also Gustav Vasa) descended from King Sverker II of Sweden, through King Sverker's granddaughter Benedikte Sunesdotter (who was married to Svantepolk Knutsson, son of Duke of Reval). The Vasa family belonged to the highest level of hereditary Swedish nobility (högfrälse) and they possessed some wealth: several manors etc.
Gustav Vasa's father Erik Johansson (Vasa) was involved in the party of Sten Sture the Younger fighting against the Danes in the early 16th century. When the Danes under Christian II conquered Sweden and took the capital Stockholm in 1517, several members of the Sture party were executed in the Stockholm Bloodbath in October that year, among whom was Erik Johansson. The young Gustav survived by hiding.
He got involved in some of the revolts against the Danish king. At the battle of Brännkyrka on October 2, 1518, he was among those captured and taken prisoner in Denmark. But he managed to escape, and on May 31, 1520, he returned by ship to Kalmar, on the southeastern side of Sweden. From there, he travelled all the way up to the province of Dalarna, in (what was then) northwestern Sweden. He tried to gather troops to take down the Danish government, but had little success initially.
According to popular history, as depicted in the 19th century in Swedish schoolbooks, Gustav encountered many adventures while he was fleeing around Dalarna. Their historical validity is however questioned.
In 1521 he had managed to gather a small army in Dalarna and become its leader. He also received help by troops from Leipzig, Germany. By August 1521, the men of Dalarna had elected him regent of Sweden, whereafter two years of battle followed whereby the Danish troops were gradually defeated.
In 1523, Gustav was able to be crowned in Strängnäs, south of the capital Stockholm, on June 6. The date has later been celebrated as the Swedish national day. His troops had besieged the capital, and on June 24, they finally could march into Stockholm. The country was however in no way united in support of the king at that time.
Reformation
After seizing power, the previous Archbishop Gustav Trolle, who at the time held to a post of some kind of chancellor, was exiled from the country. Gustav sent a message to the pope requesting the acceptance of a new archbishop selected by Gustav himself: Johannes Magni.
The Pope sent back his decision demanding the unlawful expulsion of Archbishop Gustav Trolle to be reverted, and that the archbishop was to be reinstated. Here Sweden's remote geographical location proved to have a marked impact – for the former Archbishop had been allied with the Danish king, or at least was considered to have been in contemporary Stockholm, and to reinstate him would be close to impossible for the king.
The king let the Pope know the impossibility of the request, and the possible results if the Pope persisted, but – for better or worse – the Pope did persist, and refused to accept the king's suggestions of archbishops. At the time, incidentally and for different reasons, there were also four other unoccupied bishop's seats, where the king made suggestions to the Pope about candidates, but the Pope only accepted one of the candidates. As the Pope refused to budge on the issue of Gustav Trolle, the king, influenced by Lutheran scholar Olaus Petri, in 1531 took it upon himself to appoint a new archbishop, namely the brother of Olaus, Laurentius Petri. Hereby in effect, the Pope had lost any influence over the Swedish Church.
In the 1520's, the Petri brothers' were driving a campaign, almost, for the introduction of Lutheranism. The decade saw many events which can be seen as gradual introductions of Protestantism, for instance the marriage of Olaus Petri – a consecrated priest, and several texts published by him, advocating Lutheran dogmas. A translation of the New Testament had also been published in 1526. After the reformation, a full translation was published in 1540-41, called the Gustav Vasa Bible. However, knowledge of Greek and Hebrew among Swedish clergymen were not sufficient for a translation from the original sources; instead the work followed the German translation made by Martin Luther in 1534.
Further reign
Gustav encountered resistance from some areas of the country. In 1542, people from Dalarna rebelled, as they considered the king to have been too harsh on everyone he perceived as a supporter of the Danish.
People down in Smalandia rebelled later, and initially gave Gustav difficulties in the dense forests. What he did was to send a letter to the people of Dalarna, and requesting that they should send out letters to every Swedish province, saying that Dalarna would support the king with troops, and urging every other province to do the same. Gustav got his troops, with which help he managed to defeat the rebels.
