^^^iiii:tt' CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 088 466 275 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088466275 THE HISTORIANS- HISTORY OF THE WORLD '''SiiffiJp?' >1ICHK1,F,1 //^. mi JfOttipe tifiis'Mif nam itiiif ot t(|f HS f ©^raepifS oMoM as fffoi-- 1 bs onrFfFfliottsanii offlrgwat ■ TOtefall aaj'S :Ji^ jiflf assist ance otaoistinpislriiToaril ofaimisra and nmMbutorfi ' Btttljllilitaia^ in Inijttfg-fiDf t»oimuf{ft-Tarumem: Srmtdmaoia^Stolfzeiflattdfo 1715 ucn Aun FNRRAVEt) OOPTBIGHT, 1904, 1907 By HENET smith WILLIAMS ALL lUaHTB REBBRVKD VOLUME XVI SCANDINAVIA; SWITZERLAND TO 1715 Contributors, and Editorial Revisers Prof. Adolf Erman, UniTersity of Berlin. Prof. Joseph Hal6vy, College of France. Prof. Thomas K. Cheyne, Oxford TTniversity. Prof. Andrew C. McLanghlin, UniTersity of Chicago. Prof. David H. Miiller, University of Vienna. Prof. Alfred Bamband, University of Paris. Gapt. F. Brinkley, Tokio. Prof. Eduard Meyer, University of Berlin. Dr. James T. Shotwell, Columbia University. Prof. Theodor Noldeke, University of Strasburg. Prof. Albert B. Hart, Harvard University. Dr. Panl Bronnle, Eoyal Asiatic Society. Dr. James Gairdner, C.B., London. Prof. Ulrich von Wilamowitz MoUendorff, University of Berlin. Prof. H. Marczali, University of Budapest. Dr. G. W. Botsford, Columbia University. Prof. Julius Wellhausen, University of Gottingen. Prof. Franz R. von Krones, University of Graz. Prof. Wilhelm Soltau, Zabem University. Prof. E. W. Rogers, Drew Theological Seminary. Prof. A. Vamb§ry, University of Budapest, Prof. Otto Hirsohfeld, University of Berlin. Dr. Frederick Robertson Jones, Bryn Mawr College. Baron Bernardo di San Severino Quaranta, London. Dr. John P. Peters, New York. Prof. Adolph Harnack, University of Berlin. Dr. A. S. Rappoport, School of Oriental Languages, Paris. Prof. Hermann Diels, University of Berlin. Prof. C. W. C. Oman, Oxford University. Prof. W. L. Fleming, Louisiana State University. Prof. I. Goldziher, University of Budapest. Printed in the United States. Prof. R. Koser, University of Berlin. CONTENTS VOLUME XYI SOAimiNAVIA CHAPTEE I PASS The Legendary Period of Scandinavian History . . .1 Montelius on the origin of the Scandinavians, 1. The route of the invaders, 3. The earliest inhabitants, 4. The heroes of tradition, 6. Snorre Sturleson's account of Odin, 13. History partially reconciled to tradition, 17. The legend of Baldur, 22. The rule and worship of Odin, 27. The Hamlet of history : difficulties of chronol- ogy, 29. CHAPTER II The Age of the Vikings (to 1050 a.d.) .... 33 The ancient kings of Sweden, 33. Traditional list of the ancient kings of Sweden — The Ynglings, 34. The states of Denmark, 37. Traditional list of the ancient kings of Denmark, The Skioldungs, 37. Eagnar Lodbrok and his heirs, 39. Holger Danske and missions in the north, 41. Gorm the Old, Harold Bluetooth, and Sweyn, 43. Canute, and the dawn of discovery, 47. Early Norwegian kings, 49. Tradi- tional list of ancient kings of Norway, 50. Snorre Sturleson on king Olaf Tryggva- son, 58. Olaf at war with Sweyn, 66. Snorre Sturleson on the great sea fight, 67. The disappearance of Olaf Tryggvason : Olaf of Norway, 72. The sainthood of King Olaf, 76. Svend is succeeded by Magnus ; the death of Canute, 77. The preserva- tion of the Sagas, 77. The Skalds, 79. The social condition of the Northmen, 82. Bondi, 84. The absence of a feudal aristocracy, 87. The Things, 89. The lack of building materials, 93. Jarls, Churchmen, and Thingmen, 95. Architecture and the building of ships, 97. The Vikings, 98. CHAPTER III Norway to the Union op Kalmar (1050-1397 a.d.) . . 102 Magnus I to the division of the kingdom, 102. The kingdom is divided; the exploits of Sigurd I, 105. The anarchy of the twelfth century, 107. The mission of Nicholas Breakspear; renewed warrings, 108. Sverri's conquest and rule, 111. The dynasty is continued under Hakon V, 114. Magnus VI, 117. Eric II, 118. Hakon VI, 119. Tiii CONTENTS CHAPTER rv Iceland (874-1275 a.d.) 121 Permanent settlement of Iceland by the Norwegians, 121. The political organi- sation of Iceland, 123. The promulgator of the law, 124. The introduction of Christianity, 125. Trial by battle, 127. Icelandic, language and literature, 128. The Sagas; the Elder Edda, 129. CHAPTER V Denmark Under the Knuds and Valdemars (1060-1375 a.d.) . . 133 Harthacnut and Magnus, 133. Svend and the new dynasty, 136. The church ander Kuud the Saint, 139. The Guilds, 141. The rise of the bourgeoisie, 143. Church and State, 144. Eric III, Niels, Eric IV, and Eric the Lamb, 145. The division of the kingdom, 148. Valdemar (I) the Great subdues Riigen, 150. Absa- lon and the Skanians, 153. The death of Valdemar ; his laws, 154. Knud VI, 155. Absalon's good works and death, 157. Valdemar H at variance with the emperor, 158. The conquest of Esthonia, 160. The king's captivity, 162. Peace is bought at a high price, 164. Rise of the Hanseatic League and its power in the Baltic, 166. The decline of Denmark in the thirteenth century, 168. The sons of Valdemar the Victorious, 169. Abel the Fratricide is murdered, 171. Christopher I and Eric Glipping, 172. The disintegration of Denmark, 176. Valdemar Atterdag, the restorer of the kingdom, 181. The reunion of the Skanian provinces, 183. Valde- mar's reign closes in losses, 184. CHAPTER VI Sweden to the Union of Kalmar (1056-1389 a.d.) . . . 187 Valdemar I begins a new dynasty, 190. Sweden, Norway and Denmark are united under Margaret, 197. Saint Bridget of Sweden, 197. Spread of the order of Saint Bridget ; Vadstena Convent, 198. CHAPTER VTI The Union of Kalmar (1397-1523 a.d.) . . . .201 Events leading up to the Kalmar Union, 201. The consummation of the union, 203. The Holstein War, 205. The union is shaken ; Eric resigns his crown, 207. The three countries accept Christopher, 208. Sweden and Denmark separate under Christopher's successor, Charles Knutsson, 209. Under Christian the three kingdoms are again united, 210. The last conflicts of Christian's reign, 214 . The stormy reign of Hans, 219. The campaign in Ditmarsh, 225. Christian (II) the tyrant, 229. The carnage of Stockholm, 231. Further atrocities, 234. Gustavus Vasa, 236. Christian aids his own downfall, 239. Frederick I, 243. Christian reappears, and is cast into prison, 247. Pontoppidan tells the story of the reformation in Denmark, 350. Coarseness and ignorance of the clergy, 250. The Odense recess and its results, 252. The death of Frederick, 254. Interregnum, 255. The Count's War, 258. The acces- sion of Christian III, 259. The diet of Copenhagen, 262. Norway and Protestant- ism, 265. The death of Christian III, 268. Pontoppidan's estimate of Christian III, 268. CONTENTS ix CHAPTER VIII GusTAVUS Vasa to Charles IX (1523-1611 a.d.) . . .271 Gustavus Vasa ascends the throne, 271. Gustavus and the clergy, 273. The diet of Vesteras, 277. The king' is besought to assume the administration, 380. The recess of Vesteras, 281. The synod of Orebro, 283. The revolt of the Vestergot- landers, 284. The debt to Liibeck, 386. Gustavus defeats Christian in Norway, 287. The last rising of the Dalecarlians, 388. Liibeck's last efforts are subdued, 389. The act of hereditary settlement, 390. Troubles concerning Finland, 290. The death of the king, 293. Fryxell's estimate of King Gustavus, 393. Manners and customs of the time in Sweden, 297. Eric XIV, John III, and Sigismund, 298. John III, 300. Sigismund, 303. Charles IX, 307. The Kalmar War, 308. Geijer on Charles IX, 310. CHAPTER IX Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1633 a.d.) . . . .311 The accession of Gustavus Adolphus, 311. The Polish War, 313. Sweden as a military monarchy, 314. Gustavus Adolphus and the Thirty Years' War, 332. Leipsic, Liitzen, and the death of Gustavus, 325. Aims and character of Gustavus Adolphus, 336. Gteijer's estimate of Gustavus Adolphus 327, CHAPTER X Christina to Charles XI (1632-1697 a.d.) . . .339 The Peace of Westphalia, 329. The abdication of Christina, 330. Christina of Sweden and Monaldeschi, 331. Christina dies, 333. Catteau-Calleville's character- isation of Christina, 333. Bielfelt's characterisation of Christina, 334. Reign and wars of Charles (X) Gustavus, 335. Terlon's narrative of Charles X crossing the Little Belt, 336. The Peace of Roeskilde ; the renewal of war, 339. The death of Charles X; the Treaty of Copenhagen, 340. Charles XI, 341. CHAPTER XI Denmark and Norway in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1559-1677 A.D.) 345 Accession of Frederick II, 345. The Scandinavian Seven Years' War, 347. Re- bellious fiefs, 349. The last years of Frederick II, 351. Tycho Brahe at Hven, 352- The minority of Christian IV, 354. Christian's accession ; the Kalmar War, 355. Internal administration, 356. Christian IV and the Thirty Years' War, 358. War with Sweden, 359. Denmark humiliated, 360. The Peace of Bromsebro, 360. Death and character of Christian IV, 361. The nobles in conflict with Frederick III, 361. The Danish revolution, 364. Domestic conditions, 366. Frederick III is succeeded by Christian V, 367. The death of Christian V, 869. CONTENTS CHAPTER XII PAGK Sweden in the Eighteenth Century (1697-1814 a.d.) . . 370 Beginning of the Great Northern War, 371. Victory of Charles XII at Narva, 373. Conquest of Poland, '376. The zenith of Charles, 378. The execiition of Count Patkul, 379. The EJissian campaign of 1^07, 381. Charles XII's account of the battle of Hdlowczyn, 382. Charles defeated at Pultowa, 384. Charles XIII's exile, 388. The loss of Stralsund, 390. Baron Gortz and his projects, 391. Death of Charles XII, 392. Estimates of Charles XII, 394. King Oscar on Charles XII, 395. Eambaud's view of Charles XII, 395. Bain's characterisation of Charles XII, 395. Crichton and Wheaton on Charles XII, 396. The fate of von Gortz, 396. Change in the constitution, 396. The Peace of Nystad, 397. Reign of Frederick I, 398. Reign of Adolphus Frederick, 401. Foreign interference in Sweden, 403. Gustavus HI and the revolution of 1772, 404. Russian wars of Gustavus III, 408. Tragic end of Gustavus III, 409. CHAPTER XIII Denmark in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries . . 412 The administration of Struensee, 415. The fall of Struensee, 418. Denmark and the French revolution, 419. The war with' England, 421. Peace is followed by a second war, 422. Napoleon forces Denmark's hand, 424. The loss of Norway, 427. Renewal of the alliance between Denmark and the French Empire, 430. The battle of Sehested, 431. The Peace of Kiel, 432. The Norwegian constitution of 1814 and the Danish constitution of 1849, 432. The first Schleswig-Holstein "War, 439. The Danish constitution, 442. Christian IX and the second Schleswig-Holstein "War, 444. The lines of Diippel, 447. The severance of the duchies, 448. Recent history of Denmark, 449. CHAPTER XIV Sweden and Norway in the Nineteenth Century . . . 451 Loss of Finland, 452. Deposition of Gustavus (I"V) Adolphus, 454. Charles XIII and the new constitution, 455. Sweden and the continental system, 457. The question of the succession, 458. The election of Bernadotte, 460. Bernadotte as crown prince, 465. Sweden in the "War of Liberation, 467. A Swedish narrative of the Battle of the Nations, 468. Union of Sweden and Norway, 469. Norway under Charles (XI"V) John, 473. Royal proposals for constitutional revision, 474. The "Battle of the Marketplace," 475. Increased political power of the peasantry, 476. The national flag question, 477. Charles John succeeded by Oscar I, 478. Relations with Russia, 479. Charles XV, 479. Swedish proposals for revision of Act of "Union, 480. Foundation of the Norwegian National Party, 480. Proposals by the Storth- ing for full popular control, 482. The question of diplomatic representation, 485. Recent History of Sweden, 487. Protectionist movement, 489. Franchise reform, 491. Dissolution of the Union, 492. Death of Oscar II and accession of Gustaf V, 493. Brief Reference-List of Authorities by Chapters 494 A General Bibliography of Scandinavian History . . . . .497 A Chronological Summary of the Histor"!" of Scandinavia . . . .506 CONTENTS xi SWITZEELAIiTD CHAPTEE I PAOK Switzerland to the Founding of the Confederation (earliest times to 1289 A.D.) 619 The aspect of the country, 519. The lake-dwellers, 520. The stoue age, 522. Early improvements of the lake-dwellers, 522. Occupations of the lake-dwellers, 52S. The bronze age, 525. The iron age, 526. Probable origin of the lake-dweUers, 527. Conilicts with Borne ; The Helvetians, 529. The Boman occupation, 531. The Ger- manic invasions ; Frankish rulers, 533. German and Burgundian Helvetia, 536. Switzerland torn by dissensions in the empire, 538. The founding of Bern, 540. The free cities and the empire, 642. CHAPTEE II The Eise of the Swiss Confederation (1291-1402 a.d.) . . 544 Nature and man in the Waldstatte, 544. Origins of the Swiss confederation, B45. Uri, 546. Schwyz, 547. Unterwalden, 550. The everlasting league, 551. The earliest league, 652. The Waldstatte under Albert of Austria, 552. The tradition of the Bailiffs, 553. The oath on the Butli, 555. "William Tell, 556. Critical survey of the tradition, 557. Evidence for the tradition ; its significance, 559. Henry VII and the forest districts, 560. The attack on the abbey of Einsiedeln, 562. A contem- porary account of the battle of Morgarten, 563. The three states are further strength- ened, 565. Bern, 568. The siege of Bern, by a contemporary, 568. Significance of the battle of Laupen, 571. The acquisition of Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern, 571. The Gugler war, 575. New battles and new victories, 575. The battle of Nafels and subsequent peace, 577. The confederate relations strengthened, 578. The Pfaffen- brief and the Sempacher Brief, 579. CHAPTEE III The Confederation at the Height of Its Power (1402-1516 a.d.) . 581 The emancipation of Appenzell, 581. The conquest of the Aargau, 584. First advance south of the Alps ; the Valais, 585. Leagues of the Grisons, 587. Alliance of the three leagues, 589. The old Zurich War, 590. The Peace of Waldshut, 593. The Burgundian War, 694. The everlasting compact, 595. The Treaty of Lucerne; battles and skirmishes, 596. Bern and Fribourg open a campaign in the Vaud, 597. The alliance of Bern and Upper Valais, 599. Emperor and king desert the confed- eration, 599. The battle of Granson, 600. Charles renews the campaign, 601. The battle of Morat, 602. The Vaud is again invaded; the congress of Fribourg, 603. The battle of Nancy; the Treaty of Peace, 603. The battle of Giornico, 604. Con- sequences of the Burgundian Wars, 606. The cantons and the cities, 607. The plot of Am Stalden, 608. The compact of Stanz, 609. Hans Waldmann, 610. The Swabian War, 611. Practical freedom from the empire, 614. The confederation of thirteen states, 614. Conquests in Italy, 616. The Swiss at Marignano, 618. The Perpetual Peace, 619. The alliance with France, 630. The foreign relations of Switzerland, 621. Zll CONTENTS CHAPTER IV The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1519-1715 a.d.) . . 623 Zwingli inveighs against ecclesiastical abuses, 624. Beligious quarrels and re- ligious leagues, 626. The first religious peace ; sectarianism, 630. Second War of Eappel, 632. Defeats of Kappel and Zugerberg ; Peace of Xappel, 632. The progress of liberty in Geneva, 636. Calvin at Geneva, 639. Eelations with Savoy; the escar lade, 642; Disorders in the Grisons, 643. The Grisons recover independence, 647. Switzerland in the Thirty Years' War, 649. The Baden Compromise ; struggles concerning neutrality of soil, 651. The defensionale, 652. The Swiss independence proclamation, 653. The Peasants' War, 653. The revolt of Entlebuch, 654. The defeat at Wohlenschwyl, 655. The battle of Villmergen, 656. Second VUlmergen War, 658, The Toggenburg War, 659. The Peace of Aarau; the Triickli-Bund, 661. PART XIX THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA BASED CHIEFLY UPON THE FOLLOWING AUTHORITIES ADAM OF BREMEN, A. AHNFELDT, C. F. ALLEN, G. BINDER, K. BLASENDORFF, G. P. BLOM, H. L. BR^KSTED, J. P. W. CATTEAU-CALLEVILLE, O. CELSIUS, A. CRICHTON, O. DALIN, O. H. DUMRATH, S. A. DUNHAM, A. FRYXELL, A. GOSCH, E. G. GEIJER, G. F. VON JENSSEN-TUSCH, S. LAING, S. LAGERBRING, K. LUNDBLAD, P. H. MALLET, O. MONTELIUS, F. C. K. H. MUN- TER, W. ONCKEN, C. P. PALUDAN-MtTLLER, O. PETRI, E. PONTOPPIDAN, K. VON SCHLOZER, P. C. BINDING, SNORRE STURLESON, H. VON TREITSCHKE, H. WHEATON WITH ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FROM ALFRED THE GREAT, ANONYMOUS, J. ARCKENHOLTZ, ARNOLD OF LUBECK, R. N. BAIN, J. W. BARDILI, E. DE BEAUMONT- VASSY, J. L. F. BERTRAND, BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, C. L. VON BUCH, CHARLES XII, G. DROYSEN, THE YOUNGER EDDA, THE ELDER EDDA, ENCYCLOPiEDLA BRITAN- NICA, A. DE FLAUX, ABBfi FLEURY, E. W. GOSSE, P. F. A. HAMMERICH, O. HENNE-AM-RHYN, HERVARAR SAGA, A. HVITFELDT, JOHAN- NES AIAGNUS, C. R. MARKHAM, J. N. MIDDLETON, H. R. MILL, LORD MOLESWORTH, OSCAR II, E. L. POSSELT, A. RAMBAUD, O. RUDBECK, SAXO GRAMMATICUS, THE SAXON CHRONICLE, D. SCHAFER, F. C. SCHLOSSER, SIR WALTER SCOTT, J. SIME, TACITUS, H. DE TERLON, B. THORPE, A. VANDAL CHAPTER I THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY MONTELIUS ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SCANDINAVIANS " Concerning the point of time when northern and Gothic lands received their first inhabitants," says Lagerbring,^ "we know absolutely nothing, and this ignorance we share with all other European countries. Our legends do not go back so far, and even assuming that they had preserved to us the record of a memorable event of such remote antiquity, we could not put faith in them. Johannes Magnus c was quite at liberty to assure us that Magog, the grandson of Noah, was pleased to set a term to his wanderings in Sweden; but we are likewise at liberty not to believe him." After showing how Dr. Bang, a disciple of Rudbeckji^ by way of demon- strating his patriotic zeal, prevailed upon our conmion ancestor Adam to settle in Sweden, Lagerbring continues: "Our own times have lost this fine taste for antiquity, and we now think that our history will not suffer hurt if we make it a few centuries older or younger." Geijer concurs in Lagerbring's opinion that the Jotes [Jotuners or Jotuns], the aboriginal inhabitants of Sweden, were a Lapp or Finnish tribe, but seeks to prove that two other tribes distinct from each other, though closely akin by religion and origin, subsequently migrated thither. First came the Gotar [Goths], and after jjthem (probably a short time before the birth of Christ) the Svear [Swedes], under the leadership of Odin. About the middle of the nineteenth century two Norwegian historians, H. W. — VOL. XVI. B 1 2 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA Keyser and Munch, propounded another theory concerning the immigration, which attracted much attention for a time, and was as follows: In the dim backward of time, more than three or four hundred years at least before Christ, the Germans started on their wanderings from the ancient primitive home of their race, about the upper Volga and its tributaries, in the heart of Russia. Several tribes migrated into Germany across the Baltic and the south of Sweden, and we still see a remnant of them in the Gothic popu- lation of Sweden and Denmark. Further north the Svear took their way, and migrated into Middle Sweden by way of the Aland Islands. Further north still went the Northmen, either round the bay of Bothnia or by the maritime route from the White Sea. Their oldest settlements are conse- quently in Halogaland, far to the north, and thence they spread southward over Norway. The views respecting the immigration of northern tribes which we have here mentioned are based upon the scanty information that can be gathered from historical records. But these records all date from a period when our forefathers were already settled in the north, and the oldest native writings which tell us anything about the immigration were chronicled several thou- sand years after the event. Under the circumstances any attempt to resolve the question by these methods must be barren of result, every answer must be open to doubt. The possibility of finding a satisfactory answer only came into view with the discovery of monuments which date from primitive times, and may pos- sibly be referred to the immigration period. About half a century ago it was inccMltrovertibly demonstrated that both the stationary and movable antiquities which were then attracting more general attention than before dated from periods very remote from one another, that the most ancient go back to the first settlement of the country, and that the inhabitants of north- ern lands had passed through three great stages of development before the full light of history begins to shine upon the north with the introduction of Christianity. Since we have as little cause for assuming an immigration en masse at the beginning or during the course of the Bronze Age as at the beginning of the Iron Age, it follows that at the end of the age of Stone Scandinavian lands were peopled by the same race as was settled there in the Iron Age; or, in other words, that our Germanic forefathers had already migrated into the country in the Stone Age. What we know of the conditions of the Stone Age, or more correctly speaking of the last portion of that period, does not militate against this theory. We possess a not inconsiderable number of human skulls, found in the graves of that period, which supply us with important particulars concerning the population of the country at the time. Most of these skulls are elongated in form and bear a strong resemblance to those of the present inhabitants of Scandinavia. Professor Virchow, who has examined the skulls from the Scandinavian graves of the Stone Age, says that he inclines to the opinion that the forefathers of the present inhabitants of the country were actually living there in the Stone Age. Besides these long skulls, others, comparatively short, have been found in the same graves. They are distinct from those of the Scandinavian race and remind us rather of the Finnish tribes. They have been supposed, prob- ably not without reason, to belong to the aboriginal inhabitants of Scandi- navia, the people that possessed the land before the inmiigration of our Germanic forefathers. And although there seem to be no grounds for regarding these aborigines as the ancestors of the Lapps, who have now THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY 3 been driven into the extreme north of the Scandinavian peninsula, that does not preclude the possibility that they belonged to the same group as the Lapps and Finns of to-day. We cannot, however, come to any definite conclusion as to the race to which these aboriginal inhabitants belong until we discover graves dating back to that part of the Stone Age which preceded the immigration of our own forefathers. That probably took place at the beginning of the so-called Neolithic Age, that is to say the period to which the dolmens, chamber tombs, and other megalithic graves belong. Up to this time not a single grave can be referred to the so-called Kjokkenmodding. or Paleolithic Age in Scandinavia, and we therefore know absolutely nothing of the skull con- formation of the population of that date. If the views here set forth are correct, our forefathers came to this covm- try at a time when the use of metals was then unknown. This does not imply that they were on. the level of " savages." It is most probable that even at the time of their immigration they possessed all our common domesticated animals, as they certainly did long before the end of the Stone Age, and in all likelihood they were not ignorant of agriculture. It was long supposed that the results of philological research were incom- patible with the theory that our Germanic ancestors separated themselves from other Indo-Germanic races as early as the Stone Age, and appeared in the north at so remote a period. Philologists fancied that they had discov- ered that the use of metals was known before the migration of the Indo- European tribes. Recent research has now shown that this view is incorrect, and that the separation had taken place before metals and the uses of metal were known. The theory that our forefathers migrated to this country dur- ing the Stone Age meets with no contravention from the philological point of view. Any attempt to determine the exact time at which our forefathers first appeared in this country must always be compassed with great difiiculties. As far as we can tell at present, the Stone Age of the north ended about the second half of the second millennium b.c. The large number of graves and other monuments dating from the Neolithic Age which are still to be seen after the lapse of thousands of years proves that the duration of the period was so long that we may assume without hesitation that it began, at latest, in the third millennium b.c. I, for my part, see nothing to prevent us from supposing that it goes back even farther; and according to that view our forefathers would have migrated hither more than four thousand years ago. The Route of the Invaders Of the route by which they came we can say no more than that, in all probability, they started from the regions about the Black Sea and the lower Danube, and advanced to the northwest through countries that were peopled by Germanic tribes in the very dawn of history. On reaching the Baltic they took possession of the Cimbric peninsula and the Danish islands. Thence,, as we learn from their graves and the various forms in which they were made, they first crossed to Kane, and pressed forward along the west coast into Vestergotland, where the extensive plains were of great value to them. After that they continued to spread; some by way of Dal and southwestern Vermland, and the forest-clad region of southern Vestergotland, to which the great water course of the west coast afforded them an easy means of 4 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDIFAVIA access; some by way of Blekinge, Smaland, and the western portion of Ostergotland. It is worthy of note that while the west coast of Sweden is extremely rich in graves of the Stone Age , there is a great paucity of such remains on the east coast; and in both Oland and Gotland we find fewer memorials of this period than might have been expected, considering the great importance of these two islands in later civilisations. The Svealand districts, which are like- wise not rich in monuments of the Stone Age, were settled very mucb, later, and in all likelihood from Vestergotland. Thousands of years later the way from Denmark and Skane to the lowlands of Malar lay through Vester- gotland; and the first railway which connected Stockhohn with the Sound took the same route. In Norrland monuments of the Stone Age correspond- ing to those found in other parts of Sweden are so rare that there can have been nothing but isolated settlements there. One colony of this sort cer- tainly lay far back to the north, on the Byske Elf, near the present Skell- eftea. And it is possible that these monuments of the Stone Age in northern Sweden date from a period when bronze was in use in the south of the country. In Norrland, as in northern Norway, many Lapp remains dating from the Stone Age have been found, which go to prove that at one period this race occupied a far larger portion of the country than it does at present. The notion that our forefathers came to this country from the East, through Russia, gains no support from the more exact knowledge of pre- historic conditions which we now possess. Such vestiges of Germanic habi- tation as are met with in Russia may unhesitatingly be explained either by the emigration of Germanic hordes from the southern shores of the Baltic into what are now the Baltic provinces and the districts bordering on them, or by colonies from Sweden which certainly came into existence long before the days of Rurik. The conclusion to which archaeological research on the subject of the immigration of our forefathers has led is in accord with the usual assumption of historians — namely, that our Gothic ancestors were settled in the north from time immemorial. When we read in Johannes Magnus c that King Sven ruled over the Goths (Gotar) in Sweden shortly before the Flood we can hardly repress a smile. Yet the fugitive archbishop was probably less mistaken than many people have supposed. By his reckoning the Flood took place about 2304 B.C. We have shown that, in all probability, our forefathers migrated to the north quite as long before our era as that, even if they had not long been dwelling here by that time.e THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS That the original inhabitants differed widely from the Gothic conquerors, in language, manners, religion, and character, is certain. The earliest poems of the latter — those traditionary relics of a far more ancient age — are filled with allusions to this distinction. They represent the Finns and Lapps as magicians, as invested with uncontrollable authority over the elements; and the Jotuns as at once giants and magicians. But the warriors of Odin arro- gated to themselves no such powers, though their priests might. Legend, indeed, records some instances in which these powers were communicated to fortunate Gothic heroes; but the old inhabitants were the teachers, and what knowledge they imparted — which was always grudgingly imparted — was little in comparison with that which they retained. In the old Sagas, in the collection of Snorre Sturleson,/ in Saxo Grammaticus,? and even in later THE LEGENDARY PEEIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN" HISTORY 5 authorities, we everywhere discover a marked antipathy between the victors and the vanquished. It originated in a two-fold cause — in the difference of religion no less than that of race; and it was embittered in the same degree that it was perpetuated by mutual hostilities. The Finn, indeed, was unable to cope with the powerful Goth; but this sense of inferiority sharpened his invention, and made his hostility to be dreaded in proportion to its secrecy. The blow was struck in darkness; and the Goth, who had a sovereign con- tempt for the valour of his foe, was led to attribute it to supernatural rather than to human agency. What ancient history really informs us concerning the people of the north may be comprised in a few lines. They were split into tribes; and of these the Suiones (the Svear) were the most conspicuous. They were a rich and powerful maritime nation; and, if Tacitus 'i is to be credited, their kings were despotic. Lest they should turn against one another, or, what . was worse, against their rulers, their arms were taken from them, and kept by the royal slaves. They were, no doubt, a tribe which in- habited Sweden. In the same re- gion were the Gut- tones, or Goths, another tribe, probably, of more ancient arrival. As the lands of the two were con- terminous, the Suiones must have often called on their king for weapons, unless, indeed, their enemies, too, had been disarmed. But this alleged dis- arming [says Dunham ^] is pure fable. The Dankiones — probably the Danskir or Danes — bordered on the Guttones. If, by Cadononia, Tacitus really means the peninsula, the Teutones were also there. In regard to the Fenni, who are manifestly the Finns, he doubts whether he should call them a Teutonic or a Sarmatian tribe. Ptolemy locates them in western Lithuania; Tacitus, more to the north. For many centuries after Tacitus no great additions were made to the history of the north. In the fifth we learn that between the Elbe and the Baltic — no doubt, too, on both sides of that river, to some extent — were Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. Of these the first had no other seat. The second were doubtless a bastard colony from the more northern parts of the peninsula; and the last were an offset from the great Saxon confederation. The Jutes were the fewest in number; yet they were the progenitors of the men of Kent and the Isle of Wight, and of a tribe among the West Saxons. The rest of the Saxons — West, East, and South — were derived from the Saxon division of the colonists. The Angles gave their name to the people who bore it (the East Angles and Middle Angles) and likewise to the Mercians and Northumbrians. Such, according to that vener- Old Scandinavian Buckle 6 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA able authority the Saxon Chronicle I was the connection between these people and the island of Great Britain. But, reverting to the state of northern Europe after the time of Tacitus, yet before geography made us well acquainted with it, King Alfred,^ in his epitome of Orosius, adds some particulars which he had learned from his own inquiries. These particulars he derived from Ottar, a Norwegian, and Wulfstan, a Danish seaman. The former said that he lived north of all the Northmen, in Halogaland, opposite to the west sea; that north of him there was an immense waste land, some parts of it, how- ever, being visited by the Finns for hunting in summer and fishing in winter; that he had once sailed round the North Cape to the White Sea, and on the coast had found a people called Beormas, who spoke a kindred language with the Finns. " This Ottar," says the king, " was a rich man, according to the opinion of his own country; he had six hundred tame deer, and six decoy ones, whose value in catching the wild deer was incalculable, hence these decoy deer were much esteemed by the Finns." But this Norwegian captain had not above twenty head of horned cattle, and as many sheep and swine. The Finns paid rent in skin, feathers, whalebone, and ropes for shipping. (The proprietors of these lands were evidently Goths, the conquering tribe.) Ottar further said that the country of the Northmen (Norway) was long and narrow, cultivated on the sea coast but to the east overlooked by wild barren mountains. Yet Finns inhabited them even in the ninth century — a proof that they were tributary to these Goths, especially as we may infer from this Norwegian's account that they were the only people that paid rent: the dominant race were freeholders. Opposite to this country of the Northmen, in the south, was Swevland, or Sweden;' and to the north, the country oppo- site was Quenland, or that portion of the region between the gulf of Bothnia and Mount Sevo. "These Quens," says Ottar, "frequently assailed the Northmen, and the Northmen were no less inclined to pass the mountains against the Quens. From Halogaland [where Ottar dwelt] to the north of the land inhabited by the Northmen is a great distance — so great that no one could reach it by sea in a month." To be brief, the whole course of the navigation, from the extremity of Norway to the south of Jutland, is so minutely described as to render it impossible for anyone to mistake the locaUties intended, or to refuse credit to the relation of this old Norwegian navigator. " The followers of the historic Odin," says Wheaton,J " were the Svear, known unto Tacitus under the name of Suiones; and the inhabitants whom they found in the country were another tribe of Goths, who had emigrated thither at a remote period, veiled from the eye of history. The primitive people by whom it was occupied, were the Jotnar [Jotuns] and Dwarfs; the Fenni of Tacitus; the Skrithfiuni of Procopius, and the Quens and Finnas mentioned by the Norwegian navigator to King Alfred. They were gradu- ally expelled, and driven further north, towards the arctic circle, by the Goths and Svear, with whom they maintained perpetual war, embittered by religious rancour, often represented, in the fictions of the northern age, under the allegory of a contest between the celestial deities and the giants or evil genii." But of this subject more hereafter, when we come to the exploits and policy of Odin. The Heroes of Tradition Of the Scandinavians, prior to the arrival of Odin, and, indeed, for cen- turies after that event, little, as far as regards their domestic history, is THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OP SCANDINAVIAN" HISTORY 7 known. Rejecting wholly, as fabulous, the boast of native writers that they had monarchs centuries before the foundation of Rome, we may, how- ever, admit that they had kings — or, if the reader pleases, local judges — in time of peace, and military chieftains in war. There is reason to think that their chieftains, who assumed the regal title, were at one period, and, indeed, generally, exceedingly numerous. "At this time," says a chronicler, speaking of the age following the birth of Christ, " there were many kings in the north." Sweden had a dozen of them; Norway no fewer than eighteen; Jutland had usually two; and the various island? composing the rest of the Danish monarchy had each one. As in the heroic age of Greece, so in that of Scandinavia the same condition of society produced the same form of government. Of these reguli some were probably hereditary, some elective; some were certainly principal, others tributary. This distinction was the result, first, of some fancied superiority in the family of certain princes, but in a greater degree of their superior success. In Norway, for instance, the Finnish family of Fornjoter (Forniot) was esteemed the most ancient, and was that to which all the princes of that country referred their origin. But let us not forget that little dependence is to be placed on the alleged progenitors of these reguli, or the names of the reguli themselves, or their respective order of succession, or on the deeds attributed to them. All is darkness, uncertainty, contradiction. In the history of Norway, for instance, we are referred to Swedish kings as contemporary, whom the history of the latter kingdom places many generations before or after the alleged period. This is more strikingly the case in regard to the Danish and Swedish kings. In the history of the one we are referred to that of the other; yet the latter, in a majority of cases, have not one syllable on the subject. Names and events, on which the destinies of each country seem to turn, are men- tioned by one class of historians and passed over by another as having had no existence. But if so little reliance is to be placed on these regal succes- sions, we must not lose sight of the fact that were they and the events ascribed to them wholly fabulous (yet wholly fabulous they are not, since tradition does not so much create as amplify and distort), they would still demand our attention. Reject them, and nine-tenths of northern history must be rejected with them. And these traditionary songs, which form the entire history of the north, deserve our notice in another respect — they supply us with the best, the only picture of national manners. For this reason we shall cast a hasty glance at the more remarkable events which Saxo 9 represents as prior to the Odinic times, but which, in fact, were sub- sequent. Of the Swedish and Norwegian history during this fabulous or mythol- ogic, or at best doubtful period, we have little information beyond what is afforded us by the historian of Denmark, and he only mentions them inci- dentally. Not so in regard to the Danish themselves, which, thanks to his romantic bias and untiring industry, are sufficiently well known to us. Prior to the reign of Dan, the son of Humble, Denmark, like the whole of the north, was subject to chiefs — ^whether hereditary or elective we need not inquire. But such a form of government had its evils. A hundred tyrants were more galling than one; and Dan, who gave his name to the nation, was invested with an authority superior to the other chiefs, and with the regal title. On his death, the sceptre passed by election, and not by inheritance, into the hands of his son Humble; but the people found that monarchy, too, has its curses, though they are neither so numerous nor so great as those inseparable from an aristocracy. Lother, the brother 8 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA of Humble, revolted, was victorious, and enabled to usurp the regal dignity. As he had been a rebellious subject, so he made a tyrannical king. The most illustrious of the Danes he deprived of property or life, until a conspiracy served him as he had served so many others. Skiold, the son of Lother, was raised to the vacant dignity, a proof (always supposing the traditionary guides of Saxo to be worthy of credit) that the hereditary principle has great force even in the most ancient forms of society; indeed, the application of this principle to the chief magistracy of the state is the natural and almost inevitable result of the patriarchal system — a system which we all know to be coeval with the existence of the world. Skiold was the Hercules of his age; and at a time when wild beasts disputed with man the empu-e of the forest, he was a greater benefactor than if he were merely a warrior. Even in his youth he was a prodigy; he would seize and fetter the most savage bear, leaving to his followers the less noble task of despatching the monster. Yet he frequently struggled with the bravest of his own species; no wrestler of Scandinavia could withstand him; in a single combat, he overthrew the duke of the Alamanni or Swabians, his army and that of his enemy being spectators; reduced that people to the condition of tributaries, and returned home in triumph, accompanied by the daughter of the duke, the beautiful Awilda, whom he made the partner of his throne. Nor was he less distinguished for wisdom than for valour. He was a legislator: bad laws he abolished, and enacted such as were required by an improved state of society. He was a great friend to the poor and the aflBicted; the debts of others he often paid from his own treasury; the spoils taken in battle he uniformly abandoned to his followers; ■ and it was one of his noble sayings that, while money was the reward of the soldier, glory was enough for the general. So much esteemed, indeed, was this prince that his posterity were glad to derive additional distinction from his name; and the Skioldungs, or the descendants of Skiold, were long dear to Denmark. Gram, the son of Skiold, and the fifth king, was endowed with equal strength and equal enterprise, and his life was more romantic. His first consort was the daughter of his tutor or governor, a grim old chief; but thinking this lady beneath him, or, more probably, anxious to reward his brother-in-arms, Bessus, he soon bestowed her upon that hero. The dearer the gift, the greater the merit of the action; nor are similar instances of liberaUty wanting in other pagan heroes of the north. Probably Gram undervalued a conquest so easy as the wife he thus presented to his friend; and his ambition was roused by the hope of obtaining a lady whom nothing short of the highest courage could win. Gro, the daughter of Sigtrug, king of the Swedes, had been affianced to a giant, viz. a Jotun or a Finn. Indig- nant at this prostitution of royal blood and virgin modesty, the Danish monarch, attended by his never-failing companion, Bessus, passed into Sweden, killed the relatives of Gro, subdued the country, and brought away the princess in triumph. But, with all his valour. Gram was inconstant. Leading his army against the king of the Finns, he was so struck with the beauty of that monarch's daughter that he was speedily converted from an enemy into a suitor; and he obtained a promise of her hand on the condition of repudiating Gro. Scarcely, however, had he left the Finnish territory when a Saxon duke arrived, courted the lady, and the nuptial day was appointed. But he was not of a temper to bear this insult. Leaving his troops, he repaired silently and quickly into Finland, assumed a mean disguise, entered the royal palace, THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY 9 and took a humble seat. Being asked what brought him there, he replied his profession as leech — a character held sacred in all ancient communities, and sure of access to every house. As he had expected, the assembled guests were soon steeped in drunkenness. According to the manner of the times, he sung his own exploits, beheaded the unsuspecting bridegroom, pros- trated many of the attendants to the earth, and bore away the princess to his vessel, which awaited him on the coast. But his end was fatal. By Swibdager, king of Norway, he was deprived of empire and of life; his dominions became the prize of the victor; and his two infant sons, Guth- rum and Hadding, were secretly carried to Sweden, and confided to the charge of two giants. Here Saxo is careful to explain what he means by the word " giant." There were, he assures us, three species. First, there were the vulgar giants, those who excelled all mankind in bodily stature. Next, were the wise men, who were as much inferior to the former in bulk as they were superior in knowledge: these penetrated into the secret workings of nature, and were enemies of the monster giants, whom they subdued. Like the Persian magi, they struggled for and obtained the chief power of the state wherever they settled, and arrogated to themselves a divine no less than a regal authority; in short, they were expert magicians, able to delude all mankind by their prestiges. Next, we have the third class of giants, who were the offspring of the two preceding, and were inferior to one parent in magnitude of body, to the other in knowledge; yet, in both respects, they were above the ordi- nary standard of our nature, and were thought, by their deluded admirers, to inherit some portion of divinity. After this sage distinction, the Danish ecclesiastic observes that we ought not to be surprised at the credulity of the Northmen, for were not the Romans, though the wisest of men, equally credulous? Whatever may be thought of that distinction, or of the person- ages whom he has drawn from everlasting obscurity, of the existence of this credulity we have abundant evidence; and it furnishes one of the best com- ments on the manners and opinions of the times. Swibdager, the conqueror of Gram, and the sixth king of Denmark, found the weight of three crowns too much for one brow. At the entreaty, therefore, of Gro, the divorced queen of Gram, he recalled her son Guthrum from exile, and placed him, as a vassal, on the throne. This prince was naturally despised as the slave of a foreign prince. Not so his brother Had- ding, who, preferring liberty to a dependent court, and the hope of avenging his father's death to the smiles of that father's murderer, remained in exile, and with him were the hearts of Denmark. Of all the ancient heroes of the monarchy, this is, perhaps, the most celebrated. Wondrous, indeed, were his actions. While a youth, he inflamed the heart of Hardgrip, the giant daughter of his giant foster-father, who urged him to make a corresponding return. How could he love a giantess ? Was he — whom she could, almost, enclose in one of her hands — a fit match for her? The thing was impossible. " By no means," was the reply. " We of the superhuman breed can change, at pleasure, our forms, and even our substances; in short, we can reach the clouds, or reduce ourselves to your size." The royal youth consented; and never had man a more useful or more faithful companion. Her magical knowledge was of more avail to him than her valour, for in that he could equal her; but she could furnish him with superior weapons, defend him from unseen danger, and cure his wounds where human aid would have been use- 3. At length, perceiving that he yearned to revisit his native country, she 10 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA resolved to accompany him. On their journey, they one night arrived at a house where a corpse was duly laid out, until the mournful funeral rites were celebrated. Here was an opportunity of consulting the will of the gods, and the magic giantess availed herself of it. Producing a piece of wood on which certain verses of might, in Runic characters, were inscribed,' she caused it to be placed by Hadding under the tongue of the deceased. The effect was instantaneous: the corpse began to speak, and to utter the direst anathemas on her who had disturbed the repose of the dead. It predicted her immediate destruction in a neighbouring wood. No sooner, indeed, had they reached the wood, and erected their tent for the night, than a huge hand was seen to move around them. The terrified Hadding called on his companion for help; and she, dilating her body to a great extent, was able to seize the hand, and present it for amputation to the prince. From the wound issued more venom than blood. But the victory was dearly pur- chased; the gigantic witch was torn to pieces by the irritated powers of darkness. "Neither her supernatural condition," says Saxo, "nor her vast bulk availed her." . Hadding, however, did not much suffer by the event: a wise old man with one eye, pitying his disconsolate situation, provided him with a brother-in- arms, a celebrated pirate, and both entered into what was considered the holiest of compacts in the manner of the times, viz. each besmeared the footsteps of the other with his own blood. The two heroes being conquered by a chief on whom they made war, the same old man took Hadding on horseback to his own mysterious seat, and both renovated and prodigiously fortified him by a magic drink. At the same time a metrical prophecy told him how he was to escape from the captivity which impended over him. Who was this unknown benefactor? _ On his return to the place whence he was taken, he could perceive, through the folds of his mantle, that he was conveyed over the sea. The horse which bore him was evidently a demon, obedient to Odin, the god of the north. After some great exploits in the east, to which his ardour, no less than his fear of Swibdager, bore him, Hadding returned to Scandinavia. In a sea-fight he defeated and slew his enemy, and thus became sovereign of Denmark, or, we should say, of the Danish islands — for Jutland and Skane obeyed different princes. Asmund, the son of Swibdager, he thus trans- formed into a foe, and a foe, too, greatly to be dreaded. In a battle which ensued, finding that the tide of success was against him, he silently invoked the aid of the wizard giant Wagnoft, the father of his deceased mistress, Hardgrip. Wagnoft obeyed the spell, and was immediately by his side. Asmund lost the battle, and fell; but in his last moments he had the satisfaction of knowing that he had rendered Hadding lame for life. And he had another kind of joy, dear enough to a pagan: his wife Gunhilda, disdaining to survive him, slew herself with his sword, and was laid in the same grave with him. An invasion of his own country by Uffo, the son of Asmund, prevented Hadding from pursuing his advantage; but the follow- ing spring he again invaded Sweden; but his ranks were thinned alike by famine and disease. His men were obliged to feed on their horses; next, on their dogs; and, lastly, on each other, To increase their consternation, a ' In the Scandinavian superstition every rune was consecrated to some deity. Nearly all the magic of the north consisted in runes. They could raise or allay tempests ; they could change times, and they could bring the most distant objects together. They could produce good or bad seasons ; they could raise the dead ; in short, they were omnipotent over all nature, — the invisible no less than the visible world- THE LEGENDARY PBEIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY il nocturnal voice assured them of great evils. The following night, even, another unknown voice threatened the Swedes with destruction. Both armies, therefore, were alarmed; each had a supernatural enemy, while each was perhaps unconscious that it had, also, a supernatural friend. That same night the two armies engaged; when, behold ! two aged men, of a form larger than the human, were seen by the light of the stars in the battle, — one for the Swedes, the other for the Danes. The latter were subdued, and their king was glad to flee to his own country. But misfortune pursued him. One day, as he v/as cooling his limbs in the waters of the sea, he perceived a fish different from any that he had ever seen; as it was near the shore, he killed it, and it was taken to his camp. But what was his consternation when a sea-nymph appeared, and denounced direct vengeance on his head! He had killed one of the gods under the form of a fish. Henceforth the elements should be hostile to him; if he ventured on the deep, his vessel should be wrecked by the fury of the tempest; on land, the house which received him should, by a tempest, also be levelled with the ground; his flocks should perish in the fields; every place which he visited should be cursed for his sake: and this dreadful doom was to remain in force until he had propitiated the divine wrath by frequent sacri- fices. The mandate was not to be despised; during the course of a year altars perpetually smoked with oxen immolated to Fro, the awful deity of the winds. The life of Hadding was full of portents and marvels. Scarcely had he rescued the princess Regnilda of Norway from the obligation of marrying a giant, by killing the monster and making her his bride, when a most wonderful adventure befell him. One winter evening, as he was supping with his bride, a woman like a culler of simples was seen to raise her head from the ground close by the hearth ; she inquired whether the king did not wish to know where such herbs grew at that season of the year. He replied that he should very much wish to know. Hearing this, she enveloped him in his own mantle, and sank with him into the ground. What they saw in this subter- ranean journey bears some resemblance to the descriptions which have been given us of the Scandinavian world of spirits. They first entered a dark path, worn out by the feet of many travellers, and here they perceived some great ones of the earth — some in purple and gold — whose doom appeared to consist in their indefinite windings. Passing them, they entered a region of some fertility, whence the woman had derived her simples. Further still, they reached a river of precipitate course and black waters, which rolled along the weapons of many heroes, and over which a bridge conducted them to a different region. One of the first objects that met their eyes was two armies engaged in deadly strife. "Who are these?" demanded Hadding. " These," replied the sorceress, " are they who fell in battle; and it is their delight in this world continually to imitate their martial deeds in the other." At length they reached a high wall, totally impassable. The woman, indeed, made no attempt to scale it; but, twisting off the head of a cock which she had brought with her, she threw it over; when, behold! the cock began to crow as if nothing had been done to it! Unable to proceed further, the adventurous travellers returned to the palace. The rest of this monarch's life must be hastily despatched. He triumphed over Uffo, who fell in battle, and bestowed the vacant throne of Sweden on Hunding, brother of the deceased monarch. His last days were embittered by the unnatural conduct of his daughter Ulwilda, who, with her husband, planned his destruction. Though he escaped all the snares of his enemies, 12 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA at length he laid violent hands upon himself, leaving the throne of Denmark, and the superiority over that of Sweden, to his eldest son, Frode I. Frode I was also a great warrior, and he carried his depredations from Russia to the British islands, on which, unfortunately for the natives, he made a longer stay than kings, whose sole^ object was plunder, were accus- tomed to make. If there were any truth in the Danish account of this period, Scotland and South Britain were in frequent intercourse with the northern kingdom — sometimes for war and sometimes for peace. But these accounts are all to be distrusted. Events which happen at a much later period have been removed to the one before us; and the basis has been so much overlaid by fable that no ingenuity can separate the true from the false. When Frode commenced his reign, he found the treasury empty. How replenish it? By an expedient frequently to be found in Scandinavian legends. On a soHtary island, a dragon, formidable alike for size and venom, brooded over immense riches. The youthful monarch hastened to the spot, entered the cave, fought and killed the serpent, and brought away the golden hoard. Whether there be any meaning in this and similar fables has been much disputed: probably, however, it had a foundation, and the dragon may have been some terrible pirate whom Frode destroyed, and whose subterraneous riches he seized. This unexpected supply, we are told, enabled him to pursue his expeditions on various coasts of Europe. But we have no inclination to follow him. We may, however, allude to the way in which he gained pos- session of London; because the same expedient is often to be found in northern writers. Despairing of the reduction of a place so well defended, he caused a report to be spread that he had suddenly died in his tent. Per- mission was asked to bury him in one of the temples of the city, and was granted. On the day appointed, the pretended corpse was borne through the gates; a great number of Danes attended to do honour to their naonarch; but, under the garb of mourning, they hid their weapons of war; and, on a signal being given, they threw off the mockery of woe, assailed the Britons, and took the city by surprise. Of the immediate successors of this monarch little is known. Haldan, his son, was a great warrior, who put his own brother to death, and was hated by the people. Roe, the son of Haldan, was a quiet prince, mean in stature, but with a mind whose care it was to make his subjects happy. Helge,' his brother and successor, with whom, during his own life, he had shared the rone, was also a prince of great qualities; but his vices were still greater. " Whether his lust or his tyranny were more intolerable," says the historian, " is very doubtful." His amours are too disgusting to be recorded. At length,- seeing the execration in which he was held, he bade adieu to his country; and it proved a final adieu. According to report, he fell on his own sword. In the reigns of these princes, we have no mention of the Nor- wegian sovereigns; but those of Sweden — let us not forget that it is a Dane who writes — are represented as still dependent on Denmark. Rolf (or RoUo) succeeded his father, and was much beloved by his subjects.^ He fell through the treachery of a brother-in-law, who was excited to the deed by the sister of Rolf. Daughters conspiring against fathers, sisters against brothers, wives against husbands are among the common events of Scandi- ' Both Roe and Helge reigned some centuries after the time fixed by Sazo — as recently as the fifth century of the Christian era. ' Whether there was any other Bolf than the celebrated Rolf Krake, who is thought to have reigned in the sixth century after Christ, is doubtful. The best northern writers admit of no other. THE LEGENDAKY PEEIOD OP SCANDINAVIAN HISTOEY 13 navian history. As this prince died without issue, the Danish states elected for their monarch Hoder, a descendant of the famous Hadding, who had been educated by Gewar, a king of Norway. As it is in the reign of this latter monarch that Odin is again introduced on the stage of northern history — his first appearance being referred by Saxo to the time of Hadding — we can no longer refuse to notice what antiquity records with respect to him. In this, as in other parts of this introduction, the reader may admit or reject what he pleases. According to Saxo, this personage was a mortal, king of the Hellespont, who laid claim to the honours of divinity, and was actually worshipped by most of Europe. His profound knowledge of magic procured him the char- acter. His ordinary residence was Byzantium; but he held Upsala, which he frequently visited, in much esteem. Anxious to testify their respect for this new deity, the kings of the north cast a golden statue in his honour, adorned it with bracelets and other costly ornaments, and sent it to Byzan- tium. It was received by Odin with great joy, and placed in the temple of the gods. But Frigg, the wife of Odin, whom Saxo judges to be quite worthy of such a husband, stripped the statue of its ornaments to adorn herself. The incensed deity hung the mechanics who acted by her orders; and, for greater security, placed the image on a -high pedestal, and by his wonderful art rendered it vocal to human touch. But when was female vanity cured? To secure the aid of a domestic of the temple, Frigg did not hesitate to grant him the last favour; and by his aid, the gold, being, again abstracted, again adorned her person. This two-fold injury was too much for a god to withstand; and Odin left the country for a season, until the public discourse, like a nine days' wonder, had evaporated itself into empty air. During his absence, several persons — probably priests of his own temple — arrogated to themselves the attributes of divinity. These, on his return, he forced not only to lay down their borrowed honours but to flee from the country. Among them one is mentioned whose case affords a curious illustration of popular superstition. Mitothin was a great magician, and had long enjoyed the favour of the gods. But they were incensed with his impiety, while he no longer paid them the slightest homage. On the return of Odin he fled to Fiinen, and was killed by the inhabitants. In his tomb, however, he was amply revenged: he intro- duced into the whole region various kinds of plague; he destroyed multitudes of the inhabitants, until they, one day, opened his sepulchre, exhumed his body, cut off his head, and drove a stake through the corpse: then the mys- terious visitation was at an end. He is, probably, the first vampire on record. The account of Snorre Sturleson,/ who followed Norwegian, not Danish authorities, differs in many respects from the preceding.^ It may best be given in his own words: SNORRE STURLESON's ACCOUNT OF ODIN The country east of the Tanaquisl in Asia was called Asaland, or Asaheim, and the chief city in that land was called Asgard.' In that city was a chief called Odin, and it was a great place for sacrifice. It was the custom there ' Asgard is supposed by those who look for historical fact in mythological tales to be the present Assor ; others that it is Chasgar in the Caucasian ridge, called by Strabo Aspurgum — the Asburg or castle of Aas ; which word Aas still remains in the northern languages, signify- ing a ridge of high land, a 14 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA that twelve temple godars* should both direct the sacrifices and also judge the people. They were called Diars, or Drotners, and all the people served and obeyed them. Odin was a great and very far-travelled warrior, who conquered many kingdoms, and so successful was he that in every battle the victory was on his side. It was the belief of his people that victory belonged to him in every battle. It was his custom when he sent his men into battle, or on any expedition, that he first laid his hand upon their heads, and called down a blessing upon them; and then they believed their undertaking would be successful. His people also were accustomed, whenever they feU intO' danger by land or sea, to call upon his name; and they thought that always they got comfort and aid by it, for where he was they thought help was near. Often he went away so long that he passed many seasons on his journeys. Odin had two brothers, the one called Ve, the other Vitir, and they gov- erned the kingdom when he was ab- sent. It happened once, when Odin had gone to a great distance, and had been so long away that the people of Asa, doubted if he would ever return home, that his two brothers took it upon themselves to divide his estate; but both of them took his wife Frigg to themselves. Odin soon after returned home, and took his wife back. Odin went out with a great army against the Vanaland people; but they were well prepared, and defended their land, so that victory was changeable, and they ravaged the lands of each other, and did great damage. They tired of this at last, and on both sides appointed a meeting for establishing peace, made a truce, and exchanged hostages. The Vanaland people sent their best men, Njord the Rich, and his son Frey. The people of Asaland sent a man caUed Hsener, whom they thought well suited to be a chief ,^ as he was a stout and very handsome man, and with him they sent a man of great understand- ing called Mimir; and on the other side the Vanaland people sent the wisest man in their community, who was called Quaser. Now, when Hsener came to Vanaheim he was immediately made a chief, and Mimir came to him with good counsel on all occasions. But when Haener stood in the Things or other meetings, if Mimir was not near him, and any difficult matter was laid before him, he always answered in one way, "Now let others give their advice"; so that the Vanaland people got a suspicion that the Asaland people had deceived them in the exchange of men. They took Mimir, therefore, and beheaded him, and sent his head to the Asaland people. Odin took the head, smeared it with herbs so that it should not rot, and sang incantations over it. Thereby he gave it the power that it spoke to him, and discovered to him many secrets. Odin placed Njord and Frey as ' Hof godars, whose office of priests and judges continued hereditary in Scandinavia, a ' These exchanges appear not to have been of hostages, but of chiefs to be incorporated, with the people to whom they were sent, and thus to preserve peace, a Helsinqbobg's Kakna THE LEGENDAEY PEEIOD OP SCANDINAVIAN HISTOEY 15 priests of the sacrifices, and they became deities of the Asaland people. Njord's daughter Freya was priestess of the sacrifices, and first taught the Asaland people the magic art, as it was in use and fashion among the Vana- land people. While Njord was with the Vanaland people he had taken his own sister in marriage, for that was allowed by their law; and their children were Freyn and Freya. But among the Asaland people it was forbidden to come together in so near relationship. There goes a great mountain barrier from northeast to southwest, which divides the Greater Sweden from other kingdoms. South of this mountain ridge it is not far to Turkland, where Odin had great possessions. But Odin having foreknowledge and magic-sight, knew that his posterity would come to settle and dwell in the northern half of the world. In these times the Roman chiefs went wide aroxmd in the world, subduing to themselves all people; and on this account many chiefs fled from their domains. Odin set his brothers Ve and Vitir over Asgard; and he himself, with all the gods and a great many other people, wandered out, first westward to Gardarige [Russia], and then south to Saxland [Germany]. He had many sons; and after having subdued an extensive kingdom in Saxland he set his sons to defend the country. He himself went northwards to the sea, and took up his abode in an island which is called Odinso in Fiinen. Then he sent Gefion across the sound to the north, to discover new countries; and she came to king Gylfe, who gave her a ploughgate of land. Then she went to Jotunheim, and bore four sons to a giant, and transformed them into a yoke of oxen, and yoked them to a plough, and broke out the land into the ocean right opposite to Odinso, which land was called Zealand, where she afterwards settled and dwelt. Skiold, a son of Odin, married her, and they dwelt at Leidre.' Where the ploughed land was is a lake or sea called Laage. In the Swedish land the fiords of Laage correspond to the nesses in Zealand. Brage the Old sings thus of it:^ Gefion from Gylfe drove away, To add new land to Denmark's sway, — Blytlie Gefion ploughing in the smoke That steamed up from her oxen-yoke : Four heads, eight forehead stars had they Bright gleaming, as she ploughed away ; Dragging new lands from the deep main To join them to the sweet isle's plain. Now when Odin heard that things were in a prosperous condition in the land to the east beside Gylfe, he went thither, and Gylfe made a peace with him, for Gylfe thought he had no strength to oppose the people of Asaland. Odin and Gylfe had many tricks and enchantments against each other; but the Asaland people had always the superiority. Odin took up his residence at the Malar Lake, at the place now called Sigtuna. There he erected a large temple, where there were sacrifices according to the custonis of the Asaland people. He appropriated to himself the whole of that district of country, and called it Sigtuna. To the temple gods he gave also domains. Njord dwelt in Noatun, Frey in Upsala, Heimdall in Himinbjorg, Thor in Thrudvong, Baldur in Breidablik; to all of them he gave good domains. When Odin of Asaland came to the north, and the gods with him, he began ' Leidre, or Hleidre, or Leire, at the end of Isaflord, in the county of Lithraborg, is con- sidered the oldest royal seat in Denmark. « " 'This fable is possibly the echo of some tradition of a convulsion in which the ocean broke into the Baltic through the Sound and Belts, or in which the island of Zealand was raised from the deep. « 16 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA to exercise and teach others the arts which the people long afterwards have practised. Odin was the cleverest of all, and from him all the others learned their magic arts; and he knew them first, and knew many more than other people. But now, to tell why he is held in such high respect, we must men- tion various causes that contributed to it. When sitting among his friends his countenance was so beautiful and friendly that the spirits of all were exhilarated by it; but when he was in war he appeared fierce and dreadful. This arose from his being able to change his colour and form in any way he liked. Another cause was that he conversed so cleverly and smoothly that all who heard were persuaded. He spoke everything in rhyme, such as now composed, and which we call scald-craft. He and his temple gods were called song-smiths, for from them came that art of song into the northern countries. Odin could make his enemies in battle blind, or deaf, or terror- struck, and their weapons so blunt that they could no more cut than a willow twig; on the other hand, his men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild bulls, and killed people at a blow, and neither fire nor iron told upon them. These were called bersserkers. ^ Odin could transform his shape: his body would lie as if dead, or asleep; but then he would be in shape of a fish, or worm, or bird, or beast, and be off in a twinkling to distant lands upon his own or other people's business. With words alone he could quench fire, still the ocean in tempest, and turn the wind to any quarter he pleased. Odin had a ship which was called Skidbladner, in which he sailed over wide seas, and which he could roll up like a cloth.^ Odin carried with him Mimir's head, which told him all the news of other countries. Sometimes even he called the dead out of the earth, or set himself beside the burial-mounds; whence he was called the ghost- sovereign, and lord of the mounds. He had two ravens, to whom he had taught the speech of man; and they flew far and wide through the land, and brought him the news. In all such things he was pre-eminently wise. He taught all these arts in runes, and songs which are called incantations, and therefore the Asaland people are callfed incantation-smiths. Odin understood also the art in which the greatest power is lodged, and which he himself practised; namely, what is called magic. By means of this he could know beforehand the predestined fate ^ of men, or their not yet completed lot; and also bring on the death, ill luck, or bad health of people, and take the strength or wit from one person and give it to another. But after such witchcraft followed such weakness and anxiety that it was not thought respectable for men to practise it; and therefore the priestesses were brought up in this art. Odin knew finely where all missing cattle were con- cealed under the earth, and understood the songs by which the earth, the hills, the stones, and mounds were opened to him; and he bound those who dwell in them by the power of his word, and went in and took what he pleased. From these arts he became very celebrated. His enemies dreaded him; his friends put their trust in him, and relied on his power and on himself. He taught the most of his arts to his priests of the sacrifices, and they came nearest ' Bersaerker — so called from ber, bare ; and serkr, shirt ; that is, bare of any shirt of mail, as they fought without armour. The bersserkers appear to have gone into battle intoxicated with opium, or some exciting drug ; as the reaction after their bersserker gang was over, and their lassitude and exhaustion, prove the use of some stimulant previously to a great excess, a " This possibly refers to boats covered with skin or leather — the coracle of the Welsh and Irish. « ' OrlSg — the original law, the primseval law fixed from the beginning. It is carious that this idea of a predestination existed in the religion of Odin, a THE LEGENDAEY PEKIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTOEY 17 to himself in all wisdom and witch-knowledge. Many others, however, occu- pied themselves mucli with it; and from that time witchcraft spread far and wide, and continued long. People sacrificed to Odin, and the twelve chiefs from Asaland — called them their gods, and believed in them long after. From Odin's name came the name Audun, which people gave to his sons; and from Thor's name comes Thorer, also Thorarinn; and also it is some- times augmented by other additions, as Steenthor, or Hafthor, and many kinds of alterations. Odin established the same law in his land th|t had been in force in Asa- land. Thus he established by law that all dead men should be burned, and their property laid with them upon the pile, and the ashes be cast into the sea or buried in the earth. Thus, said he, everyone will come to Valhalla with the riches he had with him upon the pile; and he would also enjoy whatever he himself had buried in the earth. For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone; which custom remained long after Odin's time. ' Towards winter there should be blood-sacrifice for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good crop; and the third sacrifice should be in summer, for victory in battle. Over all Sweden the people paid Odin a scatt or tax — so much on each head; but he had to defend the country from enemy or disturbance, and pay the expense of the sacrifice feasts towards winter for a good year. Njord took a wife called Skadi; but she would not live with him, but married afterwards Odin, and had many sons by him, of whom one was called Sseming; and of this Eyvind Skaldaspiller sings thus: To Asa's son Queen Skadl bore Sseming, wlio dyed his shield In gore, — The giant-queen of rock and snow. Who loves to dwell on earth below, The iron pine-tree's daughter, she Sprung from the rocks that rib the sea, To Odin bore full many a son, Heroes of many a battle won. To Seeming Earl Hakon the Great reckoned up his pedigree. This Sweden they called Mannheim, but the Great Sweden they called Godheim; and of Godheim great wonders and novelties were related. Odin died in his bed in Sweden; and when he was near his death he made himself be marked with the point of a spear, and said he was going to God- heim, and would give a welcome there to all his friends, and all brave warriors should be dedicated to him; and the Swedes believed that he was gone to the ancient Asgard, and. would live there eternally. Then began the belief in Odin, and the calling upon him.' The Swedes believed that he often showed himself to them before any great battle. To some he gave victory; others he invited to himself; and they reckoned both of these to be well off in their fate. Odin was burned, and at his pile there was great splendour. It was their faith that the higher the smoke arose in the air, the higher he would be raised whose pile it was; and the richer he would be, the more the property that was consumed with him./ HISTORY PARTIALLY RECONCILED TO TRADITION The qualities of this extraordinary man are the favourite theme of the Swedish and Norwegian chronicles. Whether Odin ever existed — whether himself and his alleged Asiatics are not mere creatures of the imagination — B. W. — veil. XVI. 18 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA whether they are not purely mythologic, and referrible to an Asiatiie source, at a period lost in the depths of antiquity, have long exercised the ingenuity of writers. In matters of pure history it is certainly better to err on the side of scepticism than of credulity; but in the present instance we cannot discover sufficient grounds for the former opinion. That he existed, and at no distant period antecedent to the invasion of England by the Saxons, is affirmed, alike by written testimony and tradition. According to that venerable and most inestimable relic of antiquity, the Saxon Chronicle^ all the princes of the nation derived their origin from the deified hero; and the nimiber of genera- tions between him and the reigning king are minutely recorded. Thus, from Odin to Cerdic, 495 a.d., are ten generations; from Odin to Ida, 547 a.d., the same number; from Odin to ^Ua, 560 a.d., twelve; from Odin to Ceolwulf, 597 A.D., thirteen; from Odin to Penda, 626 a.d., twelve; from Odin to Offa, 755 A.D., sixteen; from Odin to iEthelwulf, 854 a.d., twenty-three generations. In all these hsts the intervening chain, from the wizard king to his Saxon descendant, are carefully specified. In the same manner the series of northern kings, from the sons of Odin, who were placed by him over the thrones of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, is progressively detailed. Thus, in Denmark, the generations from Skiold, the son of Odin, to Ragnar Lodbrok, 794 a.d., are twenty-five. In Sweden, from Njord (the adopted son, perhaps, of Odin) to Olaf, 630 a.d., are twenty- three generations. In Norway, the succession of kings from the same Njord, to Harold Harfagr, the first "monarch" of that country, 934 a.d., are twenty- eight. We think that these genealogical series, so carefully, so minutely particularised, afford a presumption, at least, that the pontiff king of the north both lived and reigned at a period not very far distant from the birth of Christ. Not that the subject is without its difficulties. The events ascribed to Odin's times have, by many writers, been deemed inapplicable to any century within the known history of the world. Hence, some have removed him to the age immediately following the flood; some, to the seventh century after that event; some, to the age of Darius Hystaspes; others, to that of Philip, king of Macedon; others, to less than two centuries before Christ; while another party contends that he was more recent still, and that Ariovistus, whom Caesar conquered, was one of his sons. Where so much contradiction, so much absurdity abound, our only guide, in the absence of positive evidence, is rea- son; and this confirms the generally received opinion that this personage is of far less antiquity than was formerly supposed. Not that many of his rites, many of his notions, many, perhaps, of his alleged actions, are not more ancient. There is, indeed, some reason to infer that they were known in Asiatic Scythia, a thousand years before his time. But this fate is not peculiar to Odin; it has been that of all celebrated men. Whoever has entered pro- foimdly into the history of tradition must be aware that legends which were formerly applicable to the most ancient characters were applied to compara- tively modern ones, when the latter had been dead long enough to permit the imagination to invest them with new attributes. Thus many which have been related of Charlemagne's heroes — of Charlemagne himself — of the crusaders, especially of Cceur de Lion's age, were once the glory of pagans, and were derived from a northern or an oriental source, before Normans, Franks, or Angles were known. So much for direct and positive evidence, which is strongly confirmed by inference. The Goths, like all the Scythians, were accustomed to deify their deceased heroes. This is expressly affirmed by several writers, especially by Adam of Bremen;'" and heroes are mentioned, who, we find, were deified. THE LEGENDAEY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY 19 Thus, Arminius, or Hermann, the courageous supporter of Germanic inde- pendence against the Romans, was worshipped as a god; and his famous idol, which was called, after his name, Irminsul, drew multitudes of pagans to the Isle of Riigen: it was, indeed, regarded as the palladium of Germanic liberty. The facility with which kings and heroes were deified is still more strikingly illustrated in the hfe of St. Anskar, the apostle of the Scandinavians. Alarmed at the success which attended the preaching of that admirable missionary (this was about the middle of the ninth century), the priests of the Odinian worship had recourse to a bold imposture. By their contriv- ance a man suddenly appeared in the Swedish capital, who affirmed that he had just attended a general meeting of the gods, and that he was bearer of a communication from them to King Olaf and his people. The substance of it was that the ancient deities had always been most indulgent to the Swedes; that, hitherto, they had found no reason to complain of an ungrateful return from their worshippers; that now, however, there was a sad decline in the sacrifices and other proofs of devotion; and that their wrath was especially excited by the introduction of a new deity, of one peculiarly hostile to the gods of the kingdom. "If," added they, "you Swedes really wish to increase the number of gods, we will readily admit your departed king, Eric, to the honours of deification." That the proposal was accepted, that a temple was immediately erected to Eric, that his altars perpetually smoked with sacrifices — are among the most indubitable facts of history. Hence, there is nothing imreasonable in the deification of Odin; indeed, he could not have avoided the honour. One so celebrated as he was — a great warrior, a great legislator, the founder of a new empire and of a new religion — assuredly could not fail to be invested with the same honours as an Arminius or an Eric. Indeed, as it was the obvious policy of the Asiatic followers of Odin to represent the authority of their pontiff king and his successors as founded on divine, not on human sanc- tion, as that authority was avowedly theocratic — he must, of necessity, have been regarded as a god, if not in his lifetime, immediately after his decease. The temporal no less than the spiritual government of Odin, and the social superiority of his immediate followers over the inhabitants he found in Sweden, drew our attention in former pages. Our opinions on this subject are strongly confirmed by Miinter'^ as follows: Odin founded the empire of the Svear, which was originally confined to a small territory around the Malar Lake, in the present Swedish province of Upland, called the lesser Svlthj6d, in contrast to the greater Svlthj6d, or Scythia, whence they migrated, and Mannaheim, or the Home of Man, in con- trast to the celestial abode of Asgard. By degrees the Svear, as the leading tribe governed by the pontiff kings, the immediate descendants of Odin, and having the custody of the great temple at Sigtun, the principal seat of the new superstition, acquired an ascendancy over the Goths, who possessed the more southern tract of country called Gautland, Gotland, or Goto-rike. This pre- cedence of the Svear over the Goths is established by the express terms of the ancient fundamental law of their joint empire, according to which the " king was elected by the national assembly of all the Swedes (a Ting allra Svia), at the Mora-Stone, in the plain near Upsala, and the assembly of all the Goths {Ting allra Goto) shall re-elect or confirm him." This distinction between the two tribes is constantly preserved in the traditions and- annals of the Middle Ages, and the division between the Svea and Gota-rike is strongly marked by a chain of mountains running between Sodermanland and Oster- gotland. 80 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA One of the ancient documents which throws the most Hght upon the his- tory of the heroic age in the north is the Eddaic poem, called Rigs^mdl. The prince of that name is said to have been the son of Skiold, and, according to the chronology of Suhm, reigned in Skane about the end of the second century of the Christian era. This poem contains a minute classification of the dif- ferent orders of society, personified as the children of King Rig, who is sup- posed to have divided them into distinct castes, assigning to each its respective rank in the social scale. As a literary composition, it resembles the Anglo- Saxon poem of Beowulf, and all other genuine traditionary poems or romances of uncivilised nations, in its unpretending and Homeric simphcity of style and incidents. In this respect it has been justly called one of the most curious and interesting "manners-painting strains" that have been preserved and handed down to posterity. The effects of the original Gothic migration and conquest in Scandinavia are here distinctly marked in the features of the slave caste, descended from the aboriginal Finns, and distinguished from their conquerors by black hair and complexion, as well as the squaUd poverty and misery in which they were compelled to live. The caste of freemen and free- holders — lords of the soil which they cultivated, and descended from the Gothic conquerors, with their reddish hair, fair complexion, and all the traits which peculiarly mark that famous race — is in like manner personified in a vivid description of a single family. Then comes the caste of the illustrious Jarls and the Herser, earls and barons, who are distinguished from the others by their still fairer hair and skin, by their noble emplojmients and manners, from whom descend the kingly race, skilled in rimic science, in manly exercises, and the military art. We have, here, the early history of the Scandinavians traced in a few lines; but these are strongly marked, and confirmed by all the traditions of the ancient north, respecting the different races of men by which the country was successively occupied. The first Gothic emigrants subdued the Celto-Finnish tribes, who were the primitive inhabitants of the country, and reduced them to servitude, or drove them, first to the mountains, and then to the desert wilds and fastnesses of Norrland, Lapland, and Finland. Here the Jotuners or Jotnar, as they were called by their Gothic invaders, continued to adhere to the grovelling superstition of their fathers, which was that form of polytheism which has been called fetichism, or the adoration of beasts and birds, of stocks and stones, all the animate and inanimate works of creation. The antipathy between these two races, so continually alluded to in the songs and sagas of the mythic and heroic age, is significantly expressed in the legend of Njord, who dwelt by the sea-side, and Skadi, a mountain-nymph of the rival race of the Jotuner, whom he had espoused. She very naturally prefers her native abode on the Alpine heights, whilst he insists on dwelling where he can hear the roar of the ocean billows. At last, they compromise this matrimonial dissension by agreeing to pass nine nights alternately among the mountains, and three on the sea-shore. But Njord soon tires of this compact, and vents his dissatisfaction in a lay to this effect : " How do I hate the mountain wilds ! I have only passed nine nights there; but how long and tedious did they seem! There one hears nothing but the howling of wolves, instead of the sweet notes of the swan." To which Skadi extemporises this response: " How can I rest on the sandy sea-shore, where my slumbers are every morn- ing broken by the hideous screaming of the seagulls?" The result is that she deserts her husband and returns to the mountains, where her father dwells: there, snatching up her bow, and fastening on her snow-skates, she bounds over the hills in pursuit of the wild beasts. THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY 21 The Svear, who migrated with the historic Odin, achieved no forcible conquest over their national brethren of the Gothic tribe, by whom they had been preceded. The ascendancy of Odin and his followers over their prede- cessors was acquired and maintained by superstition, and their supposed superiority in magic and the other arts which win the confidence or influence the fears of a barbarous nation. The older worship of the primitive inhabi- tants, and of their conquerors, was modified by this new prophet, who, taking advantage of the pre-existing belief in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and the incarnation of divine spirits, so widely diffused among the ancient people of the earth, pretended to be the former Odin, who had again descended among his faithful Goths.* His worship thus soon supplanted that of the more ancient Odin, and the attributes and actions of both were gradu- ally confounded together in the apprehension of the Scandinavians. But it did not supplant that of Thor, whom the primitive people of the north regarded as the elder and most beneficent of the deities. In him they worshipped the goodly elements of nature — the light, the heat, and especialljr the thunder, shaking and purifying the atmosphere. This deity was principally revered in Norway; and, after its discovery and settlement, in Iceland: but he main- tained his recognised equality with the other superior gods even in the great temple of Upsala, the principal seat of the northern superstition. His votaries formed a distinct sect, who were often engaged in deadly strife with the peculiar worshippers of Odin. The next deity in the Scandinavian hierarchy was Frey, who represented the prolific powers of Nature, and, with his sister Freya, the Venus of this mythology, was principally revered in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland; whilst Odin and his son, Baldur, were adored both at Upsala and Leidre as the peculiar national deities of the Gothic Danes and Svear. The religion of the north, as it was at last modified by this new dispensation, in the conjoint adoration of Thor, Odin, and Frey, bore a strong family likeness to the three principles of Shamanism, or the faith professed by the votaries of the Dalai Lama in central Asia. This correspondence points most significantly to its origin; and the filiation of religious creeds and forms of worship thus com- bines with that of language to trace the present people of the north to the remotest regions of the East. "■ The temporal government established by Odin was perpetuated through his sons. Thus Heimdall was placed over Skane, the original seat of the Danes. Sseming had Norway. From another son sprung the Ynglingar, who reigned for many centuries in Sweden and Norway. Skiold, a fourth son, led a colony into Zealand, which became the seat of a different kingdom; hence the Skiol- dimgs, or the regal family of Denmark. And as to Baldur, he was the king of the Angles, if any faith is to be placed in the Saxon Chronicled Thus, accord- ing to tradition, as embodied in the Icelandic and Norwegian sagas, and in other monuments of antiquity, Odin was the progenitor of all the great djmas- ties of the north. But in regard to some parts of Norway we must not forget the family of Nor — the mythologic, or rather mythic Nor, whose fame was so widely spread, and from whom the whole country derived its name. Doubt- less the native chiefs, those who descended from ancestors long antecedent to Odin's arrival, were proud enough of their descent, and too much attached to their ancient religion — more ancient than Odin's — to care for either the Asiatic conqueror or his attendant Drotner. But the kings of the .^sir, or ' To this opinion, says Dunham, * we do not subscribe. We have no proof of the existence of two Odins. 22 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA divine race, whose chief deity was this very Odin, boasted of a spiritual pre- eminence, superior, by far, to their temporal. THE LEGEND OF BALDUR But, reverting to the narrative of Saxo, 9 and the alleged succession of the Danish kings, Hodur, whom (as we have before observed) Gewar, a king in Norway, had educated, won the heart of Nanna, the daughter of his bene- factor. She had, however, the misfortune to influence a divine lover, Baldur, the son of Odin, who, like David, had seen her in the bath. As he knew of her attachment to Hodur, he resolved to remove that person by violence; but the latter had friends powerful as those of his enemy. One day, while hunting in the mountains, Hodur entered a cloud, and suddenly beheld a number of virgins, who, though bearing some resemblance to the maids of Norway, were in reality the fatal sisters. They accosted him by name, told him that his beloved Nanna had smitten the heart of Baldur, but warned him not to attempt the life of the demi-god. They informed him that they were present, unseen, in all battles — that they were the arbiters of good and evil — and that they often assisted their mortal friends when assistance was most required. Saying this, they disappeared so quickly that his eye could not follow them. On his return, he related to Gewar what he had seen, and besought the hand of Nanna. The old king had no objection to the match; but he dreaded the wrath of Baldur, on whose charmed body mortal weapon could have no effect. He added, however — for he was a great magician — that there was a sword kept by Mimring, a satyr of the woeds, with virtue enough to slay the demi-god. The same being had bracelets, of efficacy so wonderful as greatly to increase the bodily strength of the possessor. But how obtain these miraculous gifts? The abode of the satyr was amidst rocks and snows, and almost inaccessible to man. Hodur was, however, to take his sledge and reindeer; to reach the alpine solitudes; to pitch his tent, so that the shadow of the satyr's grove might fall upon it; and to watch day and night, with untiring patience, for the appearance of the mysterious occupant. The prince did as he was commanded; he fasted and watched, until one night, feigning to be asleep, he perceived the satyr attentively observing his tent. In a moment, he struck the monster, bound it with fetters, and threatened to kill it if it did not surrender the sword and bracelets. His life was dearer than those treasures. Hodur gained his object, and returned in triumph to the court of Gewar. The value of the treasure, indeed, was too great not to raise up rivals for its possession; and one king (Gelder, who has left his name to a well-known Dutch province), sailed with a powerful armament against him; but if it excited envy, it also aided its owner, and Hodur was victorious. In the mean time, Baldur, terrible in arms, entered the dominions to obtain the fair Nanna by force, should entreaties be ineffectual. But she was deaf to the most honied flattery. Without betraying her attachment for Hodur, which would only place him in greater jeopardy, she represented in strong colours the inequality of the proposed marriage. "The chain which bound a god to a mortal," she observed, "could not be a lasting chain. When the fervour of passion had subsided, the superior being, despising his ill-assorted choice, would at once dissolve it." Baldur had recourse to arms; and he was joined by the army of the gods, at the head of which were Odin and Thor. Here were fearful odds; but Hodur was not discouraged. His magic brace- THE LEGBNDAEY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTOEY 23 lets rendered him impenetrable to steel; and though the hammer of Thor crushed everything on which it fell, he had the courage to meet the Scandi- navian thunderer. With his wonderful sword he cut off the handle of the all- destructive weapon, so as to render it useless; and the gods, deprived of their great support, took refuge in flight. The victory was complete; the allies of the gods were destroyed; their bodies cast by the waves on the shores; and the victor performed the last rites to their manes. "Strange," concludes Saxo, "that gods could be thus routed by mortals!" But he accounts for the circumstance by gravely observing that they were deities in human estimation only, and not in reality. He evidently regards them merely as magicians and priests; wise, indeed, far beyond human wisdom, but stiU mortal. His religion, his profession, com- pelled him thus to regard them; and often, when he employs the term god, he adds the saving clause which we have just noticed. As the reward of his victory, Hodur obtained the hand of Nanna, with the throne of one part of Sweden; but he was shortly afterwards vanquished by Baldur, and he lost the crown of Denmark. He and Baldur were dreadful rivals. Through his love for Nanna, the latter wasted gradually away. To procure a greater share of the divine favour, he offered human sacrifices to Fro, and the fatal precedent was but too well imitated by succeeding ages. In the next battle, he was again the victor, and his rival was compelled to seek an asylum in an obscure village of Jutland. Here, unattended and discouraged, Hodur felt the more deeply the contrast of situations. From Jutland, he passed into Sweden, privately assembled his staunch adherents, and represented to them the hopelessness of his prospects — that he was alike weary of empire and life. Compelled, indeed, to consult his safety by wandering from forest to forest, from one cavern to another, he exhibited a remarkable example of the instability of fortune, in a region where such vicissitudes were more frequent than in any other part of the world. In this emergency, while sojourning amidst woods never trod by man, he one day entered a cave, in which he found the weird sisters. Being asked what had brought him to their solitudes, he replied, "Misfortune in war." He bewailed his hard fate, and asserted that their predictions had not been verified, but had been contradicted by the event. They contended, however, that if he had been twice put to flight, he had inflicted as great an injury on the enemy as the enemy had inflicted on him. But Baldur was on the throne of Denmark; what consolation, therefore, could he receive? He was, indeed, told that if he could only discover and appropriate to himself a certain species of food, which was every day served to his rival, and which increased that rival's strength in a prodigious manner, he should become the victor. How discover it? But, whatever his fate, it could not be more disastrous than the present; and he again sought Baldur in arms. The first day's fight was indecisive. At night, he lay in his tent; but sleep refusing to visit him, he arose and went towards the enemy's camp. "There he saw three virgins (the purveyors of Baldur's table) leave that prince's tent. He accosted them; and being asked who he was, replied, "A harper" — a character always sacred in the north. As he was really expert in the use of the instrument, he was really believed, and he was allowed to see what the mysterious substance was which had such miraculous effect on the body of his rival: it was the venom of three snakes which the virgins daily or nightly extracted from the mouths of the reptiles, and which they mixed with the more solid food of Baldur. One of the maidens wished to give some of the food to Hodur, but the eldest forbade her. All, however, were so pleased 24 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDIKAVIA with his minstrelsy that they presented him with a belt, which would ensure him the victory over all his enemies. The prophecy was soon fulfilled. Possessed of this belt, in addition to his other magical treasures, he inet his enemy and gave him a mortal wound. Like a true northern hero, Baldur, being resolved to die on the field of battle, was carried in a litter into the heart of Hodur's army; but he soon breathed his last sigh. Over his body a huge mound was erected by his troops. That treasures of inestimable value were buried with him was the unanimous opinion of posterity. In the time of Saxo some youths one night hastened to the spot, and endeavoured to open it; but their ears being assailed by terrific noises, they desisted, and fled. All this, says the historian, was unreal; it was merely the illusion of magic. Respecting the death and interment of Baldur, we have in the latter Eddao many details wholly omitted by Saxo, and more which are entirely dissimilar from his. One night, this Balaur had a dream, which was thought to be portentous of his fate. With the consent of the gods his mother, Freya or Frigg, called on fire, water, earth, stones, iron, and other metals, trees, animals, birds, reptiles, poison, and all diseases, to renounce all power over him; and they took an oath to that effect. To try the efficacy of the engagement, some of the gods threw darts and stones at him, while some assailed him with other weapons: in vain; no one could injure him. Seeing this, Loki, the genius of evil, assumed the disguise of an old woman, went to the palace of Frigg, and informed her what the gods were doing. " Let them try as long as they please," was the reply; "all living things have promised to respect my son." "What!" rejoined Loki, whose purpose is evident enough, "have all substances, without exception, thus promised?" "All," was the reply, except one insignificant plant, called mistletoe, which grows on the western side of Valhalla, and from which, such is its feebleness, I exacted no oath." This was enough for Loki : he went to the place where the mistletoe grew, plucked it up by the roots, and returned to the assembly of the gods, who were still occupied in the same diversion. According to this accoimt, Hodur was present; but he was not a deity, he was merely a blind old man. "Why dost thou not join in the exercise?" demanded Loki. " Because I am blind." "Take this trifling reed, and throw it; I will guide thine hand; meet it is for us all to honour Baldur!" The missile flew, and the hero fell to rise no more. The gods were in sad consternation at this event; the more so as the evil was irreparable. All that the afflicted father could now do was to pay due honours to his remains. His body was borne to the sea coast; it was placed in the famous ship of the deceased, which was one of the largest in the world; but neither Odin nor all the gods assembled could move the vessel into the waters. In this emergency, tJiey had recourse to a famous sorceress of the giant race, and she obeyed the caU. She arrived on the back of a wild beast, having serpents for reins. So dreadful was this animal, that it required four giante to hold it after she had dismounted. At one push, Gyges sent the ship into the sea; and so great was its velocity that the earth trembled. The funeral pile was then erected by command of Odin, and the body of Baldur's wife, whom grief brought to the grave, laid on it, close by his. Who was she? The Edda expressly caUs her Nanna, but assigns her another father than Gewar. There can, however, be no doubt that! the beautiful confusion so prevalent in everything connected with Scandinavian characters and events, is doubly apparent in this case — that the wife of Hodur and Baldur is one and the same Nanna, however the tradition in regard to her may have been distorted. Yet, there is no greater confusion respecting this lady than there is respecting Hodur himself in the different THE LEaENDAEY PEEIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY 25 relations of Saxo and Snorre, the compiler of the prose Edda. In the one case, as we have seen, he was a vigorous young prince; in the other, a blind, feeble, and apparently old one. This diversity of narrative arises from the diversity of sources consulted by the two historians — the one confining himself to the national songs of Denmark, the other consulting the old Nor- wegian, or rather Icelandic traditions, which the Skalds had transmitted to posterity. During the Middle Ages, especially anterior to the fourteenth cen- tury, there was a vast body of legendary lore respecting Odin, his family, and his sacerdotal companions — lore from which different Skalds took what they judged most interesting to their hearers. But, reverting to the funeral of Baldur, Thor furnished the consecrated fire: the horse of the deceased hero was placed on the pyre; and Odin added his golden ring, which had the mirac- ulous virtue of producing eight other rings every ninth night. Thus, in the presence of all the gods, satyrs, nymphs, and cyclops, was the conflagration effected. According to the same venerable authority, namely, the Edda" of Snorre, an attempt was made to recover the soul of Baldur from the empire of Hel, or death. Who would undertake the perilous mission? It was Hermod, another son of Odin, that, at the entreaty of his mother, saddled Sleipnir, the famous black steed, mounted him, and plunged into the subterraneous paths which led to the abodes of the dead. This Sleipnir has a reputation never before enjoyed by a quadruped. During the frequent contests between the gods and the giants — that is, between the Goths and the Jotuns — the former were not always victorious; nor were they always sure of impunity within their fortress, well guarded as it was. One day an architect appeared before them and proposed to build them such a city that all the power of Jotunheim should fail against it. For this service, however, he must have his reward; and a splendid one it was — the goddess Freya to wife, with the sun and moon as her dowry. They agreed to his terms, provided he did what no doubt they believed impossible, viz. execute the work himself, within the space of a single winter; and they were liberal enough to allow him the use of his horse. In a short time the gods had reason to be alarmed; for the horse not only drew stones of vast magnitude, but did more of the architect- ural work than the master. Within three days of the completion of winter nothing remained but the hanging of the gates. In great consternation the gods assembled to consult by what means the ruin impending might be averted. As the covenant between them and the architect had been advised by Loki, they menaced him with death unless he discovered some expedient to save them. Loki, who has sometimes been called the Scandinavian devil, was fond of mischief; but he was fonder still of his life : and that very night he caused a mare to issue from a forest and neigh amorously. Sleipnir, hearing the sound, left the work to pursue the mare, while the architect followed to recover his horse. Thus the whole night was lost. The architect now perceived that he must trust to himself. He assumed his natural size, and there he stood, a veritable giant — the everlasting enemy of the gods! They did not allow him to finish the work; but, regardless of their oaths, which in their opinion were not binding when made to a giant, they called on Thor to dash out his brains with the awful mallet. In the meantime the mysterious horse remained with the mare, and the issue of the connection was Sleipnir with eight feet — the most excellent of all the animals ever possessed by gods or men. Such was the animal on which Hermod descended to the regions of Hel. The description of his journey is highly poetical. During nine days and as 26 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA many nights, he travelled down the precipitous way — often abrupt — along the sides of yawning gulfs — through rugged valleys; and everything was involved in so great a darkness that he was obliged to grope, or trust to the instinct of his wondrous beast. At length he reached a river, the bridge of which was kept by a virgin called Modguder. She inquired his name, his race, his family; and expressed her surprise at his weight. "But yesterday," she observed, "and three legions of dead rode over this bridge; yet all together did not shake it as much as thou alone. But thou hast not the look of one dead. What brings thee here?" He replied, "I am in search of my brother Baldur; hast thou seen him pass?" "I have: he rode over the bridge: the path to Hecate's dark abode is still downwards, towards the north!" On he rode until he came to the gates of hell, which were closed to all but the dead. But he was not discouraged; plunging his spurs into his wondrous horse, he cleared the gate, and proceeded into a hall of vast extent. Here he perceived his brother, who filled the most honourable place. But far less honourable was it than the meanest in Valhalla, which Baldur could not enter because it had not been his good fortune to die in battle. It is, however, some consolation for us, poor mortals, to perceive that hospitality is not for- gotten in the gloomy regions below. Hermod remained the whole night; and the next morning he acquainted Hel with the anxiety of the gods, of men, of all nature, for the return of Baldur, and besought her to permit it. She seemed to doubt whether the mourning for the hero was so universal as he had represented; but, to place the matter beyond dispute, she replied that if all objects, inanimate no less than animate, would weep for him, the request of the gods should be granted. Hermod accordingly rose to depart. By Nanna he was intrusted with several presents for Frigg, his mother: from Baldur he was the bearer of a ring (no doubt the one which had been placed in the funeral pile!) to their father Odin. He was then escorted to the outer gate as if he had been a favoured guest just leaving the palace of an earthly sovereign. On reaching Asgard, where Odin then was, he acquainted the gods with the message of Hel. By their advice agents were sent through all crea- tion, praying everything to weep for Baldur. By everything was the mandate obeyed, except by one old sorceress, who refused to weep, and said that Hel must keep her prey. But in the elder or poetical Edda — that erroneously attributed to Ssemimd the Wise, which in compilation is antecedent a full century to Snorre's — the journey to the shades is attributed to Odin himself. When it was under- taken, Baldur was yet alive, but dreams and portents afflicted him; and, after consulting the fates, Odin mounted his steed, Sleipnir, and descended in dark- ness towards the abode of Hel, where a celebrated prophetess had been long interred. He met the terrible dog which the Greeks preserved in their mythol- ogy, and which, with bloody jaws, barked loudly as he passed along. Down- wards he went, the earth trembling beneath his steed, until he reached the lofty hall of Hel. From the eastern gate he proceeded to the spot where he knew the tomb of the prophetess was to be found. Turning himself towards the north, he then commenced the fatal incantation, and placed in order the mystic rhymes. Many were the words of might which he uttered, until he forced the unwilling prophetess to raise her head, and to speak in the language of men. " What unknown mortal is he who has thus disturbed my repose? Bleached by the snow, beaten by the winds, drenched by the rains, have I long remained — long here I have been in the arms of death." " Vegtam is my name, the THE 'LEGEFDAEY PERIOD OP SCANDINAVIAK HISTORY 27 son of Valtam. ' Tell me the secrets of hell, and I will tell thee what passes on earth. For whom are these costly benches, for whom these golden couches prepared?" "This tempered mead, this liquid nectar awaits the arrival of Baldur. Sorrowful are the sons of heaven. Unwillingly have I spoken; now my lips shall be closed." "Listen, prophetess, for I must know the whole. "V^Tiose hand sha41 deprive Odin's son of life?" "That of Hodur: he the bruiser shall be of Odin's son, the spoiler of Baldur's life! Unwillingly have I spoken; now my lips shall be closed." "Listen, prophetess, for I must know the whole. Who shall revenge on Hodur the death of the hero — who shall bear the smiter of Baldur to the funeral pyre?" "Rinda, a virgin of the west, shall bear a son by Odin; he, when only one night old, shall slay the murderer. His hands he shall not wash, nor his head shall he comb, until he bears to the funeral pjTe the enemy of Baldur. Unwillingly have I spoken; now my lips shall be closed." "Listen, prophetess, for I must know the whole. Who are these damsels that weep at pleasure and raise their covered heads on high?^ Say this only, and thou mayest sleep." "Ah! no wandering spoiler art thou, as I have hitherto believed: well do I know thee for Odin, the preserver of nations!" "And thou art not Vala; no prophetess art thou; but the mother of the three infernal furies!" " Odin, ride back to thine house, and there command! Never again will I be consulted by the living until Loki shall break loose from his fetters, and the dreaded twilight of the gods arrive!" Such is the dark poetical legend which the genius of the poet Gray has immortalised. It is among the most imaginative efforts of the Scandinavian muse. THE RULE AND WORSHIP OF ODIN According to Saxo,? it was not the mystic Vala, but Rostiof, king of the Finns, who foretold that Odin's son, by Rinda, should avenge the death of Baldur. That Odin, who was esteemed chief of the gods, should be less prescient than a Finnish king, may appear strange; but this term god fre- quently means no more than Goth, and the chief of the gods means only the head of the pontifical college established, first in Asia, and next in Sweden. And we must remember that the Finns were expressly declared to be vm- rivalled in magic, at least in that dark magic which sought the injury of man- kind. Yet Odin was equally malignant. He could not rest until he had dis- covered the maiden whose offspring was thus predestined to accomplish his purpose. This Rinda was a princess, and, consequently, demanded more atten- tion than one of humbler birth. The disguises which he successively assumed at her father's court; his frequent repulses by her; his numerous stratagems, and his ultimate triumph under the character of a physician are gravely related by the venerable historian of Denmark. His conduct on these occasions was so unworthy of a god that his colleagues at Byzantium (or we should rather suppose Asgard) removed him for a time from their society, deprived him of his supernatural powers, degraded him to the level of mortals, and sentenced ' The names are mythologic, or rather abstract : Vegtam, the Spoiler ; Valtam, Slaughter. ' Hveriar ro maeyiar .Mr at mimi grata Ok a himin Verpa Balsa Skautvm? The passage is a dark one. It probably alludes to the custom of the northern women, who uncovered their heads to mourn. These damsels did not uncover ; they could weep at pleasure, that is, they were not afflicted. Were they the fatal sisters, who cannot be expected to feel sympathy for mortals ? And was Vala their mother ? 28 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDINAVIA him to exile — a doom which he, therefore, suffered a second time, though on the former occasion it had been self-imposed. All this, in plain English, means that he was expelled from the college of priests. This natural explanation is confirmed by the statemei^t that, in ten years, the gods, pitying his sufferings, or perhaps bribed by flattery and costly gifts, restored him to all his former privileges. Lest the pubhc worship should sustain any injury, his place had been supplied by one Oiler, a priest so expert in magic that he could cross the seas on a bone; but this usurper was slain by the Swedes, just as Mitothin had been slain. In the mean time Bo, the issue of Odin's connection with Rinda, grew up, and was entrusted by the father with the sacred task of revenge. Accordingly he advanced against the Danish king. Hodur foresaw his doom; and, in an assembly of chiefs, he prevailed on them to elect his son, Runi, for his successor. In the battle which followed destiny was fulfilled: he fell by the hand of Bo; but the victor also received a mortal wound and died the following day. All that we have further to say respecting Odin, in this place, may be despatched in a few words. Perceiving his end approach, he marked his body with a sword, probably to denote the advantage of dying by that weapon; and declared that he was going to Godheim or paradise, where he should joy- fully receive his people. The Swedes were persuaded that he was returned to Asgard to enjoy eternal life; and in this belief his worship was renewed and enlarged. In time of war, and before great battles, he often appeared to them, promising victory to some, inviting others to his hall — in both respects the harbinger of good. After death he was placed on the funeral pyre, and burned with exceeding pomp. His followers believed the higher the smoke ascended the higher would be his place among the gods; and that the more abundant the riches consumed with him the richer he would be in the other world. From the concurrent testimony of Snorre, Saxo Grammaticus, and the two Eddas, little doubt can be entertained in regard to the true character of Odin. He was evidently a conqueror, a king, a priest, a lawgiver, and an adept in the superstitious practices of his age. Endued with commanding talents and an unmeasured ambition, he was enabled to take advantage of circum- stances in a degree seldom attained by mortals. Perceiving the success which attended his views, and the veneration in which his wisdom was held, he did not hesitate to ascribe both to the peculiar favour of the gods, from whom, like most of the Scythian princes, he boasted of his descent. As he was of divine race, why should he not participate in the privileges of divinity? Short, indeed, is the transition from veneration to actual worship; and there can be little doubt that, even in his lifetime, this artful pontiff king had altars smok- ing in his honour. But it is worthy of remark that he was often regarded as a mortal, not merely in his own age but in subsequent ages; that the words giants and gods are to be understood of the original possessors of the soil, the invading Goths, the dominant caste which arrogated to itself the sacerdotal and regal functions, and thus preserved its empire over the barbarous, enslaved population. It was some time after his death before his worship was general in the north; and never would it have been general had he not been esteemed the god of war, the deity above all others dear to the ferocious Northmen. Even as it is, he did not hold the highest rank in the worship of all the Scandina- vian nations. The Norwegians held him inferior to Thor. Still he is by far the most remarkable person that ever took advantage of human credulity. Over a considerable portion of Europe his worship was extended; and it was THE LEGENDAEY PEEIOD OF SCANDINAVIAN HISTOEY 29 not a transitory worship: for it prevailed, in Germany, far into the ninth century; in Denmark and Sweden, a centuEy later; and in some parts of Norway it was not extinct in the twelfth. Of. the religion which, however, he founded, or which he incorporated with the superstition already subsisting on his arrival in the north, we shall speak in a future chapter. THE HAMLET OF HISTORY: DIFFICULTIES OP CHRONOLOGY On the death of Hodur, the sceptre of Denmark, or rather of a portion of Denmark, passed into the hands of his son Rorik. The name of this prince is interesting from the fact that the alleged events on which the tragedy of Hamlet is founded happened in his reign. According to Saxo,? Hamlet [or Amleth] was not the son of a Danish king. His father was Horvendill, governor of Jutland, a famous pirate and vassal of Rorik; but the authority was not undivided: it was shared by Fengo, brother of Horvendill. Fengo did nothing to merit the favour of Rorik; but Horvendill was so vahant and able that he was honoured with the hand of Gerutha, or Gertrude, daughter of the Danish king. From this marriage sprung Amleth, whose history is so famous in the traditions of Denmark. Fengo could not, without envy, behold the good fortune of his brother: envy led to hatred, and hatred to fratricide. After this deed he married the widowed Gerutha, and succeeded to the whole government of Jutland. Amleth was no inattentive observer of these events. As a pagan, his first duty was to revenge his father's death" a duty to the force of which his uncle was fully alive, and watchful to frustrate it. Spies being set on all his actions, he feigned madness; he painted his face, put on a strange garb, and uttered the most ridiculous things. Frequently was he to be seen on the hearth, seated among the ashes and making wooden hooks, which he hardened by the heat. His madness, however, had method in it; and some of his replies, ridiculous as they seemed, made the experienced doubt whether he should be classed among the wisest or the most foolish of mankind. "For what purpose are these hooks?" was one day demanded of him. "For the revenge of my father! " was the answer. As nobody could see how they could effect that purpose, he was ridiculed by all but the discerning, who supposed that beneath this ostentatious display of insanity a profound object was con- cealed. Among these was Jarl Fengo, who, wishing to prove whether the suspicions were well or ill-founded, had recourse to an expedient. The dis- position of the prince was exceedingly amatory; and it was thought that, if a young handsome female were sent to him, he would betray himself. The meeting was to be effected in a wood, and spies were to be placed near him. On the day appointed, he was commanded to ride into a forest. As usual, he mounted with his face to the tail, which he held in lieu of a bridle. There he found the woman; and would have immediately betrayed himself, had not his foster-brother obscurely hinted that he should beware. The way in which this intimation was communicated, like many other parts of Saxo's narrative, is too gross for translation. Enough to know that Amleth was made to understand the danger of his situation. Among his virtues, chastity was not to be reckoned; and though the instances of its violation cannot be recorded in these times, we may observe that, even on the occasion before us, he indulged his propensity, and was cunning enough to conceal it. Fengo, therefore, was disappointed; but by the advice of a friend he had recourse to another expedient. Under the pretext of a long absence on affairs of moment, lie left the palace, and provided that Amleth should be brought into the 30 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA mother's presence, while a spy, unknown to both, should be near them, to hear every word that he should utter. If he had any reason left, it was not doubted he would be communicative with one whom he loved, and who he knew would never betray him. At the time appointed, the courtier hastened to the apartment, where mother and son were to meet, and hid himself under a heap of straw that accidentally lay there — a curious illustration of doniestic economy in that age. Inmiediately afterwards, Amleth and Gerutha arrived; but the former was too much aware of the dangers which involved him to indulge in rational conversation with his mother, until he had examined the locality. Imitating the crowing of a cock — an imitation in which he was singularly successful — and waving his arms as if they were wings, he leaped on the straw, and was immediately sensible that something lay beneath. With his sword he despatched the intruder. After this act, while his mother was bewailing his supposed insanity, he fiercely upbraided her for her incestuous marriage with the murderer of her first husband. This double crime he did not assail exactly in the manner represented in the drama, but in one more conformable with the barbarism of the age, that is, in one of exceeding coarse- ness. His remonstrances are said to have kindled the sparks of virtue in her heart; but the sequel ill corresponded with this moral intention, or with the refined character which the dramatist has given him. The man whom he had killed he cut in pieces, boiled the members, and threw them into the sewer to be eaten by the swine. When Fengo returned, great was his surprise to find that his courtier had disappeared — that not the slightest trace of him could be discovered. One day Amleth, who was regarded as no more than a motley fool, and to whom questions were put for amusement only, being asked what had become of his uncle's friend, replied, " He fell into the com- mon sewer, and being unable to extricate himself, was found, and eaten by the swine!" His reply furnished some amusement to the hearers, who regarded it as a good motley invention. They did not know that on all occa- sions, whether grave or trivial, Amleth spoke the truth. But if the multitude were thus deluded, Fengo was not. For his own safety he felt that the youth must be removed; but to effect this some man- agement was required. He would not exasperate his wife, still less the sov- ereign of Denmark, by openly executing the prince. The deed must be secret, and done by other than native hands — namely, by those of the English king, who, we are gravely assured, was a tributary of Dennlark. Before Amleth's departure, he privately desired his mother, in one year from that time, to celebrate his funeral obsequies; assuring her, however, that he would in one year return. Two creatures of Fengo were his companions. One night, while they were buried in sleep, he examined their baggage, and found, carved on wood, the mandate to the English king. With his usual cunning, he erased a portion of the characters; and so altered the rest, that the foreign king was to put his two companions to death, but to show every possible kindness towards himself, and even to give him the hand of an English prin- cess. On their arrival in England, they presented their wooden mandate, which they were unable to read; and were invited, with much parade of hospitality, to the royal table. But while the two messengers were thus deluded, Amleth was received with much respect. The more curious reader may consult the venerable authority before us for an account of what passed at the English court — an account as minute as it is romantic. To be brief: the two messengers were executed; and Amleth, whose wisdom was so much admired, obtained the hand of the monarch's daughter. THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF SCANDINAVIAlSr HISTORY 31 He pretended, however, to be much affected by the death of his companions; and, to pacify him, the king gave him a considerable quantity of gold, which he melted and inclosed in the hollow of two walking sticks. At the expiration of the year, he obtained leave to revisit his native country; but, of all his riches, he took only the staves which contained the gold. On reaching Jutland, he assumed his own motley garb,, and reached the house of his uncle at the very time his funeral rites were performed. At first, his sudden appear- ance terrified the domestics and guests; but terror yielded to mirth when they saw him resume his motley character. "Where are your two companions?" demanded they. "Here they are!" was his reply, as he produced his two sticks. Soon he joined the cup-bearers; and as his long fiowing garments interfered with his activity, he girt his sword round him, but it had no scab- bard; and to impress all the guests with a stronger notion of his insanity, he frequently grasped the blade until the blood flowed from his fingers. Little did they suspect his object in thus descending to the meanest occupation : it was to make all of them drunk, and then to exact his revenge. So well did he succeed in the first intention, that most of them, being unable to stagger from the apartment, were compelled to remain all night in the hall of enter- tainment. At length, all being buried in sleep, he cut off the cords which supported a huge curtain that occupied the whole room : as it fell on the drunken sleepers, by his wooden hooks he fastened it in many places to the ground; and draw- ing the cords over the curtain, so bound them by knots and hooks as to bid defiance to the efforts of drunken men. Startled by the weight no less than by the sudden difficulty of breathing, they strove to raise the curtain, but in vain; it was too well secured to be moved. In this state they were soon enveloped in flames, which consumed them and the palace. Fengo retired to his bedroom, and fell asleep: he was awakened by Amleth, who, after upbraiding him for his various crimes, put him to death. He then flew to a safe retreat to watch the progress of events. Great was the surprise of the Jutes at this disaster; but, as Fengo was a tyrant, the majority were not displeased. Amleth, therefore, reappeared; surrounded himself with those whom he knew to be attached to the interests of his family; sought the public assembly; and, by his eloquence, so wrought on the people, that they unani- mously declared him the successor of Fengo. In the remaining adventures of Amleth — all equally wonderful with the preceding — we cannot enter. Whoever may wish to read his subsequent visit to Britain; his marriage with a second wife, the queen of Scotland; his quarrel with the British king, the father of his first wife; his domestic life with both in his hereditary government of Jutland; his war with Vikletus, king of Denmark, the successor of his grandfather, Rorik; his death in battle; and the facility with which the idol of his heart, his second wife, passed into the arms of the victor, must consult the venerable Saxo. We have no wish to pursue farther the list of Danish kings, who, according to Saxo, reigned prior to the birth of Christ. Some of them, probably, never reigned at all. Others, certainly, reigned after that event. Others, again, ruled at the same time, over different provinces of the kingdom. The reigns of many whom Saxo places before the Christian era are identical with those which the best Danish writers regard as posterior; and the actions attributed to both are substantially the same. All writers admit that Den- mark had no monarch before Skiold, the son of Odin; indeed, it had none for some generations afterwards: for there is room to believe that even his author- ity was more of a sacerdotal than of a temporal character. In virtue of this 32 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA character he might, and probably did, claim a twofold sovereignty over the peninsula and islands; but that sovereignty was never virtually exercised — it was one merely nominal. Several of the islands had their separate governors, whom Saxo calls kings; and Jutland, as we have seen in the sketch of Amleth's life, had them also. The men whom personal qualities elevated above the rest became chiefs; and when one chief had others subject to him, he assumed the regal title. There were kings of various kinds. We read of petty kings {sma-konungur, or fylke-konungurj; of sea kings, island kings, and cape kings. The name of the last may require an explanation. They were neither more nor less than the pirate chiefs, who lived in caverns or in huts near the promontories, ready, at any moment, to sally forth and seize the unsuspecting mariner. Thus there were kings enough scattered over the seas, the forests, the mountains, the maritime coasts of the north. Probably all those in the Danish islands might yield a nominal homage, at least, to the one that reigned in Skane in Zealand. But no dependence whatever can be placed on the list of Danish kings prior to what we now call the historic times — that is, to about the eighth century of our era. But later writers have made sad work with this list. They contend that some of the names are altogether fabulous; that Skiold reigned only forty years before Christ; Frode I, thirty-five years after Christ; Wermund, one hundred and fifty; Roe and Helge, in the fifth century of our era. The truth, however, is that, while no dependence is to be placed on the genealogical series of the former, very little is due to the latter. The whole, prior to the eighth century, is one mass of confusion. If the names of many princes are to be foimd, not merely in the earliest writers of the north, but on runic inscriptions, no power of criticism can fix the period in which they reigned. All is pure conjecture; and one system is preferable to another only so far as it is more reconcilable to common sense. Yet, while we thus reject some of the ancient sovereigns whom Saxo and the elder chroniclers have handed down to us, we are not so sceptical as to reject the majority. If, prior to Odin's arrival, the north had no monarchs, it had kings or, if the reader pleases, chiefs, whose office was sometimes hereditary, sometimes elective. It would, perhaps, be more accurate to say that, while they succeeded by hered- itary right to the domains of their predecessors, as generals and judges, they were elected by the free-born warriors. Of these some were, beyond all doubt, elevated into monarchs by tradition; from tradition they passed into the songs of the skalds; and from these songs their memory was perpetuated by the old chroniclers.*^ CHAPTER II THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS [To 1050 A.D.] THE ANCIENT KINGS OP SWEDEN After briefly relating the'legend of Odin, the Ynglinga Saga^ proceeds to deduce the history of the dynasty of that name in Sweden, during the first seven centuries of the Christian era. Of the sovereigns descended from Magog who are alleged to have reigned before that epoch, no record worthy of credit has been preserved, nor of the events that took place prior to the death of Gylfe, when the crown was transferred to the sacred line of the Ynglings. We shall therefore entirely discard those lists of primeval mon- archs, who could only be local chiefs, or petty rulers, alternately the con- querors and the vassals of each other, and adopt the theory of commencing from the arrival of Odin, as accredited by the most judicious and enlightened of the old Northern annalists — our only guides through a long period of darkness and fable.' The following table represents the names and number of the kings, in the order of their succession, who reigned at Upsala until the beginning of the tenth century: ' Our authorities, besides the Ynglinga Saga, for the order and chronology of these ancient kings, are Torfseus, Suhm, Geljer, and the Langfedgatal in the Scriptores Rerum Danicarum Medii ^vi, etc., a Jocobo Langebek, 8 torn. McrfnicB, 1773, et seq. In this valuable collection of Scandinavian antiquities, above twenty different catalogues of ancient kings are given, whose genealogies are traced back "fra JSfoa till varra honunga," a Noacho adreges nostras. H. W. — VOL. XVI. D 33 34 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA TKAXHTIONAl LIST OP THE ANCIENT KINGS OP SWEDEN — THE TNGLINGS Odin arrived in the North . .B.C. 70 Njard died " 30 Frey-Yngve A.D. 10 Fiolner 14 Svegdir 34 Vanlana or Valland .... 48 Visbur 98 Domald 130 Domar 163 Dyggve 190 Dag-Spaka, the Wise . . . .220 Agne ....... 360 Alrek and Eric 280 Yngve and Alf 300 Hugleik 303 Jorunder and Eric 313 Aun hinn Gamle (the Old) . . .448 Egill Tunnadolgi 456 Ottar Vendilkraka 460 Adils 505 Bystein 531 Yngvar 545 Braut-Onund . Ingiald Illrada Olaf Traetelia . . died A.D. 565 . 623 exiled about 630 Accession of the Skioldunga Ivar Vidfadme . . . died a.d. 647 Harold Hildetand 735 Sigurd Ring 750 Ragnar Lodbrok 794 Bjflrn Ironside 804 Eric Biornson 808 EricRsfiUson 820 Emund and Bj6rn 859 EricBmnndson 873 Bj8rn Erickson 933 Eric the Victorious .... 993 EricArsffiU 1001 Olaf the Lap-King 1026 Anund Kolbrenner 1051 Edmund Slemme 1056 Stenkil . . raised to the throne 1056 The annals of. these pontiff-kings possess little historical interest, From the reverence in which the immediate descendants of Odin were held, as vested with the sacerdotal character, and from the superstitious belief that ascribed to them those blessings of peace and abundance which made their reign the golden age of the North, the first princes of this sacred line were raised to divine honours; and their names hold a distinguished place in the Scandinavian Pantheon. Frey removed his capital from Sigtuna to Upsala, where he is said to have built a palace and a magnificent temple, which he surrounded with a chain of gold, and endowed with considerable wealth in lands and other revenues. He adopted the surname of Yngve, and hence the sacred race of Ynglings derived their historical appellation. Dyggve is alleged to have been the first that assumed the regal title, his predecessors being merely called drottar or lord, and their queens drottingar. At the death of Agne, the kingdom, which had hitherto remained entire, was shared between his two sons, Alrek and Eric — an unwise policy, which had the effect of dividing the prerogatives as well as the dominions of the crown among a multitude of provincial chiefs, who assumed an independent authority. From this circumstance, and from the occasional conquests of the neighbouring kings in Denmark and Norway, whose usurpations often extended beyond their own territory, has arisen much of the confusion that perplexes the order and chronology of the several dynasties which fill up this era of Scandinavian history;* one royal chronicle differing from another, and sometimes representing the same monarch as ruling in each of the three countries. The Swedes, however, still adhered to the sacred race, and expelled every foreign intruder. Adils was involved in a protracted quarrel with the Norwegians, which was at length terminated in his favour by a pitched battle on Lake Venern, the two armies being drawn up on its frozen ' According to the Ynglinga Saga,'' Hugleik was driven from his throne by Hakon, a Nor- wegian pirate. Aun was twice expelled ; once by Halfdan I of Denmark, who reigned at Upsala twenty-five years, and again by Ali hinn Frsekni, or Ole the Active, son of Fridlief HI. Egill derived his surname from slaying a rebel, called Tunni, who had defeated him in eight battles. Ottar fell in a naval action with Frode IV, in the Limfjord, after ravaging the district of Vendila, or Vendsyssel. Eystein was burned in his own palace by Solvi, a king of Jutland, who usurped the crown for several years. THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 35 surface. The hereditary occupant of the throne at Upsala continued to enjoy a pre-eminence in dignity and power until the fatal reign of Ingiald Illrada, when the hallowed sceptre was transferred from the line of the Ynglings to that of the Skioldungs, in the earlier part of the seventh century. That prince, when young, is said to have been of a gentle disposition, but being vanquished in some juvenile contest, such as the sons of the nobil- ity were then accustomed to display at their annual festivals, the Saga relates that in order to alter his temper he was fed with wolves' hearts. Judging from his future actions, this regimen appears to have had the desired effect. His reign, from its commencement to its close, was a series of cruel and law- less atrocities. It was the ancient custom at the royal inauguration, which always took place at the funeral of the deceased prince, for the next heir to seat himself on the lowest step of the vacant throne, in the midst of the grandees, until presented with a huge ox-hom filled with wine; after taking the usual oaths, he drank off the liquor, mounted the chair of state, and was proclaimed amidst the shouts of the people. This initiatory rite Ingiald accompanied with the additional ceremony of swearing, before draining the mystic cup, that he would either double the extent of his kingdom, or perish in the attempt. The fulfilment of his vow led to those acts of treachery and murder which procured him the name of Illrada (the deceitful), and ultimately occasioned his own destruction. Fire and sword were employed to exterminate the chiefs and nobles, many of whom were consumed in the flames of the palace where they had been hospitably entertained by their perfidious sovereign. Twelve petty princes in Sweden fell victims to the rapacity of the tyrant, who seized their possessions and added them to the dominions of the crown. But a just retribution awaited the perpetration of his crimes. His daughter Asa had been given in marriage to Gudrod, the Gothic king of Sk3,ne; at her instiga- tion he assassinated his brother, Halfdan III of Denmark, and was after- wards himself cut off in a plot, by the artifices of his own wife. Having sacri- ficed her husband, she fled to the court of Upsala, where she became an accomplice in the death of her father. Ivar Vidfadme, son of Halfdan, had invaded Sweden with a powerful host, to avenge the murder of his kindred. His ravages filled the guilty Ingiald with terror and despair. As the vic- torious foe approached, he was entertaining his courtiers at a grand banquet; when, finding it -impossible to resist or make his escape, he resolved, with the aid and advice of his daughter, to terminate his life by setting fire to the hall. Olaf, his son, unable to repel the invaders, was driven into exile; passing to the westward of the Venern Lake, he settled, with the few companions that still adhered to his standard, in the province of Vermland; there he hewed down the immense forests (hence his name of Trsetelia, the tree-cutter), and laid the basis of a new kingdom, where, in a short tinie, the star of the Yng- lings rose again with more than its ancient splendour, in the person of Harold Harfagr (or Fairhair), founder of the Norwegian monarchy. The habits and actions of this venerated race appear to have been often singularly inconsistent with their pretensions to a celestial descent. Some of them died of excessive intoxication; others from the intrigues of their wives or courtiers. Fiolner was drowned in a large vat of mead, into which he had stumbled while under the dominion of liquor; his three immediate successors perished by violent means; the fourth, Domald, was slain by the advice of his councillors, under the superstitious idea that a severe famine which afflicted the country could only be removed by sprinkling the altars of the offended deities at Upsala with the blood of their king. War was the S6 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [647-1056 A..D.] principal occupation of their reign, and numerous bloody battles were fought in repressing the incessant piracies of the neighbouring nations. Yet several of them were distinguished for their encouragement of civilisation and social improvement. Onund received the name of Braut (the road-maker), from his exertions in draining marshes, extending cultivation, and opening up channels of intercourse to every province in the kingdom. The name of Ivar Vidfadme has been omitted by some historians in the list of Swedish kings; while others more worthy of credit not only assign him that honour, but rank him among the most distinguished warriors of antiquity. The Saga, in adverting to his miUtary exploits, says that " he conquered all Sweden (allt Sviaveldi), and united it with all Denmark (allt Danaveldi); and a great part of Saxland, the whole of Estland (Esthonia), and a fifth part of England.' From him, henceforth, descend the supreme kings of the Danes and the Swedes." The throne and extensive dominions of Ivar were inherited by his grandson, Harold Hildetand; from him they descended to Sigurd Ring and Ragnar Lodbrok — all of whom swayed the Danish sceptre in the eighth century. The latter prince bestowed the Swedish crown, as a distinct possession, on one of his sons, Bjorn Jarnasida (Ironside), in whose grandson's reign (Bjorn II) it is generally admitted that the light of the Gospel first dawned in the North; although it did not become the established religion until the accession of Olaf the Lap-King (Skotkonung), who was baptized with his whole family in the year 1001, and exerted himself with great enthusiasm to propagate the true faith. His father Eric is said to have carried his zeal for Christianity so far as to cause the magnificent heathen temple at Upsala, with its idols and images, to be destroyed, and the ancient sacrifices to be interdicted, under the severest corporal inflictions; but this imprudent man- date cost him his life, as he was murdered in a tumult of the people, enraged at the demolition of their pagan worship. The conversions under Olaf would have been more expeditious, had not his zeal been restrained by the diet, who decided for full liberty of conscience; hence the strange mixture both in doctrine and rites, which long prevailed, and the incoherent association of the sacred characters in Scripture with the gods and goddesses of the Scandinavian mythology. This prince was more successful as a warrior than a reformer. He made a temporary conquest of Norway, and having annexed Gothland inalienably to his own dominions, he assumed the title of king of Sweden; his predecessors being merely styled sovereigns of Upsala. His son, Anund Jacob, contributed so much to the progress of divine truth among his subjects as to obtain the designation of " most christian majesty." ^ A severe law, which procured him the name of Kolbrenner (the coal-burner), enacted that, if any man injured his neigh- bor, his effects, to the same value, should be consumed with fire. His successor became involved in a dispute with the Danes, about adjust- ing the frontiers of the two kingdoms, and fell at the head of an army which he had levied for recovering the ceded province of Skane. Indignant at the surrender of that valuable district, the Swedes raised Stenkil to the throne, ' The part of England subdued by Ivar Vidfadme is more explicitly marked in tlie fleryoror Saga ' as Northumbria, Trhich is said to have descended to Ivar's grandson, Harold Hildetand. The Anglo-Saxon annals make no mention of these earlier conquests of the Scandinavians ; but as they are generally silent respecting the transactions in the north of England at this period, no inference is to be drawn against the credibility of the Icelandic accounts from this circum- stance. « Olaf was baptised by Sigefroy, an English monk, whom King ^thelred had sent to Sweden. THE AGE OP THE VIKINGS 37 [40 B.C.-270 A.D.] who founded a new dynasty, to the exclusion of the race of Lodbrok. The Goths, who likewise claimed the right of election, chose Hakon the Red as their king; but the rival monarchs came to an amicable arrangement, by stipulating that the latter should enjoy the regal dignity for life, on condition that, at his demise, Gothland shoula revert inseparably to Sweden. THE STATES OF DENMARK The small states forming the kingdom of Denmark, which next claim our attention, continued three or four centuries under the sway of various petty princes, the chief of whom were the Skioldungs, that branch of the family of Odin which established the seat of their authority at Leidre, in Zealand. Skiold, the founder of this dynasty, reigned, according to Suhm's chronology, about forty years before the Christian era. The series of kings who derived from him their name and pedigree is given in the following order: TRADITIONAL LIST OP THE ANCIENT KINGS OF DENMARK — THE SKIOLDUNGS Odin arrived in the Nortli . . B.r, 70 Skiold died " 40 Fridlief I 23 Frode I a.d. 35 Fridlief II 47 Havar 59 Frode 11 87 Vermund the Sage 140 Olaf the Mild 190 Dan Mykillati 870 Frode III the Pacific Halfdan I Fridlief III . Frode IV Ingild Halfdan II Frode V . Helge and Roe 310 334 848 407 456 447 460 494 Frode VI . died a.d. 510 Rolf Krake . 532 Frode VII 548 Halfdan III . . 580 R5rik Slyngebaud 588 Ivar Vidfadme 647 Harold Hildetand 735 Sigurd Ring 750 Ragnar Lodbrok 794 Sigurd Snogoje 803 Harde-Knud 850 Eric I 854 EricII 883 Gorm the Old 941 Harold Blaatand 991 Sweyn Splitbeard 1014 Canute the Great 1035 Harthacanut 1044 Tradition has ascribed to Skiold the usual qualities of the heroic ages — great bodily strength, and the most indomitable courage. Among his other military exploits, he is said to have conquered the Saxons, and subjected them to the payment of an annual tribute. Of his immediate successors the native chroniclers have preserved few details worthy of being recorded. Frode I enjoyed the reputation of unrivalled prowess as a warrior, having carried his victorious arms into Sweden, Germany, Hungary, England, and Ireland. So strict was the administration of justice in his own dominions, and so promptly were the laws against robbery and pillage enforced, that, if we may credit the northern legends, bags of gold might have been safely exposed on the highways. It is alleged, perhaps with more truth, that he compiled a civil and military code^ which Saxo states to have been extant in his times. The first that united the Danish provinces (except Jutland, which formed a separate monarchy) under one government was Dan Mykillati, the Magnani- mous, king of Skane, a descendant of Heimdall, and married to a daughter of Olaf, sovereign of Zealand, and sixth in descent from Skiold. He reduced the whole country, with the smaller islands, to subjection; and is alleged to have given his name to the new kingdom of which he was the founder, although at a subsequent period it was again dismembered, and broken down 38 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [270-750 A.D.] into several independent principalities. The union of his sister with Dyggve of Sweden is reckoned the earliest matrimonial alliance that was formed between the two crowns. Wars and other events of no importance fill up the history of his successors for ten or twelve generations. Half dan I sub; dued Sweden; he defeated Aun in many battles, and having driven hini from the throne he fixed his residence in Upsala, where he died, after pos- sessing the government twenty-five years. The dominions of Halfdan II were inherited by his sons Roe and Helge, who agreed to divide the sovereignty between them; the former is said to have built the city of Roeskilde, but he exchanged his patrimony in the North for the Danish possessions in Northumberland, where he fixed his residence, and conquered several provinces from the Anglo-Saxons. His brother invaded the Swedish territory, defeated Adils, plundered the palace at Upsala, and carried off the queen, a Saxon princess named Yrsa. The lady, from being his prisoner, became his wife, and the mother of the cele- brated hero Rolf Krake, one of the brightest ornaments of the throne. His stature was gigantic and his strength extraordinary; but we must leave the historians of the times to relate his numerous feats, and the princely virtues by which he won the universal esteem of his subjects. Having per- ished childless, by the treachery of a nobleman on whom he had bestowed his daughter in marriage, the crown became the prize of contending factions, until the kingdom was again united under one sceptre by Ivar Vidfadme, who, as already stated, transmitted it to his grandson, Harold Hildetand.* This latter monarch appears to have raised Denmark to an unprecedented height of power. Not content with chastising the neighbouring states, he made frequent incursions into Germany, took the Vandals under his pro- tection, reduced several nations on the Rhine, invaded the coasts of France, and overran part of Britain, which, according to Saxo, had withdrawn its allegiance from the Danish kings since the death of Frode III. Whatever truth there may be in these achievements, the naval resources of Harold were certainly great. His fleets are described as covering the Sound, and, like those of Xerxes, bridging over the northern Hellespont from shore to shore; but his life and reign terminated at the fatal battle of Bravalla, fought on the coast of Skane, against his nephew, Sigurd Ring, in conse- quence of his attempt to expel him from the throne. At this famous engagement all the petty kings and maritime forces of the North, including most of the nations around the Baltic, were assembled. Chieftains and pirates rushed to this scene of carnage with their champions. The ships of Sigurd were reckoned at two thousand five hundred; the hosts of Sweden, Gothland, and Norway, headed by their most renowned warriors, composed his army. The party of his antagonist was joined by the Livon- ians, Saxons, Frisians, Vandals, and other German tribes. Besides common soldiers, whose numbers are not stated, it comprehended about thirty thou- sand nobility, three celebrated Amazons, and all the court poets. The leaders, amongst the bravest of whom were Ubbo, a famous viking, and Starkadder the Scandinavian Hercules, fought hand to hand in single combat. The heroic Harold, old, blind, and infirm, was seated in his battle-car; but after a long and sanguinary contest, he perished on the field, with fifteen other royal chieftains in his train. The body was discovered amidst heaps of slain, and burned by order of Sigurd on a magnificent funeral-pile, with ' Harold was the son of ROrik Slyngebaud and Audur, daughter of Ivar Vidfadme. His surname of Hildetand or Golden Teeth is thus accounted for : Hildetarvni cognomen obtinuit ab Eilde, qum Dea belli perhibetur, aeuseptenirionis Bellona, el dentibus cmreis. THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 39 [750-803 A.D.] his armour, chariot, and war-horse. The fortune of the day was decided by the Norwegian archers from Tellemark; and the skalds, who have sung this truly Homeric combat, not satisfied with the martial energies by which the victory was obtained, have introduced Odin himself as taking part against the Danes, and perfidiously despatching their aged monarch with his resistless war-club. The lays of the poets have commemorated the exploits and immortalised the names of the principal warriors engaged in the fray. In this "great and terrible fight," according to the northern muse, " the sun was darkened with the immense multitude of darts and stones, and the smoke of human gore." The Danish throne fell to the possession of Sigurd, who, like other kings of his time, embarked in sea-roving expeditions, to keep alive the military enthusiasm of his people. He recovered the English province of Northum- berland, conquered by Ivar Vidfadme, which had asserted its independence; and at his death he left the crown to his son, the famous Ragnar Lodbrok. EAGNAR LODBROK AND HIS HEIRS The remarkable history of this Scandinavian adventurer has been so obscured by conflicting traditions and poetical embellishments as to create considerable difiiculty in reconciling the chronology and other circumstances of his Ufe with the accounts given in the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon annals. The anachronism is generally explained by supposing two piratical chiefs of the same name, although this seems hardly consistent with the Sagas and other ancient Icelandic writings. All the northern chronicles agree in the main particulars related of the prince who reigned in Denmark and Sweden in the latter part of the eighth century, and who could not, therefore, be the formidable invader that infested France and England about the middle of the ninth. It is not improbable, however, that the chieftain whose exploits have been confounded with those of the more ancient Ragnar, was a prince of Jutland, whose real name was Ragenfrid, or Regnier, who became a sea- king on being expelled from his dominions in the time of Harold Klak (827 A.D.), and subsequently invaded France under the reign of Louis le D^bon- naire. Without venturing to narrate the wars and piracies of this redoubted monarch, or the extraordinary feats of courage ascribed to him by Saxo we may record what tradition states as to the cause and singular manner of his death. While ruling his dominions in peace, his jealousy was excited by rumours of the daring achievements of his sons in various regions of Europe; and he determined to undertake an expedition that should rival their fame. Two vessels were built of immense size, such as had never before been seen in the North. " The arrow," the signal of war, was sent through all his kingdoms, to summon his champions to arms. With this apparently inadequate force he set sail, contrary to the advice of his queen, Aslauga, who presented him with a magical garment to ward off danger. After suffering from storms and shipwreck, he landed on the coast of Northumberland, which had been so often ravaged by his predecessors. iEUa, the Saxon king of that country, collected his forces to repel the invader. A battle ensued, wherein the valiant Dane, clothed in his enchanted robe, and wielding the huge spear with which he had slain the guardian serpent of the princess Thora, four times pierced the enemy's ranks, dealing death on every side, whilst his own person was invulnerable. But the contest was 40 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [793-810 A.D.] unequal; his warriors fell one by one around him, until he was at last taken prisoner, stripped of his miraculous vest, and thrown alive (as the Saga relates), by order of ^EUa, into a dungeon full of serpents, in the midst of which he expired with a laugh of defiance, chanting the famous death-song called the Lodbrokar-quida, or BiarkcHnal, which he is alleged to have com- posed in that horrible prison. This ancient lay mentions his ravaging the coast of Scotland, and his battle with three kings of Erin at Lindis Eiri. The English chronicles also allude to the same invasion, when they relate that the monastery of St. Cuthbert, in the isle of Lindisfarne (Holy Island), was plundered in 793 by a band of pagan rovers from Denmark and Norway; and that their leader was taken the following year, and put to death in a cruel manner by the natives. The life of this hero is represented as an uninterrupted course of wise mea- sures, noble actions, and glorious victories; for not only did the British Isles quail at the terror of h's name — the prowess of his arms was also felt by the Saxons, Russians, and Greeks on the distant Hellespont. At the time when the father perished, the sons were engaged in foreign piracies; and the first news of his tragical fate they received after their return, while feasting in their hall, from the messengers sent by ^Ua to propitiate their anger. The Saga-men have carefully preserved their names, and the pastimes in which they were engaged. Sigurd Snogoie (Snake-eye) played at chess with Huitserk the Brave, whilst Bjorn Ironside polished the handle of his spear. Ivar diligently inquired what kind of death Ragnar had suffered; and when the deputies narrated the dreadful story, and men- tioned the words of the expiring king, "how the young cubs would rage when they learned their sire's fate," the youths ceased their amusements, and vowed instant revenge. An expedition, led by eight crowned heads and twenty jarls, and composed of the various Scandinavian tribes, was again directed against England. In a battle which took place at York, the Anglo- Saxons were entirely routed; .