The leader of the rebels, Nils Dacke, has traditionally been seen as a traitor to Sweden. Historical records state that Nils was seriously wounded during a battle, taking bullet wounds to both legs; if this is true, his survival may have been surprising with contemporary medical techniques. Nils was eventually betrayed by his own relatives, caught, and quartered; it is said that his body parts were displayed througout Sweden as a warning to other would-be rebels. Modern Swedish scholarship has toned down criticism of Nils Dacke, sometimes making him into a hero in the vein of Robin Hood, particularly in Småland.
Difficulties with the continuation of the Church also troubled Gustav Vasa. The 1540's saw death sentences from his hand for both the Petri brothers, as well as his former chancellor Laurentius Andreae. All of them were however granted amnesty, after spending several months in jail.
End of his reign
In the late 1550's, Gustav was broken by bodily troubles. This has been confirmed when his grave was opened in 1945 and his corpse examined. It was discovered that he suffered chronic infections of a leg and in his jaw.
He held a so called "last speech" in 1560 to the chancellors, his children and other noblemen whereby he encouraged them to remain united. In September 29, the same year, Gustav died of a severe colonic disease. He is buried together with his three wiwes in the Cathedral of Uppsala.
Heritage
Gustav's heritage has been disputed. In 19th century Swedish history, a folklore developed wherein Gustav was to have experienced all kinds of adventures when he liberated Sweden from the Danes. The memory of Gustav has been honored greatly, resulting in embroidered history books, memory coins, and the annual ski event Vasaloppet (the largest ski event in the world with 10,000 participants). The city of Vaasa in Finland was named after the royal house of Wasa in 1606.
However, today most of these stories are regarded to have no other foundation than legend, and a skillful propaganda by Gustav himself during his time.
Gustav has by some been regarded as a power-hungry man who wished to control everything: the Church, the economy, the army and all foreign affairs. But in doing this, he also did manage to unite Sweden, a country that had previously not had a standardized language, and where individual provinces held a strong regional power.
Gallery
Gustav Vasa had a series of paintings made during his reign. The originals are lost but watercolor reproductions of unknown date remain. These paintings show Gustav's triumphs, showing what Gustav himself considered important to depict.
 Part one. Year 1521-23, Outside Stockholm |
 Part two. Year 1525, Inside Stockholm |
 Part three. Year 1527, Inside and outside Västerås |
 Part four. Year 1542, the Dacke rising. |
 Part five. year 1541, in Brömsebro with Christian III of Denmark |
 The five kronor bank note that was in print in the 1970's and 1980's |
Family
Gustav's first wife was Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513 – 1535), whom he married on 24 September 1531. They had a son:
On 1 October 1536 he married his second wife, Margareta Leijonhufvud (1514 – 1551). Their children were:
- John III (Johan III) (1537 – 1592)
- Katharina (1539 – 1610). A great-grandmother of Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
- Cecilia (1540 – 1627)
- Magnus (1542 – 1595)
- Carl (1544)
- Anna Maria (1545 – 1610)
- Sten (1546 – 1549)
- Sofia (1547 – 1611)
- Elisabeth (1549 – 1598)
- Charles IX (Carl IX) (1550 – 1611)
In 1552 he married his third wife, Katarina Stenbock (1535 – 1621).
See also
- Foundation of modern Sweden Contains a different view of the king, from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Vasaloppet.
- Warship Vasa.
- City of Vasa.
| Preceded by: Christian II | Regent of Sweden 1521–1523 | Succeeded by: became king |
| Preceded by: himself as regent | King of Sweden 1523–1560 | Succeeded by: Eric XIV |
References
- Robert, M: The Early Vasas: A History of Sweden 1523-1611 (1968)
- Åberg/Aberg, Alf: Gustav Vasa 500 år / The official anniversary book (1996)