^EUa, being made prisoner, was subjected to the most barbarous treatment. According to a strange and savage custom of the vikings, the sons of Lodbrok ordered the figure of an eagle to be cut in the fleshy part of his back, the ribs to be severed from the- spine, and the lungs extracted through the aperture. After this victory Northumbria appears no more as a Saxon kingdom; Ivar took possession of the sover- eignty, while the rest of the Northmen wasted and conquered the country as far as the mouth of the Thames. Sigurd Snake-eye inherited the Danish crown, but was slain in a battle with the Franks (803 a.d.), after extending his sway over all Jutland, Skane, Halland, and part of Norway. Bjorn was placed on the throne of Sweden; and a third brother Gottrik (Gudrod or Godefrid), became king of Jutland, which again asserted its independence. The latter prince, by attempting to expel a troublesome colony of the Abodriti, planted on the Elbe by Charle- magne, involved himself in a quarrel with that powerful emperor, who was then carrying on a bloody war of extermination against the pagan Saxons, for refusing to be converted to Christianity. Gottrik for some time harassed his imperial adversary; and appearing with a fleet of two hundred barks on the coast of Friesland, he landed at three different points, dispersed the natives, slew their duke, Rurik, and levied an assessment of 100 pounds weight of silver, which the Frisians brought to his treasury and threw into a copper basin in his presence. Judging from the sound that the tribute- money was debased with alloy, he ordered every coin to be confiscated that did not ring to his satisfaction. THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 41 [810-826 A.D.] This daring marauder even attempted to take the emperor by surprise, in. his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle; but he was himself cut off in the midst of his designs (810 a.d.) by the hand of an assassin. Charlemagne entered into a treaty with Hemming, the nephew and successor of Gottrik (813 a.d.), which stipulated that the Eider should form the boundary between Denmark and the Frankish Empire — the Danes thus abandoning all their conquests southward of that limit. Harde-Knud, the heir of Sigurd, being young at the time of his father's death, was left to the guardianship of his uncle Gottrik, regent of the king- dom. During the prince's minority, grievous commotions had arisen. Jut- land threw off its allegiance, and the sovereignty was fiercely contested between the sons of Gottrik and Harold Klak, a petty king of Schleswig, and father of Rurik, who had taken violent possession of Friesland. He was repeatedly driven from his dominions, and his flight became remarkable as the means of shedding the first rays of Christianity over the pagan dark- ness of the North. In the peace which Charlemagne had concluded with Hemming, that politic conqueror did not attempt to impose his religion upon the Danes, which would have been rejected by them as a badge of slavery. However anxious to reclaim them from their wild and barbarous habits, he was unwilling to excite a spirit of hostility that might have spread to the bordering nations, by interfering with their obstinate attachment to idolatry. The achievement of this desirable object was reserved for his son and successor, Louis le D6bonnaire, whose court at Ingelheim, on the Rhine, was visited (826 a.d.), by the exiled prince of Jutland, accompanied with his queen, his sons, and a numerous retinue, in a fleet of a hundred galleys. Here the solicitations of the emperor and his prelates induced Harold to renounce the errors of paganism. His wife and children, and many of his followers, were baptised, having solemnly abjured, according to a rude formula still extant, " the works and words of the devil, of Thor, and Woden, and Saxon Odin, with all the evil spirits, their confederates." After the ceremony, the royal convert proceeded in his white garments to the imperial palace, where he received rich baptismal presents of mantles, jewels, armour, and other gifts. The day was ended with a magnificent festival, in which every effort was made to impress the Danes with a lively idea of the pomp and splendour of the Romish religion, as well as the wealth and power of the Franks.*^ HOLGER DANSKE AND MISSIONS IN THE NORTH There are other instances of the conversion of Danes and Norwegians at this period. Amongst them is included the famous Holger Danske, the favourite hero of Danish legend and renowned in mediaeval romance as Ogier le Danois. His story probably owed its origin to those of two real personages. One of these was a Northmarf who, in 851 appeared with a fleet of two hundred vessels on the coast of Friesland. Some years before he had pillaged Rouen, and now his followers advancing far inland carried fire and sword to Ghent, Aix-la-Chapelle, Treves, and Cologne. The leader of this terrible invasion has been confounded with a certain Othgar or Ottokar who fought with the Lombards against Charlemagne in 773, and being defeated by the Frankish emperor became his vassal and one of his generals. Thus in the romances Ogier le Danois figures as a paladin of Charlemagne. A legend similar to that told in Germany of Frederick Barbarossa is 42 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [827-845 A.D.] related by the Danes of Holger Danske. In a cavern under the castle of Kronborg at Elsinore the hero and his followers are sleeping, seated round a stone table. Once a condemned criminal, having been promised his life if he would explore the underground passages beneath the castle, penetrated to the vault; as he entered Holger rose, but he had sat there so long that his beard had grown into the table, and as he wrenched it out the table itself burst asunder. Holger commanded the intruder to give him his hand, when the man prudently held out an iron bar, and Holger, whose sight appears to have become somewhat impaired during his long sleep, grasped the metal. So hard was his grip that the iron retained the impression of his fingers; the hero, doubtless amazed to meet with no shrinking, observed as he let go that he was glad to find there were still men in Denmark." In order to carry forward the good work so auspiciously begun, Louis determined to send Anskar as a missionary to the North. This intrepid monk, with a brother from the same convent of Corvei, readily imdertook the holy enterprise, and on their arrival in South Jutland, in 827, they commenced their labours under the patronage and protection of Harold. They pur- chased some heathen children (probably captives taken in war), and founded a school for their instruction in the elementary principles of the new faith; but their progress was interrupted by the civil strife which still raged with unabated fury between the factions competing for the throne. In a great battle near Flensburg, Harold, whose change of religion had inflamed the popular indignation against him, was finally defeated (828 a.d.), and com- pelled to take refuge in Oldenburg, one of the possessions which Louis had assigned him by way of indemnity. The missionaries followed his retreat, and abandoned their proselytes to the vengeance of the heathen. Meantime an opportunity occurred for advancing the standard of truth further into the benighted regions of Scandinavia. Ambassadors from Bjorn II of Sweden had visited the imperial court, imploring that missionaries might be sent into that country. Anskar offered to accompany them on their return, and joined a caravan of merchants travelling to the annual fair at Sigtuna. On their passage across the Baltic they were attacked by pirates, and plundered of nearly all their effects, including forty volumes of sacred literature. At Upsala, the zealous preacher was received in the most friendly manner by the king; and during his short residence he converted and baptised many of the Svear, among whom were some of the highest rank. The success of this mission induced Louis to establish an archbishopric at Hamburg, from which as a common centre the Catholic emissaries might superintend the spiritual concerns of the North. Anskar was raised to the newly elected see, and received the confirmation of Pope Gregory IV, in a bull declaring him the papal legate in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. This border-post served him as a convenient station for watching the glimmerings of the light which he had borne, at the hazard of his life, to the centre of Scandinavia. He founded schbols for the education of young missionaries, built cloisters and hospitals, and laboured with unremitting efforts to kindle in others the same fervid enthusiasm with which his own breast was inspired. He made a second journey to Sweden, where he availed himself of the tolera- tion granted by the diet to propagate the Christian doctrines. The lawless habits of the Danes, and their invincible attachment to the ancient idolatry, presented formidable obstacles to their conversion. In a popular commotion some of the clergy were murdered, and others were com- pelled to flee from persecution. A fleet of sea-rovers, commanded by Eric I, THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 43 [845-941 A.D.] called the Usurper, who had seized the crowns of Jutland and Fiinen, sailed up the Elbe (845 a.d.), and laid Hamburg in ashes. Anskar saw his chiu-ch burned, his library destroyed, and himself obliged to seek safety in flight. After that prince had become, by the death of Harde-Knud (850 a.d.), king of all Denmark, he extended his favour to the missionaries; but it was revoked by his successor, Eric I, under whom the nobility, jealous lest their power should be overthrown, stirred up the people against the Christians, by repre- senting them as the cause of all the calamities that had fallen upon the land. Anskar contrived, however, to ingratiate himself once more with the court; and he was again earnestly invited to visit Jutland, where he continued to the close of his life (865 a.d.), engaged in the sacred task of converting the heathen, and acquiring a stock of personal sanctity by those acts of self- mortification which in that age were considered so meritorious. He was canonized by the papal authority; festivals were instituted in honour of his memory and churches built to perpetuate his name. He continued to be worshipped as the tutelar saint of the North until the period of the Reforma- tion, and still merits the gratitude of the Scandinavian nations, not merely as their deliverer from a barbarous superstition, but as a benefactor who opened to them the career of civilisation. It was at this epoch that a revolution occurred in Denmark, similar to those which happened about the same time in the two neighbouring king- doms. Gorm, the son of Harde-Knud, surnamed the Old, from the length of his reign, had distinguished himself in early youth by his piratical excur- sions. Profiting by the absence of many of the jarls and chiefs in distant predatory expeditions, he subdued Jutland, and put an end to the ascendancy of those petty kings who had grown formidable only through the negligence of the sons or grandsons of Ragnar Lodbrok, who took greater delight in attacking the dominions of others than in ruling peacefully over their own. Other conquests followed, until he succeeded in uniting into one state the territories which now constitute the Danish monarchy, including the Swedish provinces of Ska,ne and Halland. He had espoused the beautiful Thyra Dannebod (Ornament of Denmark), daughter of Harold Klak, who had been baptised when a child in France. A deep cloud of obscurity hangs over this long and important reign, which the diligence of the native historians has not entirely removed.** GORM THE OLD, HAROLD BLUETOOTH, AND SWEYN Gorm the Old is chiefly to be remembered for collecting all the small provinces into one body. At that time the Danish kingdom comprised Zealand (Sjalland), with the adjacent islands, Jutland and South Jutland (now Schleswig), where the Eider river was the limit towards the south, and Skane, Halland, and Blekinge, in southern Sweden. But, though these parts were now thus united, they preserved for a long space of time their popular peculiarities, each, part having its own laws, and the king receiving his homage separately in each province. We are not able to detail many facts of the reign of Gorm the Old, but we know, however, that he was a bitter enemy to the Christians, whom he persecuted in every quarter, demolishing their churches and banishing their clergy. Amongst other sacred buildings, he totally destroyed the famous cathedral in Schleswig, and ordered the pagan idols to be erected wherever they had formerly stood. While his two sons, Knud and Harold — twins by birth, and rivals in glory — were gathering laurels abroad, Gorm took arms against the Saxons, 44 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [941-974 A.D.] with a view to oblige them to renounce Christianity, but the emperor, Henry the Fowler, soon came to the relief of the Saxons, defeated Gorm, and forced him to permit Christianity to be preached in Denmark. Gorm's queen has rendered herself distinguished by founding Dannevirke (a great wall of earth and stones across Schleswig, strongly fortified by moats and tower bastions), to protect the country against inroads of the Germans. Already Gottrik had erected a like fortification, called Kurvirke, but the irruption of Henry the Fowler had proved that the country needed a stronger bulwark, wherefore the queen founded that famous Dannevirke, remnants of which are yet to be seen. Gorm, loving his son Knud, generally called Danaast (the Splendor of the Danes), more than Harold, declared, dreading the death of his dearly beloved son, of whom he for a great while had received no intelligence, that whosoever might tell him of his son's death should lose his life. FimiUy, notice was given of his death on a Viking expedition in England. The queen, not risking to tell it to the king, made the courtiers observe an unusual silence at the table, and had the apartment covered with black cloth. Guessing the reason, Gorm cried out: "Surely Knud, my dear son, is dead, for all Denmark is mourning ! " " Thou sayest so, not I," answered the queen; upon which the king sickened with grief, and died in a good old age (941). Harold Bluetooth (Blaatand), his son, was immediately elected king, but he refused to accept the crown until he had first performed his father's obse- quies with all the magnificence becoming his high rank. One of the earliest acts of Harold's reign was, as we shall see, the conquest of Norway which became a province of Denmark. After Harold Bluetooth had settled this affair, he sailed against the Wends, who committed horrible depredations on all the coasts of the Baltic, but he attacked them with such vigour that he reduced and plundered all their strongholds, and, among the rest, the rich and important city of WoUin, built on an island of the same name, which is formed by two branches of the river Oder. But he had scarce rid his hands of this war when his aid and protection were solicited by StsTbear, king of Sweden, who was driven out of his own dominions by Eric the Victory-blest. To enforce his request Styrbear had brought along with him Gyntha, his sister, a lady of admirable beauty. The stratagem had the intended effect; Harold Bluetooth became enamored of her, married her, and promised the brother all the assistance in his power. Nevertheless StjTbear was defeated by Eric, the Victory-blest, at Fyrisval, near Upsala. The progress of Christianity, which Gorm the Old had resisted and dis- regarded, began now to attract the notice of the ruling power, and was, during the whole reign of Harold Bluetooth, vigorously promoted by Adeldag, who now was invested with the archiepiscopal see of Hamburg. In the days of Anskar two churches had been erected in Schleswig and Ribe, and a third was now built in Aarhvus, situated on the eastern coast of Jutland, and bish- oprics were established in those cities. But, although in favour of the new doctrine, the king would not comply with the exorbitant and imdue claims which the German emperor. Otto I [936-973] arrogated to himself. The German kings claimed, by virtue of their dignity as Roman emperors, to be acknowledged as secular heads of the whole Christian world, as the popes were of the ecclesiastical; this claim Otto I realised by giving to the bishoprics above mentioned immunity and property in Denmark. His successor, Otto II, claiming the same, excited the resentment of Harold Bluetooth, who collected all his forces (974), and pitched his camp on the narrow neck of land at Schleswig, to intercept Otto, but was defeated, the THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 45 [974-994 A.D.] mighty emperor demolishing the famous fortification, Dannevirke, and mak- ing his way through the country right up to the Limf jord. A treaty of peace was made, and the king received baptism from Bishop Poppo — Otto, the emperor, being sponsor — and the same ceremony was performed for his son, Sweyn. Bishoprics were now also established in Odense and in Roeskilde, where Harold Bluetooth erected a splendid church. Odinkar Hvide, a native Dane, now began to preach Christianity and to annihilate the pagan worship; all of which excited the resentment of the heathen party, in front of which went the king's own son, Sweyn, and his master-in-arms, Palnatoke, a mighty chief from the Danish island, Fiinen, who in his heart inclined to heathenism, and besides that believed himself to have several personal offences to be avenged upon the king. Harold Bluetooth, however, raised an army and gave battle to his son, who aspired to his father's crown (991). But the king was defeated, and shot by the hand of Palnatoke, while he was walking in a grove near his camp. Before leaving Harold Bluetooth, it ought to be noticed that he removed the royal residence from Leidre to RoeskUde, where the Danish kings resided for about five centuries, till, during the reign of Chris- topher of Bavaria, Copenhagen was made the capital. Harold Bluetooth was succeeded by his son Sweyn, or Sveand (991-1014), generally called Sweyn Splitbeard, from some peculiarity observed about his beard. He is also sometimes called Swejm Otto, after his godfather, the emperor. Nearly all his time was spent in making expeditions to Norway, Germany, and England. Notwithstanding Sweyn Splitbeard and the mighty chief, Palnatoke, above mentioned, had been on a very intimate footing, their good understanding soon ceased; for the murder committed by Palnatoke on Sweyn's father, Harold Bluetooth, required vengeance of blood. Palnatoke resorted to Jomsburg, a fortress on the island of Wollin, on the coast of Pomerania, founded by Harold Bluetooth to maintain the Danish dominion in these regions. Here Palnatoke estabUshed a band of northern vikings, who, by severe laws, preserved the ancient warfaring life and manners, and under the name of Jomsvikings, for a long time struck the whole North with fear. Palnatoke's institutions tended to instil into his vikings the contempt of life. "A man," says the chronicle of Iceland, "in order to acquire glory for bravery, should attack a single enemy, defend himself against two, and not yield to three, but might, without disgrace, fly from four," and it was, on the whole, glorious to seek every opportunity of encountering death. Some instances of their savage heroism are recorded which almost exceed belief. In an irruption made by the Jomsburgers into Norway, the invaders were defeated and a few were taken prisoners. They were sentenced to be beheaded, and this intelligence they received with every demonstration of joy. One said: "I suffer death with the greatest pleasure; I only request that you will cut off my head as quickly as possible. We have often disputed," said he, "at Jomsburg, whether life remained for any time after the head was cut off: now I shall decide the question. But remember, if so, I shall aim a blow at you with this knife which I hold in my hand. IDespatch," said he, "but do not abuse my long hair, for it is very beautiful." Not till the eleventh cen- tury was this piratical stronghold destroyed by Magnus the Good. The fol- lowing chief of Jomsburg, the designing Sigvald, by stratagem made Sweyn Splitbeard, who had taken up arms against him, a prisoner, and compelled him to acknowledge the independence of Jomsburg and all the provinces along the Baltic; and Sweyn was only set at liberty on promising to pay a ransom of twice his own weight, when full armed, in pure gold. The ransom 46 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [994-1014 A.D.] was settled at three payments, but the king's person was confined tUl the last payment was made, which was raised by the generosity of the Danish ladies, who sold their jewels for this purpose. Upon his return he, therefore, ordained that the women should inherit the half of aU estates, real and personal. Sweyn Splitbeard, thirsting for vengeance, induced Sigvald, at a wassail- bout, to undertake a very hazardous expedition against the mighty Hakon Jarl, in Norway, who had shown the same imwillingness to pay tribute to Denmark as his predecessor, Harold Graafeld; Sweyn himself making a vow to wage war against England, which some years before had thrown off her subjection to the throne of Denmark. The elsewhere almost indomitable Jomsvikings were totally defeated at Hj6rringebay (994); Sigvald himself had to make his escape, and Norway was not subdued. Sweyn Splitbeard was more successful in his expedition against England. The impotent Anglo- Saxon king, iEthelred II, also called ^thelred the Unready, held at this time the supreme authority in that kingdom. Putting all to the fire and sword, wherever he went, and treating England with the utmost severity, Sweyn obliged the English king to acknowledge his superiority, and to get rid of the Danes by paying a large sum of money, called Danegeld. But an important event took place now in the North. The Norwegian prince, Olaf Tryggvason, who had been allied with Sweyn in England, left him treacherously for Norway, the throne of which he ascended, after the death of Hakon Jarl, without taking any oath of allegiance to Sweyn; and the misimderstanding increased when Olaf, without Sweyn's consent, married the latter's sister, Thyra, who had fled from her husband, Burislief, of Wend- land (Pomerania). Sweyn Splitbeard, Olaf the Lap King of Sweden, and Eric Jarl, a Norwegian prince, who lived at the Danish court, attacked Olaf Tryggvason, who, with his fleet had gone through the sound to Wendland in order to claim his wife's property. A sea battle took place near Swalder, September 9th, 1000, on the Pomeranian coast. Seldom has a more memorable naval engagement been fought. Olaf Tryggvason was defeated after a most heroic resistance, and his fleet totally dispersed. Escaping out of the battle with a few ships, he was so closely pursued that, to avoid the disgrace of being taken prisoner, he precipitated himself into the sea and was drowned. The mosji, renowned heroes of Norway shared in this battle, and the heroic songs of Einar Tam- barskelver, the great archer, Ulf the Red, and Thorgeir, who all fought as madmen, resound yet among the rocks of old Norway, which was now divided between the three victors, and had to submit to the conditions which they dictated. But while Sweyn was occupied with the affairs of Norway, -iEthel- red II had taken advantage of Swejm's absence to perform a dreadful carnage among the Danes in England (1002). Informed of it, Sweyn immediately appeared in England with a powerful army of the most valiant soldiers, was everywhere victorious, expelled iEthelred, who had to flee to Normandy; and Sweyn Splitbeard was at his death undisputed sovereign of the whole of Eng- land (1014). In the beginning of his reign, he persecuted Christianity; but, before he expired, he began to perceive the folly he had committed in opposing the faith in which he had been baptised and instructed. Afterwards, in pre- vailing upon the people to receive the light of the Gospel, he was aided by Poppo, a German bishop of great piety and eloquence, who, by dint of example and persuasion, brought about what the king's authority could not effect. Several miracles are related of this prelate; and, indeed, he was possessed of the happy talent of impressing the people with whatever notions he thought fit; in which alone, of course, consisted his supernatural powers. A see was THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 47 [1014^1018 A.D.] given to Poppo, with power to preside over the Danish clergy; while at the same time he was suffragan of Adeldag, archbishop of Hamburg. CANUTE, AND THE DAWN OF DISCOVERY Sweyn Splitbeard had two sons, Harold and Canute or Knud; and the Danish historian, Meursius, says that "Harold, by right of primogeniture, succeeded his father on the throne of Denmark, while Canute, who at Sweyn's death was living in England, was elected king of the Danes there." But the English taking advantage of Canute's youth, threw off the subjection they had promised his father, Sweyn Splitbeard, and called the fugitive .iEthelred II back from Normandy, and a general insurrection broke out. After having ordered the tongues and ears of the English hostages to be cut off, and, on the whole, shown an inflexible severity, Canute repaired to Denmark, where he brought together a numerous host of brave soldiers, and a well-manned fleet, with which he went back to England, accompanied by Eric Jarl, from Norw^ay, Thorkel the High, and Ulf Jarl, who afterwards married Canute's sister, Estrith. He met with the English fleet, commanded by King iEthelred in person, whom he defeated after a sharp engagement. The vahant Eadmund Ironside, who succeeded his father .^thelred on the throne of England [in April, 1016], was forced to yield the half of England to Canute. But a month after, Eadmund Ironside was treacherously killed by his brother-in-law, Edric Streon, whereupon Canute was acknowledged king of the whole of England. The first measure of Canute was now to seize Eadmund's two sons, whom he sent to his ally, the king of Sweden, Anund Jacob, with the request that they might be put to death. Humanity, however, induced the Swedish mon- arch to spare their lives and send them into Hungary. Canute, now ruler of England, tried to make himself both beloved and esteemed there; he reigned with great judiciousness, paid respect to the privileges of the people of the country, and raised them to the highest offices; advanced commerce and literature, and courted, in a particular manner, the favour of the church by munificent donations and by presenting monasteries with rich gifts; and he has, indeed, .much better title to saintship than many of those who adorn the Roman calendar. To make himself yet more popiilar, he married the vir- tuous Emma of Normandy, the queen-dowager of ^thelred, whom the English people loved dearly. But while he thus tried to make himself popular, and provide for the welfare of the state, his despotism and cruelty were often insupportable, and those whose influence seemed pernicious to him he was not unscrupulous in putting out of the way. Thus he caused Edric Streon and Thorkel the High to be killed; the first of whom had been invested with Mercia, the latter with East Anglia, as absolute fiefs. To confirm his power, and perform the conquests he had in view, he established a standing army, called the Thingmannalid, consisting of the most famous warriors; and, on account of the sumptuous armour they had to wear, containing only the richest and most prominent. To this army he gave a peculiar law, called the Vitherlagslaw, which for a long time enjoyed great credit in Europe. His brother Harold, king of Denmark, died after a reign of four years (1018). Weak from his infancy, he was little able to rule, and his profligacy and entire contempt of decency and morality rendered him odious to his subjects. Nothing need be said of him but that he reigned four years; where- upon Canute, generally called Canute the Great, was imanimously chosen to 48 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [850-1026 A.D.] succeed him on the Danish throne. Thus, after an interval of only four years, Denmark was reunited with England; which, superior to Denmark in refine- ment, arts, trade, and agriculture, long exercised a beneficial influence upon the Danish kingdom. It is to Canute the Great that Denmark has to ascribe the complete introduction of Christianity; for under him the last vestiges of the pagan worship were destroyed, its idols overthrown, its altars demolished, and its temples closed. Many Enghsh clergy migrated in this period to Den- mark. The Danish bishoprics were generally bestowed on Englishmen; and, on the whole, Canute considered England the principal realm, and resided there. But he deserved well, also, of Denmark, by bringing a great portion of the Wendland under subjection, and subduing the formidable Wendish pirates. About the same time Christianity was introduced into Sweden, under Olaf the Lap King, who was baptised by an English monk, Sigefroy; and into Norway, under St. Olaf. Before relating Canute's last expedition to Norway, his exploits there, and his end, it may be noticed that he, like most royal persons in the period under consideration, made a pilgrimage to Rome, to pay, in that sacred city, his devotion to the relics of some deceased saint, and obtain from the pope remission of his sins (1026). While in Rome he estabhshed, by assent of the pope, a caravansary for Scandinavian pilgrims; procuring his subjects, also, on the same occasion, several commercial. privileges. Upon his journey to Rome he chanced to meet with the German emperor, Conrad II, whom he induced to renounce his claims to the Danish mark (Schleswig), founded by Henry the Fowler, and a marriage was agreed on between Canute's daughter, GunhUda, and Conrad's son, Henry. About this time, or a little before, the Scandinavians began to make dis- coveries in the north and west. The Faroe Islands had been discovered at the latter end of the ninth century, by some Scandinavian pirates, and soon after this Iceland was colonized by the Norwegians. [From Iceland, towards the close of the tenth century, Jarl Eric the Red, who had been banished from the island, led the first colony to Greenland, which had been discovered about a hundred years before.] The settlement made in Greenland, though comprising only a small population, seems to have been very prosperous in mercantile affairs. It had bishops and priests from Europe, and paid the pope, as an annual tribute, 2,600 pounds of walrus teeth as tithe and Peter's pence. But the art of navigation must have been at a very low pitch, for the voyage from Greenland to Iceland and Norway, and back again, consumed five years; and upon one occasion the government of Norway did not hear of the death of the bishop of Greenland until six years after it had occurred.^ This colony in Greenland continued in a flourishing condition down to the fourteenth century when it suffered severely from two terrible scourges, the Black Death and the attacks of the natives. In the fifteenth century all inter- course between the Scandinavian colony in Greenland and the civilised world entirely ceased. Modern investigation has resulted in the discovery of the ruins of buildings and of the graves of the old colonists, but their descendants, if not entirely wiped out, appear to have been absorbed by the Esquimaux population. For Lief, son of Eric the Red, is claimed a far greater achievement than his father's. ITie account of a country far to the southwest which had been sighted by an Icelander in the year 1001, prompted Lief to undertake a voyage in search of it and to plant, in a country which he called Vinland, a colony that subsisted for many years. The details of this expedition as given in the old sagas have furnished data for a theory which places Vinland on a portion of the THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 49 [1026-1028 A.D.] United States in the vicinity of Rhode Island, and thus gives to Lief Ericsson the glory of being the first discoverer of America." To return to Canute the Great : While he tarried in Rome St. Olaf of Nor- way and Anund Jacob of Sweden availed themselves of Canute's absence to fall upon Denmark, both of them fearing his increasing power, and being angry because Norwegian mutineers had found an asylum at the Danish court. The united kings making great progress, Ulf Jarl, who was married as we have seen to Estrith, a sister to Canute, and who had been appointed lieutenant-governor under the king's absence, deemed it necessary for the country to have a head, and prevailed upon the people to elect the crown prince, Harthacnut [Hardi Canute] king. Canute, informed of this, hastened home, but though highly incensed against Ulf, he delayed his vengeance till the enemies were driven away. A battle was fought near Helgebrook in Skane, where Canute himself would have perished, had it not been for Ulf's aid (1027). , But even this could not appease the exasperated king, who, under pre- tence of friendship, invited him to a drinking-bout in Roeskilde. They played at chess together. The king, making a wrong move, wished to correct it, but Ulf Jarl upset the chess-board, and left in anger. " Dost thou now fly, thou cowardly Ulf ? " cried the king. " Thou didst not call me cowardly," answered Ulf, "when the Danes, at Helgebrook, took to their heels like dogs, and I saved thy life." The king, yet more irritated at this reply, caused Ulf to be killed in the cathedral of Roeskilde, to which he afterwards gave a whole canton as a propitiatory sacrifice for his crime.« The ambition of Canute was not satisfied with the possession of two crowns; he pretended to have some claims upon Norway through his father Sweyn, who had formerly ruled over a portion of that country. Its reduction, which was accomplished (1028) without much difficulty, and its temporary annexation to his other dominions make it necessary that we now revert to that portion of Scandinavian history. EARLY NORWEGIAN KINGS The early Norwegian annals, geographical and political, have been criti- cally analyzed and minutely detailed by Torfseus. Tradition, as already mentioned, placed Sseming, a son of Odin, on the throne of that country, and from him descended a race of pontiff-kings of whom nothing but their names is recorded. The first mortal alleged by the native legends to have worn the crown was a chief called Nor, sprung from the ancient Finnish family of the Fornjoter, who established himself at Trondhjem, and subdued the neighbor- ing territories about the beginning of the fourth century. It is evident, however, that the old chronicle (Fundinn Noregr, or Norway Discovered) con- taining this account is entitled to no credit whatever. Nor is altogether a mythic personage; his supposed ancestor Fornjoter, with his three sons, the rulers of the air, earth, and sea, are considered to be merely the Scandinavian antitypes of Noah, and the patriarchs Shem, Ham, and Japhet. Among other progenitors that adorn his genealogy, we find Frostius, Snser, and Drifa (frost, snow, and drift), which are obviously symbols of the climate, rather than names of chiefs or petty kings. This part of the national records must therefore be viewed as an allegory, merely intended to give lustre to the pedi- gree of the Norwegian monarchs. The several branches of Nor's posterity were dignified with the regal title, and are said to have reigned over the districts of Thrandia, Naumdal, Raums- dal, Guldbransdal, Rogaland, Hordaland, Ringarike, Raumarike, and other H. W. — VOL. XVI. E 50 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [640-875 A.D.] provinces, which are supposed to derive from them their modern appellations. It belongs to mythology rather than history to narrate their wars, and exhibit their feats of incredible strength and their wonderful skill in sorcery and incan- tation. The princes or chiefs of a less fabulous origin, who held sway over these sterile mountains, it would be superfluous to enumerate, as there is no reason to believe that any considerable portion of Norway was ever imited under a single monarch prior to the era of Harold Harfagr, who first com- bined the various tribes among whom it was divided into one nation, by reducing their kings or jarls to a state of vassalage in the latter part of the ninth century. This famous conqueror was a scion of the ancient Ynglings. The last of that sacred dynasty, Olaf Traetelia, when driven from the Swedish throne, as already stated, laid the foundation of a new government in Vermland, which gradually extended across the frontier, imtil it embraced wholly or partially the adjacent districts of Vestjold, Vingulmarken, Raumarike, Hordaland, and Hedemarken. The crown descended to five princes in succession, the last of whom, Half dan Svart (the Black), was father to Harold. In the fol- lowing table, the names and reigns of the Norwegian sovereigns are given in order, down to the important epoch when Christianity was established under Olaf the Saint: TRADITIONAL LIST OP ANCIENT KINGS OP KOKWAY Olaf Traetelia . . . died a.d. 640 Halfdan Huitben 700 System 730 Halfdan MiUde 784 Gudrod Mikillati 824 Olaf Geirstada 840 Halfdan Svart 863 Harold Harfagr 934 Eric Blodsexe . Hakon the Good Harold Graafeld Hakon Jarl Olaf Tryggvason Olaf the Saint Svend Knudson Magnus the Good died A.D. 940 963 . 977 995 . 1000 . 1030 1035 . 1047 Every circumstance connected with the genealogy and youth of Harold has been carefully preserved by his countrymen. His mother .was Ragnhilda, daughter of Harold Golden-Beard, who riiled over the district of Sogne, near Bergen. Dreams and prodigies augured his future greatness; the giant Dofre taught him the military art, and at the age of ten, when he lost his father (863), he had the reputation of surpassing all his contemporaries in beauty, courage, wisdom and warlike accomplishments. During his minority, the regency of his paternal dominions was committed to his uncle Guttorm, whose prompt interference kept in awe the rebellious vassals. At the age of twelve, the young prince is said to have formed the resolution of subduing all Norway. His first achievement was the conquest of Thrandia (Trondhjem), whose eight kings or chiefs he defeated in as many battles. These victories were followed by the subjugation of the whole western coast, from Finmarken to the Naze. Hordaland, Telemarken, and Vermland were also reduced to subjection; whilst the famous naval engagement in the bay of Hafurs Fjord, now called Stavanger Fjord, fought (875) with the confederated princes of Rogaland and other southern districts, made him master of the entire king- dom in the short space of ten years. Most of the jarls and hereditary nobles being either slain or dispersed, Harold, ere he had reached the prime of man- hood, thus saw himself in possession of a monarchy more extensive than had yet been enjoyed by any other northern potentate. Triumphant at home, his arms were no less successful in the expeditions which he undertook to exterminate the pirates and refractory chieftains, who had escaped his vengeance at Hafurs Fjord by seeking refuge in the Scottish THE AGE OP THE VIKINGS 51 [875-934 A.D.] isles. The Scandinavian historians claim for him the reduction of Shetland, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the whole country north of the Grampians. They even allege that the Isle of Man, where a Norman dynasty had long been established, and part of Ireland, including Dublin, were added to his domin- ions. The government of these foreign possessions he entrusted to chiefs or relations of his own, under the title of earls, with a feudal dependence on his crown; but their authority was little respected by the turbulent and lawless inhabitants. Threatened with civil broils and dissensions in his own family, he adopted the unwise policy of dividing the kingdom among his numerous sons, to each of whom he assigned the administration of a province, with the title and pre- rogatives of royalty. This expedient having increased rather than dimin- ished the evil, his next resource was to abdicate in favour of Eric, which was done with the consent of the remaining brothers, eight of whom had then perished in battle. Harold survived this event only three years, and died in 934; leaving by his five wives a numerous progeny, male and female, from whom genealogists have computed the descent of most of the royal families in Europe. He had the reputation of being a brave and generous prince, of a handsome form, robust constitution, and majestic stature. Iceland and the Faroe Isles of whose discovery we have spoken, were colonised during his reign, and Normandy was conquered by daring adventurers under the celebrated Rolf Ganger (afterwards Duke Rollo), who had fled to avoid death or servitude under his rigorous administration. Though a barbarian, Harold possessed the lofty spirit of that heroic age, and even aspired to civilise and legislate. His own interest, combined with motives of policy, induced him" to adopt measures for the entire suppression of private feuds, of marauding expeditions by land and piracy on the seas. The strandhug, or impressment of provisions, which the depredators were in the practice of exercising, by seizing the cattle of the unprotected peasantry, he prohibited under the severest penalties. These he found to be the greatest obstacles to social order and improvement, and at the same time the principal means of keeping alive the embers of insubordination and resistance to his authority. It has been supposed that his conduct in these beneficial arrangements was in some degree influenced by the example of the English king .^Ethelstan, who had visited Norway in his youth. An intercourse of friendship and cour- tesy is said to have commenced between them at that early period, in virtue of which Harold sent his son Hakon to be educated at the Anglo-Saxon court, with a present of a magnificent ship, the sails of which were purple and the beak gold; the whole deck being surrounded with shields, gilt in the inside, and curiously ornamented, .^thelstan gave his pupil in return a sword with a golden hilt and a blade of wonderful temper, which he kept till the day of his death. Besides studying the manners of the nation, the young prince was converted to the Christian faith, and received the ordinance of baptism — an event which afterwards gave occasion to the first planting of the seeds of the Gospel in his native land.* Eric, after spending his youth as a sea-rover, had been elevated to the throne before his father's death; but the rest of his brothers, who claimed an equal title to the sovereignty, refused to acknowledge his supremacy, or pay ' Snorre's narrative of Harold's intercourse with ^thelstan differs from that given ahove (Saga ens Harfagra, c. 41, 43), but the account given by the old Norwegian chronicler Thiodrek seems most credible, viz. that Hakon was sent to England to be taught the manners of the nation. 69 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [934-910 A.D.] their annual tribute to the crown. The seeds of internal dissension thus planted soon ripened into acts of cruelty and bloodshed. In the domestic strife that ensued, several of the refractory princes were put to death by him, and hence the name of Blodaexe, or Bloody-axe, was entailed on the relentless fratricide. Weary of the oppressions under which they had groaned for sev- eral years, the people at length shook off the yoke of the sanguinary tyrant, and unanimously called Hakon to the throne, who, though educated in a foreign land, and in a religion unknown to their country, was received with joy as their king and deliverer. The principal jarls, and especially Sigurd, his uncle on the mother's side, who had been his godfather when he was sprinkled with water after the heathen fashion in his infancy, espoused his cause. Eric, unable to cope with the superior fortunes of his younger brother, fled with his adherents to the Orkney Isles, where he became a sea-king, and exercised his depredations on the British shores. ..] accounts, not only of the historical events, but of the deaths, intermarriages, pedigrees, and other family circumstances of every person of any note engaged in them. We find, accordingly, that the sagas are, as justly observed by Pinkerton, rather memoirs of individuals than history. They ;give the most careful heraldic tracing of every man's kin they speak of, because he was kin to landowners at home, or they were kin to him. In such a social state we may believe that the class of skalds were not, as we generally suppose, merely a class of story-tellers, poets, or harpers, going about with gossip, song, and music; but were interwoven with the social institutions of the country, and had a footing in the material interests of the people. To take an interest in the long-past events of history is an acquired intellectual taste, and not at all the natural taste of the unlettered man. When we are told of the Norman baron in his castle-hall, or the Iceland peasant's family around their winter fireside in their turf-built huts, sitting ■clown in the tenth or the eleventh century to listen to, get by heart, and transmit to the rising generation the accounts of historical events of the ■eighth or ninth century in Norway, England, or Denmark, we feel that, however pleasing this picture may be to the fancy, it is not true to nature — not consistent with the human mind in a rude illiterate social state. But when we consider the nature of the peculiar udal principle by which land or other property was transmitted through the social body of these Northmen, we see at once a sufficient foundation in the material interests, both of the baron and the peasant, for the support of a class of traditionary relators of past events. Every person in every expedition was udal born to something at home — to the kingdom, or to a little farm; and this class were the recorders of the vested rights of individuals, and of family alliances, feuds, or other interests, when written record was not known. For many ^generations after the first Northmen settled in England or Normandy, it must, from the uncertain issue of their hostilities with the indigenous inhabi- tants, have been matter of deep interest to every individual to know how it stood with the branch of the family in possession of the piece of udal land in the mother-country to which he also was udal born, that is, had certain eventual rights of succession; and whether to return and claim their share of any succession which may have opened up to them in Norway must have been a question with settlers in Northumberland, Normandy, or Iceland, ■which could only be solved by the information derived from such a class aa the skalds. Before the clergy by their superior learning extinguished the vocation of this class among the Northmen, the skalds appear to have been frequently employed also as confidential messengers or ambassadors; as, for instance, in the proposal of a marriage between Olaf king of Norway and the daughter of King Olaf of Sweden, and of a peace between the two countries to be established by this alliance. The skalds, by their profession, could go from court to court without suspicion, and in comparative safety; because, being generally natives of Iceland, they had no hereditary family feuds with the people of the land, no private vengeance for family injuries to apprehend; and fieing usually rewarded by_ gifts of rings, chains, goblets, and such trink- ets, they could, without exciting suspicion, carry with them the tokens by which, before the art of writing was common in courts, the messenger who had a private errand to unfold was accredited. When kings or great people met in those ages they exchanged gifts or presents with each other, and do so still in the East; and the original object of this custom was that each H. W.— ^VOL, XVI. G 82 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [— 1050A.D.1 should have tokens known to the other, by which any bearer afterwards should be accredited to the original owner of the article sent with him ia token, and even the amount of confidence to be reposed in him denoted. We, with writing at command, can scarcely perhaps conceive the shifts people must have been put to when even the most simple communication or order had to be delivered viva voce to some agent who was to carry it, and who had to produce some credential or token that he was to be believed. Every act of importance between distant parties had to be transacted by tokens. Our wonder and incredulity cease when we consider that such a class of men as those who composed and transmitted this great mass of saga literature were evidently a necessary element in the social arrangements of the time and people, and, together with their literature or traditional songs and stories, were intimately connected with the material interests of all,, and especially of those who had property and power. They were not merely a class of wandering poets, troubadours, or story-tellers, living by the amusement they afforded to a people in a state too rude to support any class for their intellectual amusement only. The skalds, who appear to have been divided into two classes — poets, who composed or remembered verses in which events were related, or chiefs and their deeds commemorated; and saga-men, who related historical accounts of transactions past or present — were usually, it may be said exclusively, of Iceland.^ Several of the kings of Sweden entertained Icelandic skalds, but it was at the courts of Norwegian monarchs that they found the most hospitable reception and liberal patronage. Thus Harold Harfagr had always in his service four principal skalds, who were the intimate companions of his leis- ure hours, and with whom he even counselled upon his most serious and important affairs. He assigned them the highest seats at the royal board, and gave them precedence over all his other courtiers. St. Olaf, king of Norway — whose zeal against the pagan religion induced him to include the songs of the skalds among the other inventions of the demon, and of whom, the skald Sigvat said, " He was unwilling to listen to any lay " — deprived them of their accustomed precedence at his court. But such was the force of ancient feelings and prejudice that this monarch continued to give them, much of his confidence, and frequently employed them on the most impor- tant public missions. Nor could he suppress the wish that his own name might live in song, and he was accompanied to the field in the last fatal battle, which terminated his life and reign, by three of the most celebrated Icelandic skalds of the time, to whom he assigned in the midst of his bravest champions a conspicuous post, where they might be able distinctly to see and hear, and afterwards, relate the events of the day. Thormod, one of these skalds, dictated a lay, which the whole army sung after him, and which is still extant. Two of them fell dead by the king's side, and Thormod, though mortally wounded by an arrow, would not desert him, but still continued to chant the praise® of the saintly king until he expired.* •THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE NORTHMEN If the historical sagas tell us little concerning the religion and religious establishments of the pagan Northmen, they give us incidentally a great deal of curious and valuable information about their social condition and. institutions. The following observations are picked up from the sagas. THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 83 [—1050 A.D.] The lowest class in the community were the thraell (thralls, slaves). They were the prisoners captured by the vikings at sea on piratical cruises, or carried off from the coasts of -foreign countries in marauding expeditions. These captives were, if not ransomed by their friends, bought and sold at regular slave markets. The owners could kill them without any fine, mulct, or manbod to the king, as in the case of the murder or manslaughter of a free man. King Olaf Tryggvason, in his childhood, his mother Astrid, and his foster-father Thorolf, were captured by an Esthonian viking, as they were crossing the sea from Sweden on their way to Novgorod, and were divided among the crew, and sold. An Esthonian man called Klerkon got Olaf and Thorolf as his share of the booty; but Astrid was separated from her son Olaf, then only three years of age. Klerkon thought Thorolf too old for a slave, and that no work would be got out of him to repay his food, and therefore killed him; but sold the boy to a man called Klserk for a goat. A peasant called Reas bought him from Klserk for a good cloak; and he remained in slavery until he was accidentally recognised by his uncle, who was in the service of the Russian king, and was by him taken to the court of Novgorod, where he grew up. His mother, Astrid, apparently long after- wards, was recognised by a Norwegian merchant called Lodin at a slave market to which she had been brought for sale. Lodin offered to purchase her, and carry her home to Norway, if she would accept of him in marriage, which she joyfully agreed to; Lodin being a man of good birth, who some- times went on expeditions as a merchant, and sometimes on viking cruises. On her return to Norway her friends approved of the match as suitable; and when her son, King Olaf Tryggvason, came to the throne, Lodin and his sons by Astrid were in high favour. This account of the capturing, selling, and buying slaves, and killing one worn out, is related as an ordinary matter. In Norway this class appears to have been better treated than on the south side of the Baltic, and to have had some rights. Lodin had to ask his slave Astrid to accept of him in marriage. We find them also in the first half of the eleventh century, at least under some masters, considered capable of acquiring and holding property of their own. When Asbiorn came from Halogaland in the north of Norway to purchase a cargo of meal and malt, of which articles King Olaf the Saint, fearing a scarcity, had prohibited the exportation from the south of Nor- way, he went to his relation Erling Skialgsson, a peasant or bondi, who was married to a sister of the late King Olaf Tryggvason, and was a man of great power. Erling told Asbiorn that in consequence of the law he could not supply him, but that his thralls or slaves could probably sell him as much as he required for loading his vessel; adding the remarkable observation that they, the slaves, are not bound by the law and country regulations like other men — evidently from the notion that they were not parties, like other men, to the making of the law in the Thing. It is told of this Erling, who was one of the most considerable men in the country, and brother-in-kw of King Olaf Tryggvason, although of the bonder or peasant class, that he had always ninety free-born men in his house, and two hundred or more when Jarl Hakon, then regent of the country, came into the neighbourhood; that he had a ship of thirty-two banks of oars; and when he went on a viking cruise, or in a levy with the king, had two hundred men at least with him. He had always on his farm thirty slaves, besides other workpeople; and he gave them a certain task as a day's work to do, and gave them leave to work for themselves in the twilight, or in the night. He also gave them land to sow, and gave them the benefit of their 84 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A.D.] own crops; and he put upon them a certain value, so that they could redeem themselves from slavery, which some could do the first or second year, and *'all who had any luck could do it in the third year." With this money Erling bought new slaves, and he settled those who had thus obtained their freedom on his newly cleared land, and found employment for them in use- ful trades, or in the herring fishery, for which he furnished them with nets and salt. The same course of management is ascribed in the Saga of St. Olaf to his stepfather, Sigurd Syr, who is celebrated for his prudence, and wisdom, and skill in husbandry; and it has probably been general among the slaveholders. The slaves who had thus obtained their freedom would belong to what appears to have been a distinct class from the peasants or bonders on the one hand, or the slaves on the other — the class of unfree men. This class — the unfree — appears to have consisted of those who, not being udal born to any land in the country, so as to be connected with and have an interest in the succession to any family estate, were not free of the Things; were not entitled to appear and deUberate in those assemblies; were not Thingsmen. This class of unfree is frequently mentioned in general levies for repelling invasion, when all men, free and unfree, are summoned to appear in arms; and the term unfree evidently refers to men who had personal freedom, and were not thralls, as the latter could only be collected to a levy by their masters. This class would include all the cottars on the land pay- ing a' rent in work upon the farm to the peasant, who was udal bom pro- prietor; and, under the name of housemen, this class of labourers in hus- bandry still exists on every farm in Norway. It would include also, the house-carls, or free-bom indoor men, of whom Erling, we see, always kept ninety about him. They were, in fact, his bodyguard and garrison, the equivalent to the troop maintained by the feudal baron of Germany in his castle; and they followed the bondi or peasant in his summer excursions of piracy, or on the levy when called out by the king. They appear to have been free to serve whom they pleased. We find many of the class of bonders who kept a suite of eighty or ninety men— as Erling, Harek of Thiotto, and others. Sweyn, of the little isle of Kjairsay in Orkney, kept, we are told in the Orkneyinga Saga, eighty men all ■winter; and as we see the owner of this farm, which could not produce bread for one-fourth of that number, trusting for many years to his success in piracy for subsisting his retainers, we must conclude that they formed a numerous class of the community. This class would also include workpeo- ple, labourers, fishermen, tradesmen, and others about towns and farms, or rural townships, who, although personally free and free-bom, not slaves, Tvere unfree in respect of the rights possessed by the class of bonders, land- owners, or peasants, in the Things. They had the protection and civil rights imparted by laws, but not the right to a voice in the enactment of the laws, or regulation of public affairs in the Things of the country. They were, in their rights, in the condition of the German population at the present day. Bondi The class above the unfree in civil rights, the free peasant-proprietors, or bonder class, were the most important and influential in the community. We have no word in English, or in any other modern language, exactly equiva- lent to the word bondi, because the class itself never existed among us. Peasant does not express it; because we associate with the word peasant THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 8S [—1050 A.D.] the idea of inferior social importance to the feudal nobility, gentry, and landed proprietors of a country, and this bonder class was itself the highest class in the country. Yeoman, or, in Cumberland, statesman, expresses their condition only relatively to the portions of land owned by them; not their social position as the highest class of landowners. If the Americans had a word to express the class of small landholders in their old settled states who live on their little properties, have the highest social influence in the coun- try, and are its highest class, and, although without family aggrandisement by primogeniture succession, retain family distinction and descent, and even family pride, but divide their properties on the udal principle among their children, it would express more justly what the bonder class were than the words landholder, yeoman, statesman, peasant-proprietor, or peasant. In the translation of the Heimskringla, where the word peasant is used for the word bondi,^ the reader will have to carry in mind that these peasants; were, in fact, an hereditary aristocracy, comprehending the great mass of the population, holding their little estates by a far more independent tenure than the feudal nobility of other countries, and having their land strictly entailed on their own families and kin, and with much family pride, and much regard for and record of their family descent an4 alliances, because each Uttle estate was entailed on each peasant's whole family and kin. Udal right was, and is to this day in Norway, a species of entail, in realty, in the family that is udal born to it. The udal land could not be alienated by sale, gift to the church, escheat to a superior, forfeiture, or by any other casualty, from the kindred who were udal born to it; and they had, however distantly connected, an eventual right of succession vested in them superior to any right a stranger in blood could acquire. The udal born to a piece of land could evict any other possessor, and, until a very late period, even without any repayment of what the new possessor having no udal right may have paid for it, or laid out upon it; and at the present day a right of redemption within a certain number of years, is competent to those udal born to an estate which has been sold out of a family. The right to the crown of Norway itself was udal bom right in a certain family or race, traced from Odin down to Harold Harfagr through the Yngling dynasty, as a matter of religious faith; but from Harold Harfagr as a fixed legal and historical point. All who were of his blood were udal born to the Nor- wegian crown, and with equal rights of succession in equal degrees of pro- pinquity. The eldest son had no exclusive right, either by law or in public, opinion, to the whole succession, and the kingdom was more than once divided equally among all the sons. This principle of equal succession appears to have been so rooted in the social arrangement and public mind that, notwithstanding all the evils it produced in the succession to the crown by internal warfare between broth- ers, it seems never to have been shaken as a principle of right; and the kings who had laboured the most to unite the whole country into one sover- eignty, as Harold Harfagr, were the first to divide it again among their sons. One cause of this may have been the impossibility, among all classes, from ' Bondi (in the plural hcmder) does not suit the English ear, and there is no reasoning with the ear in matters of language. Bonder, although it be plural, is therefore used singularly ; and bonders, although it be a double plural, to express more than one of the bondi. The word itself, hondi or huamdir, seems derived from hu, a country dwelling, signifying also the stock, wealth, affairs, and all that belongs to husbandry. The word hu is still retained in Orkney and Shetland, to express the principal farm and farm-house of a small township or property, the residence of the proprietor ; and is used in Denmark and Norway to express stock, or farm stock and substance. 86 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A. D.j the king to the peasant, of providing otherwise for the younger branches of a family than by giving them a portion of the land itself, or of the products of the land paid instead of money taxes to the crown. Legitimacy of birth was held of little account, owing probably to marriage not being among the Odin-worshippers a religious as well as a civil act; for we find all the chil- dren, illegitimate as well as legitimate, esteemed equal in udal-born right even to the throne itself; and although high descent on the mother's side also appears to have been esteemed, it was no obstacle even to the succession to the crown that the mother, as in the case of Magnus the Good, had been a slave. This was the consequence of polygamy, in which, as in the East, the kings indulged. Harold Harfagr had nine wives at once, and many concu- bines; and every king, even King Olaf the Saint, had concubines as well as wives; and we find polygamy indulged in down to about 1130, when Sigurd the Ch-usader's marriage with Cecilia, at the time his queen was aUve and not divorced, was opposed by the Bishop of Bergen, who would not cele- brate it; but nevertheless the priest of Stavanger performed the ceremony, on the king's duly paying the church for the indulgence. Polygamy appears not to have been confined to kings and great men; for we find in the old Icelandic law book, called the Grey Goose, that, in determining the mutual rights of succession of persons born in either coimtry, Norway or Iceland, in the other country, it is provided that children born in Norway in bigamy should have equal right as legitimate children — which also proves that in Iceland civilisation was advanced so much further than in Norway that bigamy was not lawful there, and its offspring not held legitimate. Each little estate was the kingdom in miniature, sometimes divided among chil- dren, and again reunited by succession of single successors by udal-born right vesting it in one. These landowners, with their entailed estates, old families, and extensive kin or clanship, might be called the nobihty of the country, but that, from their great numbers and small properties, the tend- ency of the equal succession to land being to prevent the concentration of it into great estates, they were the peasantry. In social influence they had no class, like the aristocracy of feudal coun- tries, above them. All the legislation, and the administration of law also, was in their hands. They alone conferred the crown at their Things. No man, however clear and undisputed his right of succession, ventured to assume the kingly title, dignity, and power, but by the vote and concur- rence of a Thing. He was proposed by a bonder; his right explained; and he was received by the Thing before he could levy subsistence, or men and aid, or exert any act of kingly power within the jurisdiction of the Thing. After being received and proclaimed at the Ore "Thing held at Trondhjem as the general or sole king of Norway, the upper king — which that Thing alone had the right to do — he had still to present himself to each of the other district Things, of which there were four, to entitle him to exercise royal authority, or enjoy the rights of royalty within their districts. The bonders of the district, who had voice and influence in those Things by family connection and personal merit, were the first men in the country. Their social importance is illustrated by the remarkable fact that established kings — as, for instance. King Olaf Tryggvason — married their sisters and daughters to powerful bonders, while others of their sisters and daughters were married to the kings of Sweden and Denmark. Erling the bonder refused the title of jarl when he married Estrith, the king's sister. Lodin married the widow of a king, and the mother of King Olaf Tryggvason. THE AGE OP THE VIKINGS 87 t— 1050 A.B.] There was no idea of disparagement, or inferiority, in such alliances; which shows how important and influential this class was in the commimity. The Absence of a Feudal Aristocracy It would be a curious inquiry for the political philosopher to examine the causes which produced, in the tenth century, such a difference in the social condition of the Northmen and of the cognate Anglo-Saxon branch in England and Germany. Physical causes connected with the nature of the country and climate, as well as the conventional causes of udal right, and the exclusion of inheritance by primogeniture, prevented the accumulation of land into large estates, and the rise of a feudal nobility like that of Germany. The following physical causes appear not only to have operated directly in pre- venting the growth of the feudal system in the country of the Northmen, but to have produced some of the conventional causes also which concurred to prevent it. The Scandinavian peninsula consists of a vast table of mountain land, too elevated in general for cultivation, or even for the pasturage of large herds or flocks together in any one locality; and although sloping gently towards the Baltic or the Sound on the Swedish side, and there susceptible of the same inhabitation and husbandry as other countries, in as far as clime and soil will allow, on the other side — the proper country of the Northmen — throwing out towards the sea all roxmd huge prongs of rocky and lofty ridges, either totally bare of soil or covered with pine forests, growing apparently out of the very rock, and with no useful soil beneath them. The valleys and deep glens between these ridges, which shoot up into lofty pinnacles, precipices, and mountains, are filled at the lower end by the ocean, forming fjords, as these inlets of the sea are called, which nm far up into the land, in some cases a hundred miles or more; yet so narrow that the stones, it is said, rolling down from the mountain slope on one side of such a fjord, are often projected from the steep overhanging precipice, in which the slope half-way down ends, across to the opposite shore. These fjords in general, however, are fine expanses or inland lakes of the ocean, — calm, deep, pure blue; and shut in on every side^ by black precipices and green forests, and with fair wooded islets sleeping on the bosom of the water. These fjords are the peculiar and characteristic feature of Norwegian scenery. Rivers of great volume of water, but generally of short and rapid course, pour into the fjords from the Fielde, or high table-land behind, which forms the body or mass of the country. It is on the flat spots of arable land on the borders of these fjords, rivers, and the lakes into which the rivers expand, that the population lives. In some of these river-valleys and sea- valleys a single farm of a few acres of land is only found here and there in many miles of country, the bare rock dipping at once into the blue deep water, and leaving no margin for cultivation. In others, narrow slips of inhabitable arable land extend some way, but are hemmed in behind, on the land side, by the rocky ridges which form the valley; and they are seldom broad enough to admit of two rows of little farms, or even of two large fields, in the breadth between the hill-foot and the water; and in the length are often interrupted by some bare prong of rock jutting from the side-ridge into the slip of arable level land, and dividing it from such another slip. All the land capable of cultivation, either with spade or plough, has been cultivated from the most remote times; and there is Uttle room for improvement, because it is the 88 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDINAVIA [— 1050JL.B.} ground-rock destitute of soil, not merely trees or loose rocks encumbering the soil, that opposes human industry. The little estates, not averaging perhaps fifty acres each of arable land, are densely inhabited; because the seasons for preparing the groimd, sowing, and reaping, are so brief that all husbandry work must be performed in the shortest possible time, and conse- quently at the expense of supporting, all the year, a great many hands on the farm to perform it. And the fishing in the fjord, river, or lake, the summer pasturage for cattle in the distant fielde-glens attached to each little estate in the inhabited country, and a little wood-cuttiiig in the forest afford sub- sistence to many more people than the little farm itself would require for its cultivation in a better clime, or could support from its own produce. The extent of every little property has been settled for ages, and want of soil and space prevents any alteration in the extent, and keeps it within the imchange- able boundaries of rock and water. It is highly interesting to look at these original little family estates of the men who, in the ninth and tenth centuries, played so important a part in the finest countries of Europe — who were the origin of the men and events tpe see at this day, and whose descendants are now seated on the thrones and in the palaces of Europe, and in the West have made a new world of social arrangements for themselves. The sites, and even the names, of the little estates or gaards on which these men were born remain unchanged, in many instances, to this day; and the posterity of the original proprietors of the ninth century may reasonably be supposed, in a country in which the land is entailed by udal right upon the family, to be at this day the possessors — engaged, however, now in cutting wood for the French or Newcastle market, instead of in conquering Normandy and Northumberland. Some of the great English nobility and gentry leave their own splendid seats, parks, and estates in England, to enjoy shooting and fishing in Norway for a few weeks. They are little aware that they are perhaps passing by the very estates which their own ancestors once ploughed — sleeping on the same spot of this earth on which their forefathers, a thousand years ago, slept, and were at home; men, too, as proud then of their high birth, of their descent, through some seven-and-twenty generations, from Odin, or his fol- lowers, the Gotar, as their posterity are now of having " come in with or before the Conqueror." The common traveller visiting this land destitute of archi- tectural remains of former magnificence, without the temples and classical ruins of Italy, or the cathedrals and giant castles of Germany, will yet feel here that the memorials of former generations may be materially insignificant, yet morally grand. These little farms and houses, as they stand at this day, were the homes of men whose rude, but just and firm sense of their civil and political rights in society, is, in the present times, radiating from the spark of it they kindled in England, and working out in every country the emancipa- tion of mankind from the thraldom of the institutions which grew up under the Roman Empire, and still cover Italy and Germany, along with the decay- ing ruins of the splendour, taste, magnificence, power, and oppression of their rulers. Europe holds no memorials of ancient historical events which have been attended by such great results in our times as some rude excavations in the shore-banks of the island of Vigero,* in More — which are pointed out by the finger of tradition as the dry docks in which the vessels of Rolf Ganger, from whom the fifth in descent was our William the Conqueror, were drawn up in winter, and from whence he lavmched them, and set out from Norway on the expedition in which he conquered Normandy. ' VigerS, the isle of Viger, is situated in Haram parish, in the bailiwick of Soud M5r THE AGE OP THE VIKINGS 89' [-1050 A.D.] The philosopher might seat himself beside the historian amidst the ruins' of the Capitol, and with Rome and aU the monuments of Roman power and magnificence under his eye might venture to ask whether they, magnificent and imposing as they are, suggest ideas of greater social interest — are con- nected with grander moral results on the condition, weU-being, and civilisation of the human race in every land, than these rude excavations in the isle of Viger, which once held Rolf Ganger's vessels. It is evident that such a country in such a climate never could have afforded a rent, either in money or in natural products, for the use of the land, to a. class of feudal nobility possessing it in great estates, although it may afford a subsistence to a class of small working landowners, like the bonders, giving their own labour to the cultivation, and helping out their agricultural means of living with the earnings of their labour in other occupations — in piracy and pillage on the coasts of other countries in the ninth century, and in the nineteenth with the cod fishery, the herring fishery, the wood trade, and other peaceful occupations of industry. On account of these physical circum- stances -;- of a soil and climate which afford no surplus produce from land, after maintaining the needful labourers, to go as rent to a landlord — no pow- erful body of feudal nobiUty could grow up in Norway, as in other countries in the Middle Ages; and, from the same causes, now in modern times, during, the four hundred years previous to 1814 in which Denmark had held Norway, all the encouragement that could be given by the Danish government to rais- ing a class of nobility in Norway was unavailing. Slavery even could not exist in any country in which the labour of the^ slave would barely produce the subsistence of the slave, and would leave nO' surplus gain from his labour for a master; still less could a nobility, or body of great landowners drawing rent, subsist where land can barely produce- subsistence for the labour which, in consequence of the shortness of the seasons,, is required in very large quantity, in proportion to the area, for its cultivation. We find, accordingly, that when the viking trade, the occupation of piracy and pillage, was extinguished by the influence of Christianity, the progress, of civilisation, the rise of the Hanseatic League and of its establishments, which in Norway itself both repressed piracy and gave beneficial occupation in the fisheries to the surplus population formerly occupied in piracy and warfare, that class of people which had formerly been engaged all simamer and autumn in marauding expeditions fell back upon husbandry and ordinary occupations; and the class of slaves, the thralls, was necessarily superseded in their utility by people living at home all the year. The last piratical expeditions were about the end of the twelfth century, and in the following century thraldom, or slavery, was, it is imderstood, abolished by law by Magnus the Law Improver. The labour of the slave was no longer needed, at home, and would not pay the cost of his subsistence. The Things Physical circumstances also, and not conventional or accidental circum- stances, evidently moulded the other social arrangements of the Northmen- into a shape different from the feudal. The Things or assemblies of the people, which kings had to respect and refer to, may be deduced much more reason- ably from natural causes similar to those which prevented the rise of a feudal class of nobles in Norway, than from political institutions or principles of" social arrangement carried down from the ancient Germans m a natural. «0 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A.D,] state of liberty in remote ages. In every age and country, there are but two ways in which the governing class of a community can issue their laws, com- mands, or wUl, to the governed. One is through writing and by the arts of -writing and reading being so generally diffused that in every locality one indi- vidual at least, the civil fimctionary or the parish priest, is able to commimi- cate the law, command, or will of the governing to that small group of the governed over which he is placed. The other way, and the only way where, from the nature of the soil and ■climate, the governed are widely scattered, and writing and reading are rarely attained, and such civil or clerical arrangement not efficient, was to convene Things or general assemblies of the people, at which the law, command, or will of the governing could be made known to the governed. There could be no other way, in poor, thinly inhabited coimtries especially, by which the gov- ■erning, however despotic, could get their law, command, or will done; for these must be made known to be executed or obeyed, whetlier they were for a levy of men or of money, for war or for peace, for rewarding and honour- ing, or for punishing and disgracing — the law, command, or will must be promulgated. The concurrence of a few great nobles could not here give effect to the royal command, law, or will; because the few, the intermediate link of a pow- erful aristocracy, were from physical causes — the poverty of the soil — totally wanting among the Northmen, and the kings had to deal direct with the people in great general assemblies or Things. The necessity of holding such general meetings or Things for announcing to the people the levies of men, ■ships, and provisions required of them, and for all public business, and the check given by the Things to all measures not approved of by the public judgment, appear in every page of the Heimskringla, and constitute its great value, in fact, to us, as a record of the state of social arrangement among our ancestors. The necessity of assembling the people was so well established that we find no public act whatsoever imdertaken without the deliberation ■of a Thing; and the principle was so engrafted in the spirit of the people that even the attack of an enemy, the course to be taken in dangerous cir- cumstances, to retreat or advance, were laid before a Thing of all the people in the fleet or army; and they often referred it to the king's own judgment — that is, the king took authority from the Thing to act in the emergency on Tiis own plan and judgment. A reference to the people in all that concerned them was interwoven with the daily life of the Northmen, in peace and in war. We read of "house Things," of "court Things," of "district Things," for administering law, of Things for consultation of all engaged in an expedition; and in all matters, and on all occasions, in which men were embarked with common interests, a reference to themselves, a universal spirit of self-government in society, was ■established. King Sverri, who reigned from 1177 to 1203, although taking bis own way in his military enterprises, appears in a saga of his reign never to have omitted calling a Thing, and bringing it round by his speeches, which are often very characteristic, to his own opinion and plans. So essential were Things considered, wheresoever men were acting with a ■common stake and interest, that in war expeditions the call to a Thing on the war-horn or trvunpet appears to have been a settled signal-call known to all men — like the call to arms, or the call to attack; and each kind of Thing, whether it was a general Thing that was summoned, or a house Thing of the king's counsellors, or a herd Thing of the court, or of the leaders of the troops, appears to have had its distinct peculiar call on the war-horn known to all THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 91 1—1050 A..D.] men. In the ordinary affairs of the country, the Things were assembled in a simple and effective way. A bod, called a hudstikke in Norway, where it is still used, was a stick of wood like a constable's baton, with a spike at the end of it, which was passed from house to hotise, as a signal for the people to assemble. In each house it was well known to which neighbouring house it had to be passed, and the penalties for detaining the bod were very heavy. In modern times, the place, house, and occasion of meeting are stated on a slip of paper inclosed in the bottom of the budstick; but in former times the Thing-place, and the time allowed for repairing there, were known, and whether to go armed or unarmed was the only matter requiring to be indi- cated. An arrow split into four parts was the known token for appearing in arms. If the people of a house to which the token was carried were from home, and the door locked, the bearer had to stick it on the door by the spike inserted in one end for this purpose; if the door was open, but the people not at home, the bearer had " to stick it in the house-father's great chair at the fireside"; and this was to be held a legal delivery of the token, exonerating the last bearer from the penalties for detaining it. The peace token, a simple stick with a spike; the war token, an arrow split into quarters, and sent out in different directions; a token in shape of an axe, to denote the presence of the king at the Thing; and one in shape of the cross, to denote that church matters were to be considered — are understood to have been used before writing and reading were diffused. On one occasion, we read of Jarl Hakon issuing the usual token for the bonders to meet him at a Thing; and it was exchanged, in its course, for the war token, and the bonders appeared in arms, and overpowered the jarl and his attendants. The Things appear not to have been representative, but primary assem- blies, of all the bonders of the district udal born to land. In Sweden there appears to have been one general Thing held at Upsala, at the time when the festivals or sacrifices to Thor, Odin, and Frigg were celebrated. From the proceedings of one of the Things held at Upsala in February or March, 1018, related in the Saga of St. Olaf, we may have some idea of the power of those assemblies. King Olaf of Sweden, who had a great dislike to Olaf king of Norway, was forced by this Thing to conclude a peace with and give his daughter in marriage to King Olaf of Norway, in order to put an end to hostiUties between the two countries; and they threatened, by their lagman, to depose him for misgovernment, if he refused the treaty and alliance which King Olaf of Norway proposed by his ambassador Hialte the skald. The lag- man appears to have been the depositary and expounder of the laws passed by the Things, and to have been either appointed by the people as their president at the Things, or to have held his office by hereditary succession from the godar, and to have been priest and judge, exercising both the relig- ious and judicial function. At this general Thing at Upsala the lagman of the district of Upland was entitled to preside; and his influence and power in this national assembly appear to have been much greater than the king's. It is a picturesque cir- cumstance, mentioned in the Saga of St. Olaf about this Thing at Upsala in 1018, that when Thrognyr the lagman rose after the ambassador from Nor- way had delivered his errand, and the Swedish king had replied to it, aU the bonders, who had been sitting on the grass before, rose up, and crowded together to hear what their lagman Thrognyr was going to say; and the old lagman, whose white and silky beard is stated to have been so long that it reached his knees when he was seated, allowed the clanking of their arms and the din of their feet to subside before he began his speech. The Things appear 92 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A.D.] to have been always held in the open air, and the people were seated; and the speakers, even the kings, rose up to address them. In the characters of great men given in the sagas we always find eloquence, ready agreeable speak- ing, a good voice, a quick apprehension, a ready delivery, and winning man- ners, reckoned the highest qualities of a popular king or eminent chief. His talent as a public speaker is never omitted. In Sweden this one general Thin^ appears to have been for the whole country; and besides the religious or civu business, a kind of fair for exchanging commodities arose from the concourse of people to it from all parts of the country. In Norway — owing no doubt to the much greater difference in the means of subsistence in the different quarters of the country, in some of which fishing- groimds out at sea, and even rocks abounding in sea-fowl eggs at the season, were subjects of property; in others pasturages in distant mountain glens, and in others arable lands only, are of importance — four distinct Things appear in the oldest times to have been necessary for framing laws suitable to the different circmnstances of their respective jurisdictions; and, within their jurisdictions, the smaller district Things appear to have determined law cases between parties according to the laws settled at the great Things; and as the mulcts or money penalties paid for all crimes went partly to the king, and were an important branch of the royal revenue, the kings, on their progresses through the land, with the lagman of each district, appear to have held these Things for administering justice and collecting their revenue. The king's bailiff, or the tacksman or donatory of the revenue of the district, appears to have held these law Things in the king's absence. The great Things appear to have been legislative, and the small district Things within their circle of jurisdiction administrative. Of the great Things there were in old times four in different quarters of Norway: the Froste Thing was held in the Trond- hjem country, at a farm called Lagten, in the present bailiwick of Frosten; Gule Thing, at Evindwick, in the shiprath of Gule, on the west coast of Nor- way; Eidsivia Thing, at Eidsvold, in Upper Raumerige, for the inland or upland districts of Norway; and Borgar 'Diing, at the old burgh called Sarps- borg, on the river Glommen, near the great waterfall called Sarpsfors. One or two other law "Things appear to have been added in later times: one in Halogaland for the people living far north, and one on the coast between the jurisdiction or circle of the Sarpsborg Thing and that of the Gule Thing. A special Thing, called the Ore Thing, from being held on the Ore, Aar, or isthmus ^ of the river Nid, on which the city of 'Lrondhjem stands, was con- sidered the only Thing which could confer the sovereignty of the whole of Norway, the other Things having no right to powers beyond their own cir- cles. It was only convened for this special purpose of examining and pro- claiming the right to the whole kingdom; and it appears to have been only the kingship de jure that the Ore Thing considered and confirmed: the king had still to repair to each law Thing and small Thing, to obtain their acknowl- edgment of his right, and the power of a sovereign within their jurisdictions. The scatt or land-tax — the right of guest-quarters or subsistence on royal progresses — the levy of men, ships, provisions, arms, for defence at home, or war expeditions abroad, had to be adjudged to the kings by the Things; and amidst the perpetual contests between udal-born claimants, the principle of referring to the Things for the right and power of a sovereign, and for the title of king, was never set aside. No class but the bonders appeared at 1 The narrow slip of land between two waters, as at a river moutli or outlet of a lake, be- tween it and the sea, is still called an Are or Ayre in the north of Scotland, and is the same as the Icelandic Ore, THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 93 (—1050 A.D.] Things with any power. The kings themselves appear to have been but Thingmen at a Thing. THE LACK OF BUILDING MATERIALS Two circumstances, which may be called accidental, concurred with the physical circumstances of the country, soil, and clime, to prevent the rise of a feudal nobility in Norway at the period, the ninth century, when feudaUty was establishing itself over the rest of Europe. One was the colonisation of --S" / Interior of Bada Church, Vbruland Iceland by that class which in other countries became feudal lords; the other was the conquests in England and in France by leaders who drew off all of the same class of more warlike habits than the settlers in Iceland, and opened a more promising field for their ambition abroad in those expeditions than in struggling, at home against the supremacy of Harold Harfagr. In his success- ful attempt to reduce all the small kings, or district kings, under his authority, he was necessarily thrown upon the people for support, and their influence would be naturally increased by the suppression through their aid of the small independent kings. This struggle was renewed at intervals until the introduction of Chris- tianity by King Olaf the Saint; and the two parties appear to ha,ve supported the two different religions : the small kings and their party adhering to the old religion of Odin, under which the small kings, as godars, united the offices of judge and priest, and levied certain dues, and presided at the sacrificial meet- ings as judges as well as priests; and the other party, which included the mass of the people, supported Christianity, and the supremacy of King Olaf, because 94 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A.D.1 it relieved them from the exactions of the local kings and from internal war and pillage. The influence of the people, and of their Things, gained by the- removal to other countries of that class which at home would have grown probably into a feudal aristocracy. In Iceland an aristocratic republic was. at first established, and in Normandy and Northimiberland all that was. aristocratic in Norway found an outlet for its activity. A physical circumstance also almost peculiar to Norway, and apparently very little connected with the social state of a people, was of great influence,, in concurrence with those two accidental circumstances, in preventing the rise of an aristocracy. ITie stone of the peninsula in general, and of Nor- way in particular, is gneiss, or other hard primary rock, which is worked with difficulty, and breaks up in rough shapeless lumps, or in thin schistose plates; and walls cannot be constructed of such building materials without great- labour, time, and command of cement. Limestone is not found in abundance in Norway, and is rare in situations in which it can be made and easily trans- ported; and even clay, which is used as a bedding or cement in some countries for rough lumps of stone in thick walls, is scarce in Norway. Wood has of necessity, in all times and with all classes, been the only building material. This circumstance has been of great influence in the Middle Ages on the social condition of the Northmen. Castles of nobles or kings, conmianding the coun- try round, and secure from sudden assault by the strength of the building, could not be constructed, and never existed in Norway. The huge fragmente- and ruins of baronial castles and strongholds, so characteristic of the state of society in the Middle Ages in the feudal countries of Europe, and so orna- mental in the landscape now, are wanting in Norway. The noble had liothing to fall back upon but his war-ship, the king nothing but the support of the people. In the reign of the English king Stephen, when England was cov- ered with the fortified castles of the nobility, to the number, it is somewhere- stated, of fifteen himdred, and was laid waste by their exactions and private wars, the sons of Harold Gille — the kings Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein — were referring their claims and disputes to the decision of Things of the people. In Normandy and England the Northmen and their descendants felt the- want in their mother-country of secure fortresses for their power; and the first and natural object of the alien landholders was to build castles, and lodge themselves in safety by stone walls against sudden assaults, and above aU. against the firebrand of the midnight assailant. In the mother-country, to be surprised and burned by night within the wooden structures in which even kings had to reside was a fate so common that some of the kings appeared toi have lived on board ships principally, or on islands on the coast. This physical circumstance of wanting the building material of which the feudal castles of other countries were constructed, and by which structm-es- the feudal system itself was mainly supported, had its social as well as political influences on the people. The different classes were not separated from each other, in society, by the important distinction of a difference in the magnitude- or splendour of their dwellings. The peasant at the corner of the forest could, with his time, material, and labour of his family at coromand, lodge himself as magnificently as the king — and did so. The mansions of kings and great chiefs were no better than the ordinary dweUings of the bonders. Lade, near Trondhjem — the seat of kings before the city of Trondhjem, or Nidaros, was- founded by King Olaf Tryggvason, , and which was the mansion of Jarl Hakon the Great, and of many distinguished men who were jarls of Lade — was, and is, a wooden structure of the ordinary dimensions of the houses of the opulent bonders in the district. Egge — the seat of Kalf Arueson, who THE AGE OE THE VIKINGS 95 [—1050 A.D.] led the bonder army against King Olaf which defeated and slew him at the battle of Stiklestad, and who was a man of great note and social importance in his day — is, and always has been, such a farm-house of logs as may be seen on every ordinary farm estate of the same size. The foimdation of a few loose- stones, on which the lower tier of logs is laid to raise it from the earth, remains always the same, although all the superstructure of wood may have been often renewed; but these show the extent on the ground of the old houses. The equality of all ranks in these circumstances of lodging, food, clothing, fuel, furniture, which form great social distinctions among people of other' countries, must have nourished a feeling of independence of external cir- cumstances — a feeling, also, of their own worth, rights, and importance among the bonders — and must have raised their habits, character, and ideas to a nearer level to those of the highest. The kings, having no royal, residences, were lodged, with their court attendants on the royal progresses, habitually by the bonders, and entertained by them in regular turn; and even this kind of intercotirse must have kept alive a high feeUng of their own importance in the bonder class, in the times when, from the want of the machinery of a lettered functionary class, civil or clerical, all public business' had to be transacted directly with them in their Things. The lendermen, or tacksmen of the king's farms and revenues, could scarcely be called a class. They were temporary functionaries, not hered- itary nobles; and had no feudal rights or jurisdiction, but had to plead in the Things like other bonders. As individuals they appear to have obtained power and influence, but not as a class; and they never transmitted it to^ their posterity. Jarls, Churchmen, and Thingmen The jarls or earls were still less than the lendermen a body of nobilit3r approaching to the feudal barons of other lands. The title appears to have been altogether personal — not connected with property in land, or any feudal rights or jurisdiction. The jarls of Orkney — of the family of Rognvald jarl of More, the friend of Harold Harfagr, and father of Rolf Ganger — appear to have been the only family of hereditary nobles under the Norwegian crown exercising a kind of feudal power. The jarls of More appear to have been only fmictionaries or lendermen collecting the king's taxes, managing the royal lands in the district, and retaining a part for their remuneration. The jarls: of Orkney, however, of the first line, appear to have grown independent, and to have paid only military service, and a nominal quit-rent, and only when, forced to do so. This line appears to have been broken in upon in 1129, when Kala, the son of KoU, was made jarl, under the name of Jarl Rognvald. His father Koll was married to the sister of Jarl Magnus the Saint; but the direct male descendants of the old line, the sons of Jarl Magnus' brothers, appear not to have been extinct. In Norway, from the time of Jarl Hakon of Lade, who was regent or viceroy for the Danish kings when they expelled the Nor- wegian descendants of Harfagr, there appears to have been a jealousy of conferring the title of jarl, as it probably implied some of Jarl Hakon's power in the opinion of the people. Harold Harfagr had appointed sixteen jarls, one for each district, when he suppressed the small kings; but they appear to have been merely collectors of his rents. The churchmen were not a numerous or powerful class until after the first half of the twelfth century. They were at first strangers, and many of them English. Nicholas Breakspear, the son, Matthew Paris tells us, of a peasant ■96 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [— 1050A.D.1 •employed about the Benedictine monastery of St. Albans in Hertfordslure, and educated by the monks there, was the first priest who obtained any politr leal or social influence in Norway. He was sent there, when cardinal, on a mission to settle the church; and afterwards, when elected pope, 1154, under the title of Adrian IV, he was friendly to the Norwegian people. His influence when in Norway was beneficiaJy exerted in preventing the carrying of arms, •or engaging in private feuds, during certain periods of truce proclaimed by the church. The body of priests In the peninsula until the end of the twelfth century being small, and mostly foreigners from England, both in Sweden and in Norway, shows the want of education in Latin and in the use of letters among the pagan Northmen; and shows also the identity or similarity of the language of a great portion at least of England with that of the Scandinavian peninsula. Several of the smaller institutions in society, which were transplanted into England by the Northmen or their successors, may perhaps be traced to the mode of living which the physical circumstances of the mother-country had produced. The kings having, in fact, no safe resting place but on board -ship, being in perpetual danger, during their progresses for subsistence on ishore, of being surprised and burned in their quarters by any trifling force, had no reluctance at all to such expeditions against England, the Hebrides, or the Orkney Islands, as they frequently undertook; and when on shore, ;and from necessity subsisting in guest-quarters in inland districts, we see the first rudiments of the institution of a standing army, or bodyguard, or body •of hired men-at-arms. The kings, from the earliest times, appear to have kept a herd, as it was called, or court. The herdmen were paid men-at-arms; and it appears incidentally from several passages in the sagas that they regu- larly mounted guard — posted sentries round the king's quarters — and had patrols on horseback, night and day, at some distance, to bring notice of any hostile advance. We fi^d that Olaf Kyrre, or the Quiet, kept a body of 120 lierdmen, 60 giesters, and 60 house-carls, for doing such work as might be required. The standing armed force, or bodyguard, appears to have con- sisted of two classes of people. The herdmen were apparently of the class udal born to land, and consequently entitled to sit in Things at home; for they are called Thingmen, which appears to have been a title of distinction. The giester appears to have been a soldier of the unfree class; that is, not •of those udal born to land, and free of or qualified to sit in the Things. They :appear to have been the common seamen, soldiers, and followers; for we do not find any mention of slaves ever employed under arms in any way, or in any war expeditions. The giesters appear to have been inferior to the 'Thingmen or herdmen, as we find them employed in inferior offices, such as •executing criminals or prisoners. The victories of Sweyn, and Canute the Great, are ascribed to the supe- riority of the hired bands of thingmen in their pay. The massacre of the Danes in 1002, by iEthelred, appears to have been of the regular bands of thingmen who were quartered in the towns, and who were attacked while unarmed and attending a church festival. The herdmen appear not only to have been disciplined and paid troops, but to have been clothed uniformly. JRed was always the national colour of the Northmen, and continues stiU in Denmark and England the distinctive colour of their military dress. It was ,so of the herdmen and people of distinction in Norway, as appears from several parts of the sagas, in the eleventh century. Olaf Kyrre, or the Quiet, appears to have introduced, in this century, some court ceremonies or observances not used before. For each guest at the THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 97 [—1050 A.D.] royal table he appointed a torch-bearer, to hold the candle. The butler stood in front of the king's table to fill the cups, which, we are told, before his time were of deer's horns. The court-marshals had a table, opposite to the king's, for entertaining guests of inferior dignity. The drinking Was either by measure, or without measure; that is, in e ch horn or cup there was a per- pendicular row of studs af qual distances, and each guest when the cup or horn was passed to him drank down to the stud or mark below. At night, and on particular occasions, the drinking was without measure, each taking what he pleased; and to be drunk at night appears to have been common even for the kings. Such cups with studs are still preserved in musexmis, and in fam- ilies of the bonders. The kings appear to have wanted no external ceremo- nial belonging to their dignity. They were addressed in forms, stiU pre- served in the northern languages, of pecuHar respect; their personal attend- ants were of the highest people, and were considered as holding places of great honour. Jarl Magnus the Saint was, in his youth, one of those who carried in the dishes to the royal table; and torch-bearers, herdmen, and all who belonged to the court were in great consideration; and it appears to have been held of importance, and of great advantage, to be enrolled among the king's herdmen. We may assume from the above observations, derived from the facts and circumstances stated in various parts of the Heimskringla, that the intel- lectual and political condition of this branch of the Saxon race, while it was pagan, was not very inferior to although very different from that of the Anglo-Saxon branch which had been Christianised five hundred years before, and had among them the learning and organisation of the church of Rome. They had a literature of their own; a language common to all, and in which that literature was composed; laws, institutions, political arrangements, in which public opinion was powerful; and had the elements of freedom and constitutional goverimient. What may have been the comparative diffusion of the useful arts in the two branches in those ages? The test of the civilisa- tion of a people, next to their intellectual and civil condition, is the state of the useful arts among them. ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILDING OF SHIPS The architectural remains of public buildings in a country — of churches, monasteries, castles — as they are the most visible and lasting monuments, are often taken as the only measure of the useful arts in former times. Yet a class of builders, or stone-masons, wandering from country to country, like our civil engineers and railroad contractors at the rjresent day, may have con- structed these edifices; and a people or a nobility sunk in ignorance, super- stition, and sloth may have paid for the construction, without any diffusion of the useful arts, or of combined industry, in the inert mass of population around. Gothic architecture in both its branches, Saxon and Norman, has evidently sprung from a seafaring people. The nave of the Gothic cathedral with its round or pointed arches, is the inside of a vessel with its timbers, and merely raised upon posts, and reversed. No working model for a Gothic fabric could be given that would not be a ship turned upside down, and raised on pillars. The name of the main body of the Gothic church — the nave, navis, or ''ship" of the building, as it is called in aU the northern languages of Gothic root — shows that the wooden structure of the shipbuilder has given the idea and principles to the architect, who has only translated the wood work into H. W.~VOI.. XVI. H 98 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A.D.] stone, and reversed it, and raised it to be the roof instead of the bottom of a fabric. The Northmen, however, can lay no claim to any attainment in architecture. The material and skill have been equally wanting among them. From the pagan times nothing in stone and lime exists of any importance or merit as a building; and the principal structure of an early age connected with Christianity, the cathedral of iVondhjem, erected in the last half of the twelfth century, cannot certainly be considered equal to the great ecclesiastical structures of Durham, York, or other English cathedrals, scarcely even to that of the same period erected in Orkney — the cathedral of St. Magnus. We have, however, a less equivocal test of the progress and diffusion of the useful arts among the Northmen than the church-building of their Saxon contemporaries, for which they wanted the material. When we read of bands of ferocious, ignorant, pagan barbarians, landing on the coasts of England or France, let us apply a little consideration to the accounts of them, and endeav- oiu- to recollect how many of the useful arts must be in operation, and in a very advanced state too, and very generally diffused in a country, in order to fit out even a single vessel to cross the high seas, much more niraierous squad- rons filled with bands of fighting men. Legs, arms, and courage, the soldier and his sword, can do nothing here. We can understand multitudes of ignorant, ferocious barbarians, pressing in by land upon the Roman Empire, overwhelming countries like a cloud of locusts, subsisting, as they march along, upon the grain and cattle of the inhabitants they exterminate, and settling, with their wives and children, in new homes ; but the moment we come to the sea we come to a check. Ferocity, ignorance, and courage wiU not bring men across the ocean. Food, water, fuel, clothes, arms, as well as men, have to be provided, collected, trans- ported; and be the ships ever so rude, wood-work, iron-work, rope-work, cloth- work, cooper-work, in short almost all the useful arts, must be in fuU operation among a people, before even a hundred men could be transported, in any way, from the shores of Norway or Denmark to the coasts of England or France. Fixed social arrangements too, combinations of industry working for a common purpose, laws and security of person and property, military organisa- tion and discipline, must have been established and understood, in a way and to an extent not at all necessary to be presupposed in the case of a tumultuous crowd migrating by land to new settlements. Do the architectm-al remains, or the history of the Anglo-Saxon people, or of any other, in the eighth or ninth century, and down to the thirteenth, give us any reasonable ground for supposing among them so wide a diffusion of the arts of working in wood and iron, of raising or procuring by commerce flax or hemp, of the arts of making ropes, spinning, and weaving sailcloth, preserving provisions, coopering water casks, and all the other combinations of the primary arts of civilised life, implied in the building and fitting out of vessels to carry three or four hundred men across the ocean, and to be their resting place, refuge, and home for many weeks, months, and on some of their viking cruises even for years? There is more of civilisation, and of a diffusion of the useful arts on which civilisation rests, implied in the social state of a people who could do this, than can be justly inferred from a people quarrying stones, and bringing them to the hands of a master builder to be put together in the shape of a church or castle.'' THE VIKINGS But however great the progress which the Northmen may have attained in the arts of civilisation, they were at this time themselves the terror of the THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 99 t— 1050 A.D.] whole of the civilised west." As the bellicose tendencies with which their religion was impregnated were a product of the national spirit, so a doctrine which proclaimed personal valour as the highest of virtues, and cowardice as the most shameful of vices must in return contribute powerfully to nourish the inherent taste for war and make it take root. The thirst for glory and the hope of booty were the two strongest passions which animated the people of the North, and to satisfy them they shrank neither from difficulties nor perils. Danger, on the contrary, stimulated their courage, since the greater the peril the greater the glory, and he who succumbed covered with honourable wounds enjoyed, in Valhalla, the greatest happiness it were possible to imagine, and his memory was perpetuated on earth in the songs of the skalds. To die on a bed of sickness was the greatest misfortune that could fall to the lot of a Scandinavian hero, for this kind of death was dishonourable and shut him out Remains of Viking Ship found in Norway from the joys of Valhalla. It was, therefore, not unusual that an old war- rior, after having vainly sought death in battle, would pray one of his friends to run him through with his sword, or by some kind of a violent death end an existence which no longer had any charm. This contempt for life was so strongly rooted in the Northern spirit that the mother herself silenced her solicitude for her children rather than to assure their welfare at the price of the slightest dishonour. There is a tale of a northern chief who consulted his mother to know whether it were not better to retire before a much stronger enemy. She replied: "If I had thought that thou wouldst live forever, I would have had thee swathed in wool. Know that life depends on destiny; it were better to die with honour than to live in shame." Accustomed from childhood to a rude mode of life and a nutriment which developed their strength, they were in a condition to support easily the hard- ships of war, while the consciousness of their own valour made them brave every peril of land and sea. The limits of the fatherland were often too nar- row for youth, eager for glory and perilous adventure, and therefore they sought in foreign countries a more extensive area for their wild exploits. Their ruling idea did not, moreover, allow any honourable man to remain inactive at home; if he would gain the esteem of his feUows and the love of women he must scour the world and acquire reputation and wealth abroad. Besides this the northern countries were poor and sterile, producing barely enough for the needs of their people; so necessity and inclination joined to 100 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [—1050 A.D.] develop the barbaric custom of piracy, which made the Northmen so dreaded and at the same time so famous. Each spring numerous bands left the shores of the fatherland and cruised in every sea, pillaging merchant ships and ravaging the coasts. These terrible vikings spared nothing; if a captive escaped death, he found himself reduced to slavery, and his property v/as considered legitimate spoil. Yet all vikings were not alike — some made a profession of piracy and spent almost their whole life upon the sea with no dwelling on shore except perhaps some tiny fortress by the sea, as a safe place of deposit for their loot. It is of these that it has been said, "They never slept under a smoke-blacked roof, nor ate and drank at any hearth." Their mode of life and their manners were as savage as their profession was cruel, if we are to believe what the sagas recount of some of them — that they drank blood and ate raw meat; but there were also vikings of another kind, who, instead of disturbing the peaceful merchant, protected him and sought glory in pursuing and fighting the fierce pirates — asking of the merchant only what they and their companions absolutely stood in need of, after which they went their way in peace. Hjalmar, the viking, declares for example: "I shall never take from the merchant or the peasant more than what I need to maintain my crew, and then shall pay its value. I shall never let a woman be robbed, however rich she may be, and if one of my men does violence to a woman or brings her on shipboard against her will, he shall pay for it with his life, be he of high or low degree." The vikings did not confine themselves to northern parts, but at an early date ventured into more distant seas, penetrating even to the cotmtries of southern Europe which attracted them by their fertility and wealth, and whose inhabitants, more civilised, but less hardy, were able to offer but feeble resistance to the impetuous bravery of the Northmen. England, where social order, commerce and agriculture had been developed at an early date and had spread prosperity and wealth among the inhabitants, was the first to be exposed to the incursions and ravages of the Danes; while Scotland and Ireland were principally visited by the Norwegians who, under the name of "Eastmen," established separate kingdoms in these lands and later on extended their dominion over the north of Great Britain. But the Nor- mans (as the southerners called aU the vikings that came from northern latitudes, whether they were Danes, Norwegians, or Swedes) spread the terror of their name into countries still farther south. All the south and west coasts of Europe, Flanders, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece were ravaged and pillaged by the terrible Normans. Even the sunburnt peoples of Africa learned to know the power of the North. At one time almost the whole of France was conquered by them; from the south, west, and north they ascended in their shallow vessels the great water-courses and joined their forces in the centre of the country. The city of Paris was taken, plun- dered, and sacked; and the capital of Christendom, Rome, barely escaped the same fate. The people of these lands, too weak to repel the foreign invaders by the sword, in their distress sought with gold and silver to make them withdraw; but this only encouraged the rapacious bands to return very soon. Foreign chroniclers of this age have left terrible descriptions of the cruelties and horrors which the Normans perpetrated during their expeditions. ITie river valleys and the most beautiful and fertile tracts of country were changed into deserts where one could travel great distances without meeting a single living teing. Children and old people were massacred in cold blood or thrown living into the flames of their burning homes. Women were maltreated and men THE AGE OF THE VIKINGS 101 L— 1050 A.D.] put to death or reduced to slavery. But it was principally the churches, cloisters, and other sacred edifices, with their inmates, the nuns, monks, and priests, which were the object of the fury, insults, and outrages of the still pagan Normans, whose natural cruelty was mixed with hatred of religion. During the ninth and tenth centuries these piratical excursions increased in so astounding a manner that it seemed as if the entire South would inevitably become the prey of the innumerable viking bands which poured out of the North as if a great migratory movement were taking place by sea. The reason for this increase was in part the demoralised condition the Frankish Empire had then reached owing to dissensions among the worthless succes- sors of Charlemagne. It was therefore an easy thing for the bold Normans to make great progress, and after some of them were established in a place new bands were soon drawn thither in the hope of meeting with equal success. To this reason must be added an important change which the North was at that time undergoing. During these same centuries the numerous little kingdoms of Denmark, as well as Norway and Sweden, were being united into gpeat states, and Christianity began to be propagated throughout these lands and to supplant the old religions. Many chiefs lust their possessions, and there were besides numbers of discontented ones who, sincerely attached to the religion of their fathers and the old customs, could not accommodate themselves to the new order of things. They preferred, therefore, to abandon their fatherland rather than their religion and the unrestrained freedom to which they were accustomed. By their emigration they augmented the already numerous bands of the vikings. The expeditions now assumed a different character. The Normans no longer sought only to plunder and pillage, they hoped also to establish permanent settlements to replace the fatherland they had lost. It was not until after Norman states had been set up in Normandy, Italy, Russia, and elsewhere, and after the union of the petty kingdoms and the introduction of Christianity had somewhat dried up the flow by bringing peace and order to the north — it was not until then that the movement began to abate, and Europe was delivered from the scourge which, for centuries, had desolated its fairest lands. 9 CHAPTER III NORWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAR [1050-1397 A.D.] MAGNUS I TO THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM Magnus, whom the Norwegians had called to the throne in place of the unpopular Svend, was a bastard son of that odd saint Olaf by his concubine Almilda. He accompanied his father in the exile to Holmgard, and there he remained during that father's unfortunate expedition to Norway. Left an orphan, he was well entertained by his host, the grand prince of Russia. Here he received intelligence of the unpopularity of Svend, and of the anx- iety with which his return was expected. Proc^eding to Sweden, he was honourably received by the Swedish monarch; and a small but resolute band of armed men accompanied him into Norway. As he passed the mountains into Trondhjem, the adherents of Svend fled in great alarm towards the southern provinces; and Svend himself followed the example. In his progress, Magnus received many evidences of the popular good will. At the capital, his reception was enthusiastic. To the Thing assembled on the occasion flocked a multitude of men friendly to his cause; and there he was solemnly elected king. The first care of Magnus I was to reward his followers by conferring on them the governments which had been held by Svend's adherents. His next was to collect troops and march against his rival. To assert his rights, the latter, who was then in Hadaland, sent out the arrow of war in every direc- tion; and many hastened to his summons. In the midst of the assembly, he asked whether they were ready to join him in resisting Magnus. Some expressed their consent; some openly refused; the greater number hesi- tated: but disaffection to his cause was so evident in the great body that he 103 NOEWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 103 [1047-1066 A.D.] declared his resolution of seeking more faithful defenders. Leaving Nor- way, he repaired to Denmark, where, that very year, he died. Harthacnut son of Canute the Great claimed the crown of Norway; but hostilities were closed by the singular compact that if either died without children, he should succeed to the states of the other. Astrida, the widow of St. Olaf, had accompanied Magnus into Norway; and such had been the aid she had procured him that he gratefully settled her in his palace, showing her the utmost honour. But, at the same time, he sent for his mother Alfhilda, whom he treated with more affection but with less honour. Indignant at this distinction, she insisted on more than an equality, which Astrida being unwilling to grant, the two ladies could no longer reside in the same house. In his kingdom Magnus had more influence than in his palace; he effectually restored tranquillity, and became popular. Of his deceased father miracles were reported. The mere report was enough: he pretended to beheve it; he well knew what honour would be his through his descent from a saint; and he caused the relics of the royal martyr to be placed in a magnificent casket, and displayed for the veneration of the faithful. On the death of Harthacnut, Magnus, in accordance with the compact which had been made between them, proceeded in Denmark, to take posses- sion of the throne. His claim was admitted by his new subjects.^ But he had to contend with two enemies, Svend, nephew of Canute the Great, and Harolda Hardrada, his own cousin. The history of his wars and agreements with these two princes will be related in connection with the history of Denmark." The demise of Magnus immediately followed his successful expedition in Denmark to avenge a rebellion of Svend. The son of a saint could scarcely leave the world without some manifestation of divine favour. In a dream his father Olaf appeared to him, and ordered him to make his choice between two proposals — either to die and join the deceased king in heaven, or to live the most powerful of monarchs yet commit some crime for which he could hardly expect the divine forgiveness. He instantly chose the former alternative; and was immediately afflicted with a disease the result of which, to the great sorrow of his people, was fatal. He was a great and good prince;' as much superior to his father in intellect and moral worth as one man can be to another. That he was not without ambition is evident; and as the heir of the Danish throne, by his compact with Harthacnut, king of England and Denmark, he claimed, after that monarch's death, all the states of the great Canute. Edward the Confessor returned a spirited reply, the justice of which he acknowledged by his inactivity. By the death of Magnus the Good (1047) Harold Hardrada was the undisputed king of Norway. He aspired also to the throne of Denmark, from which he endeavoured to unseat his former ally Svend. But in 1064 peace was made, no permanent advantage having been gained by either. On the death of Edward the Confessor (1066), and the accession of Harold the son of Earl Godwin, the Norwegian monarch led an armament against the English sovereign. The ambition which could prompt him to such an undertaking was not very measured; but it was characteristic of this king, whose early familiarity with danger and whose wild adventures_ in the East and North had rendered him confident of success. If the English were not favourable to Earl Godwin's son, they could scarcely be so to the king of Norway, and the hope of conquest, when so valiant a competitor as WiUiam of Normandy was entering the field, would have appeared futile to 104 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1066-1099 A.D.) any less desperate man. The result is known to every reader of English History: at Stamford Bridge Harold Hardrada found a grave. From the fatal shores of England Olaf III (Kyrre the Quiet), the son of Harold, returned to Norway (1066), and with his brother Magnus II was elected to the government. The former had the eastern, the latter the northern provinces of the kingdom. In three years Magnus paid the com- mon debt, and Olaf became monarch of the whole (1069). The reign of Olaf was pacific; and he applied his efforts to the civilisation of his king- dom. He first introduced chimneys and glass windows into houses: hie established a commercial emporium at Bergen; and to him we must ascribe the introduction of guilds or mercantile fraternities, after the model of those existing in Germany and England. He must be praised, too, for his human- ity to the servile class: he carried in the national Thing a law that in every district throughout Norway a serf should be annually enfranchised. To the church he was a munificent patron. At Trondhjem he began to build a stone cathedral destined to receive the hallowed relics of his ancestor. "This city," says Adam of Bremen f> the contemporary of Olaf Kyrre, " is the capital of the Northmen. It is adorned with churches, and frequented by a great concourse of people. Here lies the body of the holy king and martyr Olaf, at whose tomb miracles are daily wrought: here, from the most distant nations, pilgrims flock to his shrine to share in his blessed merits. Hitherto there are no fixed limits to the dioceses in Norway and Sweden. Any bishop, when desired by the king and people, may build a church in any district, and govern those whom he converts to the day of his death." These regionary bishops, as they are called, moved from place to place, baptising and preach- ing as they went along. Magnus III, surnamed Barfod, or the Barefoot, succeeded his father Olaf III (1093). At first, he was acknowledged by the southern provinces: in the northern was opposed to him Hakon, nephew of the late king. Though death soon rid him of that rival, an army only could induce those provinces to receive him. This was the first Norwegian monarch after St. Olaf that visited the Orkneys. He went to punish the jarls of those islands, which had thrown off their allegiance to the yoke of Norway. These jarls were Erling and Paul, whom he took and sent prisoners to bis kingdom. Leaving his son Sigurd in the government, with fit councillors, he laid waste Suther- land, which was a portion of the jarldom, and feudally dependent on the Scotch crown. Proceeding to the Hebrides, he reduced them also. Very different was his conduct at lona from that which had been pursued by his pagan ancestors. He showed great veneration for the memory of St. Columba, and great affabiUty to the inhabitants of all the islands that sub- mitted. Islay was next reduced, then Kintyre. These successes were followed by depredations on both the Irish and Scottish coasts. Most places offered little resistance, but the conquest of Anglesea could not be effected without a battle. Two Welsh chieftains, both named Hugh, fought stoutly for their independence. One, Hugh the Magnanimous, was so encased in armour that his two eyes only were visible: Magnus shot an arrow into one eye, a Norwegian warrior wounded the other; after a valiant struggle victory declared for the Northmen. The whole island, we are told, acknowledged the king; but this statement will obtain little credit with any reader. The truth seems to be that he made some of the chiefs do homage for their respective domains; but they reasserted their independence the moment he had left the shores. There is more prob- a,bility in another statement of the northern chroniclers that he forced Mai- NOEWAY TO THE UNIOJST OF KALMAE 105 [1099-1108 A.D.] colm of Scotland to cede to him the sovereignty over all the islands, from the Orkneys to Man. From this expedition he returned in 1099. Its results were vahiable: the Hebrides and the Orkneys were now his. The posses- sion of the former indeed was short-lived and precarious; but the latter were long subject to his successors. The next war of this restless prince was with his neighbour Yngve, king of Sweden. It arose from a dispute as to the boundary, and raged for two years with varied success until, through the mediation of Eric king of Den- mark, peace was restored. On this occasion, Magnus married the princess Margaret, daughter of Yngve (1101). Within a year from this pacification, Magnus, whose enterprise was excited by his late successes, again sailed for Ireland, with the design of subjugating, if not the native kings, those who were of Scandinavian origin. At this period the island contained several of these principalities. Landing on the coast of Connaught, the king of which, Murdoch, was his acquaintance and ally, he effected a junction with that chief, and subdued the kingdom of Dublin. The following winter he spent in Connaught; and when spring arrived he embarked to return. As he slowly passed along the Ulster coast, he sent a party of his followers in search of provisions, that is, of plunder. Their stay being much longer than he had expected, he landed with a small body, and with difficulty made his way through the marshes. Being at length joined by the foragers, he was returning to his ships, when he fell into an ambush prepared for him by the natives. He was easily known by his shining helmet and breastplate, and by the golden lion on the red shield — the device of the Norwegian kings. Ordering one of his chiefs with a body of archers to clear the marsh, and from the other side to gall the enemy with their arrows, so as to cover his passage also, he fought with desperation. Unfortunately, the chief on whom he thus refied fled, and was followed by the rest. Magnus, therefore, with a mere handful of men, had to sustain the hostile assaults of a multitude. All that valour could do was effected by him; but the contest was too unequal; and, after receiving several wounds, he fell. His followers retreated, leaving his corpse in the hands of the enemy. Thus perished a monarch whose valour and constancy rendered him equal to the ancient heroes of the North. By the warlike he was beloved; but with the people at large, whom he taxed heavily to defray the expenses of his frequent expeditions, he was no favour- ite. His character may be best conceived from the reply which he gave to his courtiers, who expressed their apprehension lest his continued wars should prove fatal to him — " It is better for a people to have a brave than an old king." THE KINGDOM IS DIVIDED ; THE EXPLOITS OF SIGURD I • On the death of Magnus III (1103), Norway was divided between his three sons. Sigurd had the southern provinces, with the Scottish islands, which he governed by his jarls. Eystein I reigned over the North. Olaf IV had the central and eastern provinces. All were children at their acces- sion: the eldest, Eystein, was but fifteen; and Olaf was so young that for some years his portion of the monarchy was administered by his elder brothers. Of these kings, two may be dismissed with little notice. Eystein was distinguished for prudence, and for the useful structures with which he adorned his portion of the kingdom. He erected stone churches and pal- aces, which were novelties in the North. He was well versed in history and 106 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1103-1122 A.D.] the laws, and was the patron of literary men, especially of the skalds. Olaf was the best beloved of the three; but he died in 1116, and his dominions were divided by his brothers. Eystein was never at open war with Sigurd but the two brothers could scarcely be warm friends; and while we read of their disputes, we are surprised that there should have existed so much tranquillity in the realm. In 1122 he breathed his last, and Sigurd was mon- arch of Norway. The name of Sigurd I is celebrated in the annals of the North alike for his pilgrimage to Jerusalem [which won him the name of Jorsallafari], and his exploits during the voyage. To aid in the recovery of the holy places from the hands of the infidels might enrich an adventurous monarch, and would surely open to him the gates of heaven. Influenced by this two-fold advantage, and by the hope of booty on the passage, Sigurd, with sixty ships, sailed from the North. During the first winter he remained in Eng- land, and was hospitably entertained by Henry I. The second winter, at least the greater part of it, he passed near the shrine of Santiago in Galicia: he was a pilgrim, no less than a champion of the cross. On his way to Lis- bon, he captured some infidel privateers, and destroyed several Moorish settlements on the coast, especially one at Cintra. All who refused baptism he put to the sword. Lisbon, according to the Northern chroniclers, was divided into two parts, one inhabited by the Moors, the other by the Chris- tians. The former he assailed, took it, and with much booty proceeded through the straits of Gibraltar in quest of new adventures. Having passed these straits, he conquered a whole fleet of the infidels, and this was the fifth battle since he left Norway. In vain did the Mohammedan pirates on the African coast resist him: his valour overcame everything. Landing in Sicily, he was magnificently entertained by Roger, sovereign of the island, who had expelled the Saracens. Roger was of Norman descent: he remembered the land of his sires; and so far did he carry his good will as to insist on serving Sigurd at table. Continuing his voyage, he landed at Acre, and proceeded to Jerusalem, where the offer of his sword was most welcome to Baldwin. From that king he received what he thought a valu- able treasure — a fragment of the true cross, which he promised to, deposit in the shrine of St. Olaf. He promised too, at the instance of his new friends, to establish an archi-episcopal see in Norway, to build churches, and to enforce the payment of tithe. His last exploit in these regions was to join in the siege of Sidon; and when that city was taken half the booty became his. On his return through Constantinople, his reception by the Greek emperor was a noble one; but much of what the northern annalists relate bears the marks of invention. Such are the opening of the golden gate; the carpeting of the streets; the three large presents made him by Alexius, with their immediate distribution among the followers of Sigurd; and the gift by the latter of his sixty ships to Alexius. Such fables may gratify a northern imagination; but history can only say that in 1111 the king arrived in Nor- way after an absence of four years. That this remarkable expedition redounded greatly to the honour of Sigurd is certain: he was thenceforth much venerated throughout the North, He married, and attended to the duties of government, especially to the extirpation of idolatry. His expedition (undertaken at the request of the Danish king) against the inhabitants of the isle of Smaland, was one con- genial to his feelings. They had received Christianity, but, like many other portions of the Scandinavian population, had returned to idolatry. Great was the punishment inflicted by Sigurd and his ally Nicholas on the NORWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 107 {1123-1130 A.D.J pagans whom they had vanquished; but mercy to infidels, and still less to apostates, formed no portion of their creed. In his latter days, Sigurd seems to have occasionally lost the use of his reason, or perhaps he was visited by some bodily infirmity which gave him the appearance of insanity. But he never relinquished the duties of royalty. One of his last cares was to fortify Konghella on the river Gota, to ornament it with a fine Gothic church, and to place in that sacred edifice some of the pictures which he had brought from the East. But with all his attachment to the church, he was not without his delinquencies. Of these one of the most noted was his dismissal of his queen to make room for a concubine, ■Cecilia by name, whom he resolved to marry. A great entertainment was provided for the occasion, and many were the guests assembled at Bergen. The bishop of the district, hearing of the intention, hastened to the town, and expostulated with the king on the guilt of dismissing one wife to take another, when there was no charge against the former, and consequently no way of annulling the marriage. Great was the wrath of Sigurd, who held a drawn sword in his hand, and who, at one moment, seemed disposed to use it on the neck of the prelate. If he so far restrained his passion as to walk away, he persevered in his design, and the union was celebrated. The truth is that his heart was so fixed on the maiden that no earthly consideration could induce him to abandon her. Some time afterwards he was afflicted with his last illness, which was regarded by many as the judgment of heaven on his crime. His courtiers urged him to dismiss her; and she, out of regard for him — to save him from renewed guilt — really wished to leave him. Such was the attachment he bore her that he could not give his consent to the separation. She departed, however, and with her departed the only solace which had been left him. In a few days he was no more. Previously to his death, he had caused his son Magnus to be recognised as his successor, and had prevailed on the states to swear that they would obey him. THE ANARCHY OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY From the death of Sigurd I (1130) to the union of Norway with Den- mark, there is little in the history of the former country to interest us. During the whole of the twelfth century we perceive nothing but anarchy and bloodshed occasioned by disputes for the throne. In a country where illegitimacy was no bar to the succession, and where partition of the sover- eign power was frequent, there could not fail to be numerous candidates. Sigurd I was succeeded by his son Magnus IV, to whom, as we have related, the estates of the realm had sworn fealty before the death of Sigurd. How little dependence could be placed on such a guarantee soon appeared. In the reign of the preceding monarch, an adventurer, Harold Gilchrist, or Gille, had asserted — probably with justice — that he was a natural son of King Magnus Barfod. As he could produce no satisfactory proof of that connection, recourse was had to the decision of heaven, and he was made to pass over nine red-hot ploughshares. This ordeal, merely to prove his parentage, was thought to be severe; but he shrank not from it, and led by two bishops he sustained it unhurt. To resist the divine pleasure was impos- sible, and Harold's claim was allowed even by Sigurd, on the condition that he would not insist on the advantage to which his relationship entitled him, before the death of his son Magnus IV. Scarcely, however, had this Magnus succeeded to the throne, than Harold came forward to assert his right; and 108 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1130-1148 A.1).} from the number no less than the influence of those who espoused his inter- ests (among them were the kings of Denmark and Sweden), he had every- thing to hope from a civil war. In this emergency, Magnus consented to a division of the kingdom, the very year of his accession. Harold IV (1130-1152) was very different in character and manners from his colleague Magnus. He was mild as the latter was severe, and generous as the latter was penurious. He therefore became the favourite of the peo- ple. This circumstance probably roused the jealousy of Magnus, who at the head of many followers marched against him, conquered him, and compelled bim to forsake the realm. Repairing to the court of Eric Emun, king of Denmark, he was well received by that monarch, "because thejr were brothers-in-arms." With the supply of money and men furnished him by his generous host, he returned to Denmark, and surprised rather than defeated Magnus, whom he consigned to a monastery and deprived of eyesight (1134). He was now therefore monarch of Norway. But his reign was of short duration. The town of Konghella which Sigurd had fortified, and adorned with so magnificent a church, was taken by the Wend pirates: it was completely sacked, and the inhabitants were led into captivity. For this disaster, Harold was censured : he was accused of inactivity in repelling the invaders; and was even forsaken by the great body of his supporters. In this condition he was assassinated. A melancholy illustration of the spirit of the times is afforded by the fact that the assassin, Sigurd,' also claimed Magnus Barfod for his father. From this deed of blood he derived no advantage. The nation would not admit his claim, but proclaimed two sons of the murdered king, Sigurd II (1136-1155) and Inge I (1136-1161). Both, however, were children; and their inability to defend themselves led to civil war. Sigurd, their reputed uncle, the assassin of their father, raised troops and laid waste the country. To strengthen his party he formed an alliance with Magnus the Blind, whom he drew from the monastery; but he was defeated and compelled to flee. Both soon obtained the aid of the Danish king Eric; but fortune was still unfavourable: in battle, Magnus lost his life; and the restless Sigurd too was made prisoner, and subsequently executed. Though two enemies were thus removed, the royal brothers, Sigurd and Inge, were often at discord; and a third firebrand was soon added in Eystein II (1142-1157), a younger brother, who, returning from Scot- land in 1142, was invested with a third portion of the realm. There was not, nor could there be, any tranquillity in the country. Complaints, recrim- inations, quarrels, treachery, bloodshed succeeded each other, when the arrival of a papal legate, the cardinal Albano, suspended for a time the san- guinary proceedings of these princes. The Mission of Nicholas Breakspear; Renewed Warrings This legate was Nicholas Breakspear, an Englishman, who subsequently ascended the pontifical throne as Adrian IV. His mission was two-fold — to restore peace between the unnatural brothers, and to establish an arch- bishopric. The Norwegian monarclis had long demanded a primate of their own, instead of being dependent on the archbishops of Lund. In both objects he was successful. The three kings laid down their arms; united in showing the highest deference to the legate; and beheld with joy the creation of a metropolitan see at Trondhjem, with a jurisdiction, not over [' The story of Sigurd forms the subject of one of Bjornsen's plays, the trilogy, Sigimd Slemve. NORWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 109 {1148-1162 A.D.] Norway merely, but Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetlands, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and Man. In return, the chiefs and people readily agreed to pay the tribute of Peter's Pence. Many were the reforms which this well-meaning dignitary endeavoured to carry out. He introduced more decorum into the public worship; he enjoined the clergy to attend more to their proper functions, and to interfere less in secular matters; and impressed on the new archbishop the necessity of a rigorous control over the morals of his flock. In attempting to enforce cler- ical celibacy, he did not meet with so ready an acquiescence; but no one dared openly to resist him. To another of his measures we must award a much higher meed of praise. Seeing that bloodshed had for many reigns stained the proceedings of the Landsthing, or provincial assembly, he pre- vailed on the chiefs to promise that they would not in future attend with arms. Even the king was to be accompanied only by twelve armed men — an exception conceded less to his dignity than to the necessity under which he lay of enforcing the judicial sentences. " In several other respects," observes Snorre [speaking of the legate], "he reformed the customs and manners of the people during his stay; so that never did stranger come to the land more honoured or more beloved by the princes and their subjects." If the ascendency of the cardinal had restored peace, his departure was immediately followed by new struggles between two of the brothers. Ey stein had no share in them, because he absented himself on a piratical expedition. He is said to have ravaged the eastern coasts of Great Britain, from the Orkneys to the Humber. Soon after his return, he entered into a plot with Sigurd to remove their brother Inge. In 1155, Sigurd and Inge met in the Thing held at Bergen, and though they could not fight, for want of arms, both they and their followers regarded one another with deadly hatred. Scarcely was the assembly dissolved, when Inge, who had heard of the plot for removing him, determined to prevent it by assailing Sigurd, and after a sharp contest the latter fell. The following year Inge and Eystein, who were still hostile, met to agree on conditions of peace; but it was a truce rather than a peace, and in a few months it was broken by both parties. They marched towards each other with the resolution of deciding their quarrel by the sword; but Eystein, who was unpopular, was deserted by most of his followers, and compelled to seek an asylum in the mountains of Vikia. Thither he was pursued by Inge, was betrayed in a forest, and put to death by one of his brother's myrmidons. By this deed therefore Inge was the monarch of the country. But he had soon a competitor in Hakon III, son of Sigurd II, whom the party of Eystein proclaimed king (1157). The four succeeding years were years of civil war. Hakon, a mere child, was driven into Gothland. The following season he returned and besieged Konghella; but he was again defeated and forced to re-enter Sweden. Yet early in 1159 he arrived at Trondhjem, where he found adherents. With thirty vessels he laid waste the coasts which held for Inge; but in a great naval battle he was defeated by that king, though not without considerable loss to the victor. Repairing into Trondhjem, where he passed the winter, he prepared for the next campaign. It was not decisive; but in 1161 Inge, betrayed by his own followers, fell in battle with Hakon. By this event Hakon, it might be expected, would be left undisputed sovereign of Norway. But the Norwegians at this period seem to have had little wish for a monarchy; and Magnus V (1162-1186) was raised by the party of the deceased Inge to the throne of the North. Magnus was the 110 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1168-1177 A.D.] grandson of Sigurd I, and one of his duties in the opinion of the. times was to revenge the murder of his kindred. As, however, he was but a child, the government was administered by his father Erling. Erling was, by mar- riage, a kinsman of the Danisji monarch, from whom he obtained aid to resist the hostility of Hakon, Through that aid he was victor; Hakon fell (1162), and consequently Magnus was the only king left. A rival indeed, Sigurd a son of Sigurd II, was opposed to him; but in little more than a year that rival was crushed by the indefatigable Erling. To confirm the authority of his son by religious sanction, Erling requested the primate to crown him. The archbishop consented on the condition that Norway should be regarded as a fief of St. Olaf ; that on the death of every monarch the crown was to be formally offered to the saint in the cathedral; that the saint's representative, the archbishop of the time, should receive it; that from each diocese the bishop, the abbots, and twelve chiefs, should assemble to nominate a successor, and that the sanction of the primate should be necessary before anyone could be lawful king of Norway. That a considerable reduction in the number of electors was politic cannot be disputed; and probably this was one of the reasons that induced the arch- bishop to introduce so extraordinary an innovation. But a greater no doubt, was the superiority which the church would thereby acquire over the state. The proposal was accepted; and Magnus, then only eight years of age, was solemnly crowned by Eystein in presence of the papal legate (1164). The aid furnished by the Danish king was not gratuitous. In return for it ErUng had promised the province of Vikia (Vigen), and Valdemar (the first of that name) now demanded the fulfilment of that pledge. His posi- tion was a critical one. He had not power to transfer that province, and if he attempted that transfer, his own destruction and that of his son must be the result. Yet if he did nothing, he must expect an encounter with that formidable monarch. To escape from this dilemma, he convoked the states, and laid before them the proposition of Valdemar: they indignantly refused to receive the Danish yoke. Open war followed, but through the policy of Erling it was soon succeeded by peace. He secretly engaged to hold Vikia with the title of jarl as a fief of Denmark; and, in the event of a failure of issue in his son, to subject the whole kingdom to the same crown. Neither the sanction of the church, nor the vigour of his father, nor even his own virtues could except Magnus from the common lot of Norwegian kings — open rebellion and rivalry for the throne. The next who troubled his tranquillity was Olaf, a grandson of Eystein II. Proclaimed king by the Uplanders, Olaf had the glory to defeat the regent; but in his turn he was defeated, and compelled to flee into Denmark, where he died the following year (1169). The next was a more formidable rival, in the person of Eystein, a prince of the same family. Placing himself at the head of the discontented, the banished, the proscribed, this prince became a bandit chief, and laid waste the provinces on the borders of Sweden. As the number of his followers increased, so did his boldness, until with a small fleet he sailed for Trondhjem which he subdued. Here he persuaded or forced the people to elect him king (1176). The following year he penetrated into the central provinces, which had the option of either doing homage or of experiencing all the evils of desolation. In 1177, four years after the commencement of his adventurous career, he met Magnus in the field, and was defeated. His followers hastened into Sweden, the eastern provinces of which were still pagan, and but loosely connected with the crown. He was less fortunate : he was slain in his flight. NORWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAR 1H [1177 A.D.] Sverri's Conquest and Rule Of a different character from either of the preceding, and more successful in his object, was the next adventurer, Sverri, whose career is one of romance. His mother, Alfhilda, had been the concubine of Sigurd II; and he was the issue of the connection. After Sigurd's death, she became the wife of a smith — a business of high repute in the North — and removed, with her husband and son, to the Faroe Isles. Young Sverri was designed for the church, and on reaching the age of twenty-five he entered into holy orders. Now, for the first time, his mother acquainted him with the secret of his birth. Far more wisely would she have acted by keeping it in her own bosom; for no sooner did the young priest know it, than he indulged in dreams of ambition. As our sleeping are but the images of our waking thoughts, he had a dream which seemed to prognosticate his future greatness. He men- tioned it to a friend, who promised him the archbishopric of Trondhjem. But he had no relish for the ecclesiastical state; and he mentally interpreted it in a different way. Urged by ambition, he left the obscure isles in which he had been so long imprisoned, and repaired to the court of Magnus. His learning and his martial appearance made a favourable impression on the regent Erling; and he too so admired the vigorous administration of that chief, that in despair of effecting a revolution, he withdrew into the Swedish province of Vermland. Probably his design was to subsist by plunder, in the service of one of those predatory bands, so frequent on the confines of the two kingdoms. At first, however, his prospects were gloomy; and in his restless- ness, he had resolved to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,when the band which Eystein had commanded solicited him to become their chief. After some hesitation he consented, was invested with the royal title, and enabled to take the field. The early efforts of this adventurer were bold but unsuccessful. In an expedition through the southern provinces he was indeed joined by some hundreds of followers, mostly bandits; but when he proceeded towards the north, where Magnus and Erling had their seat of government, he was aban- doned by most of his adherents: the enterprise was too desperate even for them. With great difficulty did he save himself by penetrating through the mountain passes into Vermland. To escape the pursuit of his enemies, no less than to recruit his numbers, the following spring he plunged into the vast forests of the modern Dalecarlia, then called Jarnberaland, or the Iron- being land. The inhabitants knew httle of Swedish kings, or of the rest of the world, or of Christianity; but they knew the value of freedom; and in the apprehension that he came to deprive them of it, they prepared a stout resistance. He had no difficulty, however, in persuading those sons of the forest, the mountain, and the river, that he had no design against them — that he wanted hospitaUty, guides, and troops. Of the last he seems to have obtained none; but he was well entertained, and conducted into Jamt- land, where this little band was recruited. The hardships which he under- went in this expedition — cold, hunger, fatigue — made him resolve to attempt some enterprise, the success of which would rescue him from this wretched mode of Ufe. Appearing suddenly before Trondhjem, he hoped to surprise the place; but he was repulsed, and again forced to seek a refuge in the mountains. His next object was to increase the number of his followers; and as he, or some about him, were well acquainted with the haunts of the banditti in 112 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1177-1186 k.TD.} the trackless forest, and the inaccessible cavern, he obtained a considerable accession. But a hardy band of peasant archers from Telemarken was his most valuable acquisition. Reappearing before the gates of the capital, he defeated the little army of Magnus, and captured the banner of St. Olaf. As both king and regent were at Bergen, their usual place of residence, he pushed his way into the city, assembled the inhabitants of the province, and was proclaimed king! His task, however was not half accomplished. A numerous party, including all the churchmen, adhered to Magnus; and he was soon expelled from Trondhjem, to seek a shelter in his mountain fastnesses. But with these revolutions he was now familiar: he knew how to recruit his forces — to advance when there was a prospect of victory — retreat when the danger was evident. During two years the civil war raged with violence, and the alternations of triumph and defeat succeeded each other with rapidity. At length Sverri suddenly descended from the mountains, and defeated the regent and his son, leaving the former dead on the field. Magnus fled, but only to return with another army. The second battle, however, was not more fortunate than the first; his army was annihilated or dispersed, and he was glad to seek a refuge in Denmark, while the archbishop fled to England. By the Danish monarch Magnus was supplied with an armament, with which he again contended for the throne, but with no better success. A second time he repaired to that country for aid, and again he fought with the usurper. As on the two former occasions, victory declared for Sverri: his rival fled, and perished in the waves. He was not one of those savage chieftains in whom ancient Norway rejoiced, and whom some of her modem sons would have us mention with respect. If his soul had not been much improved by religion, it had been humanised by education. To the fol- lowers of Magnus he exhibited great clemency. He caused the fallen mon- arch to be magnificently interred in the cathedral of Trondhjem; and he himself, in conformity with ancient custom, pronounced the funeral oration of the deceased, to whose virtues, now that he had no reason to fear them, he paid the sincere homage of praise. Sverri (1186-1202) thus obtained the object of his ambition; but he could not expect to hold it in peace. In fact, the whole of his reign was a struggle to preserve what he had so painfully gained. From England Archbishop Eystein hurled the thunders of the church at the head of the apostate priest; but the promise of the king, that he would lay his case before the pope, and submit to such penance as his holiness might impose, induced the primate to return and resume his metropolitan functions.- Much of his attention was employed on the enlargement and improvement of his cathedral, which he wished to vie with the most splendid Gothic edifices in Europe. From the king he derived considerable aid towards this end; but he lived only to finish the choir. The rest was completed by Archbishop Sigurd, in 1248. It was then a very respectable structure. The high altar, which was adorned with a costly silver shrine containing the relics of St. Olaf, and which was visited by pilgrims from all parts of the North, had a splendid appearance. Sverri no doubt expected that by his liberality on this occasion he should win over to his government the great body of the clergy; but he refused to hold the crown as a feudatory of St. Olaf, that is, of the primate; and this rebellion cancelled all his other merits. Aware of the influence which the primate exercised over the people, he endeavoured, on the death of Eystein, to obtain the election of a successor favourable to his views; but in defiance of his influence, that successor was one of his enemies, Eric bishop of Sta- vanger, who had been the warm friend of Eriing and Magnus. NOEWAY TO THE TINTON OF KALMAE 113 [1186-1203 A.D.] From the hands of the new primate he solicited the ceremony of the coro- nation; but Eric refused, and for so doing he has been severely censured. It should, however, be remembered that he could not crown an excommunicated prince. That penalty Sverri had incurred by various crimes — by forsaking the altar without the leave of his diocesan, by the shedding of bjfood at the head of banditti, by assuming the crown without secularisation, and by taking a wife. No bishop, no metropolitan could absolve him: the pope only was competent to dispense with the authority of the canons. In revenge for this refusal, Sverri endeavoured to curtail the revenues and patronage of the church. He insisted that its claim to the pecuniary fine in case of homicide should be abolished, and that the fine should revert to the crown. He also attempted to usurp the patronage of the church. Eric supported with firmness the rights of the church, and by so doing incurred the royal displeasure to such a degree that he was compelled to flee into Denmark. From thence he appealed to the pope, who threatened to place the kingdom under an interdict, unless satisfaction were made to the church. In vain did Sverri endeavour to prove that the pope had no right to interfere in such cases: the canons, he well knew, taught a different doctrine. In vain did he attempt to make the multitude believe that the blindness with which the archbishop was visited during the dispute was owing to the wrath of heaven. The people had more confidence in the primate and in the pope than they had in a monarch whose early career had not been the most edifying. Convinced by experience how little was to be gained by struggling with the formidable power which humbled the greatest monarchs, Sverri now applied to the pope for absolution and pardon. He was directed, in the first instance, to make his peace with the archbishop, who alone could intercede for him. Incensed at the reply, and fearful lest the people should desert him because he had not been crowned, he convoked his bishops, and pre- vailed on one of them — a mere court tool — to perform the ceremony. To anoint an apostate priest would not have been within the bounds even of papal authority: penance and absolution were previously indispensable; but neither was exacted, and if they had been the censure could only have been removed by the supreme pontiff. The bishop who performed a ceremony in its very nature null was excommunicated; and the king's own excommunica- tion was confirmed. In this emergency, Sverri convoked an Althing at Bergen, where a resolution was passed to send deputies to Rome to procure his absolution. On their return they all died in Denmark — no doubt through poison. They brought no absolution; but a confirmation of the former sen- tence. For this instrument the king, who was capable of any act, substituted another, which contained a plenary remission, and which he declared was the one brought from the head of the church. To account for the death of his messengers, he asserted that they had been poisoned by his enemies lest the papal absolution should reach him. The benefits of this deception he could not long hope to enjoy. The pope charged him with both the forgery and the murder, and placed the whole kingdom under an interdict. Even the bishop, Nicholas, who had crowned him, now escaped into Denmark, to join the metropolitan; and both were nobly entertained by Archbishop Absalon, primate and minister of that kingdom. During these transactions with the church, Sverri was twice compelled to enter the field against claimants for the crown. The first was Sigurd, son of Magnus V, who had taken refuge in the Orkneys. Accompanied by a band of adventurers, Sigurd landed in Norway, and was joined by many of the H. W. — VOL. XVI. I 114 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1202-1309 A.D.) peasantry. But Sverri had a body of men whose valour was unequalled, and whose fidelity was above all suspicion — men whom he had commanded before his accession, to whom he was indebted for the throne, and whom he had transformed from robbers into good soldiers. With them he triumphed over Sigurd, whose corpse rested on the field. The next adventurer was sup- ported by Bishop Nicholas, who was anxious to ingratiate himself with his metropolitan and the pope, by exhibiting uncommon zeal in the destruction of the king. His name was Inge, and he was represented by his patron as a son of that same Magnus. When he and the bishop landed, they were joined by a considerable number of the discontented; but the king, who had obtained archers from England, was better prepared than even on the former occasion to defend his authority. Still the struggle was a desperate one; several battles were fought, and two or three victories were necessary to humble the hopes of the assailants. In the midst of these struggles, after a whole life passed in fomenting rebellion or crushing it, Sverri breathed his last at the age of fifty-one. That he was a man of great genius and of commanding character is evident from his unparalleled success. Whether he was really the son of a Norwegian king is extremely doubtful; but, even if he were, he had none of the advan- tages which the relationship generally ensures. His fortune was the result of his own enterprising powers. Few indeed are the characters in history who have risen from so obscure to so high a station against obstacles so great; fewer still who, in the midst of perpetual dangers, have been able to maintain themselves in that station. In both respects he is almost un- equalled. On the whole, he may safely be pronounced one of the most extraordinary men of the Middle Ages. Before the death of his father, Hakon IV (1202-1204) had been saluted as heir of the monarchy; and he ascended the throne without opposition. One of his first acts was to recall the primate, the rest of the bishops, and all whom his father had exiled. In return the interdict was removed from the realm; and prosperity was returning to a country so long harassed by civil wars when the young king died. THE DYNASTY IS CONTINUED UNDER HAKON V Guthrum (1204^1205), a grandson of Sverri, was next raised to the throne; but his reign was only a year, and there seems to be little doubt that he was removed by poison, through the contrivance of a faction which hoped to restore the ancient line of kings. In consequence of this event, Inge II (1205-1207), a grandson, on the female side, of Sigurd II, acceded; but in two years he too descended to the tomb, whether violently or in the order of nature is unknown. The death of four princes in five years is a melancholy illustration of the times. There now remained only one male descendant of this dynasty — Hakon, a natural son of Sverri. ^ter his father's death, and during the struggles between the old and the new dynasty for the supreme power, this prince was secreted in the mountains. Fortunately for him, the companions of his father, the devoted Birkebeinar, the bandit soldiers, still remained: they espoused his cause, and procured his election to the throne. Before the church, however, would ratify the election, the mother, Inga, was required to undergo the ordeal of hot iron, in proof of her having truly sworn to the paternity of her son. She consented; was shut up in a church to, prepare NOKWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAK lis [1209-1250 A.D.] by fasting and prayer for the trial; was guarded night and day by twelve armed men; and the burning-iron left no wound on her fair hand. Whoever doubted that the ordeal was a fair one, that Hakon was the offspring of Sverri, was menaced with excommunication. Hakon V, who bears in history the surname of "the Old," was thus the recognised monarch of the country; but he had stiU to sustain the hostility of the faction which adhered to the former dynasty. The most inveterate as well as the most powerful of his enemies was Skule the jarl, half-brother of Inge II. To pacify this ambitious noble, he was admitted to a share in the government; and his daughter became a wife of Hakon. This union, in effecting which the church had a great share, was expected to combine the hearts of both factions. But the hope was vain: other pretenders to the legitimate or illegitimate honour of royal descent appeared in succession to claim a portion of their birthright. So distracted was the country by these conflicting claims that a great council of the nation was convoked at Bergeii. The decision was that Hakon was the only lawful king. Yet through the ad- vice of the primate, whose object was evidently to avert a civil war, the northern provinces were confided to Skule; and by the king he was soon adorned with the ducal title — a title which had been in disuse ever since the ninth century. But this ambitious noble was not to be silenced by benefits. On a memorable day (1240) he convoked the states of his own government to assemble in the cathedral : his descent from the martyr Olaf was then attested by oath on the relics of that saint; and by his party, amidst the silence of the spectators, he was declared the lawful heir to the crown, as the successor of Inge II. Constrained by the example, the rest did homage to him after he had sworn to administer the laws in righteousness, as his holy predecessor had administered them. Thus the northern provinces were again dissevered from the monarchy. But Hakon was true to his own rights and the interests of his people. Assembling his faithful Birkebeinar, and all who valued the interests of his order, he marched towards Trondjhem. At his approach, the usurper fled into the interior, but only to collect new forces, with which he obtained some advantages over those of Hakon. When spring returned, however, and the latter marched against the rebels, fortune declared for him. Skule was signally defeated, compelled to flee, overtaken, and kUled.^ Released from the scourge of civil war, Hakon now applied his attention to the internal government of his kingdom. He made new treaties of com- merce with the neighbouring powers: he fortified his sea-ports; he improved the laws; he made salutary changes in the local administration. But he was not yet fully at peace with the church; and he requested Innocent IV to mediate between them, and to cause the crown to be placed on his brow. Innocent despatched a legate, the cardinal bishop of Sabina, for this purpose. At first the king was desired to comply with the law of his predecessor Magnus V — that Norway should hereafter be regarded as a fief of St. Olaf: but he had the patriotism to refuse: he would protect, he observed, the just rights of the church, but he would never sanction this domination of the ecclesiastical over the secular state. His firmness was respected, and at the cardinal's instance he was crowned without subscribing to the obnoxious compact. He had gratified that churchman by promising to go on the crusade; but though he made preparations circumstances prevented his departure. His kingdom indeed could not safely be left at such a crisis. [' It is this early period of Hakon's history which Ibsen has celebrated in the drama trans- lated into English under the name of The Pretenders.'] 116 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1250-1263 A.D.] His frontiers were still subject to ravage from the licentious bands who infested the western provinces of Sweden, and who took refuge in either territory when pursued by the injured inhabitants of the other. Without a cordial union between the two governments, there could be no hope of extirpating these predatory bands. Fortunately Birger, the regent of Sweden, concurred with him in his object. To create a good understanding between the two countries, a marriage was negotiated between the daughter of Birger, whose son was on the throne of Sweden, and Magnus, the eldest son of Hakon. But this union was never effected: the subsequent conduct of Birger was not agreeable to the monarch; and Magnus married the daughter of Christopher, king of Denmark. The clemency of Hakon led to this connection. He had many causes of complaint against Denmark; and he did not resort to hostilities until he had long and vainly sued for redress. He soon reduced Christopher to long for peace; but with a generosity of which there are few records among kings, he forgot his wrongs in sympathy for his brother monarch, and became the friend of the man whom he had left Norway to chastise. The last and by far the most memoi-able expedition of Hakon was against the Scots. The chief incentive to this war was the attempt of Alexander III to recover the Hebrides, which, as we have before observed, had been sub- dued by Magnus Barfod. Not that they were then subdued for the first time. The truth is that they had frequently been reduced to the Norwegian yoke as far back as the ninth century, and from that time had, at intervals, paid tribute to that power. More frequently, however, they had asserted their independence. Colonies, too, from the mother-countries, had assisted to people those islands, which Harold Harfagr and his successors had regarded as no less a dependency than the Shetlands or the Orkneys. In the time of Magnus the number of those colonists increased; and there were not a few nobles of the isles who could trace their pedigree to the royal line of Norway. But their positioni drew them into the sphere of Scottish influence: to Scotland, and not to the distant North, they must look for allies in their fre- quent wars with one another; and the eagerness of the Scottish monarchs to establish their feudal superiority over them brought the two parties into continual communication. In 1244, two bishops arrived in Norway to induce Hakon to renounce all claim to the Hebrides. They told him that he could have no just right to them, since Magnus Barfod had only gained possession of them by violence — by forcibly wresting them from Malcolm Canmore. The king replied with more truth that Magnus had not wrested them from the Scottish king, but from the Norwegian Gudred, who had thrown off the allegiance due to the mother country. Defeated in their historical arguments, they had recourse to one which with a poor monarch they hoped would be more convincing — the pecuniary argument. They besought him to say what sum he would demand for their entire cession. " I am not so poor that I will sell my birthright!" was the reply, and the prelates returned. Alex- ander III, however, would not abandon the hope of annexing these islands to his crown; and he commenced a series of intrigues among the Highland chieftains. The vassals of Hakon began to complain of the vexatious hostil- ities to which they were subject, especially from the thane of Ross, and to beg immediate aid. The atrocities which they detailed we should scarcely expect to find in a Christian people and in the thirteenth century : we should rather assign them to the period when the pagan Northmen ravaged the coasts of these islands. In great anger Hakon convened a diet at Bergen, and it resolved that the aid required should be immediately furnished. NOEWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAK 117 [1263-1280 A.D.] Leaving his son, prince Magnus, regent of the kingdom, Hakon sailed for the Hebrides (1263). In the Orkneys he was joined by the jarls and by the king of Man. On the western coast of Scotland, many of the Highland chief- tains submitted to his arms. But though he took Arran and Bute, and laid waste many of the wectern districts of the continent with fire and sword, his expedition was a disastrous one. At the mouth of the Clyde, while landing his troops, a tempest arose and forced him from the shore; and those who were landed were overpowered by the superior number of the enemy.* In vain did Hakon endeavour to lead the rest of his forces with the view of saving the brave men who were thus overwhelmed: the storm was too powerful for him; some of his ships were lost; more were dispersed; and in great anguish of mind he repaired to the Orkneys where he intended to winter, and invade Scotland the ensuing spring. That spring he was never to see. A fever, the result of anxiety no less than of fatigue, laid him on the bed from which he was no more to rise. The activity of his mind, however, was not arrested even by fatal disease; he caused the Bible and the old sagas to be read to him night and day. When convinced that there was no hope of his recovery, he dictated his last instruc- tions to his son; made liberal presents to his followers; confessed and received the sacrament ; and " at midnight Almighty God called him from this world, to the exceeding grief of all present and of aU who heard of his death." His body was first interred in the cathedral of St. Magnus, Kirk- wall, but subsequently removed to Bergen, and laid with those of his royal ancestors. MAGNUS VI (1263-1280 A.D.) Magnus VI (1263-1280), who had been crowned during his father's life, now ascended the throne. He had the wisdom to make peace with the Scots, by ceding to them all the islands off their coast except the Orkneys, but not in full sovereignty. For these he was to receive 4,000 marks, and an annual tribute of 100 marks. At the same time Margaret, the daughter of Alexander, was betrothed to the son of Magnus. The islands ceded had never produced any benefit to the crown: to maintain them would have entailed a ruinous expenditure of money and blood. But the Orkneys, though frequently independent, had been so long connected with the mother country, and lay so much nearer, that though their preservation might bring no great advan- tage they were useful as nurseries for seamen. In the reign of Magnus, too, Iceland became thoroughly dependent on the Norwegian crown. Internally, the reign of this prince exhibits considerable improvement. One of his most serious objects, (which had also been his father's) was to establish, on fixed principles, the succession to the throne. As in other European countries, that succession was now made to depend on the law of primogeniture, in the male line only. To this regulation the bishops gave their assent; and, in accordance with it, they not merely recognised Eric as the successor of Magnus, but crowned that prince. Hence they no longer insisted on the obnoxious compact between Magnus V and the primate of that day. It is indeed true that in return for their sanction of this new and funda- mental law of succession, they obtained some favours; but most of them related [' There is considerable difference between the Scotch and Scandinavian accounts of this battle, and the loss sustained is variously computed. By the Scots it was remembered under the name of the battle of Largs as a glorious victory won by a sovereign to whose reign they looked back with pride and regret from the stormy years of civil war which followed.] 118 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1280-1289 A.D.] to their own matters. They were excepted, for instance, from the secular tribunals ; but so they were in every other country in communion with Rome. But when each prelate claimed the right of coining money, and of maintaining a body-guard of forty men-at-arms, he surely forgot his spiritual character, and remembered only that he was a temporal baron. This reign, too, witnessed some other changes. The allodial proprietors became vassals: the old jarls and hersers were replaced by dukes and barons and knights; feudal usages were introduced in lieu of the ancient national customs. As a necessary consequence the small landed proprietors began to disappear, and to be replaced by fanners. Still in the national character there was that which prevented the worse evUs of feudality. If the peasant had no longer a voice, or we should rather say a vote, in the assembly of the estates, except by representation, he yet continued to be free, and to bear arms. In the cities and towns of the kingdom there was also a modification of the old system. In proportion to the increase of commerce, and to the prosperity of the great depots, was that of municipal rights. These rights were, as much as possible, assimilated to those of the German towns. For the two important cities of Bergen and Trondhjem, Magnus himself drew up a code of regulations, to define the rights of the guilds and of the different classes of burghers. And for the defence of the coasts he revived the ancient act of division of the maritime districts, each of which was to furnish a certain number of ships, and to maintain its beacon fire, so that intelligence of an invasion might speedily fly throughout the country. But the fame of this monarch chiefly rests on his legislative talents: hence his surname of Laga- bsetr, or "law-mender." He compiled from the centenary observances of the four Norwegian provinces a code which he designed for general use throughout his dominions. EEIC II (1280-1299 A.D.) Eric II, while yet a minor, succeeded his father without opposition; but his reign (1280-1299) was not one of peace. His flrst disputes were with the church. At his coronation, he promised rather to amplify than to curtail its privileges. In virtue of this promise, the archbishop of Trondhjem drew up a list of offences against the canon laws, and claimed for the clerical tribunals the pecuniary mulcts demanded on such occasions. These mulcts were con- sidered the right of the crown, and as such were claimed by royal councillors, on behalf of the king. So far the conciliations were justifiable; but when they persuaded him to revoke all the privileges which his father had conceded, they wantonly perilled the tranquillity of the kingdom. They were excom- municated by the primate, who in his turn was banished. Both parties appealed to Rome; but the pope seems to have been a moderate man; and, though not disposed to surrender any rights which the church universal pos- sessed, he doubtless saw that the Norwegian branch of it had usurped some that were inconsistent with civil government. The successor of the primate consented to abandon one'or two of the more obnoxious claims, and to become the liege vassal of Eric. The king too was embroiled with Denmark, through the protection which he afforded to the assassins of Eric Clipping. Long and disastrous was the war which raged between the two countries. At length, both opened negotiations for peace; but it was not signed during the life of Eric. These disputes with the church and his royal neighbour prevented Eric from engaging in another war for which he might have urged a better reason. NOKWAY TO THE UNION OF KALMAR 119 tl289-1380 A.D.] In conformity with the treaty between his father and Alexander III, he married Margaret of Scotland. The issue was a daughter, who, on the death of her grandfather, in 1289 (her mother was no more), was undoubted heiress to the throne of that kingdom. The English king, Edward I, proposed a marriage between his son and the Maid of Norway. The proposal was readily accepted by Eric; but before it. could be carried into effect, the prin- cess died in the Orkneys. If Eric exposed himself to ridicule in claiming the Scottish crown in her right, he had an indisputable claim to his queen's dowry, most of which had never been paid. For this cause he might have troubled the kingdom; and he had another reason for interference. His second wife was Isabel, daughter or sister of Robert Bruce, whose pretensions he might have supported against those of Baliol. But he declared for neither party — a degree of moderation, as we have intimated, attributable rather to his disputes with the church and with Denmark, than to any other caiise. HAKON VI (1299-1319 A.D.) As Eric the Priest-hater left no heirs male, he was succeeded by his brother Hakon VI (1299-1319), whom he had created duke of Norway, and who had been admitted to some share in the government. One of his first objects was to resume the negotiations with Denmark; but through the intrigues of the men who were implicated in the murder of Eric Glipping, the signature of the treaty was delayed until 1308. His transactions with Sweden are more important, since they led to a temporary imion between the two crowns. His daughter Ingeburga became the wife of Eric, brother of Birger, king of Sweden. When Eric was barbarously murdered by his own brother, Hakon armed to revenge the death of his son-in-law. After a war of some duration, Birger was compelled to abdicate, and Magnus the son of Ingeburga, was elected in his place. As Hakon had no heirs male, and females could not inherit, Magnus became the heir of the Norwegian throne, to which he suc- ceeded on the death of Hakon. Under this prince, who died in 1319, Norway was not so powerful as it liad been under his father : just as in his father's time it was not to be compared ■with what it had been under the domination of Hakon V. With this monarch indeed ended the greatness of the kingdom: from his time to the tmion of the crown with that of Denmark, there was a continued dedine in the national prosperity. One reason is to be found in the wars between the kingdom and Denmark — wars which thinned the population, diminished the national revenues, and aimed a fatal blow at the national industry. A secondjs the monopoly of trade by the Hanse Towns. The vessels of that league hati long frequented the coasts of Norway; Sverri had favoured them; Hakon Vin 1250 had conferred upon them exclusive privileges; Magnus VI had estabhshed the foreign merchants in his dominions, especially at Bergen. Hakon also exempted them from many of the imposts to which they were subject in other countries. These avaricious strangers did not benefit the country. The advantage was entirely in favour of these foreigners, who absorbed a traffic which ought to have been divided into many channels, and by their monopoly excluded the natives from othor markets. In this respect, we must condemn the short-sighted poUcy of Hakon, or rather perhaps the engrossing disposition of the league. But another reason may also be assigned for the decFme of the national prosperity — the increase of luxury — the creation of artificial wants. The cardinal bishop of Sabina had expressed surprise at the condi- 120 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1380-1397 A..D.] tion of the people : he had found not merely the comforts but the luxuries of life. After the visit of that dignitary, the evil was not mended. The mon- archs were fond of displaying a splendour which richer and more extensive kingdoms could not well support; and as the example of the court is sure to be followed by all who visit it, we may form some notion of the progress which luxury made amongst the people. On the death of Hakon, as we have already intimated, the throne of Nor- way fell to his grandson Magnus VII (1319-1343), king of Sweden. In 1343 Magnus resigned the Norwegian sceptre to his son Hakon VII (1343-1380). This prince, as we have before observed, married Margaret, the daughter of Valdemar IV, king of Denmark, and died in 1380. He was succeeded in both thrones by his infant son Olaf (the fifth of Norway, the third of Den- mark), on whose death both Denmark and Norway were ruled by Queen Margaret. At this period the close connection of the three northern kingdoms can be explained only by reverting to the history of Sweden.^ But meantime this is a convenient place to glance at the affairs of that interesting depend- ency of Norway, the uniquely situated little territory of Iceland." CHAPTER IV ICELAND [874-1275 A.D.] PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF ICELAND BY THE NORWEGIANS Ingolf, the first settler of Iceland had found a refuge there in 874; he was followed by other illustrious exiles from Norway, who found in the enjoyment of liberty and independence a full compensation for the toils and hardships they were compelled to endure. The habitable parts of the island thus became in a few years entirely peopled by a Norwegian colony, among whom were several of the descendants of the Ynglings or ancient kings of Norway and Sweden, supposed to be the posterity of Odia. The manner in which this new society was formed and organised may be best illustrated by the story of a single individual. We have selected for this purpose that of Rolf, or Thorolf , as it is told in the Eyrbyggja * and other sagas. This chieftain resided in the northern parts of Norway, and, like all the other petty kings and chiefs of the country, was the pontiff of religion as well as the patriarchal head of his clan. Rolf pre- sided in the great temple of Thor, the peculiar national deity of Norway, in the island of Mostur, and wore a long beard, from which he was called Thorolf- Mostrar-skegg. Thorolf had incurred the resentment of king Harold Har- fagr, by giving an asylum to Bjorn, one of Thorolf 's relations, who was per- secuted by that monarch. Harold held an assize or Thing, and proclaimed Thorolf an outlaw, unless he surrendered himself with Bjorn into the king's hands, within a limited period. Thorolf offered a great sacrifice to his tutelary deity, and consulted the oracle of Thor, whether he should surrender himself to the king or migrate to Iceland, which had been settled by Ingolf ten years before. The response of the oracle determined him to seek an asylum in this remote and sequestered island. 131 122 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [874-934 A.D.] He set sail, carrying with him the earth upon which the throne of Thor had been placed, the image of the god, and the greater part of the woodeu work of his temple. He took also his goods, his slaves and his family. Many friends followed him. When the vessel approached the southwestern coast of Iceland, and entered the Maxe-Fjord, the adventurer cast into the sea the columns of the sanctuary, on which the image of the god was carved, intend- ing to land wherever they should be carried by the winds and waves. He foUowed them to the northward round the promontory of SnsefeUsness, and entered the bay on the other side, to which, from its extreme breadth, he gave the name of Breidi Fjord. Here Thorolf landed, and took formal possession of that part of the coast in the ancient accustomed manner, by walking with a burning firebrand in his hand round the lands he intended to occupy, and marking the boundaries by setting fire to the grass. He then built a large dweUing-house on the shores of what was afterwards called the Hofs-vog, or Temple Bay, and erected a spacious temple to Thor, having an entrance door on each side, and towards the inner end were erected the sacred columns of the former temple, in which the regin-maglar, or naUs of the' divinity, were fastened. Within these columns was a sanctuary, on which was placed a silver ring, two oimces in weight, which was used in the ministration of every solemn oath, and adorned the person of the pontiff-chieftain in every public assembly of the people. The basin for receiving the blood of the sacrifices was placed by the side of the altar, with the instrument of sprinkling, and around it stood, in separate niches, the images of the other deities worsMpped by the people of the North. The assize, or Her jar-thing, '^ of the infant commimity was held in the open air near this temple, and the oaths of the jurors and witnesses were sanctioned amidst the blood of sacrifice, by a solemn appeal to the national deities: "So help me Freyr, Njord, and the all-mighty As [that is, Odin] !" The site of the temple and the place of popular assembly were both considered conse- crated ground, not to be defiled with blood, nor polluted with any of the baser necessities of nature. A tribute was established and collected by Thorolf from all the members of his little community, to defray the expenses of the temple and the worship there maintained. The infant settlement thus commenced was soon strengthened by the arrival of Bjorn the fugitive outlaw, on whose account Thorou was compelled to leave his native country. Each freely chose his several habitation accord- ing to his own pleapixre, and the new colony soon became divided into three separate districts, each of which at first acknowledged the authority of Thorolf as supreme pontiff. At last dissensions broke out among the inhabi- tants, and the sacred spot was polluted with blood shed in their feuds, which were prosecuted with deadly fury. But it is unnecessary to pursue the narrative any further, as sufficient has been stated to enable the reader to form a general notion how these little communities were founded, with their public institutions partaking at once of a patriarchal, pontifical, and popular form of government, but not extending beyond the limits of the narrow valley in which they were established, and but imperfectly adapted to secure the blessings of public order. In the space of about sixty years the habitable parts of this great island were occupied by settlers from Norway, notwithstanding that King Harold ' Thing signifies in the ancient language of the North a popular assembly, court of justice, or assisse : Al-thing, a general meeting of that kind, and Alls-herjar-thing, the general conven- tion of chiefs, nobles, oi lords. The diet of Norway is called to this day the Stor-thing, a great assembly. ICELAND 123 [874-934 A.D.] had endeavoured to discourage the spirit of emigration by imposing a severe penalty upon those who left his dominions for this purpose. They brought with them both the religious and the civil institutions of their native land. The chieftains, who led each successive company, were, like Thorolf, the patriarchal rulers, and the religious pontiffs of their tribe. They brought with them not only their families and domestic slaves but a numerous retinue of dependents. These" may more properly be called clients than vassals, since their relation to their chieftains was more like that of the Roman plebeian to his patron than of the feudal vassal to his lord. The followers were elevated far above the class of slaves by the possession of personal freedom and prop- erty, but they resorted to the protection of the aristocracy, as the natural judges of their controversies in peace and their leaders in war. The chieftains who bore the principal part of the expense of these expedi- tions naturally appropriated to themselves the lands, which they afterwards granted out to the poorer colonists, upon the payment of a perpetual rent and a sort of tithes for the maintenance of religious rites. To this was some- times superadded a hereditary personal jurisdiction over the client and his posterity, which partook somewhat more of the feudal relation. The chief- tains who thus formed this patriarchal aristocracy were called godar or hof- godar, because they performed the public offices of religion, as well as the fimctions of civil magistracy. And it is very remarkable that, even after the introduction of Christianity into the island, the bishops continued for some time to exercise civil jurisdiction under the sacred name of godar — such is the force of habit over the minds of a rude people in the union of secular and ecclesiastical authority. THE POLITICAL ORGANISATION OF ICELAND The pontiff-chieftains of the various little communities, among which the island was divided, had at first no common umpire, and the evils growing out of their dissensions and the animosities engendered between so many rival tribes or clans rendered it at last imperiously necessary to combine these sepa- rate societies by some kind of fundamental law. On this occasion the Icelanders, like the people of the ancient Greek republics, resorted to the wis- dom of a single legislator, and confided to him the task of providing a remedy for the disorders of their infant state. Ulfljot, who was the object of their choice, imdertook a voyage to Norway, in his sixtieth year, to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the legal customs and institutions of the parent country (925). Here he sat for three years at the feet of Thorleif the Wise, famous for his skill in the laws; and, on his return to his native island, with the assist- ance of another chieftain of great influence and sagacity. Grim Geitskor, framed a code which was accepted by the people in a general national assembly (928). _ i The Icelandic legislators, following the indications pointed out by nature, divided the whole island into four great quarters, called, in the Icelandic tongue, Fjerdingar. In each of these they established a chief magistrate, who was chosen by the free voice of the people, and whose office very much resembled that of the godi before mentioned. These quarters were again divided into smaller districts, in which all the freemen possessed of landed property had a voice in the public assembly. The great national assembly, or assize of the island, at which all the freeholders had a right to participate, by themselves or their delegates, was held annually, and was called the 124 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [874-934 A.D.] Al-thing. It bore a strong family likeness to the national assemblies of the parent country and of the other Scandinavian nations, and some similitude to the Witenagemot of the Anglo-Saxons and the Fields of March and May of the primitive Franks. The place of meeting was situated on a level plain on the shores of the lake of Thing-valle, and was called Log-bergit, or the Law- Mount. It is at this early day a wild and dreary scene, the surrounding country having been convulsed and torn to pieces by volcanic eruptions; but it must always have presented a striking picture, suited to the solemnity of the occasion which brought together the assembled people of Iceland. The Promulgator of the Law The national assembly continued to be held at this place for eight centu- ries, until it was removed about a century ago, to a more convenient spot, but one less hallowed in popular opinion by its venerable antiquity and historical associations. The president of this assembly was chosen for life, and was called logsogomadr, or promulgator of the law. His functions were both legislative and judicial, and in the latter respect were similar to those of the lagman of the Gothic institutions. Indeed, he afterwards received the same name. After the introduction of book-writing, the book of the law was deposited in his hands, and he naturally became its most authoritative expounder. For nearly two centuries after their enactment, the laws of Ulfljot were, preserved by tradition only, being for that purpose recited annually by the logsogomadr in the national assembly; from which we may readily infer how extremely simple they must have been in their details, and how great the latitude of interpretation indulged by this magistrate. Like all other systems of unwritten law, and this was literally such, it attributed great weight to the authority of precedents, which also were preserved in the same manner as the original laws themselves — by oral tradition. The forms of action and of pleading, which were very exactly observed by the Northmen, even of this earlier age, were also expounded by the promidgator of the law in the public assembly, so that they might be known to the people, and invariably observed in the assizes of the local districts. When the laws came afterwards to be reduced to a written text, those precedents, which had acquired the force of law, were incorporated into the code. Ulfljot was the first citizen raised to that high office by his grateful country- men. It was afterwards filled by the celebrated Snorre Sturleson, and the degree of importance attached to it is strikingly illustrated by the circum- stance that time was computed by the Icelanders from the periods during which this magistracy was occupied by different individuals, the anniversary of their election serving to mark a distinct chronological epoch in the national annals. As the laws of Ulfljot nowhere exist at the present day in a perfect form, it is impossible to form anything like an adequate notion of the precise nature of these institutions. In general we may conclude that they were framed after the model of the customary law of the parent country, with an adaption to the special circumstances and local condition of Iceland. Indeed, a system of original legislation, departing entirely from historical antecedents, and unaccommodated to the prejudices and usages of the people, would have been unhesitatingly rejected by them. Thorleif the Wise, who was consulted by Ulfljot in the compilation, of his laws, was afterwards employed by King Hakon the Good in the formation of the Norwegian law, called the Gule- ICELAND 126 [934-1000 A.D.] thing law. But as this latter code no longer exists in its original form, and as we have only scattered fragments of the laws of Ulfljot, the two systems of jurisprudence cannot be compared together. Doubtless both of them were collections of the immemorial usages and customs already sanctioned by popular acceptances, rather than systematic codes of civil and criminal jurisprudence. The political part of Ulfljot's institutions formed the basis of the government of Iceland during the three centuries of the repubhc. If they secured the blessings of social order in an imperfect degree only, the same may be said of the constitutional code of every other country in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Icelandic commonwealth was torn with civil dissensions of the most implacable character, resembling at once the factions of the Italian republics and the anarchy of the feudal law. But the great body of the people was never reduced to the condition of feudal serfs. They nourished a proud spirit of personal independence, which, if partaking of the barbarous character of the age, became the parent of adventurous enterprise, at first in brilliant feats of arms and afterwards in those arts which adorn and embellish human life. THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY The introduction of Christianity into Iceland is the most remarkable epoch in its subsequent history. Some of its inhabitants had always refused to worship the new gods originally introduced into the parent country from the East. Others refused to sacrifice to the peculiar national deities. Every family had its private faith and worship. Thorkill, the grandson of the first settler Ingolf, as he felt the near approach of death, requested to be carried out into the open air, where he might see the cheering light of the sun, and commend his parting spirit to the God who had created both sun and stars. Many of the Icelanders, in their voyages to Denmark and England, and in their military service with the Varangians at Constantinople, had received the initiating rites of Christianity, as then administered in those countries; but on their return to Iceland did not scruple to sacrifice to Thor as the local tutelary deity of the island. The first Christian missionary was brought to Iceland by Thorwald, son of Kodran, a sea-rover, who, having been baptised on the banks of the Elbe by a German priest named Frederick, persuaded his instructor to accompany him to his native country, one hundred years after the first settlement, and during the chief magistracy of the lagman Thorkel Mani. His exertions were not wholly fruitless, and were afterwards seconded by other missionaries sent by Olaf Tryggvason, king of Norway, who, having established the new religion in that country, was anxious to propagate the faith among the various Norwegian colonies in the western seas. Among these missionaries were Gissur the White, and Hjalti, both Icelandic converts, who had been banished by the heathen party on account of their zeal for Christianity. On the arrival of these exiles in the island (1,000), they found the national assembly of the Al-thing in session at Thing-valle, and immediately pro- ceeded thither for the purpose of rallying the Christian party. Being joined by their friends, they boldly marched to the Log-berg, or Mount of the Law in solemn procession, carrying crosses in their hands. Whilst the whole assembly were awed with this extraordinary scene, Hjalti offered incense, and Gissur expounded to the multitude the truths of Christiiinity with such fervid eloquence that a large portion of his audience broke off from the assem- 126 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1000-1016 A.D.) bly and avowed their determination to embrace the new religion. Whilst they were engaged in this discussion, news arrived that an eruption of lava had broken out with great fury in a neighbouring mountain. "It is the effect of the wrath of our offended deities," exclaimed the worshippers of Thor and Odin. "And what excited their wrath," answered Snorre Gode, a distinguished pontiff-chieftain, "what excited their wrath when these rocks of lava, which we ourselves tread, were themselves a glowing torrent?" This answer effectually silenced the advocates of the ancient religion, at least for the time; for these lava rocks were universally known to have been there before the country was inhabited. But the genius of heathenism was still stubbornly bent on resistance to this innovation. The heathen party deter- mined to offer two human beings from each quarter of the island as a sacri- fice to appease the wrath of the gods, and stay the further progress of what they deemed this moral pestilence. On which, the Christian missionaries, determined not to be outstripped in zeal, convened a meeting of their friends, and proposed that an equal number of the Christian party should seal with, their blood the truth of the religion for which they so strenuously contended. The next day, Thorgeir, who was the lagman of the time, convened the assembly, with the avowed determination to put an end to the controversy which thus threatened to kindle a civil war, and to deluge the island with blood. With this view, he addressed them as follows: "Hear me, ye wise men, and listen to my words, ye people! The ruin of that state is at hand, when all the citizens do not obey the same law and follow the same customs. Division and hate prevail among us; these must soon give rise to civil war, which will destroy our resources, lay waste our isle, and reduce it to a barren wilderness. As union and concord strengthen the weak, so disunion and discord weaken the strong. Let us then strive with all our might, lest our internal peace be destroyed by a divided rule. Reflect then upon what ye well know, without having need to be reminded of the fact — how the kings of Denmark and Norway have become enfeebled by the destructive wars waged on the dispute of religion, until at last their subjects and counsellors have been reduced to the necessity of making peace without their consent. These monarchs have thus come to feel the healing virtue of peace and friend- ship, and laying aside their bitter hate have become, to the great joy of their subjects, the best of friends. And though we, magistrates and chieftains of this island, cannot pretend to compare ourselves with these kings in power, or with their counsellors in wisdom, still we may laudably imitate whatever is praiseworthy in their public conduct. We should then endeavour to pursue a course by which all may be reconciled, and adopt the same laws and cus- toms; otherwise nothing is more certain than that our peace is gone forever." This speech was received with approbation by the assembly, who referred to the decision of the lagman, who promulgated a decree purporting that all the inhabitants of the island should be baptised, the idols and temples destroyed, no man to worship the ancient deities publicly upon the penalty of banishment; but private worship, the exposition of infants, the eating of horseflesh, and other practices not inconsistent with the precepts of Chris- tianity, to be still tolerated. This law was ratified by the assembly, all the heathens suffered themselves to be signed with the cross, and some were baptised in the hot-water baths of Langerdal and Reikdal. The apprehen- sions of famine, from abolishing the practice of exposing their infant children and the eating of horseflesh, soon subsided, and these last remnants of heathen- ism were suppressed in consequence of the earnest remonstrance of St. Olaf, king of Norway (1016). ICELAND 127 [1011-1018 A.D.] TRIAL BY BATTLE The introduction of Christianity was followed by the abolition of trial by battle, a mode of procedure recognised by the early laws of all the northern nations, and growing out of their warlike habits and wild spirit of independ- ence, which made every individual the arbiter of his own wrongs. This mode of trial derived its name (holmgdnga) from the ancient usage among the northern warriors of retiring to a solitary island, there to decide their deadly feuds in single combat. The holmgdnga was abolished in Iceland in 1011. The laws of the island still remained in oral tradition imtil more than a century afterwards, when they were revised and reduced to a written text in 1117, under the superintendence of Bergthor Rafni, then lagman of the republic, and Haflidi Mauri, another distinguished chieftain, who were assisted in this recompilation by experienced lawyers of the time. This code, afterwards called the Grdgd,s, was adopted by the national assembly of the Al-thing in the following year, 1118, and preserved the force of law until the year 1275, when Iceland became subject to the kings of Nor- way. The loss of national independence was followed by the introduction of the Norwegian collection of laws, called Jonsbok in 1280, which still con- tinues to be the basis of the Icelandic legislation. The Ordgds code was not, as has commonly been supposed, borrowed from the law of the same name, introduced into Norway by King Magnus the Good. It was founded mainly on the primitive laws of Ulfljot, and the revision of 1118; but in the form in which the Grdgds now exists, it is intermingled with precedents of judicial decisions and the glosses of different commentators which have been incor- porated into the original text. This code abounds with many examples of that spirit of litigation and legal subtlety which has ever marked the char- acter of the Northmen. These laws contain the same provisions for the satisfaction of penal offences by pecuniary mulcts, which are adjusted by a minute scale, according to the nature of the crime and the rank of the offender. They also contain the rude elements of the trial by jury, of which there are many traces to be found in the ancient aniials of the North. In the saga of the famous chief- tain Egill, son of Skallagrim, there is a curious and picturesque account of a civil trial in Norway, in the reign of King Eric Blodsexe, respecting an inheri- tance claimed by that chieftain. Soon after the battle of Brunanburh, in which Egill had aided King ^Ethelstan with a band of vikings and other northern adventurers, his wife's father died in Norway, and his brother-in- law Bergaumund took possession of the entire inheritance, of which Egill claimed a part, in right of his wife, which circumstance compelled Egill to make a voyage from Iceland to the parent country. On his arrival in Nor- way he brought a suit against Bergaumund, who was protected by the interest of King Eric and his queen Gunhilda. The suit was tried at the Gule-thing assizes, where the parties appeared, attended by numerous bands of followers and friends. In the midst of a large field a ring was stretched out, with hazel twigs bound together with a cord, called a sacred band (vebond). Within this circle sat the judges, twelve from the district called Fjordefylke, twelve from Sogne- fylke, and twelve from Hordafylke; these three districts being thus united into what may be called one circuit for the administration of justice. The pleadings commenced in due form, and Bergaumund asserted that Egill's wife could not, as the child of a slave, inherit the property in question. But Egill's friend Arinbioern maintained, with twelve witnesses or compurgators, 128 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [874-1275 A.D.] that she was of ingenuous birth; and as the judges were about to pronounce sentence, Queen Gunhilda, the old enemy of EgilT, fearing the result might be favourable to him, instigated her kinsmen to cut the sacred cord, by which the assizes were broken up in confusion. Thereupon Egill defied his adver- sary to single combat in a desert isle (Jwlmgdnga) in order to decide their con- troversy by battle, and denounced vengeance against all who should inter- fere. King Eric was sorely incensed; but as nobody, not even the king and his champions, was allowed to come armed to the assizes, Egill made his escape to the sea shore. Here his faithful friend Arinbioern informed him that he was declared an outlaw in all Norway, and presented him with a bark and thirty men to pass the seas. But Egill could not forego his vengeance, even for a season ; and returned to the shore, where he lurked until he found an opportimity to slay not only his adversary Bergaumund, but King Eric's son Ragnvold, a youth of only eleven years, whom he accidentally encountered at a convivial meeting in the neighbourhood. Before Egill set sail again for Iceland, he took one of the oars of his ship, upon which he stuck a horse's head, and as he raised it aloft, exclaimed : " Here I set up the rod of vengeance, and direct this curse against King Eric and Queen Gunhilda!" He then turned the horse's head towards the land, and cried aloud: "I direct this curse against the tutelary deities who built this land that they shall forever wander, and find no rest nor abiding place, until they have expelled from the land King Eric and Queen Gunhilda." He then carved this singular formula of imprecation in runic characters upon the oar, and fixed it in a cleft of the rock, where he left it standing. ICELANDIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Under the protection of a form of government which might, however, more properly be called a patriarchal aristocracy than a republic, the Ice- landers cherished and cultivated the language and literature of their ances- tors with remarkable success. The cultivation of these was favoured by their adherence to the ancient religion for some time after all the other countries of the North had yielded to the progress of Christianity. The early dawn of literature in Europe was almost everywhere else marked by an awkward attempt to copy the classical models of Greece and Rome. In Iceland [as we have seen] an independent literature grew up, flourished, and was brought to a certain degree of perfection, before the revival of learning in the south of Europe. This island was not converted to Christianity until the end of the tenth centu-ry, when the national literature, which still remained in oral tradition, was full blown and ready to be committed to a written form. With the Christian religion, Latin letters were introduced; but instead of being used, as elsewhere, to write a dead language, they were adapted by the learned men of Iceland to mark the sounds which had been before expressed by the runic characters. The ancient language of the North was thus pre- served in Iceland, whilst it ceased to be cultivated as a written and soon became extinct as a spoken language in the parent countries of Scandinavia. The popular superstitions, with which the mythology and poetry of the North are interwoven, continued still to linger in the sequestered glens of this remote island. The language, which gave expression to the thoughts and feeUngs connected with this mythology and this poetry, rivals in copiousness, flexi- bility, and energy every modern tongue. Thus we perceive how the flowers of poetry sprung up and bloomed amidst ICELAND 129 [874-1375 A.D.] eternal ice and snows. The arts of peace were successfully cultivated by the free and independent Icelanders. Their arctic isle was not warmed by a Grecian sun, but their hearts glowed with the fire of freedom. The natiu-al divisions of the country by icebergs and lava streams insulated the people from each other, and the inhabitants of each valley and each hamlet formed, as it were, an independent community. These were again reimited in the general national assembly of the Al-thing, which might not be unaptly likened to the Amphictyonic council or Olympic games, where aU the tribes of the nation convened to offer the common rites of their religion, to decide their mutual differences, and to listen to the lays of the skald, which commemorated the exploits of their ancestors. Their pastoral life was diversified by the occu- pation of fishing. Like the Greeks, too, the sea was their element, but even their shortest voyages bore them much further from their native shores than the boasted expedition of the Argonauts. Their familiarity with the perils of the ocean and with the diversified manners and customs of foreign lands stamped their national character with bold and original features, which distinguished them from every other people. The countries from which this branch of the great northern family had migrated were marked by equally striking moral and physical peculiarities. The wild beauty of the northern scenery struck the poetic soul of Alfieri, as it must that of every other traveller of genius and sensibility. He was moved by the magnificent splendour of its winter nights, and, above all, by the rapid transition from the rudeness of that season to the mUd bloom of spring. This and the other distinctive qualities of the northern climate and modes of life act powerfully on the being of man; and, as has been beautifully observed by the distinguished living historian of Sweden, " draw the attention of man to nature, and create a closer relation to her and to her mysteries. To this cause may also be attributed that pecuharly deep and comprehensive perception of nature which forms a fundamental principle in distinguished northern minds — a tendency which, even in the earliest mythology and poetry of the North, expresses itself by dark images and tones, and in later times, purified by cultivation, has been principally developed in sciences and art." , The Sagas; The Elder Edda The ancient literature of the North was not confined to the poetical art. The skald recited the praises of kings and heroes in verse, whilst the Saga-man recalled the memory of the past in prose narratives. The talent for story- telling, as well as that of poetical invention, was cultivated and highly improved by practice. The prince's hall, the assembly of the people, the solemn feasts of sacrifice, all presented occasions for the exercise of this delight- ful art. The memory of past transactions was thus handed down from age to age in an unbroken chain of tradition, and the ancient songs and sagas were preserved imtil the iatroduction of book-writing gave them a fixed and durable record. A young Icelander, Thorstein Frode, was entertained at the court of Harold Hardrada as a saga-man or story-teller, and often amused the king and his courtiers in this manner. As the great Yule festival, or Christmas, approached, the king, observing him to become serious and melan- choly, apprehended that his stock of stories might be nearly exhaiisted. On being asked the question, Thorstein confessed that he had indeed but a single story left, and that one he did not like to tell, because it related to the deeds H. yr. — VOL. XVI. k 130 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [874-1275 A.D.] of the king himself in foreign lands. Being encouraged by Harold, he at last narrated the story to the great satisfaction of the king, who asked him where he had learned it. Thorstein answered that he had been in the constant habit of attending the Al-thing, or annual national assembly of Iceland, where he had heard different parts of this saga at different times, until he had firmly imprinted it on his memory. The original narrator was one Haldor, an Ice- larider who had accompanied Eong Harold in all his travels and expe- ditions to Russia, Greece, Asia, Sicily, and Palestine, and on his return to his native isle had spread the fame of the king's achievements among his countrjmien. These recitations were embellished with poetical extracts from the " works " of different skalds, if such an expression may be used for literary compositions before the art of book-writing was known, and quoted by the narrator as apt to the purpose of illuminating some remarkable passage in the life and exploits of the hero whose adventures he was relating. Story and song were thus imited, and the memory was strengthened by this constant cultivation, so as to be the safe depository of the national history and poetry. A striking example of ihe degree to which this faculty was cultivated is given in the saga of a famous Icelandic skald, who sang before King Harold Sigurdson sixty different lays in one evening, and, being asked if he knew any more, declared that these were only the am. of what he could sing. The power of oral tradition, in thus transmitting, through a succession of ages, poetical or prose compositions of considerable length, may appear almost incredible to civilised nations accustomed to the art of writing. But it is well known that, even after the Homeric poems had been reduced to writing, the rhapsodists who had been accustomed to recite them could readily repeat any passage desired; and we have, in om- own times, among the Servians, Calmucks, and other barbarous and semi-barbarous nations, examples of heroic and popular poems of great length thus preserved and handed down to posterity. This is more especially the case where there is a perpetual order of men whose exclusive employment it is to learn and repeat, whose faculty of memory is thus improved and carried to the highest pitch of perfection, and who are relied upon as historiographers to preserve the national annals. The interesting scene presented to this day in every Icelandic family, in the long nights of winter, is a living proof of the existence of this ancient custom. No sooner does the day close, than the whole patriarchal family, domestics and aU, are seated on their couches in the principal apartment, from the ceiling of which the reading and working lamp is suspended; and one of the family selected for that purpose, takes his seat near the lamp, and begins to read some favourite saga, or it may be the works of Klopstock and Milton (for these have been translated into Icelandic), whilst all the rest attentively listen, and are at the same time engaged in their respective occupations. From the scarcity of printed books in this poor and sequestered country, in some fam- ilies the sagas are recited by those who have committed them to memory, and there are stOl instances of itinerant orators of this sort, who gain a liveli- hood during the winter by going about from house to house repeating the stories they have thus learned by heart. About two centuries and a half after the first settlement of Iceland by the Norwegians, the learned men of that remote island began to coUect and reduce to writing . these traditional poems and histories. Ssemund Sigfufesen, an ecclesiastic, who was born in Iceland in 1056, and pursued his classical studies in the universities of Germany and France, first collected and arranged the book of songs relating to the mythology and history of the ancient North ICELAND 131 [874-1275 A.D.] which is called the poetic, or elder Edda. Various and contradictory opinions have been maintained as to the manner in which this collection was made by Ssemmid, who first gave it to the world. Some suppose that he merely gathered together the runic manuscripts of the different poems, and trans- scribed them in Latin characters. Others maintain that he took them from the mouths of different skalds, living in his day, and first reduced them to writing, they having been previously preserved and handed down by oral tradition merely. But the most probable conjecture seems to be that he collected some of this fragmentary poetry from contemporary skalds and other parts from manuscripts written after the introduction of Christianity and Latin letters into Iceland, which have since been lost, and merely added one song of his own composition, the S6lar Lj6d, or Carmen-Solare, of a moral and Christian religious tendency, so as thereby to consecrate and leaven, as it were, the whole mass of paganism. He thus performed for these ancient poems the same office which, according to the theory proposed by Wolf and Heyne, was performed by the ancient Greek rhapsodist (whoever he was) who first collected and arranged the songs of his predecessors, and reduced them to one continuous poem, which bears the name of Homer's Iliad. It should, however, be observed that the different lays contained in Ssemund's Edda are not, in general, connected as one con- tinuous poem in point of subject and composition, but consist of different pieces of ancient fragmentary poetry, relating to the characters and exploits of the northern deities and heroes. There is abundant internal evidence that the work, with the exception just mentioned, was not of his own composition or that of any other Christian writer; and that the poems contained in it could not have been collected by him, or by anybody else, from runic manu- scripts, will be evident from the following considerations. The nmic alphabet consists properly of sixteen letters, which are Phoeni- cian in their origin. The northern traditions, sagas, and songs attribute their introduction to Odin. They were probably brought by him into Scandinavia, but they have no resemblance to any of the alphabets of central Asia. AH the ancient inscriptions to be found on the rocks and stone monuments in the coimtries of the North, and which exist in the greatest number near old Sigtuna and Upsala, in Sweden, the former the residence of Odin, and the latter of his successors, and the principal seat of the superstition introduced by him, are written in the Icelandic or ancient Scandinavian language, but in nmic characters. Saxo Grammaticus, who wrote in the twelfth century, asserts that the ancient Danes engraved verses upon rocks and stones, containing accounts of the exploits of their ancestors. But he does not pretend to cite any runic inscriptions of the sort; and though he speaks of the rock on which King Harold Hildetand had caused the achievements of his heroic father to be inscribed, he admits that when Valdemar I endeavoured to copy this lapi- dary inscription it was found for the most part effaced and illegible. It is probable that the zeal of the first converts to Christianity was employed in destroying these monuments, which they considered rather as the works of the demon than as contributing to illustrate the exploits of their pagan ancestors, whose fame was far from being held in honour by them. The runic characters were also used for inscriptions on arms, trinkets, amulets, utensils, and buildings, and occasionally on the bark of trees or wooden tablets for the purpose of memorials or epistolary correspondence. Thus Venantius Fortunatus, a Latin poet of tne sixth century, asks his friend Flavins, if he is tired of the Latin, to write him in Hebrew, Persian, Greek, or even nmic characters. [874-1275 A.D.] 132 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA Barbara fraxineis pingatur' Rima tabelKs, Quodque papyrus ait, virgula plana valet; Pagina vel redeat perscripta dolatile charta, Quod relegi poterit, fructus amnantis erit. And the biographer of St. Anskar, the great apostle of the North, speaks of a letter written in the ninth century in runic characters, by a king of Sweden, to the emperor Louis le D6bonnaire. These characters were also used for pur- poses cormected with the pretended art of magic, and their efficacy in this respect is inculcated by Odin in several passages of the fragmentary poetry collected by Ssemimd. Saxo Grammaticus speaks of magical songs carved on wooden tablets, and in the saga of the famous skald and hero Egill it is related how he was so deeply afflicted by the death of his beloved son that he resolved to starve himself to death, when he was diverted from his fatal purpose by his daughter persuading him to dictate an elegiac lay to his son's memory, which she offered to carve in wood pa Kafle. But the runic char- acters were principally used for lapidary inscriptions, and for the other pur- poses already mentioned, and there is no evidence that any such thing as "books," properly so called, existed among the Scandinavian nations before the introduction of the religion and language of the Roman church. The oldest manuscript book in the nmic characters now existing is a digest of the customary laws of Skane, written in the thirteenth or foiu-teenth centiuy, which is preserved in the library of the university of Copenhagen.c CHAPTER V DENMARK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMARS [1050-1375 A.D.] HARTHACNUT AND MAGNUS (1035-1042 A.D.) By his father's death, Harthacnut, the heir of Denmark, was equally so of England; and he was preparing to pass over into that kingdom when intelli- gence reached him of Harold's usurpation. But that usurpation was not sudden, nor complete; and had he hastened with a few thousand followers to claim the crown, he would have triumphed. But he had little energy of character; and while he remained irresolute, the period favourable for his hopes passed away. Fortunately Harold's reign was short; and in 1040 he was called by the English themselves to ascend the throne. On his arrival he committed an act of impotent vengeance against the memory of his brother, whose bones he caused to be disinterred and cast into the Thames. They were, however, reburied. In his government of England, Harthacnut seems to have committed only one reprehensible act, and for that he had provocation. A tax levied for the support of the Danish soldiery was condemned by the English, and at Wor- cester resisted by the murder of the two collectors. To vindicate his authority, he resorted to severe measures. The ringleaders were executed, the city 'pillaged and partly burned. In other respects he was not impopular. His kindness to the family of ^thelred did him great honour. To Emma he confided a share in the administration; and to Prince Edward, the youngest son of iEthelred, afterwards named the Confessor, whom he recalled from Normandy, he gave a splendid estabhshment. As he died without issue, with him ended the Danish dynasty in England. Of Harthacnut's government in Denmark we have few records. He was negligent and intemperate; and his father's memory, more than his own 133 134 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1042-1047 A.D.] qualities, secured him on the throne. His transactions with Norway deserve especial consideration. Svend, the son of Canute, having been expelled from that kingdom by Magnus the Good as narrated in a former chapter, took refuge with his nearest brother in Denmark, and died soon after. If the Danish king was feeble, he was not without ambition. He knew that he should'succeed to the English throne; and as, after that event, he should be the sole heir of Canute's extensive empire, he urged his claim to the crown of Norway. Finding Magnus too powerful for him, he met that prince, and as we have related, concluded a treaty singular in its nature and in its results important. If either king died without issue, the other was to inherit his dominions. This convention was guaranteed by the chief nobles and pre- lates of the two countries. Harthacnut did die without issue, and the throne of Denmark accordingly fell to Magnus (1042-1047). On the arrival of this prince in Denmark, he was received with open arms. He was the son of a saint, with whose miracles the North resounded; and his own virtues (much less questionable than his father's) justified the expecta- tion of a happy reign. To few princes, indeed, can history accord more virtues than to Magnus; yet he was not deficient in the active duties of his station. The Jomsburg pirates who had revolted, and whose ferocity was the dread of the North, he speedily reduced, and their capital he laid in ashes. This was a service both to the Danes and the Norwegians for which they could not be too grateful. But the former, influenced by fickleness or by attachment to their old line of kings, or by mortification at receiving a sovereign from a country which they had twice conquered, soon cast their eyes on Svend, son of Jarl Ulf and of Estrith, sister of Canute the Great. After his father's murder, this prince had sought refuge at the court of the Swedish king. As he approached man's estate, he grew weary of inactivity, and having something to hope from the generosity of Magnus, he repaired to that monarch in Norway. He did not ask for any portion of Canute's vast possessions: he wanted emplojnnent merely under so generous a monarch; and his request was immediately granted. His talents, his lofty mien, his deportment, and above all his skilful flattery won the confidence of the Norwegian, who made him first minister, and next Ms lieutenant in Denmark. There was much imprudence in confiding to one so ambitious and so nearly connected with the throne a trust of this nature; but judging of other men's hearts by his own, Magnus thought that such a trust would forever bind Svend to his interests, and be agreeable to the Danes. On the relics of St. Olaf the young prince swore fidelity to the mon- arch, and was well received by the people. To deepen this favourable senti- ment was his constant care; and by his affabiUty, his attention to his duties, and his liberalities, he completely succeeded. When secure of their affection, he openly revolted. Magnus assembled an armament, proceeded to Den- mark, defeated and expelled the usurper, who again sought refuge at the Swedish court. No sooner was this enemy vanquished, than another appeared in the pagan bands which occupied all the eastern shores of the Baltic, that are now comprised in the Russian monarchy. These men, scarcely less ferocious than their allies the Jomsburg pirates, invaded Schleswig, wasting everything, with fire and sword. Magnus flew to oppose them, and after a severe struggle triumphed. During his absence, Svend returned from Sweden, reduced Skane, and passing into Zealand and Fiinen was again acknowledged by the people. Victory, in two or three successive actions, still declared for the monarch. Yet the cause of Svend was not destroyed. In the assistance of DENMAEK UNDEK THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 135 tl04»-1047 A.D.] the Swedish king, in the adventurers on all the maritime coasts of the Baltic, and still more in the attachment of the Danes, he had resources which even the power of Magnus was not able wholly to destroy. A third enemy now appeared in Harold, surnamed Hardrada, or the Stern, the son of Sigurd, and the half-brother of St. Olaf. If there be any truth in the ancient sagas, his adventures were most extraordinary. He was present at the last fatal scene of Olaf 's life ; and from Norway he fled to the court of the Russian duke Yaroslav, whose service he entered. Of Elisif, daughter of Yaroslav, he became deeply enamoured; but, his suit being unsuccessful, he repaired to Constantinople, and was admitted amongst the Varangian guard of the emperors. By his valour and his birth he obtained at length the com- mand of that formidable though small body, and by his exploits invested his name with much lustre. Heading an expedition against the pirates of the African coast, he was the victor in several battles, and the owner of immense booty, a portion of which he sent to his friends in Russia. He was afterwards employed in Sicily, in Italy, and in a journey to the Holy Land. In all this there is no great improbability; but what follows is too romantic to be credited: As the reward of his services, Harold had demanded the hand of a princess of the imperial family, and had been refused. "Those Varangians (Vseringjar)," says Snorre," "who were in Mikla- gard, and received rewards for their services during the war, have said since their return home to the North that they were told in Greece by wise and grave men of that country that Queen Zoe herself wished for Harold as her husband, and that this in truth was the cause of her resent- ment, and of his wishing to leave Miklagard, though other reports were spread among the people. For these reasons the king Constantine Monomachus, who ruled the empire jointly with Queen Zoe, ordered Harold to be cast into prison. On his way thither, St. Olaf appeared to him, and promised him protection; and on that same street a chapel has been since erected, which is standing at this day. Here was Harold imprisoned with Halldor and Ulfr his men. The following night there came a noble lady, with two attendants, who let down a cord into the dungeon, and drew up the prisoners. This lady had been before healed by St. Olaf, the king, who revealed to her that she should relieve his brother from captivity. This being done, Harold imme- diately went to the Varan^ianc, who all rose up at his approach and received him with joy. They seized their arms, and went to the chamber where the king slept and put out his eyes. The same night, Harold went, with his companions, to the chamber in which Maria slept, and carried her away by force. They -fterwards proceeded to the place where the galleys of the Varangians were kept, and, seizing two vessels, rowed into the Bosporus (ScBviSir-sund). When they came to the iron chains which are drawn across the sound, Harold ordered all his men who were not employed in rowing to crowd to the stern with their baggage, and when the galleys struck upon the chains, to rush forward to the prow, so as to impel the galleys over the chains. The galley in which Harold embarked was carried quite over on to the other side, but the other vessel struck upon the chains and was lost. Some of her crew perished in the water, but others were saved. In this manner, Harold escaped from Miklagard, and entered the Black Sea, where he set the virgin on shore, with some attendants, to accompany her back to Miklagard, requesting her to tell her cousin. Queen Zoe, how little her power could have availed to prevent his carrying off the virgin, if he had been so minded." The anxiety of Harold was occasioned by the intelligence that his nephew Magnus had ascended the thrones of Norway and Denmark. Proceeding 136 THE HISTOEY OF SGANDIKAVIA [1047-1076 A.B.] through Russia, he married the daughter of Yaroslav; and with her returned to Norway through Sweden. On reaching Sweden, where the fame of his riches had preceded him, he entered into a league with Svend. The objects of this league are not very clearly defined; but we may infer that one of them was to place Harold on the Norwegian, Svend on the Danish throne. The wealth of Harold hired mmierous adventurers; and by the two princes the coasts of Denmark were ravaged. Again Magnus prepared an armament to oppose them; but his surer recourse was policy. To detach the celebrated Varangian chief from the cause of the Dane, he offered him half of the Norwegian kingdom (and also no doubt the eventual succession), on the condition of Harold's allowing in like manner a division of his treasure. The latter eagerly accepted the proposal; he forsook Svend, repaired to Norway,, divided the treasiu-e, the amount of which is described as wonderfully large, and was admitted to a share in the administration. Contrary to the usual experience of rulers so placed in regard to each other, they lived in harmony until the death of Magnus in the following year. By this defection, or rather by this conversion of an ally into an enemy, Svend was compelled to retire. But he had his partisans in Den- mark, and Magnus, at his death, had the generosity to declare him his suc- cessor in that kingdom. To Harold was left the Norwegian throne. Thus the two adventurers became kings, in little more than a year after the arrival of Harold in the North. The surname of Harold the Good sufficiently establishes his character. He was indeed an admira le king and a virtuous man. Much praise is awarded to a code of laws which he compiled; but they no longer exist in their original form. SVEND AND THE NEW DYNASTY (1047-1076 A.D.) As with Harthacnut had ended the ancient male line of Denmark — a line that traced itself to Odin — Svend II may be called the founder of a new dynasty. That dynasty occupied the throne until the extinction of its male line in Valdemar IV, when it was succeeded by the house of Oldenburg. Scarcely was Svend invested with the dignity, when he found an enemy as powerful as Magnus, and less generous, in Harold Hardrada, who claimed the Danish crown. The assertion of this claim led to many years of warfare, ruinous to both kingdoms, but especially to Denmark, the coasts of which were often ravaged. In general the advantage rested with the Norwegian monarch, who, in 1(^, obtained a great victory over the Danish fleet at the mouth of the Nissa. With great difl&culty Svend escaped into Zealand, and began to collect a new armament. Fortunately the mind of Harold was now disposed to peace. Sixteen years of hostilities had brought him little advantage; the fortune of war was dubious; and the Danes, like their king, were averse to a foreign yoke. The two monarchs met, and entered into a treaty, which left affairs just as they had been at the death of Magnus. These were not the only hostilities in which they were engaged. Both undertook predatory expeditions to the English coast; but they could obtain no advantage over the vigilant and intrepid monarch (WiUiam I), who now swayed the sceptre of that kingdom. Svend too had the mortification to see his own coasts (those of Holstein) ravaged by the Wend pirates, who laid both Schleswig and Hamburg in ashes. Before he could reach them they retired. Subsequently he was persuaded to march against the Saxons, then at war with the emperor; but his troops having no inclination to exasperate DENMAEK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMARS 137 [1047-1076 A.D.] a people with whom they had long been on terms of amity, he desisted from the undertaking. Svend showed much favour to the church. He built many places of worship, which he endowed with liberality; and he founded four new bishop- rics: of these two were in Skane, viz. Lund and Dalby, which were subse- quently united; and two in Jutland, viz. Viborg and Borglum. Yet this liberality did not preserve him from quarrelling with it. His chief vice was incontinence. Numerous were his mistresses, and numerous his offspring: thirteen sons are mentioned, of whom five succeeded him; but the number of his daughters was much inferior; two only appear in history. His queen was a Swedish princess within the prohibited degrees of kindred. When Adalbert, archbishop of Bremen, heard of the union, he an^ily condemned it, and by his messengers threatened the king with excommunication if he did not separate from the princess. The king resisted, and even threatened to lay Bremen (the legate's residence) in ashes; but the power of the church was too great even for him to resist, and in the end he dismissed his wife. Svend was a man of strong passions, and of irritable temperament. In a festival which he gave to his chief nobles in the city of Roeskilde, some of the guests, heated by wine, indulged themselves in imprudent though perhaps true remarks on his conduct. The following morning some officious tale- bearers acquainted him with the circumstance; and in the rage of the moment he ordered them to be put to death, though they were then at mass in the cathedral — that very cathedral which had been the scene of his own father's murder. When, on the day following this tragical event, he proceeded to the church, he was met by the bishop, who, elevating the crosier, commanded him to retire, and not to pollute by his presence the house of God — that house which he had already desecrated by blood. His attendants drew their swords, but he forbade them to exercise any degree of violence towards a man who in the discharge of his duty defied even kings. Retiring mournfully to his palace, he assumed the garb of penance, wept and prayed, and lamented his crime during three days. He then presented himself, in the same mean apparel, before the gates of the cathedral. The bishop was in the midst of the service; the Kyrie Eleison had been chaunted, and the Gloria about to commence, when he was informed that the royal penitent was outside the gates. Leaving the altar, he repaired to the spot, raised the suppliant monarch, and greeted him with the kiss of peace. Bringing him into the church, he heard his con- fession, removed the excommunication, and allowed him to join in the service. Soon afterwards, in the same cathedral, the king made a public confession of his crime, asked pardon alike of God and man, was allowed to resume his royal apparel, and solemnly absolved. But he had yet to make satisfaction to the kindred of the deceased in conformity with the law; and to mitigate the canonical penance he presented one of his domains to the church. This prelate was an Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastic, William, whom the archbishop of Bremen had nominated to that dignity, and who had previously been the sec- retary of Canute the Great. During the long period that he had governed the diocese of Roeskilde, he had won the esteem of all men aUke by his talents and his virtues. For the latter he had the reputation of a saint, and for the former that of a wizard. It is no disparagement to the honour of this apostolic churchman that he had previously been the intimate friend of the monarch; nor any to that of Svend, that after this event he honoured this bishop more than he had done before. From this time to his death, Svend practised with much zeal the observ- ances of the Roman Catholic church. By his excessive liberalities he injured 138 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1047-1080 A.I).] his revenues; and by his austerities, perhaps, his health. A faithful portrait is given of him and of his people by one who knew him well, Adam of Bremen.** This ecclesiastic, hearing so much in favour of the royal Dane, proceeded to his court, and, like all other strangers, was graciously received.'' "Svend," says the canon,** " is not only liberal towards foreigners, but well versed in literature; and he directs with much ability the missions which he has estab- lished in Sweden, Norway, and the isles; from his own mouth have I received most of the facts contained in this history." In his reign the pagans of Born- holm were first converted to Christianity by bishop Egin. The image of Frigg, which they had been so long accustomed to venerate, they demolished with contempt. Another proof of their sincerity appeared from their offer of their most valuable effects to the bishop. This, unlike most churchmen of the age, he refused to accept; and advised them to expend it in two noble ways — in the foundation of churches, and the redemption of the Christian captives. "The king," proceeds Adam,<* "has no vice but incontinence." The canon speaks of Denmark as consisting almost wholly of islands. " Of them Zealand is the largest and richest, and its inhabitants are the most war- like." Leidre had been, but Roeskilde was then the capital. Next to Zealand in importance was Fiinen, which was very fertile, but its coasts were exposed to the ravages of the pirates. The capital, Odense, was a large city. To cross from island to island was perilous, not only from the stormy sea that rolled between them but from the pirates. Jutland had a barren soil except on the banks of the rivers, the only parts cultivated: the rest of the country consisted of forests, marshes, and wastes, and was hardly passable. The chief towns lay near the narrow bays on the coast. Sk3,ne, always geographically, now politically included in Sweden, is represented as fertile, as very populous, and full of churches. Nowhere, indeed, had Denmark much lack of these struct- ures; Fiinen, Adam assures us, had 100; Zealand, 150. "Skane is almost an island, and separated from Gothland by large forests and rugged mount- ains. Here is the city of Lund, where the robbers of the deep laid their treasures. These robbers paid tribute to the Danish king, on the condition of being allowed to exercise their vocation against the barbarians." Among the Danes, Adam perceives many other things contrary to justice: he sees little indeed to praise beyond the custom of selling into slavery such women as dishonoured themselves. So proud were the men that they preferred death to stripes; and they marched to the place of execution' not only with an undaimted but with a triumphant air. Tears and groans they held to be unmanly; and they mourned neither for their wives nor for their dearest connections. As Svend left no legitimate offspring, the only claim that could be made was from his numerous bastards. Harold was the eldest; but then, as he was of a quiet, gentle nature, he was not very agreeable to a fierce people. On the other hand, Knud, the next brother, had distinguished himself greatly in the wars against the pagans of Livonia. There was, accordingly, a dispute when the states assembled, most declaring for Harold, but all Skane for Knad; and a civil war must have been the result; but for the bribes of two chiefs, who prevailed on the electors of that province to confirm the choice of Harold. After this decision, Knud refused to remain in Dermiark, and passed the rest of his brother's life in his old occupation. The short reign of Harold (1076-1080) affords no materials for history. Silent, reserved, timid, averse to the shedding of blood, even for judicial delinquencies, he was little esteemed. Yet few periods were more happy than that which witnessed his administration. He made new laws, which have DENMAKK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 139 [1080-1086 A.D.] been praised and condemned. According to Saxo, whose means of informa- tion cannot be disputed, he aboHshed the judicial combat, and substituted purgation by oath — a change which led to frequent perjury. But if the testimony of Elnoth be admissible, he enacted other laws which were long valued by the people — so valued that they made every new monarch swear to observe them.* THE CHURCH UNDER KNUD THE SAINT After the death of Harold (1080) his brother Knud the Saint succeeded him without opposition. Although he possessed many fine qualities, he was beloved neither by the people nor the nobles, and from the very beginning of his reign had difficulties with the inhabitants of HaUand and Skane because they refused to respond to the numerous statute duties he imposed upon them. But he knew how to bring them to obedience by threatening to exclude them, some from the great oak forests where their pigs found food, others from the Sound fishing grounds; for he claimed that the forests and pasturing grounds, the gulfs and straits belonged to the king. Although Christianity had long been established in Denmark, many of the people still practised piracy, especially in isolated localities. A remarkable type of corsair was the pow- erful chief Egil-Ragnarsen of Bornholm, usually called Blod-Egil, because in the heat of battle he quenched his thirst with the blood of the woimded. Knud the Saint, who was now resolved to put an end to this barbarous practice of piracy, had warned EgQ several times; and as the latter was not willing to give up his old habits, the king went to Bornholm, seized Egil, and hanged him. This severity, while just, greatly incensed that portion of the people which was still animated by the spirit of paganism, and could not see anything wrong in piracy — but especially Egil's numerous and powerful friends and relatives became sworn enemies of the king. Knud's efforts tended principally to soften the manners of the Danes and to spread order and a higher civilisa- tion throughout Denmark. He also showed much concern towards foreigners who made homes in the kingdom, and worked zealously to suppress slavery, which was a relic of paganism. The cessation of the piracy, which had provided the country with slaves, paved the way for the abolition of slavery; but this happy result was due above everything else to the influence of Chris- tianity, which taught the equality of men, and the more the Christian spirit filtered down through the people the more it obliterated their degrading heritage of paganism. While Knud was at loggerheads with the people and the chiefs because he found himseK compelled to restrain the ancient liberties of the one and to bring the license of the others within the limits of order, he upheld with all his might the influence of the clergy, and sought in them a support against the other classes. He was himself of a very pious nature, rigidly observing days of abstinence, fasting frequently, and devoting himself to severe exercises of penance; sometimes he even went so far as to undergo flagellation from his chaplains. He gave proof of a royal generosity with regard to the poor, the churches, and the priests, and it was the magnificent cathedral built in his reign that received the greatest marks of this. In the epoch when the church was governed by the energetic Gregory VII, she attained throughout Europe a high degree of power, not only spiritual but temporal as well, before which people and kings were compelled to bow. In Denmark, the clergy had 140 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1080-1086 A.D.] struggled for more than a century and a half before they were even tolerated, but their strength and power increased rapidly when Christianity was univer- sally established, and their pretention to enjoy in the North the same privi- leges as in the rest of Europe seemed to be equally just and natural. In the midst of the license which prevailed during the centuries of barbarism, the people felt 'the need of some protection against arbitrary power and threw themselves into the arms of the church, which upheld justice against force and gave the oppressed a refuge against the persecutions of violence. Through auricular confession the clergy became masters of the conscience, and by excluding recalcitrants from divine service and from the communion they had a means of coercion which was especially efficacious in an age of devotion. Generosity towards the church and respect for the clergy became articles of faith, and were considered the highest mark of piety, even as disobedience to the clerical orders was the greatest sin. It is not, therefore, to be won- dered at that people and kings rivalled one another in generosity towards the church and her religious establishments, and showered on them privileges which brought them at the same time riches and consideration. Thus favoured by the spirit of the age and the force of circumstances, the church, obtained a degree of pre-eminence over the state which worked for good as long as the latter remained in a low state of development, and had power neither to protect civilisation nor maintain the law, but which became harm- ful as soon as the state could stand by itself. Svend Estridsen raised the power of the church upon the foundations laid by Canute the Great, but xmder Knud the Saint the theocracy attained the apogee of its development, it made the clergy the first order of the state by giving bishops the rank of the greatest lords, dukes, and lay princes; it exempted ecclesiastics from the reach of ordinary jurisdiction in religious matters, and under King Niels the privilege was further extended to include every cause, so that in no event could the clergy be cited before a secular tribunal; and even at a later period laymen were amenable to clerical juris- diction in certain pretended ecclesiastical matters, such as adultery, perjury, usury, etc. The ecclesiastics obtained, moreover, the right of "forfeit" for condenmations pronounced within their jurisdiction, a most important source of revenue in an age where the majority of punishments consisted in pecu- niary reparation. Finally Knud tried to introduce the tithe system — one third of the revenue thus obtained to go to the bishop, one third to the parish priest, and the remainder to the maintenance of the church and the needs of public worship; but this experiment failed on account of the open resist- ance the people opposed to so onerous an innovation, and it finally cost the king his life. In the impoverished country of Wendsyssel, north of Limf jord, open rebel- lion broke out and spread quickly over the whole of Jutland. Knud fled to Fiinen, but the insurgents pursued and overtook him at Odense, where he shut himself up in the church of St. Alban with the men who had remained faithful to him. Knud would make no resistance and threw himself in prayer before the altar, but his brothers, Eric and Benedict, defended him with the most splendid bravery. The rebels attacked the sanctuary crying, "Where is Knud the Accursed? Let him show himself. Where is he hiding? He has betrayed the Danes long enough, and it must cease." Others exclaimed in meting out blows to the king's defenders, "Take this for my cow. King Knud; take this for my ox; take this for my horse." They finally broke into the sanctuary. Knud the Saint was assassinated before the altar, DENMAEK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMARS 141 [1086-1095 A.D.] Benedict perished in the fight, but Eric fought his way out through the assailants (1086). Knud the Saint is the sole Danish king to meet death in a general uprising. He was the victim of resistance to a new order of things that was beginning to creep into Denmark, but which he attempted to make prevail with too much violence and thoughtless zeal. After Knud's death, an embassy was sent to Flanders to bring back Olaf [the brother of Knud, whom the latter had sent thither in chains as a punishment for exciting a rebellion against him] but he was not set at liberty until his brother Niels was sent as a hostage in pledge for 10,000 silver marks of ransom, which could not be furnished just at the moment. Olaf reigned nine years, but his reign is only noteworthjr for a great famine, whence came his surname of "Hunger." Although scarcity and high prices prevailed over all Europe at the time, the clergy did not fail to represent the calamity as a divine punishment for the murder of Saint Knud. The same rumours of miracles at his tomb began to be circulated, but it took a long time to make the people believe in the sanctity of this detested king. THE GUILDS The canonisation of Saint Knud had important consequences in giving rise to the foundation of brotherhoods or guilds, founded in his honour and placed under his protection. They were institutions whose object was mutual assistance in misery and in danger, common defence, and the main- tenance of order and morality in an age of license. These brotherhoods were composed of men and women, and governed by elders (oldermsend) accord- ing to the Skraa or particular statutes which the members engaged them- selves by oath to observe; and these laws had without any doubt thear origin in the frequent social reunions or guilds of antiq[uity. That explains the identity of the name, as well as the custom, practised also by the mem- bers of the later guilds, of coming together for purposes of banqueting and amusement. ■ But it was only through the influence of Christianity that the guilds assumed their special character of half religious and half worldly associations. The oldest guilds existed merely for religious purposes — such as saying prayers and holding services, subscribing donations to churches and mon- asteries, helping the poor and the pilgrims, or nursing the sick. But on account of the necessities and requirements of the age, brotherhoods were soon formed which held in view also the material welfare and safety of their members. Although of a more worldly nature, these societies, nevertheless, always kept their religious character, and continued to hold relations with the church; they were under the protection of a saint whose name they took; at the death of a brother the members kept vigil, that is to say they passed the night in singing hymns and saying prayers; masses were said for the repose of the dead man's soul; and the members were constantly making offerings, especially tapers, to the church dedicated to the patron saint of the brotherhood. Guilds may have been introduced into Denmark at the time of the country's union with England — one of the oldest homes of these associations; but it is also quite possible that they arose spontaneously from circumstances and necessities similar to those which developed the guilds elsewhere: in any case, it cannot be shown with certainty that guilds existed in Denmark before the canonisation of Saict Knud. The secular guilds instituted on this occasion — and which are called 142 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1100-1375 A.D.] royal because they were dedicated to Saint Knud, and later to Duke Knud Lavard and King Eric Plovpenning, who, without being canonised was hon- oured in Denmark as one of the blessed — soon became famous and spread rapidly. Their distinguishing feature was the protection their members promised one to the others. When a brother was killed by a non-member it became the members' duty to force the murderer to pay the price of blood; and if he refused he became the object of the brotherhood's vengeance, against which he could preserve neither power nor rank : and so inevitable was this that even a king (Niels) was unable to escape it. The guild exercised exten- sive jurisdiction over its members, and differences which arose among the latter were settled by its own tribunal. When, on the contrary, a member was dragged by a non-member into the ordinary courts, his brothers were bound to appear with him, and to sustain him with their oath and their testimony, which latter was so respected that the word of one was worth that of three others. The danger which might thus result to justice in general .was in part attenuated by the fact that the brotherhoods admitted none but persons of good character, and expelled all who were guilty of dishonourable actions. By these regulations, and by the discipline and order which ruled in the assemblies, the guilds exercised in that barbaric age a beneficial influence, and served as one of the pillars of morality as long as they themselves retained their primitive purity. While not enjoying quite the same privileges as the royal ones, the petty guilds were nevertheless extremely ifnportant. They were composed of artisans and merchants, who met at certain times in a specified place to eat, drink, and consider their common interests. Each member had to pay a share of the expense incurred in the festivals, and as their cost was somewhat high, only the most affluent and prominent burghers could belong to them. Although these petty guilds did not have so extended a jurisdiction as the royal ones, yet the majority of disputes concerning trade and industry were judged by the tribunal of the corporation before being taken into the ordi- nary courts. Those guilds known as the Calendars, because their members met on the first day of every month (Kalends), were composed for the most part of priests, and other ecclesiastics, and only concerned themselves with religious questions. The character and organisation of the guilds will become still clearer if we cite the most important articles of their rules. " If a member causes the death of one of his fellow members, he shall pay 40 marks to his victim's heirs, or be excluded from the brotherhood as a felon. If on the other hand a member of the guild kill a non-member, his brethren, if they be present, shall aid in saving their fellow's life; if it happen on the sea they shall pro- cure him a ship with oars, an instrument for baling, a steel and flint, and an axe; after that he must defend himself as he can. If he has need of a horse they shall accompany him to the pasture grounds and procure for him free a horse for one day and one night. Members who have witnessed the killing of a fellow without going to his defence are expelled from the guild as felons. " If a member lose his money a collection shall be taken for his benefit at the next banquet, and each of his confrhes shall give what he thinks is right. Each member shall give three pieces of money to the brother whose house has been burned, or whose ship has been wrecked, or who is about to set out on a pilgrimage. Members shall not try to do each other harm by act or conduct whether in competition or any other fashion. Members shall watch two by two at the bedside of a sick comrade who has need of their DENMAEK UNDEK THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 143 [1100-1375 A.D.] aid, and shall continue to do so until he is well. At a member's death four comrades shall guard the corpse, and all share the funeral expenses, accom- pany the body and bear it to the tomb." There are numberless other regulations with the object of preventing insults, quarrels, drunkenness, and other unpleasantnesses that would dis- turb the meetings. The oldest guilds mentioned are those of Odense, Schleswig, Ribe, Flensburg, Malmo, Lund, and Skanor; but they were soon to be found in every town of the kingdom. Their relation with the church, and the need of protection against the rampant license and immorality, facilitated their extension. When social order was established and laws were better respected, the guilds became not only superfluous but positively harmful, in their quality of little states within the state. To which it must be added that they slowly degenerated and became centres of quarrels, drunkenness, debauchery, and all sorts of violence — the very things which it had originally been their object to prevent. And so the kings were com- pelled gradually to reduce and suppress them; Valdemar Atterdag and his daughter Margaret worked to this end at the close of the fourteenth cen- tury, and their successors pursued the same aim. The Reformation, which abolished the cult of saints and masses for the dead, accomplished the com- plete dissolution of the guilds, which transformed themselves into simple corporations, armourers' companies, fire insurance companies, etc. THE RISE OF THE BOURGEOISIE The guilds were a powerful element in the development of the burgher class, in that they taught the burghers self-respect, and awoke them to a con- sciousness of their own strength, and showed them how to unite in common efforts to defend their rights. Although there had been since ancient times, various towns, not without importance, yet their number was not great, and the origin of the majority of Danish towns may be assigned to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Commerce and the trades made considerable pro- gress; new sources of industry were opened up and the population of the towns began to be differentiated more and more from that of the country, by its occupations, its manner of life, and its organisation. The majority of the towns situated on the sea or inland waters took their origin from fortresses, built here and there on the coast for protection against pirates and as shelters during the winter to the ships drawn up on the sands. Merchants and fish- ermen, artisans and labourers, established themselves in proximity to these secure places, where there was, besides, a chance of profit; others were con- stantly coming in, until a whole town was formed whose origin is revealed by the termination "borg" like Aalborg, Vordingborg, Faaborg, etc., and their inhabitants were called borgere (burghers). A sufficiently large number of towns owe their origin to the foundation of monasteries and other religious institutions. The construction of these edifices drew thither a crowd of masons, car- penters, and smiths, who established themselves in the neighbourhood with their families; where they were soon joined by others in the hope of sharing in the work and the profit always to be found around the rich religious establishments. In this manner were born the towns of Nestved, Soro, Prsesto, Maribo, Manager, Nykjobing, on the island of Mors, and several others. A safe harbour, good fishing grounds, and a situation favourable for commerce and navigation were sure to lead to the foundation of towns, which accordingly bore the termination hjobing (place for trad^), like Ring- 144 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1104-1123 i..D.] kjobing, Stubbekjobing, Rudkjobing, Kjobenhavn (Copenhagen); or the ending or when they were situated on a point of land, like Korsor, Hel- singor (Elsinore), Skanor, etc. The artisans and merchants who first set- tled these towns were those engaged in preparing and selling the necessaries of life — as bakers, brewers, butchers, inn-keepers, shoe-makers, tanners, smiths, masons, carpenters, etc. In the beginning the towns had the same tribunals as the surroundng country; but as the difference grew between villages and towns the latter obtained special tribunals, their own legislation, and very liberal charters under elective magistrates. But while these changes had begun to take place in this age they were not fully brought about until the following, when the burghers took their place for the first time among the orders of the state. CHURCH AND STATE The creation of a special metropolitan see in the North, so long meditated and planned, was finally realised. An apostolic legate came on this occasion to Denmark, and chose for the residence of the future archbishop the city of Lund, already the seat of an important diocese, and well situated to be the ecclesiastical metropolis of the three northern kingdoms. The bishop of Lund, Adser, nephew of Queen Bothilde, wife of Eric Eiegod, was the first called to that office (1104). By the institution of a national archbishopric the kings no longer had the inconvenience of dealing with a foreign prelate, often imperious and not readily to be conciUated; but they did not gain much by the change, for the archbishops of Lund meddled much more with the affairs of the state than the archbishops of Hamburg had been able to do, and as natives they had family relations with the powerful men of the land, which still further increased their influence. The state then had two heads, one civil and the other religious, whose opposing interests occasioned perpetual strife. The archbishops, thanks to their great revenue, important domains, and the influence they enjoyed as primates of the North, were soon in a position to defy the king and shake his throne with rebellion and civil war. The establishment of the arch- diocese of Lund gave the clergy a point of support, heretofore lacking, which permitted them henceforth to take a firmer attitude towards the state. The archbishop of Lund's jurisdiction extended over the churches of Nor- way and Sweden; but under Eskil, Adser's successor, each of these two kingdoms recovered its own archbishop; while the archbishops of Lund received, with the title of apostolic legate and primate of Sweden, a sort of supremacy over the whole northern clergy. This was rather an honorary than a real distinction, for the Norwegian and Swedish archbishops watched jealously over their rights and opposed every encroachment of the Danish primate. When the North had been provided with a special ecclesiastical chief, the sovereign pontiff thought to complete the separation of church and state by introducing the celibacy of the priesthood, which for nearly half a century had existed in the majority of European countries. As a result of the first Lateran council (1123) the Danish priests were enjoined to repudiate their wives and to live a cehbate life; but it was a long time before the pre- scription was observed. Archbishop Eskil was himself married, and the priests were sustained by the people in their resistance to the new regulation. In vain did the ener- getic archbishop Absalon work for the suppression of marriage in the priest- hood; the people, already irritated by the tithes and other vexatious bur- DBNMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 146 11095-1222 A.D.] •dens, showed their opposition by a revolt in Skane, where the peasants cried, " Down with the bishop. We wiU keep our priests, but only on con- dition that they are married." Denmark, however, could not escape a regulation so vigorously applied throughout the whole CathoUc world, and after more than a cen- tury's struggle the Danish clergy were ■compelled to renounce their obstinate resist- ance. The apostolic nun- cio,Gregory,who came to Denmark in 1222, caused the marriage of priests to be once more forbidden in the council of Schleswig, and pronounced civil punishments for of- fenders. Even some priests in Jutland, who had had the cour- age to appeal to a gen- eral council as higher than the pope, could do nothing further. It was thus that the celibacy of the clergy was introduced little by little, but not with- out great detriment to their morals, for the ministers of religion henceforth kept con- cubines and scandal- ised their flocks by most irregular lives. The church did not suppress this notorious evil, but shut her eyes to vice under a mask. In forbidding marriage to the priests, she broke the last link that held them to their fellow citizens, and ranged herself opposite the 'state as a separate and often hostile society.« Hamba Church, Gotland ( Built in the twelfth century ) ERIC III, NIELS, ERIC IV, AND ERIC THE LAMB Eric III, called Eiegod or the Ever-good, was the fourth son of Svend II, and from the jarldom of Jutland was raised by the estates to the throne of that kingdom [on the death of Olaf Hunger, 1095]. As the next harvest was one of abundance, the people were again contented, and he obtained credit for the abundance with the same injustice as his brother had been condemned for the famine. More active than his predecessor, he administered the laws Tvith vigour; and he destroyed Jomsburg, the stronghold of the pirates, who had again reared their heads during the preceding reign. To keep them in continued subjection, he erected fortresses in their country, and garrisoned H. W. — vol,. XVI. li 146 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [110a-1134A.D.J them well. The most remarkable event of this monarch's reign is the erec- tion of Lund into an archbishopric. The cause of a pilgrimage which Eric undertook in 1103, and from which he was destined never to return, is not well known; but it was probably to expiate a homicidal act which he had perpetrated in a fit of anger or of drunkenness. Whatever the case, he resolved to visit the Holy Land, and that too in opposition to the prayers and tears of his people, by whom he was cherished. Passing through Rome, where he obtained the erection of Lund into a metropoUtan see, he repaired to Constantinople. By Alexius Comnenus he was received with much distinction; though for some time he was narrowly watched, lest, with all his piety, he should place himself at the head of the Varangian guard, and become troublesome to his host. His manners soon dispelled this diffidence, and he was splendidly entertained. Being supplied not only with provisions and vessels but with a liberal store of gold, he sailed for Palestine; but, landing in the isle of Cyprus, he fell a victim to a pestilential disease. After Eric's death there was an interregnum of two years. He had left his son Harold governor of the realm during his absence; but the conduct of that prince was so unpopular that when the states assembled they excluded him and his brothers, and resolved to choose one of his uncles. The eldest, named Svend, died before he could be elected. Ubbo, the next prince, refused the dignity, which then descended to Niels, the next in age. The long reign of this monarch (1105-1134) was one of calamities, occa- sioned chiefly by his jealousy of his nephew Knud [called Lavard, that is, lord], second son of the late king. Henry king of the Abodriti, a Wend people who dwelt on the Baltic coast from Mecklenburg to Pomerania, was nearly connected with the royal house of Denmark, his mother being Sigritha, daughter of Svend II. As the Abodriti had been subdued by at least two Danish kings, and forced to embrace Christianity, they were regarded in the light of vassals. But Henry, more powerful than any of his predecessors, since he had reduced other Wend tribes to his yoke, would be no vassal to Denmark, though he was certainly one to Germany. He first demanded his mother's dowry, which he asserted had never been paid; and, when it was refused, invaded the southern part of Jutland. Niels marched against him, and was defeated. To arrest the career of the invader was reserved for Knud, who had been invested by his father with the ducal fief of Schleswig [then known as South Jutland]. This prince not only cleared the duchy of its invaders, but car- ried the war into the country of the Abodriti. Henry now sued for peace, and was thenceforth the friend of his nephew. Knud had saved Denmark from many evils; and his conduct now showed that he was no less excellent a governor than he had been a general. He exterminated the banditti, restored the empire of the laws, and caused the arts of life to flourish. His reputation gave much umbrage to the king; nor was that feeling diminished when, after the death of Henry, he was presented by the emperor Lothair with the vacant regal fief. With this augmented power he maintained tran- quillity the more easily, not in his ducal fief only but in the whole of Den- mark. His eldest brother Harold, whose vices had excluded him from the throne, made many hostile irruptions into Jutland; but Eric, his next brother, was no less ready than he to protect that kingdom. The contrast between the conduct of Niels and of Knud made a deep impression on the Danes. On two of them, the king and his son, it was no DENMARK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMARS 147 [1134-1137 A.D.] less painful than it was deep. To hasten Knud's destruction was the object of both. The first attempt was to accuse him of some crime in the assembly of the estates; but he defended himself so powerfully that he was unanimously absolved. Disappointed in this aim, Magnus requested an interview with Knud, under the pretext of settling all differences amicably; and, while unsus- picious of danger, assassinated him. All Denmark was in instant commo- tion. The kindred of the victim hastened to the meeting of the estates, and displaying his bloody garments called for vengeance on the murderers. To escape the popular indignation, Magnus fled into Sweden; but Niels, who relied on the support of a party, endeavoured to brave the storm. He was, however, solemnly deposed, and Eric, the brother of Knud, elected in his stead. But he refused to comply with the decree. He collected troops, and took the field against his rival, who exhibited no less activity in his own behalf. In the civil war which followed the bishops took part, and fought like the temporal nobles. Knud had been the vassal of Lothair, and had demanded the assistance of the empire; and that monarch collecting a small army, marched into Jutland to co-operate with Eric in avenging the death of Knud. Seeing that the junction of the emperor and Eric must be fatal to his cause, Niels withdrew the former from the alliance by the offer of a large sum of money, and by consenting to hold Denmark as a fief of the empire. Lothair then returned, leaving the fortune of war to decide between the two kings. The retreat of the Germans was the signal for renewed and more fierce hostilities between the rivals. With his usual perversity Harold forsook the cause of his brother Eric, to fight for Niels; and Magnus, who had powerful armies in Sweden, brought reinforcements to the war. Success was varied: on the deep Magnus was defeated; on the land, Eric. But some acts of more than usual barbarity perpetrated by Niels and Harold at Roeskilde, diminished the number of their supporters. Still they were enabled to make another stand on the coast near the gulf of Fodvig in Skane. Victory declared for Eric: Magnus fell in the battle; and Nieb with much diflJculty escaped into Jutland. Among the slain were five bishops and sixty priests. As Magnus was dead, Niels declared Harold, the brother of Eric, his suc- cessor — a declaration which did no good to his own cause. To escape the pursuit of his rival, he threw himself into Schleswig, which was better fortified than any city in the North. But this was an imprudent act: in that city the memory of Knud was idolised; and there he was massacred by some members of a fraternity of which the deceased prince had been the head (1135). Thus fell a monarch who in the early part of his reign had afforded his subjects reason to hope that he would prove a blessing to the realm, but whose subsequent conduct had covered him with universal odium. In the reign of Eric IV, surnamed Emun, who on the death of his rival succeeded to the government of the whole kingdom, there is little for his- tory. One of his first exploits was to put to death his brother Harold, and eleven sons of that prince. There was a twelfth, Olaf, who escaped into Sweden, and became in the sequel king of Denmark. He next pursued the Wend pirates into their stronghold of Arkona, which he took and destroyed. On his return, he applied himself with zeal to the administration of justice; and was assassinated by a Jutland chief, whose father or brother he had judicially condemned to death. This tragedy took place in the midst not merely of his court but of his people, while presiding over an assembly of the Jutland states (1137). There were candidates for the crown — (1) Knud the son of Magnus, and 148 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDIKAVIA [1137-1147 A.D.] consequently grandson of Niels; (2) Svend, a natural son of Eric IV; (3) Valdemar, the son of Knud kmg of the Abodriti, who had been murdered by- Magnus, and who in 1170 was canonised, like the martyr of that name who had ruled over Denmark. The bias of the assembly was evidently in favour of Valdemar; but as both he and the two other candidates were of tender years, the choice fell on Eric, called the Lamb, whose mother was a daughter of Eric Eiegod. The surname of this king will sufficiently explain his character. He was indeed one of the most pacific of men. Yet he was compelled to fight for his crown; for Olaf, the only son of Harold that had escaped the bloody pro- scriptions of Eric Emun, appeared at the head of a considerable force and claimed it. That, if hereditary right only was to be consulted, the claim was a valid one is certain, for he was the only representative of his father, the eldest son of Eric Eiegod. But the Danish throne was elective; and though the claim was confined to one family, little regard was paid to primogeniture. After many alternations of fortune, Olaf was vanquished and slain (1143). But Eric himself was conquered by the Wend pirates of the Baltic, who, though so frequently humbled (if any credit is to be placed in the national historians), soon re-appeared in numbers formidable enough to alarm the kingdom. This check and the consequent decline of his reputation in the eyes of a warlike people induced him soon afterwards to resign the crown, and to profess as monk in the cloister of Odense. On the retirement of Eric the Lamb (1147), the three princes who had before been rejected on account of their youth were again candidates. Valdemar being deemed still too young, the choice was restricted to the other two. Unfortunately for the interests of order both were elected — Svend by the Landsthing of Skane and Zealand, Knud by the people of Jutland. THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM That the division of the sovereignty would inevitably lead to civil war might have been foreseen by the blindest. It was a long and a bloody one, which, though suspended for a time through the efforts of the pope, who wished all Christendom to arm against the infidels, burst out with renewed fury. Adser, archbishop of Lund, led the Danish host against the pagans of the Baltic; but the expedition was inglorious, and the remnant which returned from it embraced one of the two parties. The fortunes of .both varied; but when Valdemar, the favourite of the nation, joined Svend, the advantage was on the side of that king, who gained at least three battles over his rival. At one time Knud was driven from the realm, and forced to seek shelter at the court of the emperor Conrad III. But tranquillity was not the result of his retirement. The Wend pirates, not satisfied with having defeated the archbishop, and incited by the agitated state of the public mind, ravaged the coasts both of Jutland and of the isles. Finding their king and nobles unable to protect them, the people entered into armed fra- ternities, which were consecrated by religion. They not only defended their own coasts, but equipped vessels to cruise in the Baltic, and to surprise such of the pagan ships as they might find detached from the rest. In a few years twenty-two of these vessels took above eighty of the enemy's. Still these were partial, isolated effects, which had Uttle influence over the gen- eral mass of misery. When Knud returned as the vassal of the empire, the civil war again raged. Frederick Barbarossa, as the lord paramount, now DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 149 [1147-1157 A.D.] interfered, and meeting the two parties, decreed that while the title of king of Denmark should be left to the victorious Svend, Knud should reign over Zealand as a fief of the Danish crown. This award satisfied neither party, and least of all the nation, which was indignant with both of them for sac- rificing its independence to the emperor. Svend refused to cede Zealand to his rival; and the civil war was about to recommence, when Valdemar, to whose valour Svend owed everything, prevailed on the one to give and the other to accept, in lieu of that island, certain domains in Jutland and Skane. Peace therefore was procured for the moment; but it was a hollow peace, which the accident of an hour might break. The advantage which Svend had gained by the aid of Valdemar he lost by his misconduct. He adopted the German costume; imitated the Ger- man manners; expressed much contempt for everything Danish as in the highest degree barbarous; seldom appeared at the national Thing; restored the old judicial ordeal of duel; became luxurious; and levied high contribu- tions on his people. A disastrous expedition into Sweden made him despised as well as hated; and on his return into Skane, he was assailed by the yellings of the infuriated populace. Something worse than this result would have been experienced by him, had not a chief, named Tycho, one of the most influential in the province, rescued him from his position. When at liberty, he allowed his licentious followers to plunder the inhabi- tants. Many he put to death; and among them was the brave man who had saved him from their fury. This atrocious ingratitude lost him the favour of Valdemar, who passed over to the side of Knud, and cemented the alliance by marrying the sister of that prince. It was now the object of Svend to seize both princes, either openly or by stratagem; but they were on their guard; and each was always surrounded by armed attendants. At length he was vanquished, and forced to seek a temporary asylum in Saxony. But he obtained succour from the duke of that province, and from the archbishop of Bremen, who could never forgive the Danes for forcing the abolition of his jurisdiction over the North, and allied himself with the Wend pirates, who were always ready to join any party that offered them plunder. At the head of these forces he returned, and compelled the people to receive him as their king. Again Valdemar and Knud marched against him; but the former, pitying the sufferings of the people, offered his mediation, and tranquillity was for the moment re-established. The chief condition of this treaty was that the kingdom should be divided into three sovereignties; that Svend should have Skane, Knud the isles, and Valdemar Jutland, in addition to his duchy of Schleswig. The whole people abandoned them- selves to joy, and Svend, pretending to join in it, gave a magnificent enter- tainment to his brother kings in the castle of Roeskilde. But at that very festival he ordered both to be assassinated. Knud fell; but Valdemar, who defended himself courageously, escaped into Jutland. The reputation of Valdemar, and above all his words, easily induced the people to espouse his cause. Pursued by his active enemy, he was con- strained to fight before his preparations were completed. The result, how- ever, was indecisive. In a subsequent and more general action, near Viborg, Svend was defeated and compelled to flee. He was eagerly pursued by the victors, who overtook him in a morass, from which the weight of his armour prevented him from emerging; and he was immediately beheaded. Never did the Danes suffer more than under this unworthy prince. Enfeebled at home, degraded abroad, without government or security for either person or substance, they were sunk even in their own estimation. But for these 150 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDINAVIA [1157-1168 A.D.I disasters they could only blame themselves; they were the inevitable results of their own folly in dividing the monarchy.^ ' VALDEMAR (I) THE GREAT SUBDUES RUGEN When peace was restored in the interior of the kingdom, Valdemar, who had already shown evidence of a generous and lofty soul, strove to give it the security and glory it had formerly enjoyed. The Wends were always its cruellest foes. These barbarians never ceased making irruptions into Jut- land, where, in some of the Danish isles, and sometimes in several places at once when not opposed with prompt resistance, they left horrible traces of their rage. This gave another reason for attacking these undisciplined people, whom Valdemar regarded, not unjustly, as rebellious subjects over whom he could reassume the authority which &iud Lavard, his father, had exercised as their king. Moreover the desire to assemble them again under the stand- ard of the faith made of this expedition a holy enterprise and one agreeable to the clergy, and this motive filled with fresh ardour all those who were destined to take part in it. Absalon was one of the leaders in whom Valde- mar had the most confidence. He came of an illustrious Danish family and united bravery with prudence, wisdom and fidelity with ambition and a passion for arms. The see of Roeskilde being vacant in the time of which we speak, and the clergy and people not being able to agree on the choice of a prelate, two factions were formed which nearly came to blows, and which the king had some trouble in appeasing. Then, without having in any way touched on the liberty of the voters, he had the pleasure of seeing his favour- ite, Absalon, elected, who while he was invested with this dignity was not less zealous in peace than in war. The Wends of Riigen, knowing the king to be occupied in Norway, had recommenced their incursions, and driven away the Danes, for whom they bore a hatred inspired by long wars, customs, and a different language and religion. Always sure of finding in Arkona, which they regarded as impreg- nable, a retreat where they with their plunder could brave the conqueror's anger, they abandoned to him without regret the badly cultivated fields, hoping, not without reason, to glean richer harvests in those of their enemies. Valdemar resolved to make every effort to demolish this fortress, and with it the last support of such obstinate ferocity. He prepared a formidable force, to which Duke Henry the Lion, Pribislaw who had become his vassal and prince of the Abodriti, Kasimir and Bogislaw, dukes of Pomerania, joined bodies of their troops. Having made a descent on the isle of Riigen, he marched without stopping as far as Arkona, which he immediately invested. Arkona, of which to-day only traces remain, was then the most considerable town of all Wendland. It was situated at the northern extrem- ity of the isle of Riigen on a very protruding cape, and was defended on the east, south, and north by high and steep rocks. The western side was guarded by an extremely strong and high rampart. Christianity had been preached to the people of Riigen long before. The monks of Corvei had even made several conversions there under Ludwig the German, and built a church in honour of St. Wit their patron. But as these people were the most ferocious and unconquerable of all the Slavs, they did not long suffer the Christian yoke. The missionaries were driven away, and there remained no trace of their work, save worship rendered to St. Wit, of whom these barbarians made an idol whom they soon adored under the name of Swanto-Wit as the supreme deity. Thus it is dangerous, DENMAEK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 151 11168 A.D.] justly says a learned ecclesiastic, to preach the worship of saints before teaching the knowledge of the true God. This idol had its chief temple in Arkona, a temple which was as remark- able for its size as for its statue of the pretended divinity. The gigantic idol was topped by four heads; its right hand held a horn which the high priest filled with wine every year; from the more or less quick evaporation of this, the fertility of the season was foretold. The other hand held a bow. Divers offerings were at its feet. Each year after harvest people hastened from every quarter to offer sacrifices, but nothing was more acceptable than a Christian. This festival was held every year. The priest who presided was more respected than even the princes. He interpreted the oracles and the decrees of the god, who gave through him most absolute orders. He alone had the right of entering into the enclosure where the idol dwelt. He dared not breathe in this sanctuary, and for fear an impure breath should offend a present divinity, he went outside to draw breath each time he had need. On the festive day, all the people being assembled before the temple door, he took the horn from the idol's hand and examined it attentively. If he found the wine had evaporated much he threatened an approaching drought and advised them to store their grain. If the contrary, he permitted them to sell superfluous stores. Several other auguries of this kind prolonged a ceremony which was ended by an exhortation from the priest to lavish sacri- fices on the god. The assembly ended in feasts and wild debauchery, these being regarded as proofs of zeal for the idol. This temple contained great riches, from tribute levied by the cunning of priests over the credulity of the people. All the nations of Wends scattered on the southern coasts had to make annual offerings. Some sent the spoils of their enemies, others the third part of the booty taken in their sea voy- ages. Princes sent presents to gain favourable answers from the god when they questioned him concerning the future, or when they formed some enter- prise which needed his help. Three hundred military horsemen were spe- cially dedicated to him and only plundered on his behalf. The sovereign pontiff also kept a white horse which he alone might approach, and on which the god rode when he went forth to combat enemies to the faith. Often this horse might be seen early in the morning covered with sweat caused by night rides. Favourable predictions were also drawn from the manner in which the animal ran. Neighbouring countries were filled with reports of such great marvels that the people of Riigen came to be regarded as the happiest and most formidable of all the Slav nations. In reaUty, this people — animated and emboldened by the situation of their isle, by the enthusiasm inspired by the presence of the Swanto-Wit, by the riches they had collected on their journeys, by those sent from nations tributary to the pretended divinity, and by those moreover drawn from the abundant herring fishery on their coasts — was, as one might say, the root and trunk of the pagan Slav leagues, and as long as this trunk rested whole it was in vain that at great expense certain branches, always ready to give forth fresh shoots, were lopped off. Thus all eyes were turned on Valdemar, awaiting with impatience the success of an enterprise wherein two nations and two religions combatted for their greatest interest. The Danes, animated by such powerful motives and by the presence of their king, attacked Arkona with the greatest valour, building battering rams to demolish the rampart. They lodged themselves in several advantageous posts and burned the principal tower. The fire, which, spread by degrees to the combustibles which entered into the compo- 152 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1168-1177 A.D.J sition of these ancient ramparts, seconded the efforts made by the Danes to overthrow them. At last the besieged, tired of warring against iron and fire, decided to capitulate. The king, who could flatter himself with the knowledge of being able to take the town by assault, and whose soldiers,, greedy for rich plunder, besought him to sack it, yet yielded to the remon- strances of Bishop Absalon and Archbishop Eskil, who with a moderation: very rare in a religious war advised him not to heed the plea of his soldiers, but to avoid bloodshed, and not reduce the besieged to despair. It was then agreed that the people of Riigen should deliver to the king the idol, Swan to- Wit, with all treasure in the temple; that all Christian slaves should be set at liberty without ransom; and that they should, for the future, all embrace and profess the Christian religion. All land assigned for the main- tenance of their priests should be given to the church. Service in the Dan- ish army when necessity arose was also demanded, and an annual tribute. The hostages who were exacted as surety for the fulfilment of promises having been delivered, Esbern and Sunon, two prominent officers in the army, were ordered to go and overthrow the idol Swanto-Wit. They were obliged to knock down the colossus with precaution, for fear its fall should cause some accident, and give the people of Riigen grounds for saying that it avenged itself in perishing. In reality, the pagans had gathered in crowds to witness the sight, hoping to behold punishment of such sacrilege. But when the idol had fallen, and hurt no one, and they saw pieces of it quietly cut into firewood amid cheers from the Danes, the greater part saw their own simplicity and conceived more respect for the Divinity of their con- querors than for their own. The temple, as well as the idol, was burned, after the treasure had been removed to a safe place. From Arkona Bishop Absalon, who directed the war under the king's orders, went to receive the submission of six thousand of the people of Riigen who composed the garrison of another fortress, named K^arentz. He had burned three temples dedicated to three colossal and monstrous statues of other pretended gods tutelary of the nation. The ease with which these gods allowed themselves to be reduced to cinders pre pared the minds of their worshippers to embrace the new religion whicL Absalon was authorised in one of the articles of capitulation to offer them. He substituted churches for their temples, in the country as in the towns, to the number of twelve, after which he took back hostages and seven large coffers full of money to the king. After having subdued and pacified the people, and after the Riigen princes, Tetistas and Jarimar, had solemnly acknowledged themselves tribu- taries to the Danish crown, Valdemar, glorious and content, recrossed the sea with his army. Absalon, whom the cares of war could not distract from those of the episcopate, sent soon after to Riigen zealous priests to complete by persuasion conversions begun by force. Prince Jarimar, who was really converted, heartily seconded the efforts of these missionaries. Absalon did not neglect for this the interests of the see he occupied. Valdemar caused the conquests the church had made by arms to be made known to Pope Alex- ander III. Alexander loaded him with praise, and in the same bull ordered,, in conformity with Absalon's desires, that the isle of Riigen should thence- forth form part of the diocese of Roeskilde. Other letters of the same pontiff, accorded two years after in answer to the insistence of the king, granted the canonisation of Knud. This was celebrated at Ringsted with great pomp, in presence of an infinite number of Danish prelates and strangers and other spectators. The inhabitants of Zealand had conceived such esteem for DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDBMAES 155 [1177-1180 A.D.J Knud that, not having been able as they desired to have him for an earthly king, they would thenceforth take him for patron saint in heaven. ABSALON, AND THE SKANIANS A short time after, Archbishop Eskil resolved to end his days in retirement, renouncing those dignities which seemed as heavy in old age as they had been worthy of envy before he had attained them. Vainly they tried to turn him from his object. He had vowed on the hand of the famous St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, who had great love for him, as may be seen in his letters. In his quality as legate, Eskil had the right of naming his suc- cessor. But for fear of depriving the church of rights which he himself had defended with so much zeal, he remitted his power to the assembly, which ordinarily made the election. Then the king, speaking in the name of this assembly, nominated Absalon bishop of Roeskilde, his choice being approved by general acclamations. But whether, as Absalon declared, he found the burden too heavy, or whether he secretly desired to become primate and archbishop, without ceasing to be bishop of Roeskilde, it is known that he persisted in refusing the offered dignity. The assembly and the king being equally obstinate on their side in refusing to make another choice, this seeming conflict of inter- ests and wills had every promise of ending in a serious quarrel. Saxo even relates that certain men trying forcibly to seat Absalon on the archiepiscopal chair met with such resistance that several were thrown down. At last it was agreed to send an account of this singular difference to the pope for decision, and to that end deputies from either side were despatched. Doubt- less this was just what Absalon wished. Alexander III crowned Absalon's secret satisfaction by the verdict given. He was permitted by the legate sent into Denmark to retain his bishopric and was threatened with excom- munication if he refused the archbishopric of Lund. After this threat resistance would have been a crime, and nothing remained but to make a virtue of docility. Absalon then submitted and undertook his part in uniting in his person the two highest ecclesiastical dignities of the kingdom, with the offices of generalissimo, admiral, first minister, and senator. The revolt of the Skanians was an event more remarkable when one sees what motives influenced the inhabitants of this province. They wished per- mission for their priests to marry, and pretended that their ministry was sufficient without the service of bishops. It might have been thought that these priests were the secret authors of the rebellion, if the Skanians had not at the same time refused to pay the ecclesiastical tenth and exacted that thenceforth only governors of their country should be sent to them. In spite of his eloquence, his worth, and his power, Absalon could not stay the progress of this outbreak. He was even constrained to take refuge in Zealand; and, far from the threats of the king having any effect, the rebels were so irritated by them that they resolved to pay no more taxes, and forced the priests to take wives. Valdemar, seeing the danger of suffering such disorders any longer, went to Skane, followed by Absalon and a small army. He was received by a deputation of the principal men of the province, who promised to return to obedience if the king would recall Absalon and the foreign officials to whom the country had been given in charge. As this good prince always inclined to moderation, he obliged Absalon to retire again to Zealand and then followed him. In the hope that this condescension would satisfy the 164 THE HISTOKY OP SCANDINAVIA [1181 A.D.] malcontents, the king even consented to examine their grievances against his minister, conjointly with deputies they might name. But these deputies, gained over or intimidated, subscribed to everything in Zealand, and retracted everything in Skane. Revolt broke out with renewed force and everyone flew to arms, while the archbishop on his side did not spare his diocesans his ecclesiastical thunders, and Valdemar raised an army capable of dealing even more effectual blows. The king's setting out was the signal for war. But he flattered himself with the hope of being able to reduce them by fear alone, for repugnance to shed the blood of his subjects made him wish to avoid resorting to extreme measures. But the rebels forced his hand by defending a bridge over which he had to cross to get to them. In the efforts made by the soldiers of either side the battle became more deadly and sanguinary. Absalon, however, turned the scale in the king's favour by the skill with which he managed his cavalry, causing them to fall suddenly on the Skanians, and throwing many of them into the river. Help which came shortly afterwards only served to render their defeat more complete, so that, their troops being dis- persed or destroyed, they could only ask for peace. Valdemar willingly granted this, receiving their hostages and submissions. But he found them so obstinate on the subject of the tithes that, for fear of renewing the bloody tragedies which a similar cause had evoked under King Knud TV, he obliged Archbishop Absalon to desist from his claim if only for a time. Thus the sedition was appeased, but we shall see afterwards that peace could only last as long as the clergy found it served their own interests. It was as little durable as their disinterestedness was sincere. THE DEATH OP VALDEMAR; HIS LAWS Valdemar was preparing to repress fresh incursions of the Wends when an illness detained him at Vordingborg, a town in Zealand; a short time after- wards he died of the results of this illness, or rather from the ignorance of a Skanian abbot who boasted of possessing great knowledge of medicine. The king was found dead immediately after having taken from these impru- dent hands the drink which was meant to cure him. He was only forty- eight, and had reigned twenty-five years. His premature death was sincerely mourned by the people. It has been remarked that, when his body was taken to Ringsted for burial, the country people flocked weeping from all parts, crying that in him they had lost a father and a liberator to whom they owed the happiness of no longer fearing brigands and the barbarities of pirates. In truth this prince had united the principal virtues which make a king loved and esteemed. He understood how to conquer and how to pardon, to make his enemies fear him by being good to his people, and to re-establish peace and good order in his kingdom by increasing its consider- ation and influence abroad. It was he who edited and published the code called The Skanian Laws and the Law of Zealand, as well as the Ecclesiastical Rights of these two provinces. The ecclesiastical laws of Skane, composed of twenty-five arti- cles, were published in 1162, the civil laws in the year following. The laws of Zealand appeared in 1171. These laws, conjointly with the Jutland Code published by Valdemar II, are the source of those which Denmark is to-day justly proud of possessing. They are simple, clear, concise, and generally adapted to assure liberty and property to citizens. Good sense is shown in him who dictated them, as in the style in which they are couched. There is DBNMAEK UNDEE THE KNTJDS AKD VALDEMAES 155 11183-1186 A.D.] BO flourish of rhetoric, no vain ostentation of grandeur and authority, such as marks the debut of so many other laws — as if the authors wanted to show the people that the pleasure of commanding them, not the care of Tendering them happy, was uppermost. Brilliant centuries and nations famous for learning and spirit might envy the wise simplicity which gov- erned these two codes./ Slbioh or Axel Oxenstierna (In State Historical Maseam) KNUD VI (1182-1202 A.D.) Knud had been crowned in his father's lifetime, and from his fourteenth year had been admitted to a share in the government. His accession there- fore to the undivided sovereignty was expected to pass without opposition. But the people of Skane elected another sovereign — Harold, a grandson of Prince Magnus. The contest, however, was short-lived; they were reduced, and their ruler was compelled to flee into Sweden. The reign of this monarch was one of conquest and of prosperity. Soon after his ac- cession, Absalon led an armament against Bogislaw, duke of Pomera- nia, who exhibited ill-will to Denmark and her vassals, and obtained a complete victory over the enemy. During the following two years the warlike operations continued, and Bogislaw at length was compelled to throw himself on the royal mercy. Besides offering a large quantity of gold, he did homage for all his possessions to Knud. The two dukes of Mecklenburg were also reduced, and acknowledged fealty to him. The submission of two such provinces, which had been dependent on Henry the Lion [duke of Bavaria and Saxony], and had subsequently acknowledged the superiority of the empire, filled the king with so much pleasure, that he assumed the title of king of the Wends. To assume the feudal supremacy over these regions was a blow struck at the authority of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Between these poten- tates there was a misunderstanding from the very commencement of Knud's reign. Frederick invited him to his court under the pretext of drawing more closely the amicable bonds which had been formed between him and Valdemar; but as the king suspected that this was only a lure to enforce the payment of homage, he evaded compliance. It soon appeared that such was indeed the intention; for he was formally summoned to visit the diet for that purpose. A second refusal to attend so exasperated Frederick that he threatened to confer the fief of Denmark on some other vassal. The king replied that before he could give it he must first take it. All negotiation being useless, the emperor offered the greatest insult to the majesty of Den- mark by sending back to her own country the sister of Knud, who had been 156 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDINAVIA [1187-1194 A.D.J betrothed to his second son, the duke of Swabia. From this moment the breach was irreparable; and the king turned with more zeal to the cause of his father-in-law, Henry the Lion;& After the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187 messengers arrived [in Denmark] with letters from Pope Clement III, in which that pontiff exhorted the Danes to go on crusade like the faithful of other countries to try to recover the Holy City. The emperor himself went on crusade and, being obliged to be reconciled with his enemies, used the pope's favour to get Kjiud to make an agreement with him in which that king engaged not to trouble the peace of the empire during the absence of its head; and, effectually to do away with all sorts of discontents, he also revoked the proscription he had issued against Duke Henry the Lion, whose disgrace had embittered the gi eater part of the princes, and in particular the king of Denmark, his son-in-law, and the king of England, his father-in-law. Read- ing the papal letters made a great impression on the Danish nobility. Esbern, brother of the archbishop, himself supported the exhortations they con- tained with all the force of his eloquence. Fifteen of the principal lords of the assembly solemnly took crusader's vows, but only five kept their reso- lutions. The king had the wisdom not to take any part. The five crusaders having enrolled those who presented themselves, went in their vessels to Norway, where they were joined by two hundred crusaders of that king- dom. But their journey was thenceforward made apart, and the Nor- wegians alone arrived in Syria. The Danes were shipwrecked on the coast of Friesland, where they sold their ships. Thence they went by land to Venice, where they embarked afresh, and at last arrived in the Holy Land. This long and painful voyage had no result. The Christians had just made peace with the Saracens, so they returned to their own land without having unsheathed their swords. There were also many Danes in the fleet of fifty- three ships which the Frisians and Flemish sent to sea. Frederick took the land route with his army to go into Palestine. An ancient historian tells us that a relation of the king was among them, with several great lords and about four hundred Danes./ The tranquillity of Denmark was further disturbed by a bishop and a member of the royal family. This was Valdemar, a bastard son of Knud V, who held the see of Schleswig. The king had also conferred on this bishop the government of the duchy until that other Valdemar, the king's brother, for whom the fief was destined, reached an age fit to govern. When that age arrived the prince was knighted, and at the same time invested with the duchy, of which he hastened to take possession. The bishop had tasted the sweets of power, and he was deeply hurt at its withdrawal: from that moment he became the enemy of the king. Determined on revenge, he entered into alliance with all whom he knew to be hostile to Knud, and, among others, with Adolf of Schauenburg, count of Holstein. When his preparations were matured, he threw off the mask, declaring that his right to the Danish throne was as good as the king's, and demanding a share of the sovereignty. Passing into Norway, which at that time was not on friendly terms with Denmark, he obtained supplies, returned to the latter kingdom, and assumed the royal title. At the same period another army, led by the count of Holstein, marched towards the Eider to support his views. To Knud it was evident that their operations could not be long sustained; that the invaders would soon be in want of provisions, and disperse of themselves. Instead therefore of risking an action he quietly DBNMAEK UNDEK THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 157 tll94-120aA.D.] "watched the motions of the bishop. The result justified his policy: the treasures of Valdemar were speedily exhausted; his mercenaries disap- peared; he threw himself on the royal mercy, but was conducted a close prisoner to a strong fortress in Zealand (1194). Adolf yet remained; the king marched against him, and forced him to sue for peace. But that peace was of short duration. The count, being required to do homage to Knud for some of the domains which he had obtained by the deposition of Henry the Lion, refused to acknowledge any other superior than the emperor; and to fortify himself against the vengeance of the king he entered into an alli- ance with the markgraf of Brandenburg, whose territory adjoined the Wend dominions of the Dane, and who had an interest in preventing any further augmentation in that quarter. To assail both, Knud sent an armament to the northern coast of the Baltic; and as the venerable Absalon was now too old and too infirm for active warfare, the bishop of Roeskilde was invested with the command. The result was not very favourable to the king. Two years afterwards however, he took the field in person, and forced Adolf to accept terms of peace: the chief were that Ditmarsh, with the strong fortress of Ratze- burg, should be ceded to Denmark (1200). But in this, as on the former occasion, tranquilUty was of short duration. Adolf again quarrelled with his ally; and Valdemar, the king's brother, invaded Holstein. The result was favourable to the Danish arms: Adolf, who had thrown himself into Hamburg, was compelled to leave it, and to witness the fall of Liibeck, which was feudally subject to him. Most of Holstein was now reduced; and the duke having, in the king's name, received the homage of the towns and nobles, returned to Schleswig. No Sooner had he left the province than the count reappeared; but it was only to be made prisoner and conveyed in triumph to one of the Danish fortresses. The king himself soon appeared amidst his new subjects; and at Liibeck he received the homage of the great vassals of Holstein, Ditmarsh, Stormarn, Ratzeburg, Schwerin, and other lordships, which were now subject to him, but which he could not incor- porate with the monarchy, because they were dependencies of the empire and for them he must himself do homage to the chief of that empire. This was a proud day for Denmark; but that pride was much alloyed by the sudden death of Knud in the very flower of his age. The flourishing state of Denmark under this prince is well described by Arnold of Liibeck.? He alludes to its vast commerce, to its ceaseless activ- ity, to its constantly increasing wealth, to its improvements in the arts of life, to its military reputation, to its zeal for learning. Many Danish j'^ouths, he informs us, were annually sent to study at Paris, where they distinguished themselves in philosophy, law, and theology. Many became admirable can- onists; many subtle didacticians. The visits of young Danes to the capital of France may be explained by the union of Ingeborg, sister of Knud, with Philip Augustus. Ahsalon's Good Works and Death Towards the close of Knud's reign died Archbishop Absalon, who had held the see of Roeskilde since 1158, and the primacy since 1178.^ Absalon, whom nature had formed to occupy a great position, came from an illustrious Danish family, and was brought up with King Valdemar I, who, through discernment as much as friendship, never undertook anything without con- sulting him. He was elected bishop of Roeskilde in 1158, and archbishop 158 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1202-1208 A.D.I of Lund in 1178. One might have seen without being scandalised the prelates of these days pass their lives in camp or at sea, if aU those who left the pastoral staff for the sword had had, like Absalon, not only zeal for their coimtry but qualities necessary to serve it. He was a great general and seaman, yet he did not neglect the government of his two dioceses, the propagation of the faith in countries he conquered, or the maintenance of religion in the interior of the kingdom. It was he who introduced uniformity in the celebration of divine service, in which the first missionaries sent into different countries had made changes. Like all ministers who have been high-minded and loved true greatness, he was familiar with men of letters, encouraging them as a wise friend and a protector both zealous and powerful. By this the great Absalon rendered his nation services which were perhaps unknown or despised by contempo- raries, but from which to-day she draws more satisfaction and glory than from the most signal victories he won. In reality it is to him she owes that elegant and poetical work of Saxo Grammaticus, a true wonder in a century wherein barbarism triumphed. Absalon, fearing that the history of past times would rest in oblivion, and future history would share the same fate, sought to remedy such past and present evil by charging Saxo and Sveno Aggonis (Svend Aagesen) to write a history of Denmark down to their own times, and by founding a monastery at Soro where men could be entertained who would undertake to transmit remarkable events to posterity. But of these projects, so worthy of the author, only the first was executed. Saxo wrote an entire history of Denmark, but one may say that not the least important light on history issued from the Soro monastery, so that after the death of these two men the history of Denmark was found sterile and lacking in monuments and memoirs of all kinds./ VALDEMAR II AT VARIANCE WITH THE EMPEROR (1202-1241 A.D.) In 1202 Knud VI died; and as he was without heirs male, the choice of the states feU on his brother Valdemar, duke of Schleswig, who, as we have related, had given some proofs of military talent [and who bears the surname of Seir, or the Victorious]. Like his predecessor, the new king repaired to Liibeck to receive the homage of the conquered inhabitants; and there he assumed the titles, "king of the Wends" and "lord of Nordalbingia." In the midst of his triumph he offered to release Count Adolf, provided the latter would forever renounce all pre- tension to Holstein with his other domains north of the Elbe, and engage not to make war, either personally or through his allies, on the king of Den- mark. The conditions were accepted; and hostages being given for their exe- cution, the count was released. Imprisonment seemed to have sobered him; for he passed the rest of his days in tranquillity. Having fomented the troubles of Norway in revenge for the aid given to Bishop Valdemar, and exacted an annual tribute from Erling, whom he had supported against rival sovereigns, the Danish king departed on a more distant expedition — against the pagans of Livonia. It was attended, how- ever, with no great success : the best that can be said of it is that it was not disastrous. A subsequent expedition into Sweden was more unfortimate: he was signally defeated; but peace was made on terms sufficiently honour- able. About the same time the national arms regained their former lustre by the conquest of Eastern Pomerania, the duke of which did homage to Valdemar. DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 159 [1208-1219 A.D.] From the prison to which he had been consigned by Knud VI the bishop of Schleswig was no inattentive spectator of events. He longed for revenge; but he must first recover his liberty. In this view he applied to the pope, to the archbishop of Lund, to many prelates of Denmark, and even to the queen, and interested them so far in his behalf that Valdemar, at their inter- cession, agreed to release him, on the condition of his never again entering Denmark, or any other place where he might give umbrage to the state.^ Germany was, at this time, in a state of special ferment. There were vacillations, broken pledges, weakness, and anger on all sides. Otto IV, the new emperor, was no sooner in tranquil possession of the throne than a friendship he had formerly professed for Valdemar, not being now so neces- sary to his plans, gave place to jealousy excited by the conquests of a neigh- bour — jealousy made stronger by the fact that Valdemar was sovereign over the very provinces once held by the emperor's father, Henry the Lion. Thus, when the see of Bremen was again empty, the emperor quietly allowed Bern- hard, duke of Saxony, to put Bishop Valdemar in possession of the arch- bishopric, although through a remnant of regard for the king he would not appear to take part in the affair. But a short time after, having become less circumspect, he allied himself against the king with Albert, markgraf of Brandenburg, who sought unceasingly to gain ground on the Wend side at the Dane's expense. Valdemar easily discovered in this conduct a project to get Nordalbingia away from him, and authorised by Otto's example entered into alliance with Frederick II, son of Henry VI, emperor and king of Sicily. Valdemar rec- ognised him as emperor, united with him, and as reward for such great services obtained the absolute cession of all the provinces he held in Germany, so that these were actually imited to the Danish crown, and cut off from the empire. Letters patent from the emperor are dated May, 1214. It is easy to understand to what degree this alliance of Valdemar and Frederick irritated the emperor Otto, who made several vain efforts to regain his footing. He then leagued himself against the king with his brother Henry, count palatine of the Rhine, and Albert, markgraf of Brandenburg, who continued his ordinary hostilities in Wendland; and with the help of these allies Otto made an irruption into Holstein, resolved to revive the rights which his ancestors, the two dukes of Saxony, had held over this province. He first took Hamburg without meeting any resistance. This was not all: to weaken stUl more the credit of the king in Germany the confederates openly took the part of Bishop Valdemar, who was stiU occupying the see of Bremen, and who had aided them in the siege of Hamburg. But the king no sooner learned of the reddition of this town than he appeared in Holstein at the head of a formidable army. The league and its hopes vanished at the approach of this force. Otto hastily recrossed the Elbe; Hamburg held out, but the king and Count Albert, his nephew, having closed it in with two forts which they caused to be built at the gates of the town, it was obliged to surrender. Otto, abandoned by nearly all the Ger- man princes, and excommunicated by the pope, could do nothing but make several fruitless incursions into the diocese of Bremen. Bishop Valdemar, struck with the same storm, was driven from that country. He was obliged to yield the see to Gerhard, bishop of Osnabriick, whom the pope protected, and was reduced to entering a cloister, where eighteen years after he ended a life that had only been used to the unhap- piness of his fellows and himself. 160 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDIKAVIA [1190-1219 A.D.] THE CONQUEST OF ESTHONIA (1219 A.D.) In the midst of these troubles certain religious dissensions in Livonia had passed unnoticed. In a period of about twenty years Riga had been founded, Eeopled, and fortified so as to be able to resist the repeated attacks of bar- arians. Christians had multiplied on the coast, and with them forts, churches, and monasteries. A new order of knights, named the brotherhood of Christ's Soldiers [or Brothers of the Sword], was formed during this crusade, less celebrated than those of the Holy Land, and more lasting in its effects. Princes of these countries even saw themselves obliged to declare themselves its vassals, and to receive as a benefit their own states from these strangers. One party of the Livonians had seriously abjured the errors which had drawn on tnem so many anxieties and wars. New churches had been founded; the inhabitants of Esthonia, that is northern Livonia, in their provinces along the gulf of Finland, were yet independent and would have to be conquered and christianised. These men, proud and jealous of their liberty, gloried in having always rendered useless the efforts which the Danes, Swedes, and Christians in Riga had made at various times to convert them. Sworn enemies of their new hosts, they held them in continual alarm because their numerous and war- like hordes were often joined by Russian neighbours; these latter, being attached to the Greek ritual, seemed dbly Christianised that they might hate the Latins. In this conflict of opposed passions, and forces nearly equal, it was neces- sary in order that one side might gain a decided advantage that a powerful and warlike prince should intervene. There was none whom personal quali- ties, resources, and reputation, combined with the situation of his states, made more fit to settle the quarrel than the king of Denmark. It was to him that the strongest appeals were made. They had already produced some effect by 1205, but the success of these first efforts had not been such as was expected from a great king. Valdemar had then determined to make new efforts, when his nephew, Count Albert, returning from Livonia, told him that the Russians, leagued with the Esthonians, were threatening the new church of Riga. "Thereupon he solemnly engaged," says a contemporary author, who witnessed the greater part of what he writes, " to pass the following year in Esthonia, as much for the honour of the Virgin Mary as for the remission of his sins." Motives of this kind give birth to capabilities for the greatest achievements. The king began by rendering the German frontiers safe by leaving there good garrisons in well fortified strongholds. He also ordered that as many ships as possible should be manned for war in every port. Historians of that day tell us that never before was there seen in the North such a large fleet as the one destined for this expedition. It was composed of fourteen hundred vessels of various sizes, but it appears that he used only a thousand, the others remaining in Denmark for the safety of the kingdom. Of these thousand there were five hundred small ones, none of which carried, beside rowers to the number of twelve, more than one cuirassier and one archer. The other five hundred, called long ships, contained each 120 men. From which one may judge that the armament of Valdemar was really the largest that had been seen in any country. A crowd of ecclesiastics and young warriors, illustrious by birth or exploits, hastened to take part in the glory and merit of this holy expedition. Among the number one distinguishes Andrew, archbishop of Lund; Nicholas, bishop of Schleswig; Peter, bishop of Roeskilde; and the chancellor, Theodoric, bishop designate of a country neither yet converted or DBNMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 161 [1219 A.D.] conquered; a Wend prince named Wenceslas or Vitzlas. with a corps of his troops ; and many German generals and soldiers. On their side the Esthonians were able promptly to raise armies as formid- able for numbers as for the fury which animated them. Surprised, however, at the sight of so prodigious an armament as that of the Danes, they could not hinder its descent nor prevent the ruin of one of their fortresses, or the erection of another at the same place, which the Danes called Revel, that being the name of the province. The Esthonians even pretended to have no other resource than the clemency of Valdemar, and while reassembling their forces sent their chiefs to sue for peace. The king, not sufficiently on his guard, granted it joyfully; bishops bap- tised them; they were sent back loaded with presents: but three days after- ward a swarm of armed horsemen burst on the camp towards nightfall, attacked it at five different points, and drove back the Danes, who were scat- tered and for the most part disarmed, with such vigour that their defeat seemed inevitable. But Wenceslas, posted farther afield, had time to range his men in battle array and come to their aid. Then the aspect of affairs quickly changed. The Danes rallied, the Germans joined them, and, uniting their efforts, they soon quenched the impetuosity of the Esthonians. These, little accustomed to fight against regular troops, disbanded, and fleeing pre- cipitately left a thousand of their men on the field of battle. Such are the real facts of a combat concerning which there are many accounts full of exaggeration and marvels. It has been written a thousand times that the Danes, having lost their standard in the thickest of the fight, had begun to give way when there fell from heaven another — red, with a white cross in the centre ; and, re-animated at the bight of this wondei;, they gained a victory over their enemies. Afterwards a standard was said to have been sent by the pope, as was a custom in religious wars, but neither this deed nor that conjecture is supported by any authority, and an anonynaous contemporary who was personally at Esthonia, and gives us all the circum- stances of this fight, never mentions it. If then the standard named Danne- brog owes its origin to this war, it was some other event which gave rise to it.' After this victory all the province of Revel was subdued. The town of this name had its bishop, the building of the new fortress was finished, and the king departed leaving a strong garrison, generals, and many bishops who were to work in concert to advance his interests and those of the church, in a country whose uncultivated and wild state could not hide natural fertility. But these Danish designs were too strongly opposed to the bishop of Riga's views for him to allow them to pass without contradiction. This pre- late claimed the greater part of Esthonia as a conquest effected by pilgrims devoted to the church, and by the Brothers of the Sword, or Soldiers of Christ, his vassals. He had given the bishopric of Esthonia to his brother, and sent missionaries there, trying to win as many neophytes as he could from his rival, and carrying on the "Danish baptism," by detachments of the Revel garrison. Animosity concerning baptism was carried to such a piteh that an Esthonian chief was hanged by the Danes for receiving baptism from their enemies, and probably the Riga Christians showed no more moderation. The [' Mallet's naiVe refutation of the miracle of the Dannebrog needs no addition ; but it is interesting to note the further marvel related of this battle, in which legend assigns to Andrew, archbishop of Lund, the part of Moses at Rephidim. Fortune, so ran the story, favoured the Danes, as long as the archbishop held his arms raised, but when from weariness he let them fall, she deserted his countrymen. Finally his companions lent their support in keeping the old man's hands in the attitude of blessing till the victory of Valdemar was complete.] H.. w. — VOL.. XVI. U 162 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1819-1223 A.D.] Esthonian barbarians began to think that the God of the Danes was not that of the Gennans. Albert, bishop of Riga, went personally to Rome to claim protection from the head of the church. But the favor in which Valdemar and his envoys were held by the pope rendered these solicitations useless. It was the same at the court of the emperor Frederick, who was too politic not to keep on good terms with a king who, better than all others, could cross his plans of weaken- ing the Guelfs. So the bishop, seeing that he could receive no help from Germany either, since Valdemar, master of Liibeck, had closed the gates of that city to Livonian crusaders, resolved to yield, and trust to the king's clemency. Thereupon Valdemar, having equipped a large fleet, landed on the isle of Osel, and after defeating and bringing the inhabitants to submission opened a conference at which the bishop of Riga and the master of the Brothers of the Sword assisted. It was there that, touched by the prayers of the bishop, who brought him to see that his claims on Livonia caused trouble and prejudice to religion, the king recognised the prelate's rights over the province. The king also severed portions of the lands he reserved for himself and gave them to the Brothers of the Sword, on condition that they should render him homage and hold themselves always ready to furnish help against the Rus- sians or heathen. Osel was also assigned to the king, but the natives of this island were not yet disposed to leave him in peaceful possession of the con- quest. THE king's captivity By all these conquests Valdemar had brought the Danish monarchy to a degree of glory and power it had never yet attained to. There were few kings in Europe who reigned over such a large extent of country, few who had added so many provinces to their heritage and had had such sustained and brilliant success at the head of their armies, or could put fleets so numerous and formidable to sea. But that mysterious power which seems to play with all fixed plans of men, and take pleasure in eternal vicissitude, had marked this high degree of prosperity as the term of a new period wherein we shaU see this same kingdom faU from disgrace to disgrace, torn by intestine war, a prey to foreigners, and sometimes touching on total ruin — an event the more striking because it was from the feeblest of her enemies that this powerful monarchy received her rudest blow. A count of Schwerin, named Henry, cherished in profoimd secrecy an implacable hatred which became fatal to Valdemar. Schwerin had been con- strained to receive his states from the king's hands, and to do him homage for them. In thus investing him, Valdemar had demanded the coimt's sister for his natm-al son, named Nicholas, count of northern Halland, with the half of the Schwerin castellany and its dependencies. Probably Henry had refused to fulfil these conditions after the marriage celebrations, and Valde- mar, irritated by this refusal, had forcibly compelled him to be faithful to his engagements, and had taken away a part of his states to give to Nicholas. Henry, in desperation, had recourse to the vengeance of the weak. He went to Valdemar's court and sought to regain his confidence by an appear- ance of great zeal. The king, too generous not to show favour to so submis- sive and repentant a subject, allowed him great familiarity. One day, when they had both been himting in a little isle named Lyo on the southern coast of Fiinen, the king Invited Henry to sup with himself, his son, and a small number of courtiers, passing the evening without precaution or fear. Soon DENMAEK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 163 [1233-1225 A.D.] the fumes of wine, joined to the fatigues of hunting, plunged the king into a deep sleep. The count, who had waited impatiently for this, called his people, who were posted at some distance, seized Valdemar and his son, loaded them with chains, took them forcibly into a forest near the sea, and finally carried them on board a vessel with which he sailed through manifold dangers, and took them to the opposite coast of Mecklenburg. His illus- trious and unhappy prisoners were first taken to the castle of his ally, the count of Danneberg, then to his Schwerin castle, where they were condemned to remain in irons. All Europe experienced the greatest surprise on hearing of an insult com- mitted with so much audacity on the person of so great a king, and that by one of his weakest vassals. But this news, which plunged Denmark herself into extreme consternation, roused the hopes of her enemies and armed those whom fear alone had held in obedience. The first care of the senate at this juncture was to have recourse to the emperor's good offices. But sentiments quite opposed to compassion and justice animated Frederick II. Although he maintained a firm aspect, it was plain that in spite of the lapse of years he wished Germany to see renewed the drama of Leopold of Austria and Richard king of England. The pope himself, who seemed to have taken Valdemar's cause in hand with a zeal worthy of the head of Christendom, yet demanded a high price for his services. He said in his letter to the archbishop of Cologne that he was obliged to take Valdemar's part, among other reasons because Denmark was tributary to the papacy. This new claim opposed itself to that of the emperor, but both were equally without foundation. What could be thought of a Roman emperor who had been driven from Rome, and a bishop of Rome, rarely master of that city, who thus disputed at the other end of Europe as to who had bestowed a crown or counted kings among his vassals? However, day by day the kingdom felt the disadvantage of being deprived of its head. The rumour of the king's captivity was no sooner spread in Livonia than the Brothers of the Sword and the bishop of Riga seized a part of Esthonia and the isle of Osel, whilst for his part, William of Savoy, bishop of Sabine and papal legate in these northern regions, adjudged to the holy see lands which were in litigation between the Danes and Germans, thus conquering by ecclesiastical warnings and censures that which the others had bought at the price of much bloodshed. In the other conquests of the king a like defection seemed near./ In Denmark itself reigned distrust and discouragement. Coimt Adolf the Younger, supported by aU the princes of the north of Germany, retm-ned to Holstein and took possession of his paternal estates. Bishop Valdemar himself, now eighty years old, left the solitude of the cloister as soon as he heard of the king's captivity, and crossed the frontiers of Denmark to slake his hatred against the king. Finally the brave Albert of Orlamiinde, who had been appointed regent, collected an army; but he wished first to see what he could obtain by negotiations. The enemy demanded that Valdemar should pay 50,000 marks of silver for his ransom, that he should abandon his Slav and Wend possessions and what he had conquered south of the Elbe, that Holstein should be ceded to Albert of Orlamiinde as a fief of Germany, and that Valdemar should acknowledge himself the emperor's vassal for Denmark. Although these terms were advantageous to the regent he rejected them as dishonouring to the king and country. The difference could be settled only by the sword. Unfortunately Albert lost the battle of Molln (January, 1225), after a fight which lasted from dawn to nightfall ; the conquered general went to 164 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1225 A.D.1 join his sovereign, not as liberator but as a companion in captivity. The city of Hamburg then submitted to Adolf, and Liibeck gave herself up to Germany. Valdemar was compelled to submit to the hard conditions which his enemies imposed on him.^ PEACE IS BOUGHT AT A HIGH PRICE In a convention which still exists, Valdemar promised to pay the count, for his own and his son's ransom, 45,000 fine silver marks, aU the gold the queen used in her ornaments excepting her crown, and complete habiliments for a hundred knights. When he left prison he was to be replaced by forty Danes chosen by the court, among which number were to be included two of Valdemar's sons, to remain as hostages until the entire fidfilment of the treaty (1225). Valdemar ceded to the empire all he possessed between the Elbe and the Eider, and all the Wend countries, except the principality of Riigen. He had also to swear not to aid Count Orlamiinde, his nephew, in recovering Nordalbingia, with which he had invested him. The king had also to cede to Coimt Adolf of Holstein the fortress of Rendsburg and to hold the count of .Schwerin free and exempt from all rights he had had over him. These were the most important articles of the convention. The king, the princes his sons, the bishops, and the chief gentlemen of Denmark had to swear to observe them faithfully. Of the release of the count of Orlamiinde there is no mention in the treaty, which confirms what we learn elsewhere about the count of Schwerin and his allies not being willing to let him go at any price, doubtless fearing that he would only too well aid and abet the king in a plan to reconquer the provinces he had held in fief. Such were the condi- tions in which the king and his son foimd themselves at the end of their cap- tivity — a captivity as singular in its accomplishment as it was rigorous during the three, years it lasted, and whose long and miserable consequences were fatal to the nation. It has been said that one hardly knows what to wonder at most, in these events — the audacity of the plot formed by the coimt of Schwerin, or the courage and success with which he carried it out, or the feebleness of the efforts made by the Danes to avenge their king. On his return to his realm the king's first care was to send ambassadors to Pope Honorius III, begging him to summon the coimt of Schwerin to return the hostages and free him from the extorted oath. The pope did not think success impossible, and a private motive, moreover, urged him to lend his intervention. Valdemar had given him to understand that if he could recover the hostages without paying the rest of the stipulated sum he would himseK lead an army to help the crusaders. In this hope the pope wrote threateniag letters to the count and charged the bishop of Verden to summon Henry imder pain of excommunication to restore Valdemar his hostages and release him from all other engagements. Results show how the count answered these letters. He returned neither money nor hostages, save Prince Valdemar, who, according to the terms of the convention, was to be set free a short time after his father. But although three of his sons and other hostages were stiU in his enemy's power, Valdemar did not fear to recommence war, to enter fuUy armed into Nordalbingia, surprise Rendsburg, and to reduce Ditmarsh, in spite of resistance from the inhabitants. On his side Count Schwerin was still aided by his accomplices in usurpa- tion — Adolf of Schauenburg, newly possessed of Holstein, the heritage of his ancestors; the archbishop of Bremen; the town of Lubeck; Albert, DENMAEK UNDBE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 165 [1323-1241 A.D.] duke of Saxony; and Henry Burwin, prince of Werle. These confederates, having learned of the irruption of Valdemar into Holstein and the progress he was making there, went to meet him and encountered him near Bornhoved at some distance from Segeberg. The two armies did not face each other long before having recourse to arms. Animated by the remembrance of a grand past, by insults and losses, and embittered by the presence of his perfidious enemy, Valdemar marched towards him impetuously and fought him with most obstinate valour. But aU his efforts were useless. The Ditmarshians who composed a part of his army vilely betrayed him in a mo- ment when bra,very could have given victory to his side. They turned their arms against the Danes, who, seeing themselves assailed on all sides, gave up hope after a long resistance. The king lost an eye in this fight, was thrown off his horse, and barely escaped from the enemy. Many Danes were made prisoners, among them three bishops and the king's nephew. - We have observed that the people of Liibeck had part in this victory. Already they had profited from the downfall of Valdemar to regain their liberty. The preceding year they had secretly bought the favour and pro- tection of the emperor, who liberally promised them favours and gave them privileges. Their confidence increased with the king's misfortunes, and they soon dared to seize the citadel which that prince had built to hold them in check. A stratagem made them masters of it, and thenceforth, supported by Denmark's enemies, favoured by their situation, animated by the courage and ardour inspired by growing liberty, they asserted their independence and formed the first and most powerful of the Hanse Towns, soon seeing them- selves able to rule the northern seas by their numerous fleets. While all this was passing, the count of Orlamiinde, losing all hope of being succoured by the king or escaping from the chains in which the count of Schwerin still held him, was at last obliged to yield as his ransom the important fortress of Lux- emburg, which Valdemar in happier times had given him for his own as the best gift with which a warrior's services could be rewarded. So unhappy a war, far from restoring the kingdom to its early splendour, only served to increase its weakness and make the dechne every day more apparent. Finally Valdemar showed some desire to be reconciled to his enemies. The celebration of the wedding of his son Valdemar having drawn many foreign lords to Ribe, an effort was made through their intervention to conclude a treaty betwe.en the king and the count of Holstein. It was agreed that the count should keep the states which his father had possessed north of the Elbe, and which he had reconquered, that is Holstein, Stormarn, and Wagrien. Then the king was reconciled with Albert, duke of Saxony, who took the title of lord of Nordalbingia; and Valdemar after that did not touch it. The same duke obliged Quncehn, count of Schwerin, his new vassal, to set the king's sons, Eric, Abel, and Christopher, at hberty, along with the remaining hostages; also to take 7,000 silver marks, instead of the 17,000 which remained to be paid, as ransom for the king and his eldest son. Such was the price by which the Danes bought a long-absent peace and which for that reason alone seemed advantageous. In reality they lost by these treaties Holstein, Mecklenburg, and the towns of Hamburg and Liibeck./ Of all the conquests under former reigns there remained to them besides the principality of Riigen only some parts of Mecklenburg, Prussia, and Esthonia, together with the title of King of the Wends. During the rest of his life, the unfortunate Valdemar prudently applied himself to the internal administration of the affairs of his kingdom. He died in 1241 a.d. 166 THE HISTOEY Ot SCANDINAVIA [1241 A.D.1 KISE OF THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE AND ITS POWER IN THE BALTIC Amongst the misfortunes of the reign of Valdemar the Victorious, the separation of Lubeck from Denmark was wide reaching in its consequences. She was now free to devote all her force and enterprise to strengthening and developing the formidable organisation of which she became the head.« About the middle of the thirteenth century there began to form upon the southern shores of the Baltic a power which was a true scourge for Den- mark. The Valdemars had put an end to the bloody incursions of the Wends, but the latter were replaced by the invasions, usually more pacific but none the less harmful, of the Hanse Towns. The great Hanseatic League which came to play so important a rfile, not only in Denmark but in aU history, had very modest beginnings. At first it included but a few north German towns which united to carry out great commercial enterprises in concert or to arm, at the common expense, ships of war to protect their merchant fleets against the pirates who, throughout the whole of the Middle Ages infested the north- ern seas. During the thirteenth century the allied towns numbered but ten or twelve, and their sole aim was peaceful commerce. They were not yet seek- ing ruling power — only toleration. Their number increased little by little by the accession of new towns, and the somewhat loose union developed in time into a closely woven society which was subject to its own laws and tribunals, and in its assemblies took decisions that were binding upon all the towns. Nearly a century passed, however, before the league became fully conscious of its strength; but once aroused it went forward with giant strides. The united towns were now about eighty in number, and they dominated the seas with a power of which no other example can be found except in England's maritime empire of our own day. Their envoys were received like kings; they laid down the law to nations and decided war and peace. The North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean were covered with their fleets and even England had to bend before them. But the principal seat of their power was the Baltic where they appropriated, to the exclusion of all other maritime nations, the commerce of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Russia. In order to explain how a handful of German merchants could thus make themselves masters of the North, it must be remembered that the formation of the Hanseatic League falls just between 1240 and 1340 — a period in which Denmark was afflicted with almost all the misfortunes and reverses that any country could experience — and that at the end of it she was not far from complete dissolution. While Denmark's strength was being consumed in deadly contests between royalty, the clergy, nobility and peasantry, in the eternal struggles with the dukes of Schleswig and the counts of Holstein, and in the maritime wars with Norway, during which half the towns ip the country were destroyed, neither was Sweden spared, and Norway's pov/er was under- mined by internal civil war. Moreover, in consequence of the change in the manner of conducting war, the king- occupied them^-^lves only with the land armies and let their fleets fall into ruin, whereas the Hanse Towns kept up their sea power, which gave them a decided a vantage in the'r wars with the north- ern kingdoms. To which must be added the statement that the kings of that day were lacking in the simplest notions with regard to commerce, did not trouble themselves whether trade was in the hands of their subjects or of foreigners, and often granted the Hanse Towns the most ruinous privileges in return for some temporary advantage. What most attracted the merchants of these towns to Denmark were the important herring fisheries off the coast of Skane. This fish at one time DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 167 ri24i A.D.] abounded off the shores of Riigen, but migrated to Skane about the beginning of the thirteenth century. The herring must then, according to an old account, have quitted the Sound at the beginning of the fifteenth century (1425) and found its habitat on the coasts of Norway, Scotland, and Eng- land; but it is also certain that the herring fishery in the Sound was stiU extraordinarily abundant and lucrative in the first part of the sixteenth centiu-y. Trade followed the migrations of the herring. In the early years of the thirteenth century, even before the Hanseatic League was formed, vessels from the north of Germany, and especially from Liibeck, came in large numbers into the Sound to fish for herring. At the same time Liibeck became a Danish city through Valdemar II's conquests, and that monarch sought to conciliate his new subjects by granting them important privileges (1203). They not only obtained the right to the fisheries without any other restriction than the obligation of paying the ordinary duties, but landing places were given them on the coast where they could prepare and salt their herring. The fish was then sent to all the markets of Europe, and the Skanian herring was preferred to all others on account of its superior quality. The merchants had, moreover, the right of choosing a syndic from among their compatriots to settle their differences, and no Dane could establish himself or ply a trade in their marts without consent. No foreigner was ever allowed to engage in retail trade in Denmark, but the Liibeckers could no longer be considered aliens, and therefore they could import, sell cloth, linen, and everything that could be measured by the yard, as well as everything that could be weighed by the pound. Later, when they ceased to be subjects of Denmark (1226), they should have lost their privileges; but once established in the country it was difficult to get rid of them, and the dissensions that followed were favourable to their remaining. During the civil wars between Abel and Eric Plovpenning [which we shall treat later] they took side with the former, and on his accession were recompensed by new privileges which were likewise extended to Wismar, Rostock, Stralsimd, and Hamburg; but Liibeck continued nevertheless to play the principal role. These towns with Luneburg formed a close union within the Hanseatic League and were known as the Six Wend towns. Under Eric Clipping, less than half a century after Valdemar the Victorious, who had been able to put on the sea a fleet of a thousand ships, Denmark found herself reduced to borrowing thirty vessels from the Hanseatic League with which to defend the Sound against Nor- wegian pirates, and a few years later at the demand of the league she was compelled to forbid her subjects to engage in any trade with Norway. Eric Menved's many expeditions into Mecklenburg and Pomerania favoured the extension of Liibeck 's commerce; for, still holding friendly relations with the king, the privilege the merchants had obtained from Valdemar II of carrying on trade at Falsterbo and Skanor was extended to all Danish towns in which they might be pleased to establish themselves. It stands to reason that a country thus delivered over to the rapacity of foreign merchants must become exhausted and impoverished, and that energy and the spirit of enterprise • must disappear from the towns. Denmark, in spite of its fortunate position for trade, had almost no merchant ships or even merchar ts. The Hanse Towns took advantage of the country to the detriment of the natives; and although the country supplied a quantity of products suitable for manufacture, there were no factories, and the body of artisans was impoverished and discouraged, for the Germans imported almost all the commodities of which the people stood in need. Corn purchased in Denmark came back in the form of flour; Danish beer brewed with sweet gale 168 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1200-1300 A..D.] (myrica gale), which formerly had been the ordinary and preferred drink, had to give way to the strong German beer brewed with hops. Even the simplest and commonest objects, as shoes, clothing, fm-niture, etc., were imported from Germany. The fisheries, once a most important industry, declined more and more, until the natives had to buy from abroad the fish that abounded on their shores. For not only were other maritime, nations excluded from the fisheries of Skane, but Danish subjects themselves suffered from the power and influence of the Hanseatic League. Even the king of Denmark could permit fishing and salting for his own court on certain days only. This fatal monopoly of the Hanse Towns makes us realize why the Danish burghers, favoured as they were in many points, played during the Middle Ages only a mediocre role in the state. Without trade, without industry, and without capital, they necessarily lost all importance.^ THE DECLINE OF DENMARK IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY During the thirteenth century the power of Denmark steadily dechned. Towards the fifties we find the German army in the heart of the country. Odense was burnt down; Copenhagen, then scarcely built, was rased to the ground by the men of Liibeck, as was also its citadel. The very excess of power which the little country had displayed, carried within itself the germ of decay. In order to have always at command a host of men accustomed to and delighting in war, the institution of a feudal nobility had been encour- aged in Denmark. The members of this nobility soon acquired large estates, and gradually robbed the free peasant class, upon which the strength of the country had once been founded, of all political and military significance; and the peasants sought in vain by violent and sanguinary insurrections to repu- diate the unwonted oppression and to win back their old status. To this was added another abuse, that of endowing the younger or the natural sons of the king with large appanages, which soon began to assume a hereditary character — a dangerous custom for a country which from of old had been liable to civil dissension and peasant wars, for there was seldom any lack of ambitious kings' sons. It is noteworthy that of Valdemar's sons and grand- sons not one died a natural death. Conflicts with the grasping archbishops and clergy, extending over long periods, still further increased the civil dis- order. The most important factor in Denmark's development during this century was, however, the duchy of Schleswig and its gradual separation from the united kingdom. It had long been the custom to hand over the government of this particular portion of the country to the younger princes, some of whom — as Knud Lavard — had brought the district under their administration into a very self-reliant attitude. In the year 1232 it was given to Abel, the second surviving son of Valdemar the Conqueror. " He degraded the kingdom, with the help of the Germans, more than his father ever raised it," said Detmar; and, in fact, his marriage with Mech- thild, the daughter of Adolf IV of Holstein, was the cause of Schleswig's remaining in that family for over two hundred years and being finally com- pletely incorporated with Holstein ; it was, moreover the cause of the Danish kingdom itself appearing to remain for a time under the influence of Holstein. It is not entirely without reason that a very patriotic contemporary, the annalist of Ruhkloster in Schleswig, dates the misfortunes of Denmark from this circumstance, and from the death of Valdemar the Victorious in 1241. DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 169 [1231-1343 A.D.] " For, from that day forward, civil war in Denmark between the kings and the dukes never ceased stimulating the counts, who ever sought the destruction of Denmark. With the death of Valdemar the crown fell in fact from the Danish head. For since his time the Danes, having fallen a prey to civil war wherein they mutually destroyed one another, have become a laughing stock to other nations." The alliance of the dukes of Schleswig with the Holstein counts procured for the latter unfailing assistance in the satisfaction of their lust for inde- pendence, and for the former — by dint of extending their bor- ders — a desirable protection against Danish attack. Schles- wig inclined more and more to the Holsteiners and the Germans, the bishop of Schleswig allowing himself to be consecrated by the archbishop of Bremen. The fact that the duchy, being partly populated by Germans, was now a country with two languages, gave this proceeding a certain justification; it is, indeed, the only explanation, at all acceptable, of the strength and duration of the tie, at that time quite recent, which bound these provinces to the neighbouring German terri- tory.''' THE SONS OF VALDEMAK THE VICTOEIOUS (1241-1259 A.D.) Valdemar II had associated with him in the government his eldest son, under the title of Val- demar III ; and when that prince was killed in hunting (1231), Eric, duke of Schleswig, the next son, took his place. Eriq, there- fore, had been crowned, and had had an active share in the government ten years before the death of his father. When he was thus associated in the regal power, he relinquished the duchy of Schleswig in favour of his next brother, Abel, while Christopher and other brothers had extensive domains conferred on them in different parts of the kingdom. Nothing could be more imwise than such feudal con- cessions: they were sure to engender quarrJs, and eventually civil wars. Scarcely was Eric on the throne, when he had a deadly quarrel with Abel, duke of Schleswig, his next brother. He wished to recover some of the ter- ritories which his father had been forced to cede, especially Holstein: Abel, who was the guardian of the count of Holstein's children, resisted, on the specious plea that he was bound to defend their interests; but his real motive, as we shall soon perceive, was a very different one. The two brothers flew to arms-; but an apparent reconciliation was effected between them through Upsala Cathedrai, 170 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1343-1250 A.D.] the interference of German and Danish friends. Abel resigned the guardian- ship, and therefore ceased to be responsible. for the result. But he evidently nursed a vindictive feeling towards Eric, and could not long refrain from exhibiting it. He refused to do homage for Holstein, which he determined to hold in full sovereignty. Again the sword was drawn; and though it was for a time returned to the scabbard, the feeling of hatred rankled in the duke'a heart. During this short suspension of hostilities, Eric endeavoured to regain Liibeck, and sent an armament into the river Trave; but a fleet from Sweden, which country had a great interest in the protection of that city, compelled him to raise the siege. The coasts of his kingdom were now ravaged by the combined Swedes and citizens; and at the same time, through the influence of his perverse brother, the count of Holstein and the archbishop of Bremen became his open enemies. Allured by the successful example of Abel, the other brothers also refused to do homage. Seeing that the very existence of the monarchy was at stake, Eric took the field. Numerous as were his enemies, he created more, and those more formidable than the rest — his own bishops, who naturally threw themselves into the party of Abel. The ravages committed in the fraternal war were dreadful. At length, the city of Schles- wig being taken by surprise, Abel fled to his allies; and when he could effect nothing by arms, had recourse to stratagem. He received with eagerness the proposals of a pacification from the duke of Saxony and the markgraf of Brandenburg, who were connected with the regal family of Denmark. The brothers met, swore friendship, and separated. Freed from that dreadful scourge, civil war, Eric now projected an expedi- tion into Livonia, to recover the territories which his father had ceded. To defray the expenses, a tax of a silver penny was laid on every plough in the kingdom [whence Eric's surname of Plovpenning, or Plough-penny]. With much difficulty he obtained the sanction of the estates to this impost; with still more difficulty it was collected, at least in Skane. The inhabitants of that province were fond of rebellion: they rebelled on the present occasion; but as usual they were subdued, punished, and made to contribute like the rest of the Danes. The expedition arrived in Esthonia, but its details are very imperfectly recorded in the national chronicles. They merely teU us that the Teutonic knights acknowledged the king's right to what he held, and to what he might hereafter conquer from the pagans. He certainly made no conquests; and probably his troops were defeated by St. Alexander Nevski, governor of Novgorod. Eric, on his return, engaged in war with the count of Holstein, who, conjointly with the archbishop of Bremen and the Ijishop of Paderborn, laid siege to Rendsburg. To relieve it, the king advanced at the head of a con- siderable force. But his doom was at hand. Near Schleswig he was met by Abel, who treated him with the utmost deference, with the most obsequious respect; and so disarmed him, that in the joy of his heart he accepted an invitation to one of the duke's country palaces, in the immediate vicinity of Schleswig. From that palace he was forcibly dragged on board a boat in the Schlei, taken to a solitary part of that river, landed, aUowed to make his confession, and beheaded. Heavy chains were then fastened to his corpse, and it was thrown into the deepest part of the river. The news was spread that he had perished by accident in the river; but the monks who had admin- istered to him the last offices of religion declared that he had been murdered — by whose contrivance was unknown. The body, which was afterwards found by some fishermen, confirmed that declaration. It was buried in the church of the monastery (1250). The brethren even asserted that miracles DENMAEK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 171 [1250-1252 A.D.J were wrought at his tomb, and they were believed. Some years after his death he was canonised; and is the fifth Danish prince who has been thus deified. Abel, the Fratricide, is Murdered To obtain the reward of this fratricide, Abel sent his creatures to the assembly of the estates, convoked for the election of a new king. As there was only suspicion, he was permitted to purge himself by his own oath, and by the oath of twenty-four nobles, that he was innocent of the deed. That he could find this number of men to take such an oath, may surprise us; but we must remember that the tenor of it was that " to the best of their belief" the accused party was not guilty of the crime. He was therefore elected and crowned by the archbishop. By lavish gifts to the clergy and to the nobles who adhered to him, and by confirming his brethren (from whom he had the most to fear) in their respective fiefs, he stifled all murmurs. To avert war, too, which he well knew would lead to his ruin, he surrendered to the count of Holstein the domains which his brother had occupied, and to the Teutonic knights most of what he yet held in Livonia. These concessions did no harm to Denmark; and some of his other measures were decidedly good. He restored the wisest parts of the Danish constitution, especially the annual meeting of the estates; he improved the laws; and began to redeem the crown lands, which during the late reigns had been pledged. In short, like aU usurpers, he sacrificed to popularity, and succeeded so well that he was enabled to raise an extraordinary impost to complete his work of redemption. In the western parts of Schleswig, however, the collectors met with opposition, and Abel marched with a body of troops to punish the disobedience. He penetrated into a country always marshy, and now rendered more so by the rains. Surprised by a strong party of the inhabitants, he fled, and fell into a morass, from which the weight of his armour made it impossible for him to emerge. In this helpless situation he was discovered and slain. The mutilated corpse of Abel was left in the marsh where it remained for Some time, and, if tradition be true, to the great annoyance of the whole country. Abel was too great a sinner to lie peacefully in his grave. He became a wandering spirit. Supernatural voices had so terrified the people that they were glad to deliver the corpse to the canons of Bremen, who honoured it with the rites of sepulture. But they too had soon reason to regret the contiguity of the vampire. He was frequently seen out of his tomb; and at length the corpse was disinterred, and buried in a solitary marsh a few leagues from Gottorp. Still there was no respite; and the inhabitants nearest to the place removed to a distance. To this day the superstition has been perpetuated that the mm-derer may sometimes be seen on a dingy horse, followed by demon hounds, amidst the echoing of the magic horn. Abel left three sons, the eldest of whom, Valdemar, was designed to be his successor; but the young prince, returning from the university of Paris, was seized by the archbishop of Cologne, and detained in prison until a ransom of 6000 silver marks was paid. Probably this act was done at the instigation of Christopher, a brother of the late king, who knew that he alone was to be dreaded, since he had been already recognised by the estates and his. brothers were too young for the duties of government. Besides, the dislike of Abel's posterity was general ; and Christopher might well aspire to a throne which, after their exclusion, became his of right. Nor was he disappointed: he was immediately elected by the estates. 172 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1852-1256 A.D.] CHRISTOPHER I AND ERIC GLIPPING The reign of this prince was even more troubled than that of his predeces- sors. Fearing a popular reaction in favour of Abel's sons, who were minors, he claimed the guardianship. The claim was resisted by the house of Hol- stein; and to decide the contest both parties resorted to arms. The king was defeated; and though he soon collected a larger force, he found the number of his enemies increased. The people of Liibeck, always hostile to Denmark, as we have seen, and for that same reason always the allies of the counts of Holstein, ravaged the coasts, while those nobles reduced Schleswig. The two markgrafs of Brandenburg also complained that one of them had not received the dowry promised with his wife, Sophia, daughter of Valdemar II; and they joined the common league. Nor was this all : during Abel's reign there had been some disputes with Sweden and Norway; and to allay them a conference had been covenanted between the three kings. The death of Abel had prevented the pacification; and Christopher, engrossed by other troubles, was unable to give them the satisfaction required. In revenge, the Norwegians arrived with a great armament, while five thousand Swedes penetrated into the heart of the coimtry. Never had the situation of Denmark appeared so critical; but strange to say, its safety lay in the number of its enemies, who became jealous of one another, and of the advantages which each might secure. In this dis- position, the offer of mediators was accepted, and conditions of peace between Christopher and his nephews were at length sanctioned. He agreed to invest these nephews, on their reaching their majority, with the duchy of Schleswig; and they, in return, were to renounce all pretensions to the crown. In conformity with this treaty, Valdemar, the eldest son of Abel, was released from prison at Cologne, and invested with the government of the duchy. The markgraf of Brandenburg was appeased by the pledge of two fortresses untU the dowry could be paid. Thus there remained only Norway and Sweden to be pacified; and though hostilities existed for some time, they were desultory and were terminated by a reconciliation. An intferview with Birger, regent of Sweden, easily led to that result; and when Hakon of Norway, who had again arrived with a formidable armament, saw that Christopher was sincerely desirous of satisfying him, he accepted the will for the deed, and became the friend of the monarch. But the chief troubles of Christopher arose from his own prelates. Jacob Erlandsen, bishop of Roeskilde, a personal friend of Innocent IV, had imbibed the highest notions of clerical privileges. He condemned the influence of the crown in the election of bishops, which was certainly an evil, since royal favourites only were appointed to the rich sees. Acting on his own principle, that bishops had no earthly superior except the pope, he refused, when elected by the chapter of Lund to the primacy, either to allow royal influence any weight in the election, or to accept of confirmation at the royal hands. He next condemned some of the provisions in the ecclesiastical law which Valde- mar I had promulgated in Skane ; and when opposed by the king he intrigued with the royal enemies. Erlandsen was summoned before the estates at Viborg. In reply he convoked a national council to be held at Veile, a town in the diocese of Ribe in Jutland. In that assembly it was decreed that if any Danish bishop were taken and mutilated, or afflicted with any other atrocious injury, by the order or with the connivance of the king or any noble, the kingdom should be laid under an interdict and the divine service suspended. If the same violence were committed by any foreign prince or noble, and there DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 173 [1257-1259 A.D.] ■were reason to infer that it was done at the instigation of the king or any of his council, in the diocese of that bishop there should be a cessatio a divinis, and the king during a month should be bound to see justice done : if he refused, the interdict was to be extended over the whole kingdom. After it was laid, no ecclesiastic, under pain of excommunication, was to celebrate any office of religion in the royal presence. The decree was sent to Rome, and confirmed by the pope in October, 1257. The wrath of the king and of his nobles was roused by this bold act. But the primate was of an intrepid temper and quite prepared to share, if neces- sary, the fate of Thomas a Becket. In the next diet a number of frivolous and two or three substantial charges were made against him; and he begged time until the next meeting of the estates to prepare his answers. In the interim efforts were made to reconcile the two; and they sometimes met. But Erlandsen, by excommunicating a lady of Skane, a favourite of the king, rekindled the half -smothered wrath of Christopher. Repairing to Lund, the latter held his tribunal, invited all who had any complaint against the archbishop to appear before him, and summoned the archbishop himself to appear and answer whatever might be urged against him. As ecclesiastics were, by a regulation of some standing, amenable to their own laws alone, the churchman denied the competency of the tribunal. In revenge the king revoked the concessions of privileges, immunities, and even of domains, made by his ancestors to the cathedral of Lund. The officer who served the act of revocation was excommunicated by the primate, who had the people also on his side. Two or three of the bishops were gained by the court; the rest adhered to their spiritual head. Every day widened the breach between the two chief personages in the nation. The estates being convoked at Odense to swear allegiance to Eric, eldest son of the king, Erland- sen refused to appear, and commanded his suffragans also to refuse. The rage of the king was unbounded. From the estates, which he now convoked at Copenhagen, he obtained permission to seize the primate with the other bishops and imprison them. A brother of the primate's was the instrument of his apprehension, and he was conveyed to a fortress in Fiinen. The dean and archdeacon of Lund, with the bishop of Ribe, were next secured; but the two spiritual peers of Odense and Roeskilde had time to flee from the realm. In his captivity the primate was treated with much rigour. What his proud spirit could least bear was insult: if it be true that he was forced to wear a cap made from a fox's skin, we may smile at what called forth the bitter resentment of himself and the pope. 'The king was soon made to repent his violence. In virtue of the ordinance of the national cotmcil at Veile, the fugitive bishops laid an interdict on the kingdom; the pope espoused the cause of his church; and Jarimar, prince of Riigen, to whose hospitality the bishop of Roeskilde had fled, was persuaded by both to arm in behalf of the altar. Great was the wrath of Christopher to see the interdict so well observed, and to hear the murmurs of his people. How could he, alone, resist a power which had proved fatal to so many emperors and so many kings, and com- pared with which his was that of the meanest vassal in his dominions? He appealed to Rome. Yet at the same time he endeavoured to dispose his royal neighbours of Sweden and Norway in his favour. They, too, had bishops, and the cause of one was the cause of all: it was a struggle, he observed, between the rights of kings and the insolence of their subjects. They promised to assist him in this war alike on the pope and on his own clergy, whom he was about to deprive of their temporalities; and had already 174 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1259-1271 A.D.1 powerful armaments in motion when intelligence reached them that he was no more. Whether this monarch died naturally, or through poison, is doubtful. The evidence, however, is rather indicative of a tragical end, though the causes and the circumstances must forever rest a mystery. Eric, the eldest son of the king, was elected by the estates; and as he was only ten years of age at his father's death, the regency devolved on his mother, Margaret, daughter of Sambir, duke of Pomerania. That princess had great courage and great prudence, and both were required in the peculiarly difficult circumstances in which she was placed. Some of the bishops were exiles, some in prison, but all protected by the pope and venerated by the people. Eric, the son of Abel, supported by the counts of Holstein, by the prince of Riigen, and by the exiled prelates, aspired to the throne. The interdict still remained, and consequently the discontent of the people. And now Jarimar, prince of Riigen, and the duke of Schleswig, accompanied by the bishop of Roeskilde, made a descent on the coast of Zealand with a formidable army. Margaret collected what troops she could, and hastened to meet the enemy. The battle was disastrous to the royal party, ten thousand being left on the field. The consequences were still more disastrous — the occupation of Zealand and the destruction of several towns (among others Copenhagen, which had recently been invested with municipal rights) by the victors. Bornholm was next reduced, then Skane, which remembered its primate with gratitude; and the whole kingdom must have been subjugated by the Slav prince had not a tragical death arrested him in his career. This was a heavy loss to the eccle- siastical party; but the bishop of Roeskilde confirmed the censure and denied Christian burial to the dead of the royal party. Jutland only remained faithful to the latter. Yet Margaret was not dismayed: notwithstanding the interdict and the absolute prohibition issued alike by the primate and the bishop of Roeskilde, she caused her son to be crowned. To soothe in some degree the animosity of the former, she released him and all the churchmen; but he would not compromise what he deemed his duty; he refused all over- tures from her, and retired into Sweden to await the decision of Rome. Urban IV [who became pope in 1261], took cognizance of the cause. He condemned the primate, and ordered him to resign his archbishopric into the hands of two ecclesiastical commissioners whom he nominated for that pur- pose. Erlandsen obeyed; but, hearing that Clement IV had succeeded to Urban (1264), he hastened to Rome to plead for himself. Clement did not confirm the jud^ent of his predecessor; he took up the case de novo, and sent a legate to examine on the spot into the circumstances of the dispute. Erect- ing his tribunal at Schleswig, the papal functionary cited the king and the queen-mother to appear before him; but they refused on the plea that Schles- wig was unfavourable to them. Apprehensive for their safety in a city which depended on the king, the legate and the bishops repaired to Liibeck, whence they excommunicated Eric, his mother, and all who had refused to obey the citation. The primate retired to Rome, where he remained about seven years; and during that period the interdict remained in full force. While these events were passing, others occurred of still greater moment to the queen and her son. On the death (1257) of Valdemar, eldest son of Abel, without issue, the succession was claimed by Eric, the next brother. Christopher, who then reigned, had refused to invest him, and he had therefore thrown himself into the arms of his kinsmen, the counts of Holstein, and by their aid had entered on the administration of the duchy. Unable to dispos- DBNMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAKS 175 [1263-1286 i..D.] sess him, Margaret proposed to recognise him, provided he would acknowledge that he held the fief by the pure favour of the crown, and not by any right of inheritance. But Eric refused, and to chastise him, the queen and her son marched towards the south; but on the plains of Schleswig they were signally defeated. Flight did not save them from the power of their enemies: they were overtaken and consigned to imprisonment. There both might have remained to the close of life had not Albert of Anhalt, who had married the princess Mechtilda, sister of the king, interfered in their behalf. The queen was soon released (1263), and enabled to resimae the administration: the king was confided to the guardianship of John, markgraf of Brandenburg, also connected by ties of blood with the royal family. It was at length agreed that he shomd be released, on the condition of his marrying Agnes, daughter of the markgraf, whose dowry 6,000 marks, was to be placed against his ran- som. Returning to his capital (1264), he was now old enough to assume the reins of government. In 1272 Eric, duke of Schleswig, died — an event which again disturbed the tranquillity of the country. He left two sons, Valdemar and Eric, both minors. To the guardianship a claim was put in by the king, and another by the counts of Holstein. Both parties flew to arms, and at first the counts had the advantage; but seeing the royal forces augmented, they consented to resign the trust into the royal hands, on the condition of the king's invest- ing the eldest, when arrived at due age, with the duchy. Eric now celebrated his marriage with Agnes of Brandenburg; and he had also the satisfaction to see the convocation of a general council (that of Lyons, 1274), destined to remove the interdict from his kingdom. He was, however, enjoined not merely to receive the primate into his friendship, but to pay him 15,000 marks by way of indemnification. The following year (1275), a national council held at Lund finished the work of reconciling the king with the church. But if Eric was thus at peace with his spiritual, he was often in dispute with his temporal, barons, on whose rights he was always ready to encroach. Notwithstanding his treaty with the counts of Holstein, he endeavoured to evade the investiture of Schleswig in favour of Valdemar. Both parties, however, were equally to blame; for when Valdemar was invested he claimed other domains. When these were refused, he leagued himself with the enemies of -Denmark; the plot was discovered, and he was imprisoned. But his detention was of short duration; and at the intercession of his allies, he was released, after subscribing some conditions which more clearly established the authority of the crown over the fief. Still, if one enemy was vanquished, others remained, and to some of them, or rather to his own vices, the king fell a victim. To the count of HaUand he had been oppressive: he had deprived him of his domains, and if report is true, dishonoured the wife during the husband's absence. Revenge was sworn, and the oath was kept. One night, after hunting, he was murdered while asleep at a rural village in Jutland. The king's chamberlain was privy to the design, and it was he who guided the assassins (aU in masks) to the bed. Thus ended a reign of troubles, most of which cannot with any justice be imputed to the monarch. Yet his own vices added greatly to his misfortunes. After his peace with the church, when moderation might have been expected from him, he frequently seized the church tithes, and applied to his own use the produce arising from the monastic domains. With his nobles he was no less severe; and more than once (especially in 1262) he was in danger of being driven from the reahn by their united arms. Eric promulgated the code called Birk&rett. 176 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDHSTAVIA [J286-1308 A.i>.] THE DISINTEGRATION OF DENMARK At his father's death, Eric surnamed Menved/ was only twelve years of age. A guardian and regent was therefore necessary; and the post was demanded by Valdemar, duke of Schleswig, the nearest male kinsman of Eric. The queen-mother, Agnes of Brandenburg, unwilling but afraid to refuse, at length recognised his claim. There could not have been a better choice : he forgot the wrongs of his family in his new duties. In the first assembly which he convoked he called for vengeance on the murderers of the late king. They were in alarm; and to escape the consequences, they entered into a plot, the object of which was to seize the young king, and detain him as a hostage until their pardon should be declared by the estates. That plot did not escape the vigilance of the regent, who took measures to disconcert it, and at the same time caused a commission to be appointed, with power to inquire into the circumstances of Eric Clipping's death. That commission consisted of Otto of Brandenburg, brother of the queen-mother, of the prince of Riigen, the counts of Holstein, and twenty-seven Danish nobles. The result was a verdict of wilful murder against James, count of Halland, Stig, marshal of the court, and seven others. Condemned to perpetual banishment, they repaired to the court of the Norwegian king, then at war with Denmark, by whom they were hospitably received. Assisted by him they were enabled to visit the northern parts of their fief, and to commit, during many years, considerable depredations. That the Norwegian monarch should thus become the ally of murderers — the murderers, too, of a brother king — might surprise us, if we did not remember that he and his father had long applied, but applied in vain, for satisfaction on points the justice of which had never been denied. One of them was that the dowry of his mother, Ingeborg, a Danish princess, had never been paid. At the head of a considerable fleet, he himself soon followed the regicides, and devastated the coasts. He would listen to no proposals of peace unless the regicides were pardoned — for such was his engagement with them. This war raged imtil 1308, when peace was restored in the Treaty of Copenhagen. The chief condition was that, in compensation for his mother's dowry, the Norwegian monarch should hold northern Halland as a fief from Eric of Den- mark. In regard to the regicides, it was stipulated that some should be allowed to return and enjoy their property, but that the more guilty should never reyisit the realm. Yet, even to them a permission during three years was given to dispose of their lands and personal substance. This long war was not Eric's only trouble. Like his two predecessors, he was embroiled with the church. To Grandt, a dignitary of Roeskilde, he was hostile, apparently for reasons which had no foundation. When that digni- tary was elected to the see of Lund, he refused, like Erlandsen, either to solicit or to accept the royaj confirmation; and he hastened to Rome to obtain that of the pope. On his return he was arrested by Christopher, the king's brother, and treated with remarkable severity. His property was seized; he was made to exchange his pontifical robes for the meanest rags; he was fastened to the back of a worn-out horse; and in this state led, amidst the jeers of the royal dependants, to the fortress of Helsingborg. He was soon transferred to the castle of Soeburg, where an unwholesome dungeon, heavy fetters, and meagre fare awaited him. The same treatment was inflicted on Lange, another dignitary of Lund; but he had the good fortune to escape and to 'So called from his frequent use of the word mmn — certainly. DENMARK UNDER THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 177 [1295-1319 A.D.] reach Boniface VIII at Avignon (1295). Some time afterwards, Grandt him- self was so lucky as to escape and repair to Bornholm, where he was received as a martyr. He too arrived at Avignon, and was welcomed by the pope, who observed, with much truth, that there were many saints who had suffered less for the church than archbishop Grandt. The dispute between the king and the church was examined at Rome, by a commission of cardinals. The award was a severe one for the king: it sentenced him to pay the archbishop, by way of indemnification, 49,000 silver marks; and until the money was paid, not only was his kingdom to remain under an interdict (it had been subject to one ever since the archbishop was seized), but the king himself was to be excommunicated, and also his brother Christopher, the instrument of that arrest. When the king evinced no disposition to pay the money, the papal legate who had been dispatched to Denmark for the occasion, sequestered a portion of the royal revenues in Skane. This measure Eric could feel; and he threw himself on the mercy of the pope. Boniface so far relaxed from his severity as to allow the archbishop to resign his see of Lund, and to abate the indemnification to 10,000 marks. Grandt subsequently became archbishop of Bremen, while the papal legate succeeded to the primacy of Denmark. But the whole of Eric's reign was not disastrous. Liibeck and the baron of Rostock sued for his protection, and paid him for it: he obtained from the latter some augmentation of his territory, and from other German powers a large sum of money. Tranquillity, however, for any long period, he was not to enjoy. One of his worst domestic enemies was his brother Christopher, who leagued himself with the kings of Sweden and Norway, and other enemies of the realm. As a punishment, seeing that leniency had no result, Eric occupied his brother's domains. Christopher fled to Wratislaw, duke of Pomerania, who espoused his cause; so did the counts of Holstein and some other princes. In 1317 peace was made, but Christopher was not restored. Two years after- wards the king paid the debt of nature, leaving his kingdom plunged in debt occasioned by his efforts to contend with his misfortunes. He had more discernment than some of his predecessors. He encouraged the rising muni- cipalities, to some of which he granted charters analogous to those which existed in Germany. To commerce he was a benefactor; and he was useful to the judicial administration by the compilation of a code (in six books), called the Law of Zealand. He did more; he made a collection [Congesta Menvedi] of such public acts as might throw light on the national history. Of his offspring none svuvived him; one at least, on whom his hopes were placed, met a tragical but accidental death; and grief led his queen to the cloister, where she died a few months before him. There was nobody, there- fore, to succeed him but his turbulent brother Christopher, then in Sweden, whom he advised the estates to remove from the succession. But Christopher was not to be so easily deprived of what he regarded as his birthright; and when he heard that he should have a rival in Eric, duke of Schleswig, he commenced his intrigues and pushed his warlike preparations with a vigour that showed his determination to attain his object. The promises which he made to the nobles, the clergy, and the municipalities, were exceedingly lavish, and they answered his purpose, for he was elected by the estates, and at the same time his eldest son Eric was joined with him in the government. Though Christopher was thus placed on the throne, he soon found that to maintain himself on it, while an active rival was striving to unseat him, was no easy matter. He therefore began to lavish grants on his nobles so as to plunge the crown in new difficulties and to threaten the dismemberment H. W. — VOL. XVI. H 178 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1320-1326 A.D,] of the monarchy. To the church he showed great deference : he bore, with- out complaint, the postponement of his coronation until it suited the con- venience of the primate to return from abroad; and he engaged never to vio- late the privileges which had been usurped. But he had also need of foreign allies, and to procure them he evinced the same disregard of the public interests. To Wratislaw of Eiigen he con- firmed the investiture of that fief, with some other domains. To Henry of Mecklenburg, who held Rostock in pledge, in consideration of money advanced to the late king, he granted that territory in perpetuity, as a fief of the Danish crown. With Gerhard [or Geert] count of Holstein (then count of Rendsburg), he entered into a closer treaty, by which each engaged to assist the other, whenever required, with all the disposable force at his command. The cession of so many fiefs within and without Denmark proper, could not but have fatal consequences. Not less fatal was the custom of assigning, until pay- ment was made, whole islands and provinces, in return either for personal services or advances of money. What all men might have foreseen soon arrived. Though Christopher was never to impose any tax without the consent of the nobles, and never, in any circumstances, to require a tax from the church, his necessities were so great that he soon laid a new and extraordinary impost on both orders. The nobles were to pay one tenth of their annual revenues; the clergy in an equal pro- portion; the people still more. Suddenly one universal cry of resistance arose from every part of the kingdom. The archbishop boldly declared that he would resist to the last; that if the king did not keep the promises made at his accession, no more would the church or the nobles keep theirs; and that they should consider themselves absolved from their allegiance. Christopher bent to the influence which he could not resist; but he had already exasper- ated his people, and his relinquishment of the impost did not restore them to good humour. His next measure was to recover by force of arms the islands, provinces, and domains, which had been pledged, without paying any portion of the debt. The whole of Skane, nearly one third of the kingdom, was thus held by one noble. The creditors thus deprived of their rights naturally com- bined to obtain justice by force. They were aided by all that were discon- tented, and by not a few who had no cause for dissatisfaction, but who hoped to benefit by a change. Skane and Zealand were laid waste by fire and sword. From two of his enemies, the archbishop of Lund and Eric duke of Schleswig, he was released by death; but the latter event, from which he expected so much advantage, had baneful consequences. Eric left a young son, Valdemar. Who was to be the guardian? To obtain the post, Christopher invaded Schleswig. But he foimd a competitor in the very ally on whom he had so much relied, Gerhard of Holstein, who has been styled the Great, and who, as the maternal uncle of Valdemar, had equal right to the trust. In the midst of his successes, after reducing most of the duchy, he was defeated by this count and compelled to retire. Many of Christopher's disaffected subjects had been silent through fear; now that he was vanquished, he was assailed by one universal complaint. The nobles demanded their fiefs, the creditors their money, the people a removal of taxation, and all bitterly complained of his breach of faith. Revolt became general ; and when the estates met he was solemnly deposed, the reason assigned for this measure being " the intolerable abuse which he had made of his authority." When Christopher received this intelligence he was in Zea- land with his son; at the same time he learned that Count Gerhard was advancing. Eric marched with the disposable troops to repel the invader; DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 179 [1326-1330 A.D.] but he was defeated, betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and consigned to a dungeon. With the loss of that son, his colleague on the throne, Christopher lost all hope of present resistance; and with two younger sons he precipitately left the kingdom. At Rostock he procured aid from Henry of Mecklenburg and some Werid princes, and returned to struggle for his rights. He reduced a fortress, but this success did not render the estates more favourable; they persisted in their resolution to elect another sovereign. Besieged and taken by Gerhard, he was allowed to retire into Germany. He made another attempt, with equal want of success, was again taken, and again set free, on the condition of his retiring to Rostock. The estates assembled at Nyborg to elect a king made choice of Valdemar, duke of Schleswig, still a minor — the chief cause, no doubt, of his election, since there must be a regency and the most powerful might hope to participate in the public spoils. Gerhard was the head of the regency; half a dozen other nobles were joined with him, and all were eager to derive the utmost advantage from a tenure of dignity which must evidently be brief. Gerhard obtained the duchy of Schleswig in perpetuity. Count John of Holstein was invested with the islands of Laaland, Falster, and Fetaern. Knud Porse, who by Christopher had been created duke of North Halland, and who yet had been one of the first to desert that unfortunate king, was confirmed in the fief in addition to South Halland: it was no longer to be revocable, but to descend to his posterity. The archbishop of Lund obtained Bornholm; another noble had Kolding and Ribe; a third, Langeland and .iEroe; in short, the whole country was parcelled out into petty principalities, which, though feudally subject to the crown, would be virtually so many sovereignties. These measures could not fail to displease all who had any love for their country: a dozen tyrants were more tyrannical, more rapacious, than one; and pity began to be felt for the absent Christopher. That prince was not inactive in his retirement at Rostock. By the most lavish promises he obtained succours of men and money from some of his allies; and many of his own nobles, among whom were the primate and the bishops, engaged to join him as soon as he landed in Denmark. He did land, and was joined by the bishops of Aarhus and Ribe and by many nobles, and was enabled to obtain some advantages over the regents. But he had not learned wisdom by adver- sity. One of his allies. Count John of Holstein, he converted into a deadly enemy; and he offended the church by arresting the bishop of Borglum. The prelate escaped by corrupting his guard, and hastened to Rome to add the pope to the other enemies of Christopher. The kingdom was immediately placed under an interdict. In this emergency Christopher endeavoured to prevent his expulsion from the realm by resorting to the same means of bribery that he had before adopted. To pacify Count John, he ceded to him Zealand and part of Skane, in addition to Laaland and Falster, which he still held. By grants equally prodigal and equally ruinous to the state, he endeavoured to secure the aid of other nobles. So well did he succeed that Gerhard, abandoned by many supporters, sued for peace. The articles were signed at Ribe in 1330. Valde- mar was sent back to Schleswig; but the reversion to the duchy was secured to Gerhard in the event of Valdemar's dying without heirs male. As this was merely a future and contingent advantage, Fiinen was placed in his hands until Schleswig should become his by inheritance; and for that island he was to become the vassal of the Danish crown. Nor was this all: he was to hold the whole of Jutland by way of pledge until reimbiused for the expenses of the war, which he estimated at forty thousand marks. 180 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1330-1340 A.J}.] This tranquillity was of short duration. The two counts, Gerhard and John, quarrelled; and Christopher, instead of remaining neuter, espoused the cause of the latter. He was defeated by Gerhard, and the greater part of Jutland withdrew from him to swell the cause of the victor. His only resource was now to throw himself on the generosity of the other, who pro- fessed his willingness to make peace in return for one hundred thousand marks; and until that sum (immense for those days) was paid, he was to hold Jutland. The two counts also treated with each other, John sur- rendering to Gerhard one half of the debt on Fiinen; and they agreed to guarantee each other in the acquisitions which they had made, that is, in the dismemberment of the realm. At the same time Skane escaped for a season from the sceptre of the Danish kings. That province had passed into the hands of John, count of Holstein, through the inability of the crown to discharge the loans which had been borrowed on it. Holstein collectors therefore overraa it, to collect the revenues claimed by the representative of the creditors. They were even more unpopular than those of the king had been; and the natives not unfre- quently arose to massacre them. Three-himdred were at one time put to death in the cathedral of Lund. To escape chastisement the inhabitants looked, not to Christopher, who was helpless as an infant, and whom they distrusted, but to Magnus king of Sweden. Him they proposed to recognise as their sovereign, on the condition of his defending them against the counts of Holstein. It is almost needless to add that Magnus jo3^ully availed him- self of the opportunity of obtaining a province which was geographically within the limits of his kingdom, and which had always been an object of desire to his predecessors. He received the homage of the whole country, and sent forces to defend it. Instead of drawing the sword to recover it, John sold his interest in it and all claim to its government or revenues, for thirty- four thousand marks — a sum which Magnus readily paid him. The latter had now a double right to the province — that of voluntary submission and that of pm-chase. In the last year of Christopher's life two of his nobles, with the view of obtaining the favour of the Holstein family, entered into a plot for his assas- sination. They set fire to his house, seized him as he was escaping, and bore him to a fortress in the isle of Laaland, which belonged to Count John. That nobleman, however, no longer feared a prince who had fallen into imiversal contempt, and whose cause was hopeless. He therefore ordered him to be released. The following year Christopher died a natural death, after the most disastrous reign in the annals of the kingdom. By his wife Euphemia, daughter of Bogislaw, duke of Pomerania, he had three sons and three daughters. Eric, the eldest, preceded him to the. tomb; Otto ultimately became a knight of the Teutonic order; Valdemar, after a short interregnum, succeeded him. Of his daughters two died in youth; but the eldest, Margaret, was married to Ludwig of Brandenburg, son of the emperor Ludwig of Bavaria. The two counts of Holstein, who had thus partitioned the kingdom between them, consulted how they might perpetuate their usurpation. The best mode was to delay as long as possible the election of a new mon- arch; to exclude the two sons of the late king from the succession; and, when an election could no longer be avoided, to procvu-e the union of the suffrages in favour of some prince whom they might control. In any case, as their sway might and probably must be brief, their interest lay in deriving the utmost advantage in the shortest possible time from their poa- DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 181 [1340 A.D.] tion. Hence their rapacity, which their armies enabled them to exercise with impunity. Under no circumstances would the domination of strangers have been long borne without execration: that of rapacious strangers was doubly galling. The murmurs which arose on every side emboldened the two sons of Chris- topher to strive for his inheritance. But they entered the field before their preparations were sufficiently matured. Otto, with a handful of troops sup- plied by his brother-in-law the markgraf of Brandenburg, landed in Jutland. He was vanquished and committed to close confinement. To avert another invasion by excluding the sons from all hope of succession, Gerhard turned towards Valdemar, duke of Schleswig, who had been placed on the throne during Christopher's exile. If the duke succeeded, the duchy became the inheritance of Count Gerhard; but he would not wait for probabilities. In return for his promised aid, Valdemar, in a solemn treaty, agreed to surrender that province immediately; and if he did not obtain the object of his ambition, he was to receive Jutland in lieu of it. The rights of Gerhard over that peninsula, in virtue of the one himdred thousand marks which he claimed from the crown, have been mentioned: these rights therefore he might transfer. In the midst of the negotiation Prince Valdemar prepared to return and conquer, or to share the fate of his brother Otto. The people were almost universally favourable to him; and his arrival was expected with impatience. When the Jutlanders heard of the treaty which consigned them to Valdemar of Schles- wig, they no longer waited for their prince, but openly revolted. Gerhard was compelled to retreat, but only to return with ten thousand German auxiliaries; and with these he laid waste the peninsula. His fate, however, was at hand. A Jutland noble, with fifty accompHces only, resolved to rid his country of a tyrant. Hastening to Randers, where the count lay with four thousand men, at midnight, he disarmed the guard, penetrated into the bedchamber of the regent, murdered him, and escaped before the army was aware of the deed (1340). Thus perished Gerhard, surnamed the Great, a prince of great talents and of greater ambition. With him perished the grandem- of his house. His sons had not his personal qualities, and they could not maintain themselves in the position in which he left them. Emboldened by the event, the estates met, and declared the absent Valdemar, the third son of Christopher (Otto was still in confinement), heir to the throne. The act of election was sent to that prince in spite of the care taken by the counts of Holstein to prevent all inter- course between the country and the exile. Valdemar received it at the court of the emperor Ludwig of Bavaria. Under the imperial sanction there was a conference at Spandau. It was there agreed that Otto should receive his liberty on the condition of his resigning all claims to the crown. The new king engaged to marry Hedwige, sister of Valdemar, duke of Schleswig, whose dowry of 24,000 marks was to be deducted from the 100,000 claimed by the sons of Count Gerhard. Until the rest was paid, Fiinen and a part of Jutland were to remain in the hands of the coimts. The king was not to protect the murderers of the late cotmt. There were some other conditions of much less moment — all dictated by the necessity of sacrificing much to obtain a greater advantage.'' VALDEMAR ATTERDAG, THE RESTORER OF THE KINGDOM (1340-1375 A.D.) When the most important questions had been settled in this manner Valdemar proceeded to Jutland and was solemnly pronounced kmg m the 182 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1340-1350 A.D.] assembly of Viborg (1340), after which he promulgated, in place of capitu- lation, an act of armistice towards all those who had passed through the disaster of the preceding years. The end of all his efforts was to bring together the scattered portions of the Danish Kingdom, but this was not accomplished until after many cruel years, filled with hardships, struggles, and perils. He was, moreover,_none too scrupulous in the choice of means, and did not hesitate to regain by trickery what had been taken from him by force. He began with Zealand, and — now by purchase and treaty, now by violence and bloody struggles in which he was assisted by the exasperated inhabitants who attacked and massacred the Holsteiners whenever they could be found — he succeeded at last, but only after five years of effort, in recovering the whole of that important division of the kingdom. Laaland and Falster came next, and he purchased at this time, or shortly after, a large part of north Jutland. He then turned his attention to the island of Fiinen, which the Holsteiners were holding as guaranty for a debt of 41,000 marks. By making a skilful use of circumstances and by resorting to the sword where prudence and diplomacy failed, he succeeded in obtaining from the courts of Holstein, by the Treaty of Nebbegaard (1348), half of Fiinen, and at the same time in getting other favourable conditions which gave him the hope of shortly recovering the other half of that island. But questions arose later as to the interpretation of these conditions, and the remainder of Fiinen was the cause of a bloody conflict, in which the king was sometimes beaten but again won brilliant victories, as at the battle fought near the castle of Gam- borg in the northwest district of the island. The great expenditures which Valdemar had to make, both in prosecuting the war and in buying up fiefs and castles, compelled him to levy heavy con- tributions from his subjects ; and to forestall popular discontent, he called all the orders of the kingdom to a diet at Ringsted (1349), when he gave accoimt of all the money he had received. The people, recognising the good use of the public funds, were all the more ready to make new sacrifices. Another means which he employed to procure necessary funds was to sell Esthonia. This he disposed of to the Teutonic Knights for 19,000 marks which went to redeem more important parts of the kingdom. His most ardent desire was to recover the Skanian provinces, but as circumstances at the beginning of his reign did not favour this plan, he deferred it for a time and confirmed even the grant made to Magnus Smek, who in return paid Valdemar a sum of money. But he never lost sight of his plan, and always kept one eye on affairs in Sweden, where things were in very bad shape and gave this prudent monarch hope of finding an opportunity of fulfilling his ambitions with even more advantage. The reconstitution of the realm would have been accomplished with more rapidity if his subjects had been loyal, which was not always the case. Intelligent and thoughtful men well understood that Valdemar rightly deserved the throne, but there remained many malcontents, especially in the nobility, and notably among that of Jutland. During the preceding period of disorganisation the aristocracy had grown accustomed to violence and arbitrary action, but it could not so easily accommodate itself to the rigorous equity with which Valdemar the Restorer applied the law to high and low. He was accused of tyranny because he reunited to the crown and applied to the good of the country the numerous domains which the nobil- ity had appropriated during the troubles. In many localities the peasants joined the rebellious nobles because they found insupportable the taxes and DENMAEK UNDEK THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAES 183 [1350-1360 A.D.] duties exacted by the king. They came to forget, little by little, the dis- asters from which Valdemar had delivered the realm, and felt only the weight of the actual burden which was the necessary consequence of preceding misfortunes. After several years of strife, generally victorious, the king finished by concluding a peace with his foreign enemies (1360), and at the same time an arrangement with his subjects which held for some years. The latter was confirmed at the diet of Kallundborg (1360), where an ordinance was adopted with a view to defining the rights of the king and his subjects and establishing peace and order in the land. In this document the. king prom- ised to maintain the ancient laws and customs as well as the recognised rights of the nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasantry. All present agreed to pursue the brigands and incendiaries who were harassing the country, and to do their best to ensure that crimes against the king and crown of Denmark should be judged and punished. When the king or his officers prosecuted law-breakers, resentment was not to be cherished against them as though they pursued this course through personal hatred or enmity; on the other hand, the king was not to hold in abhorrence or persecute those who sought in the law a protection against injustices committed by him or his ofiicials. The ordinance has been called a capitulation, and if it must be so regarded, it is to be wished that all capitulations were conceived in the same spirit; for it prescribed the duties not only of the king but of the orders as well, and did not, like preceding and subsequent documents, contain a particular enumeration of the privileges of nobles and clergy, but only a general confirmation of these rights, together with those of the burghers and peasants. In consequence of its character, it was not only signed by the king, but by all the bishops; and a large proportion of the nobles pres- ent were obliged, by hand and seal, to endorse its terms. This is one great proof of the prudence and strength with which Valdemar the Restorer, in difficult and troublesome times, knew how to maintain the royal preroga- tives, as well as the rights of the weaker orders, against the clergy and pow- erful nobility. THE EEUNION OF THE SKANIAN PROVINCES Valdemar was getting nearer and nearer to the end he had long been seeking — the reunion of the Skanian provinces to the Danish crown. King Magnus Smek was in constant strife with the unruly nobles of his realm, mcluding his own son and co-ruler, Eric. In his need, he asked help of the king of Denmark, who showed himself disposed to give it, but only for a large return from the simple Magnus Smek. The latter, in company with Queen Blanca and his son Hakon, visited Valdemar at Copenhagen (1359), where he had to promise to release the Skanian provinces before Valdemar would assist him against his rebellious subjects and son. The malicious Blanca hated her son Eric, and sought Valdemar's protection for her favour- ite, Bengt Algotsson. It was she especially who managed all the negotia- tions. The alliance of the two kings was sealed by the betrothal of Valde- mar's seven-year old daughter Margaret to Magnus' son Hakon, then twenty years of age, and as pliant and docile to his father as his brother Eric was headstrong and hostile. The following year (1360), Valdemar passed into Skane, occupied the whole country, and forced Magnus Smek to surrender the documents which attested Sweden's right to the provinces — Count John's deed of |Mirchase 184 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1360-1363 A.D.] and the homage which the inhabitants of Skane, Halland, and Blekinge had given the Swedish crown. According to a tale scarcely worthy of credit, Valdemar was no sooner in possession of these documents than he hastened to burn them. After succeeding so well in Skane, the Danish king armed himself for an expedition to Visby, in the island of Gotland — one of the richest cities in all Europe and the principal trading station of the Hanseatic League on the Baltic. As excuse for this attack on Visby, some satirical songs about the king, which the inhabitants had sung, are usually alleged; but it is more probable that the king was seeking opportunity to deal a blow to the commerce of the Hanse Towns and to make himself master of Visby's wealth. The town was taken, the walls rased, and an immense booty seized (1361). From this day Visby's fame decUned. A portion of its trade betook itself to the henceforth flourishing Copenhagen, and it remained but the spectre of its former greatness. valdemar's reign closes in losses After the conquest of Gotland, Valdemar took the title "king of the Goths " (de Goters Konge), but the destruction of Visby and the occupation of the Skanian provinces woke to action all his former enemies. The Swedish nation compelled Magnus Smek to break the marriage agreement between his son and Margaret and to declare war against Valdemar. The counts of Holstein, whose sister Elizabeth, daughter of Gerhard the Great, was now promised to Hakon; the duke Valdemar of Schleswig; and a little later Duke Albert the Elder of Mecklenburg, allied themselves with the Hanse Towns against Valdemar the Restorer. Seventy-seven of these towns sent at one time as many declarations of war, but the king laughed at their number, comparing them to a flock of cackling geese; and before long, as much by force as by ruse, he destroyed the powerful coalition. In the naval war which broke out, we hear for the first time after a long period of silence of a Danish fleet; and it fought with glory against that of the Hanse Towns, so long accustomed to victory. The latter met such great reverses that its admiral, a Liibeck burgomas- ter, was put to death on his return home. After these disasters, some of the Hanse Towns first of all, sought an armistice with Denmark, which determ- ined the others to conclude one of those so-called perpetual peaces. While these events were taking place, the princess Ehzabeth left Holstein, late in the autumn, to marry King Hakon in Norway, but was wrecked in a storm on the Danish coast. Valdemar received her with the greatest courtesy, but under various pretexts and an appearance of soUcitude for her safety, he would not allow her to set out on the sea in so stormy a season. Meantime he sent messages to Hakon and Magnus Smek, who came at once; and the marriage of Hakon and Margaret was celebrated (1363), although the latter had not yet completed her eleventh year. When, a short time after, Valde- mar's son Christopher died of wounds received in battle with the Hanse fleet, this marriage assumed a special importance in opening a way for a union between Denmark and Norway, over which Hakon was king. The unfor- tunate princess of Holstein exchanged the throne to which she had been destined for a cloister cell. If Valdemar's enemies had been thoroughly exasperated with him, they were now all the more so on account of this transaction. The Swedes excluded Prince Hakon from the succession, deposed Magnus Smek, and made his nephew Albert of Mecklenburg, son of Albert the Elder, king; and, indeed, a DENMAEK UNDEE THE KNUDS AND VALDEMAKS 186 [1863-137S A.D.] short time" after the arrangement of the above-mentioned " perpetual peace," the Hanse Towns made a new aUiance with Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Sweden. For some years Valdemar succeeded in controlling his own destiny, and forced several of his enemies to peace; but in 1368 a large number of the most power- ful noble families of Jutland revolted and entered into formal alliance with the foreign enemies of the realm, and the king was forced to leave his country and seek help abroad. The situation in Denmark became terrible; the counte of Holstein invaded Jutland; Albert attacked Skane; the Hanse Towns rav- aged the shores and islands — the allies, in fact, made such progress that they were beginning to think of dividing the Danish provinces among them- selves. However, the able Henning Podbusk, whom Valdemar had left as regent in his absence, succeeded in detaching his most dangerous enemies, the Hanse Towns, from the coalition, though at enormous sacrifice. By the Treaty of Stralsund (1370) the Hanseatic League obtained the right to trade, wholesale and retail, throughout the whole of Denmark, the right to estab- lish all sorts of foreign workmen in the cities granted to it, and to import, free of duty, whatever material they needed. The Sound dues were entirely abolished on fish, and reduced to almost nothing on ships and articles of mer- chandise. Finally all the maritime towns of Skane, with the townships and cantons dependent on them, were leased to the league for fifteen years. Henning Podbusk and the other members of the royal council had to assent to another demand of the haughty merchants; namely, that after Valdemar's death, the Hanse Towns should have a voice in the election of the king, and that Valdemar should not re-enter the kingdom without ratifying the treaty. After much hesitation, Valdemar accepted this peace, and returned, in 1372, to his country, where the results of thirty years' work had been almost totally destroyed. The king succeeded, however, during the last three years of his life, thanks to his great skill and indefatigable energy, in re-establish- ing order in the kingdom and healing the most grievous wounds of the war. He had enough strength left in 1374 to invade North Friesland and chastise the inhabitants, who refused to pay their taxes. By coming to terms with one after another of the factions in Schleswig, he worked unceasingly to reunite that country to the kingdom; and when in 1375 Duke Henry, the last of the house of Abel, died childless, the outlook seemed brighter than ever. Just before 'or immediately after this death, the king had taken pru- dent measures. to assure himself of the possession of Schleswig by occupying Hadersleben, Apenrade, . Tondern, and Alsen with Sonderburg and Nor- burg, and placing royal ofiicials in these towns and castles. But the counts of Holstein, who after the treaty of Ribe (1330) thought themselves entitled to some claim on Schleswig, armed themselves, and a serious war seemed on the point of breaking out, when Valdemar was surprised by death, that same year 1375, at the castle of Gurre. Valdemar III has received the surname Atterdag (New Day Restorer) — perhaps because, owing to his great qualities, under his reign daylight began to pierce the gloom in which Denmark had long been plunged; or perhaps, as others explain it, because he loved to repeat the proverb, / Morgen er det Alter Dag (Daylight will reappear to-morrow), when his plans met with unexpected obstacles and, instead of giving them up, he postponed them for a more favourable occasion. His ungrateful people called him Valdemar Onde (the Bad), because this prince, strict himself in the per- formance of his royal duties, exacted work and sacrifices from his subjects, and because the situation of the kingdom forced him to impose heavy taxes 186 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1375 A.D.] on them.' Some old annals written by a contemporary ecclesiastic com- plain bitterly of this monarch's severity. " In Valdemar's day," we may read in them, " the good customs were abolished in Denmark; nor soldier, nor burgher, nor merchant had any rest; no one had time to eat, sleep, or rest, but all were forced to ceaseless weary labour, under pain of incurring the king's displeasure." Nevertheless, Den- mark has had few kings who so well deserved to rule the country as Valde- mar Atterdag. With his huge task of reconstructing the state entirely afresh and ceaselessly combating rebellious subjects and enemies abroad, he found time to undertake the internal improvement of the country. He built roads, dug canals, cultivated wasted districts, built dykes, erected water- mills and a large number of castles and fortresses. He was constantly trav- elling over the whole kingdom, rendering justice in the assemblies and looking to the execution of the law. He lifted the Danish fleet from its decline, and employed a certain number of professional sailors who were lodged at Vor- dingborg. A proof of this great king's energy is that, without neglecting the administration of his kingdom, he made a number of journeys to foreign parts, where he was always well received on account of his rare talents as negotiator and mediator. He went several times to Germany, visited the pope in the south of France, and even made a rapid pilgrimage to distant Palestine. Under the reign of Valdemar Atterdag, there raged in Denmark that deadly epidemic known as the Black Death {den Sorte Deed). It made such havoc in neighbouring districts that in Liibeck, for example, it was said to have carried off two thousand five hundred people in twenty-four hours, and ninety thousand in a single summer, but the latter figure must be much exaggerated. In Denmark also, whither it was brought by a crewless ship which came ashore in the Vendsyssel, it was so violent a scourge that accord- ing to some reports, perhaps exaggerated, there did not remain, in some localities, one inhabitant out of a hundred.® [' In tradition Valdemar Atterdag figures as the flying huntsman who was compelled to ride nightly accompanied by his dogs, from Burre to Gurre, in punishment for having declared that God might keep heaven so he might only hunt in Gurre wood.] CHAPTER VI SWEDEN TO THE UNION OF KALMAE, [1056-1389 A.D.] In Swedish history the chronological difficulties of which we have already had so much reason to complain, are scarcely fewer even in the eleventh century. Most writers give different lists of kings down to the twelfth cen- tury. The reason of this difference is two-fold: there were sometimes two kings reigning at the same time, the one over the Goths, the other over the Swedes; and sometimes each of these peoples had two. On the death of Edmund Slemme in 1056, the Swedes and the Goths, who were often hostile to each other, disagreed about the succession and, as we saw in a former chapter, the Swedes raised Stenkil to the throne, while the Goths chose Hakon the Red as their king. Thus there were two kingdoms, two courts — the one reigning over the eastern, the other over the western and southern provinces. The Goths and the Swedes had never perfectly amalgamated, from the period when Odin had led the latter into Sweden and driven the former from the coast into the interior of the country. But, on the other hand, expe- rience had taught both of them the destructive effects of disunion; and on the present occasion, now that Christianity had made so considerable a progress among them (more however in Sweden than in Gothland), they felt more sensibly the impolicy of their conduct. The heads of the two peoples met together, and agreed that Hakon should continue to rule over the Goths, but that on his death his kingdom should cease to have a separate existence and be re-merged into that of Sweden. We shall, however, see that the same moderation did not always govern the two parties; and that double elections continued to agitate the common-weal long after this period. But this cir- cumstance does not detract from the merit of the men who sanctioned the present agreement. In thirteen years Hakon paid the debt of nature, and in conformity with the agreement his crown reverted to the prince of the Swedes. Of Stenkil the national historians speak with praise. Of gigantic size, unrivalled strength, and indomitable courage, he was yet one of the mildest 187 188 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1080-1155 A.D.] princes of his age. Over Svend II, king of Denmark, he is said by the Swedish historians to have frequently triumphed; but of such triumphs we have no record in the historians of the rival nation. Equal honour is accorded to his successor Inge I, surnamed the Good. In his wars this prince is said to have exhibited great valour; but he was more distinguished for his attachment to Christianity, and for the zeal with which he extirpated paganism. In this great work he probably evinced more ardour than discretion, if it be true that he was murdered in his bed by his idolatrous subjects. Halstan, the brother and successor of Inge, if indeed they did not reign conjointly over different parts of the kingdom, had the same mild virtues. Philip and Inge II were equally worthy of the diadem. Distinguished alike for his piety and for the rigour with which he punished the banditti who infested his western provinces, and the pirates who ravaged his coasts, Inge, in particular, reigned in the hearts of his people, except those whose ill deeds he punished. To the hatred of a faction he became a victim. That faction raised to the throne Rognerald, a chief of gigantic dimensions and of fiercer quaUties. His yoke was soon felt to be intolerable : he was removed by violence ; and a double election followed — the Swedes choosing a chieftain named Kol; the Goths, Magnus, son of Niels king of Denmark. The former soon perished in battle; the latter, a great tyrant, reigned seven years only (1148), when the suffrages of the people fell on one who had neither birth nor connections to recommend him, but who had the great qualities becoming the dignity. This was Swerker I. It is worthy of remark that Hakon the Red and Rognerald, and Kol and Magnus, are not usually classed amongst the Swedish kings — at least by modern historians. The reign of Swerker was pacific and admirably adapted to the interests of the kingdom. He was a wise and patriotic monarch. But he had one grievous fault — blindness to the vices of his son. Never, if contemporary chroniclers are to be credited, did a youth so richly merit the curses of the people. At the head of a licentious gang, he violated the persons of the noblest virgins and matrons; he was addicted to every species of riot; and the insolence of his manners gave a more odious shade to his vices. In vain were remonstrances made to the father, whose first duty, as the people thought, was to insist that his own family should set the first example of obedience to the laws. Indignant at this guilty toleration, the people arose and murdered the prince. Swerker's own end was tragical; but whether he died through the influence of the same conspirators, or through the avarice of a domestic, is doubtful. On his death (1155), the ^ame ruinous division took place as in the preceding century: the Goths elected Charles, another son of Swerker; the Swedes made choice of St. Eric, who had married the daughter of Inge the Good — a name dear to the people. As civil war was so much to be depre- cated, the heads of both parties met and agreed to this compromise — that Eric I should retain both crowns during his life, and on his death both should be inherited by Charles. But what was to become of the rights of their children? To prevent future disputes, the descendants of each were to rule alternately, without prejudice, however, to the elective suffrage of the people. It would have been impossible to devise any expedient better adapted to produce the contrary of what was intended. TTie reign of Eric was one of vigour. The Finns, who had declared them- selves independent, he reduced to subjection; and he also forced them, we are told, to forsake idolatry for Christianity. We may, however, doubt whether his efforts in this respect were so general as the chroniclers would have SWEDEN TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 189 [1155-1195 A.D.] lis believe; certainly, they were not very permanent. Probably they did as most barbarians do in similar circumstances — they submitted while the victor was near them, but reverted to their ancient superstitions when he had left. That he had idolaters nearer to him than Finland, and more imme- diately subject to his sway, is evident from the distinction he was accused of making between the worshippers of Odin and those of Christ. The former he deprived of the rights which the law conferred upon them. For this con- duct he naturally incurred their indignation, and he also made enemies of another party — the licentious, the disturbers of the public tranquillity, who were scarcely less numerous. Both conspired against him; and as their own strength was inadequate to the object, they invoked the aid of the Danish king, offering, as it appears, the crown of Sweden to the son of that monarch. A Danish army arrived, and being joined by the malcontents marched towards Upsala. They were soon met by Eric, who, though he performed prodigies of valour, was defeated and slain (1160). His tragical death was one of the causes that led to his canonisation. Another was the zeal which he showed in the extirpation of idolaters, whom he pursued with fire and sword. Add that he was the foimder of monasteries and churches, and we have reasons enough for his deification. By most readers he will be valued, less for his unenlightened devotion than for his compilation of a code of laws — St. Eric's Lag. Yet the provisions which it contains are deeply impressed by his dominant characteristics. Against pagans they are sanguinary; and they visit offences against the Christian religion and the Christian worship with stern severity. Charles, the son of Swerker, was now monarch of the whole country. But he had some difficulty in expelling the invaders, who had proclaimed the son of the Danish king. He, too, was much attached to the church, to which he was more generous than even his predecessor. If tradition be true (there is no contemporary authority for the statement), he embarrassed his affairs by his immoderate liberality. As he obtained from the pope the erection of an archbishopric — that of Upsala — he was expected to endow it. From his munificence in this respect may have originated the report in question. His reign was not exempt from trouble. The adherents of the rival dynasty were his enemies, from a suspicion (apparently ill-founded) that he had been one of the conspirators against St. Eric. Though in conformity with the agreement which we have mentioned he nominated Knud, the son of Eric, his successor, that prince would not remain in the kingdom, under the pretence that his life was in danger. In a few years he returned into Sweden, at the head of a considerable Norwegian force, was joined by the partisans of his house, and enabled to triumph over his rival, whom he captured and beheaded. This act he justified by appealing to the imtimely end of his father, which he represented as the work of Charles. The reign of Knud was disturbed by two invasions : the first by the Danes, who had armed to revenge the death of the late king, or rather under that plea to profit by the disasters of a rival country (the Goths, who loved the memory of Charles, immediately joined it, but the king was victorious); the second was an irruption of the Esthonian pirates, who laid Sigtunain ashes, slew the archbishop of Upsala, and carried away many prisoners before the king could overtake them. Swerker II, the son of Charles, was the next king (1195-1210), in virtue of the compact between the Goths and the Swedes. But every day more clearly evinced the dangers resulting from that compact: it daily widened the breach, not merely between the two royal families but between the two 190 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1210-1250 A.D.] great tribes which constituted the nation. Blood had been openly or treacher- ously spilt by both parties; and the deadly feud had descended to the chiefs of both. It was, from the first, the object of Swerker to exterminate the family of his rival; but one prince — Eric, the only son of the late king — escaped into Norway. For some years he governed with moderation; but when he became tyrannical, the people of Upland invited the exile to return. Eric obeyed the call, was joined by most of the nobles, and enabled to triumph over Swerker, though the latter was supported by a Danish army. The king was ex- pelled, and though he subsequently twice returned to renew the contest, twice he \fas defeated, and on the latter occasion his own corpse was among the slain. The reign of Eric II (1210-1220) commenced more judiciously than could have been anticipated from preceding events. To pacify the rival faction, he declared Prince John, the son of Swerker, his successor. To conciliate the Danes, who had so warmly espoused the cause of his rivals, he obtained the hand of a Danish princess, the sister of Valdemar II. His reign was pacific, but too short for the interests of his people. John I (1220-1222) ascended without opposition the united thrones of the Swedes and the Goths; but his reign was still shorter — a misfortune the more keenly felt from his admir- able conduct. If he was less fortunate in two or three military expeditions (so obscure, however, as scarcely to deserve notice) than was hoped from the justice of his cause, his civil government was one of great success. He was succeeded without opposition by the son of his predecessor, Eric II, named after the father. Eric III, surnamed the Halt and the Lisper (1222-1250), had a reign less peaceful than those which immediately preceded it. There was a family in the realm too powerful for obedience — that of the Folkungar — the chiefs of which, by their wealth and their numerous connections, evidently aspired to the throne. To bind them to his interests, he married two of his sisters to nobles of that house, while he himself took to wife a lady of that family. But these alliances, as might indeed have been expected, only gave a new impulse to ambition. To wrest the crown from him, the whole family or tribe, the chiefs of which must have been connected with the royal line of either the Goths or the Swedes, broke out into rebellion — one noble only, the jarl Birger, remaining faithful to him. In the first battle Eric was defeated and compelled to flee; but he raised an army in Denmark, returned to Sweden, vanquished the usurper Svend, and was again acknowledged by the whole realm. In the last year of his reign, he sent an expedition against the Finns, who had reverted to idolatry. It was commanded by Birger Jarl, on whom he had conferred the hand of his youngest sister. The cruelty of the general, who probably acted in obedience to the royal orders, equalled that of the former military apostle, St. Eric. VALDEMAR I BEGINS A NEW DYNASTY The death of Eric the Lisper (1250) was followed by a violation of the compact which had estabhshed the alternate order of succession. The Folkungar nobles no longer concealed their intention of aspiring to the throne. Through the intrigues of a dependent, when the diet met for a new election the choice fell on Valdemar I, the son of Birger Jarl by the sister of the late king. On the part of the electors, this was an attempt to combine the inter- ests of two great families. But Birger was dissatisfied : he had expected the crown himself; and he objected to the impolicy of choosing a child like his son. His design was to obtain the regency, and he succeeded (1251). SWBDEK TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 191 [1251-1276 A.D.] However censurable the means by which Birger arrived at power, he had qualities worthy of the post. He founded Stockholm, which he also fortified: he revised and greatly improved the Landslag, or written laws of the kingdom; he conferred on the cities and towns privileges similar to those contained in the charters of later ages; he improved the internal administration in other respects, while he defended the coasts against the ravages of the pirates. Such indeed was the prosperity which he introduced that the diet requested the king to confer on him the ducal title — a title previously unknown in Sweden. But the success of his administration and the power held by his family incurred first the jealousy and soon the hatred of a faction, or rather of several factions who imited to .oppose him. A civil war followed, which was indecisive; and it was ended by a pacification, but a pacification dictated by deceit. After Birger had solemnly sworn to it, and the heads of the other party repaired in unsuspecting confidence to his camp, he caused them to be put to death. One noble only escaped — Charles, who fled to the Teutonic knights, became a member of the order, and left a heroic name behind him. This perfidious act is a sad stain on the glory of his regency. Another was his excessive love of power, which induced him to retain the reins of government long after his son had arrived at manhood, and even after that son had married Sophia, daughter of Eric Plovpenning, king of Denmark. Death alone caused him to release his grasp (1266). The reign of Valdemar was one of trouble. Whether through the per- suasion of the diet, or through fraternal attachment, he tolerated if he did not himself establish the independence of his brothers. Magnus duke of Soder- manland, Eric prince of Smaland, and Benvit duke of Finland, had separate courts, and exercised a sovereign authority in their respective jurisdictions. Magnus, the eldest, was formed for a monarch. He was learned, courteous, generous, and highly accomplished in all military sciences. So popular did he become that his palace was more frequented than the king's. Of his popu- larity Valdemar soon became jealous; yet he could do no other than leave the regency to Magnus during his pilgrimage to Rome. The motive of this pil- grimage was to expiate a criminal connection, of many years' standing, with Jutta, sister of his queen. The severity of the penance was owing to the fact of Jutta's being a nun, who had precipitately fled from the convent of Roeskilde, and the pope would not give him absolution until he had visited the Holy Land. Jutta was condemned to perpetual seclusion. In 1276, after an absence of nearly three years, the royal penitent returned and accused Magnus of intriguing for the throne. Whether there was any truth in the charge cannot well be ascertained; but that suspicion should arise in his mind was inevitable. He was jealous, not of Magnus only, but of all his brothers. On this occasion, Benvit, the youngest, exhibited a proof of magnanimity which may well obtain the praise of history: to consolidate the royal power, he resigned his duchy, took holy orders, and subsequently became bishop of Linkoping. The elder brothers, far frona imitating the example, united themselves closely with the Danes, and a civil war followed. Valdemar was surprised, pursued, and captured. To end these disorders, the diet met and divided the kingdcm between the two brothers. To Valde- mar were conceded the two Gothiands (East and West) with Smaland and Dalecarlia : the rest fell to Magnus. This peace was of short continuance. Magnus did not pay his Danish auxiliaries, by whose aid he had triumphed. In revenge the Danish king [Eric Clipping] ravaged the Swedish provinces, and entered into a treaty with Valdemar to restore him to the undivided throne. At the head of a Danish 192 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDINAVIA [1276-1290 A.D.] army, Valdemar marched against Magnus, but was defeated. To repair this disaster, Eric of Denmark took the field with a large army — so large that Magnus would not risk an action. But the Swedish prince obtained by policy the advantage which arms could not give him. He drew the invaders into the heart of the kingdom; cut off all supplies; and awaited the approach of winter to effect their destruction. But through the mediation of the chiefs on both sides peace was restored. As Magnus had not the money due to Eric, he pledged one of his maritime towns. In return, he obtained not merely a friend but his recognition as monarch of Sweden. Valdemar, thus sacri- ficed, was made to renounce his claim to the whole country, and to pass the remainder of his days in Denmark, on one of' the domains which he had received with his queen. Magnus I at his accession (1279) assumed the title "king of the Swedes and the Goths," to denote his superiority over the whole kingdom. But the title was more pompous than the power. He was soon accused of undue partiality towards the people of Holstein, who in virtue of his marriage with Hedwige, daughter of the count Gerhard, flocked to Sweden in great numbers. The remonstrance did not weaken his attachment to these foreigners, whom he loaded with honours. To the great families, especially that of the Folk- ungar, this preference was gall; and a conspiracy was formed to extirpate the odious strangers. An opportunity for the execution of this plot soon arrived. Escorted by a considerable number of Holsteiners, the queen proceeded to Skara, a town of Gothland, to meet her father. The conspirators followed, and massacred the guard, including even the brother-in-law of the king. Nor was this aU: they threw the count of Holstein into a dungeon; and they certainly would have laid their hands on the queen, had she not contrived to escape to a monastery. Knowing the power of the family which had instigated these excesses, and fearing that they were supported by foreign alliances, the king dissimulated, and made use of the most conciliating language, until he had obtained the release of the count. He then summoned a diet, charged the unsuspicious Folkungar with high treason, sent them to Stockholm, and beheaded all of them except one, who was allowed to be ransomed. From this time that ambitious family ceased to have much influence over the realm. To establish his throne still more solidly, he entered into a double matri- monial alliance with Denmark. His son Birger, still a child, was afhanced to a daughter of the Danish king, and as she too was a child, she was taken, in conformity with the custom of the times, to the Swedish court to be edu- cated. Aiid soon afterwards Ingeborg, daughter of Magnus, became the wife of Eric Menved. The tranquillity obtained through these measures enabled Magnus to devote his whole time to the internal administration. Prior to his reign, the local nobles had not hesitated to levy contributions on the peasants. He decreed that whoever took anything from a poor man without paying the value should be visited with rigorous penalties [and thus he earned the name of Ladu-laas, or Barnlock, because he protected the contents of the peasant's barn]. From his brother Valdemar he sustained some trouble; but he crushed the seeds of rebellion by imprisoning that restless prince. To support with greater magnificence, the regal state, he obtained, from the gratitude of his people, a considerable augmentation of his resources. This augmenta- tion consisted in certain returns from the mines and from the great lakes of Sweden. Well did he merit this liberality; for never had the country a greater king. Birger, the son of Magnus, being only eleven years old at his father's death, SWEDEN TO THE UNION OP KALMAR 193 [1390-1807 A.D.] the regency devolved on Torkel, a noble Swede. Nothing can better illus- trate the merit of Magnus than this choice. At home and abroad Torkel evinced his talents and his patriotism. His expeditions against the Finns, the Karelians, and the Ingrians were crowned with success. But his great object was to render the people happy. [He introduced a law prohibiting the sale of slaves, and in 1295 a codification amendment of the law of Upland was made.] Having reason to fear the interruption of the social tranquillity, Torkel arrested the sons of the late king Valdemar, who could not forget their claims to the throne. But as Birger grew to manhood, he had still more cause of apprehension from Eric and Valdemar, brothers of the sovereign. Both evidently aspired to distinct governments. To strengthen his interests, the former married Ingeborg, daughter of HakonVI, king of Norway. Seeing that he and Valdemar were acting more openly in pursuit of their treasonable object, yet unwilling to adopt extreme measures, Birger, with the advice of his minister, obtained from them a written pledge never to leave the kingdom, or approach the royal residence without permission; never to conspire against the government; never to maintain more than a given number of armed men; and always to obey the commands of their sovereign. The princes still continued to plot; and to escape imprisonment, they fled into Denmark. The Danish king, however, being persuaded to abandon them, they took refuge in Norway, were hospitably received by Hakon, and enabled, from their new fiefs of Nydborg and Konghella, to lay waste the neighbouring provinces with fire and sword. A body of troops sent by Birger to repulse them was defeated. A second army was raised, and the king marched in person to chastise his brothers. They were, however, at the head of a large force, not of their own partisans merely but of the Norwegians; and to avoid the effusion of blood a pacification was recommended. They were received into favour on the condition of their swearing obedience to the king; in return he conferred on Duke Eric the fief of Varberg. The next feature of this transaction was the sacrifice of the able and patriotic Torkel. The brothers could not forgive him for thwarting them in their rebellion; and Birger was made to believe the vilest calumnies respecting him. The aged minister was sent to Stockholm and beheaded (1306). At the same time his daughter, the wife of Valdemar, was repudiated. Thus was a long course of public service rewarded. By this criminal weakness, Birger was righteously left to the intrigues of his brothers. By them he was surprised and made prisoner, together with his wife and children, and forced to resign the crown in favour of Eric. His eldest son, Magnus, escaped, and fled to Denmark, the king of which armed for the restoration of his sister's husband. From this period to the close of Birger's reign there was war, alternated by hoUow peace. In 1307 he obtained his liberty, on the condition of his kingdom being dismembered in favour of his brother. To revoke this dangerous act he renewed his alliance with Den- mark, and again obtained help; but his proceedings were not decisive, and a new pacification followed, on conditions similar to the preceding, except that Birger was now regarded as the liege superior of his brothers, who did homage to him for their fiefs. Unable to reduce them by force, he had recourse to the usual acts of the base. He pretended great affection for them, and sent them many presents. At length, alluring them to his court at Nykoping, he arrested them in bed, and consigned them to dungeons, with expression of triumphant insult more galling than the perfidy itself. One died of the wounds which he had received in the effort to escape: the other was starved to death. U. W. — VOL. XVI. O 194 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1307-1850 A.l>.] But from this deed of blood the king derived no advantage. The bodies of the murdered princes, being exposed to the public, roused the wrath of the very numerous party hostUe to his government. The civil war was now renewed by Mats Ketilmundsson in behalf of Duke Eric's son. Since the death of Torkel the king had become rapacious, tyrannical, and consequently vmpopular. The people, who lamented the fate of the murdered princes, favoured the cause which Ketilmundsson had espoused: the fortresses that still held for the king were soon reduced: Magnus, his son, was made prisoner; and he himself was compelled to seek a refuge in Denmark, where he was coldly received. Fate had not yet done its worst for this exiled prince. A diet was assem- bled to choose a successor. Such was the hatred borne towards him and his line that his son Magnus was beheaded. The suffrages of the electors xmited in favour of Duke Eric's son, a child three years old. Grief the following year (1320) brought Birger to the tomb. Whatever good signalised his reign must be attributed to his able and virtuous minister: his own conduct was dictated by odious vices. During the long minority of Magnus II, the regency was exercised by Ketilmundsson, who had contributed so largely to the expulsion of Birger and the execution of the blameless Magnus, the son of Birger. His admin- istration, which continued eighteen years, is mentioned with respect; but it was signahsed by no great exploit deserving the attention of history. Both his policy and that of his sovereign, in respect to Skane, has been related. In the administration of justice and the maintenance of the public tranquillity he was successful. On his demise, Magnus assumed the reins of government; but did not give so much satisfaction as his minister. He imdertook an expedition against the western provinces of Russia (then subject to their own princes), influenced only by a wild ambition. The result was not glorious. The taxes which he levied on the people for its support gave rise to complaint. The pope, too, complained that he had appropriated to his own use the money which, in virtue of Olaf the Lap-King's act, should have gone to the Roman treasury. StiU his necessities increased: the purchase of Skane was another channel of expenditure; and though he pledged some of the royal domains, he had still to exact more from his people, including the clergy, than their patience would support. For this caiise he was exconmiunicated by the pope. Regardless of murmurs, he proceeded in his course : he was distinguished alike for rashness, feebleness, and irresolution. Governed by young favour- ites, and still more by his queen, who persuaded him that he might do what- ever he pleased with impunity, and anxious to place a third crown on his brow (he had inherited Norway in right of his mother), he exhibited at once his sUly ambition and his incapacity by embroiling himself with Denmark. So far from obtaining that crown, he lost his own. The diet insisted that he should resign Norway to Hakon, and Sweden to Eric, his two sons. He fled into Skane; implored the aid of Valdemar Atterdag, and in return ceded that province to the Danish crown. He was enabled by this means and by the support of a party, to carry on a war with Eric. Its ravages were deeply felt; its issue was dubious; and a diet was convoked at Jonkoping to avert by a pacification the ruin of the monarchy. Under the mediation of two princes connected with the royal family, it was decreed that the country should be divided between the father and the son: to the former were assigned Upland, the two Gothlands, Vermland, Dalecarlia, with the northern portion of.Halland and the isle of 01 and; to the latter, Finland, Smaland, the southern portion of Halland, and Skane. SWEDEN TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 193 [1350-1365 A.D.] The indiscretions of Magnus had lost him the hearts of his people, which turned with ardour to Eric IV. This circumstance roused his jealousy and that of his queen, and they are said to have conspired against the life of Eric. Whether he was removed by poison administered to him by his mother, or by the violence of conspirators, or by lawless banditti, or, finally, by natural causes, must forever rest imknown, since ancient annals say nothhig on the subject. The only fact that is certain is that Eric died, and that Magnus profited by the event, since it restored him to the monarchy. It was impossible for this weak and unscrupulous prince to win the esteem of the Swedes. He hated them because they had deposed him; and to be revenged on them he entered into a close alliance with Valdemar of Denmark. Valdemar, to whom he ceded Skane, became, as we have before related, the wilHng instrument of that vengeance in the sack of Visby and in other depre- dations. This was not the way to acquire popularity: he and the whole Dan- ish nation were soon detested; nor was the feeling diminished when the secret transpired of a projected union between the king's son, Hakon, of Nor- way, and Margaret, the daughter of Valdemar. To prevent this obnoxious alliance, the nobles arose, imprisoned Magnus in the fortress of Kalmar, called on Hakon to assume the administration, and made him promise not only that he would renoimce aU connection with Denmark but that he would marry Elizabeth, sister of Henry, count of Holstein. Though Hakon II (the sixth of Norway) engaged to fulfil the wishes of the diet, neither he nor his father, who was soon released, had the least intention of doing so. On the contrary, they renewed their connection still more closely with the obnoxious Valdemar. The manner in which Elizabeth was deluded by that monarch, until the marriage of his daughter with Hakon was celebrated, has been already described. Nothing could exceed the anger of the Swedes, or rather of a considerable faction (for the majority were passive) when they heard of this marriage. Determined to exclude both father and son they invited Henry of Holstein, who was connected with the royal line, to ascend the throne. But Henry was an old man; and he would not risk his tranquillity for an object that he could not long enjoy. He recommended the electors to make choice of Albert duke of Mecklenburg, whose mother was the sister of Magnus. But the duke had no wish to rule a divided, turbulent people; nor did he wish his eldest son to undertake the perilous charge. He had, however, a second son, also named Albert, who had nothing to lose, and whom he recommended to the suffrages of the electors. Albert arrived at Stockholm early in 1364. That city was in the interests of Magnus, and for a time it resisted; but he forced or persuaded it to capitu- late. There he was joined by most of the nobles who were discontented with Magnus. Their first act was to renew the deposition of the one; their next, to confirm the election of the other. Hakon, then in Norway, prepared to invade the kingdom; and Magnus, who had still a party, effected a junction with him. Their army being augmented by a considerable number of Danes, they penetrated into Upland. But Albert, on his side, hastened to oppose them; and in a battle of some magnitude, victory the most decisive inclined to his standard: Magnus was taken prisoner; Hakon was wounded and com- pelled to retreat with expedition into his own kingdom (1365). The fortresses which held for the two princes were next reduced; two or three of them only made a vigorous defence. But Valdemar of Denmark, whose interests lay in disturbing the kingdom, sent, from time to time, supplies of troops, which harassed the king. 19fi THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1365-1386 A.D.] Peace with that formidable rival was felt to be necessary for the repose of the realm, and it was purchased by the cession of some domains. Among them was the isle of Gothland with Visby the capital. That these cessions were unwillingly made may be easily conceived; and to procure their restora- tion Albert entered into a close league with the enemies of Denmark. The war was consequently^ renewed. While his allies assailed other parts of Den- mark, he invaded Skane, a portion of which he reduced. But Httle time was left him for exultation. Hakon of Norway invaded Sweden, defeated him, and compelled him to throw himself into Stockholm, which was closely invested. In this extremity he proposed an interview, in which the condi- tions of peace were agreed on. Ma^us was enlarged for a ransom of 12,000 marks; and in return for his cession of the Swedish crown, he received as fiefs Vestergotland, Vermland, and Dalecarlia (1371). He was, however, to have no share in the administration of these provinces, but merely to receive the revenues with the title of governor; and the rest of his days he was to pass in Norway. Lest he should break this, with as much levity as he had broken all his former engagements, sixty gentlemen of his party were to surrender themselves prisoners to Albert if he should again disturb the peace of the realm. He did not disturb it, because he was soon afterwards drowned in crossing a ford (1374). For some years after this pacification Albert enjoyed comparative security. But he was not popular: he brought over many Germans to share in the spoils of the kingdom; and exhibited in their favour a partiality so gross as much to indispose the nation against him. Insecure as was his possession of Sweden, he raised troops to support the claims of his nephew, Albert of Mecklenburg, to the Danish throne, in opposition to Olaf, the son of Margaret and Hakon. The enterprise failed: the armament that was sent against the Danes was mostly destroyed by a storm; and there was no disposition to renew the contest. The gross partiaHty of Albert for his foreign mercenaries was not the only fault he committed. Having a high notion of the kingly prerogative, he endeavoured to rule without the control of the diet. For his attempt to restrain the privileges of the nobles he would deserve our praise, were not his motives of the most selfish character. The people had still more reason to complain. Not only were they subject to a tyranny odious as that of the nobles, but they were ground to the earth by new imposts, and, what was still more mortifying, for the enrichment of avaricious foreigners. In this state of the public mind, he convoked a diet at Stockholm (1386) and demanded an augmentation of his income. It was not, he observed, adequate to the decent support of royalty; and he solicited one third of the whole revenue, civil and ecclesiastical. Nothing could equal, the indignant surprise of the diet at this extraordinary demand. They replied that former kings had Queen Maboaeet of Denmark, Norway, AND Sweden (1353-1412) SWEDEN TO THE UNION OF KALMAR 197 [1370-1389 A.D.] found the usual revenues enough, not merely for comfort but for splendour; and intimated that if he was straitened the cause lay in the number of for- eigners whom he enriched. This intimation might have been expected to produce some good effect; but it had none on this imprudent king except to exasperate him, and to make him resolve that he would wrest by force what had been refused to his solicitations and plunge the kingdom into a ruinous civil war. SWEDEN, NORWAY AND DENMARK ARE UNITED UNDER MARGARET At this time Margaret, who had succeeded her son Olaf (1387), was sovereign of Denmark and Norway. To her the malcontents applied for aid, which she would not afford them, unless they acknowledged her for their queen. The condition was accepted: an army of Danes marched into Sweden and was immediately joined by many of the nobles and clergy. The lower classes of the population were indifferent to the result, or if they had any bias it was in favour of Albert — not from any attachment to him but from dislike of the nobles. At Falkoping, in Vestergotland, however, a good stand was made by his army, consisting not merely of Swedes but of Germans and many adventurers whom the offer of large pay and the hope of plunder had drawn to his standard. But after a desperate conflict, he was defeated and captured, together with his son (1389). Both were committed to a fortress, where, notwithstanding the efforts of their German allies and those of their own party, they remained above six years; nor did they obtain their release without a solemn renunciation of the Swedish crown. With Margaret, sovereign of three kingdoms, begins a new era in northern history .6 ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN Amongst the conspicuous figures belonging to the age which had just closed, a character widely different from most of those which have passed before us claims attention — both from its intrinsic interest and its widespread influence in Europe, and from the fact that the monastic order which was the starting-point of that influence played an important part in the life of Sweden for two hundred years. The fame and influence of St. Bridget of Sweden extended far beyond her own country and century. A typical mediaeval saint in the ecstatic simplicity of her faith and her belief in her own visions, she was equally distinguished for benevolence towards her fellows that found a practical vent in the charities which were continued by the order she founded. Vadstena, the chief convent of that order, became the centre of a whole cycle of legendary and historic story, and its history is closely interwoven with that of the Swedish nation. The following brief epitome of Bridget's life is by a Catholic historian :« In the month of July (1370) St. Bridget of Sweden came to Montefiascone to present herself to the pope. She was born about 1302 of one of the noblest families of Sweden, and was named Birgitta (Bridget). She was married at thirteen to a young nobleman named Ulf Gudmarson, by whom she had eight children. They made together the pilgrimage to the shrine of Sant Jago in Galicia, and on their return home both resolved to enter religion. Ulf died before he could carry out his plan. Bridget, finding herself a widow, redoubled her austerities and her charities, and a short time after, that is to say about the year 1344, she founded a monastery for sixty nuns and twenty- five brothers of the order of St. Augustine, at Vadstena, in the diocese of 198 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1344-1389 A.D.] Linkoping. She made certain provisions for it, and named it the monastery of the Holy Saviour. Such was Bridget when she came to seek Pope Urban V and ask his approval of her work. This she obtained. Then she sent word to the pope by Count Nicholas of Nole that if he retired he would commit a great folly and would not finish his journey. Furthermore she declared to Cardinal Beaufort, afterwards pope, in the presence of Alfonso, bishop of Jaen, that when she was at Rome the Holy Virgin revealed to her the following message: " It is God's will that the pope should not leave Italy, but that he should remain until his death at Rome or elsewhere. But if he return to Avignon he will die at once, and render an account to God of his conduct. Bridget told the cardinal of this revelation so that he might send it secretly to the pope in writing; but the cardinal dared not do this, and the sainted widow gave it herself to the pope, written in Alfonso's hand." [The incident gave Bridget the reputation of a prophetess, for Urban returned to Avignon two months later and died in December of the same year.] After St. Bridget had obtained the confirmation of her order from the pope, she went on to Naples and then to Sicily. On returning to Rome she believed herself to have had a revelation to go to Jerusalem, and although sixty-nine years old she set out with her daughter Catherine. Arriving in the Holy Land she visited all the holy places, among which was always reckoned that of the Annunciation, the house at Nazareth. Bridget returned to Rome and died there in the odour of sanctity, July 23rd, 1373, at the convent of the nuns of St. Clara. The following year her body was taken back to. Sweden through her daughter's efforts, and placed in the monastery of Vadstena which Bridget had founded." Bridget's name is attached to various writings of a religious character, the principal of which are her Uppenbarelser or Revelations, which reflect the ecstatic mysticism of her religious standpoint, while the practical side of her character is represented by the recognition voiced in them of the urgent need of reformation in the church. This book was denounced by the French theologian Gerson, a younger contemporary of Bridget, but was recognised by the council of B^le, forty years after her formal canonisation." Spread of the Order of Saint Bridget; Vadstena Convent The order of St. Bridget soon spread itself throughout all the coimtries of Europe, until finally there were about seventy convents of the order, in which day and night brothers and sisters sang the praises of the immaculate Virgin. The Reformation and freedom of spirit at the end of the preceding and begin- ning of this century reduced the Birgittine order in number; and of the once widely ramified order there now exist only the religious houses of Alto- miinster in Upper Bavaria, the "Refuge of Mary" and "Mary's Heart" in the Netherlands, and the "Lion House" at Spetisburg in England. None of these four religious houses has any longer priests of the order. That which chiefly gave importance to the order was the religious awaken- ing it called forth among the nobles of the North — the Swedes, the Norwe- gians, and the Danes. Bridget understood how to evoke enthusiasm in her equals in station. Even princesses and members of the imperial council let themselves be initiated and were glad to serve as sisters or brothers in the convents. Vadstena and the other Birgittine convents worked beneficially in the three northern kingdoms, by their care of the poor, by scientific research, and by encouraging upright conduct among the inhabitants. The revival of SWEDEN TO THE UNION OF KALMAE 199 [1389-1490 A.D.] mental life is reflected in many books which proceeded from the silence of the convents. The convent of Vadstena was a small highschool. Partly by buying, partly by diligent copying, and partly by presents the library there increased, and in the year 1490 the monks set up a printing press. Theology was the principal study; but philosophy, history, geography, astronomy, medicine, music, painting, and sculpture also received attention. Sisters as well as brothers studied Latin, and also the use of the mother tongue. Many of the brothers sought to extend their education by travelling abroad, especially in Rome, so as later to become teachers in the Vadstena schools. As in Vadstena so in all the Birgittine convents there reigned an active literary Hfe. But Vadstena remained the most important among them. For two centuries it formed the centre of religious life in Sweden. King Albert of Mecklenburg spent great sums in endowing the convents.. In them the children and grandchildren of St. Bridget also found their last resting place. The relics of the great saint were held in high honour as long as the CathoUc faith blossomed. In 1403 a costly reli- quary was made in Stockholm, for which alone 420 marks of pure silver were used; and there was no place of pilgrimage throughout the whole North that could compare with the Birgittine convent, where the most distinguished of every nation contended with foreign pilgrims in showing honour to Bridget. In the year 1403 Queen Margaret knelt at the tomb of the saint, and the year 1406 saw a Scotch bishop of Skeninge come to Vad- stena through ell-deep snow. Queen Margaret j oined the Birgittine sisterhood ; she was followed by the high nobles of the North, who considered it a bless- ing to hold spiritual relations with the brothers and sisters of St. Bridget. The old convent church still stands, with its wide porch, its high colimins, its five arches gray with age as they were built at the end of the fourteenth century. It is built of Omberger chalkstone, and in the north is known under the name of "Bluestone church." In Catholic times the inside of the church was furnished with thirteen altars for the thirteen priests, of which the high altar, contrary to custom, lay to the west. It had three doors — " the door of forgiveness," by which the faithful entered the church, the "door of atone- ment" by which the brethren entered, and the "door of mercy" by which the sisters went into the choir. The chief building of the nuns was towards the north and extended from east to west ; the monks lived on the south side of the church. Rich donations fell to the convent. Free from taxation and burdens, richly endowed by all the Swedish provinces south of the Dal-Elf, the foundation enjoyed a considerable income. One residence after the other arose around the convent, so that soon there was an entire city. Among the inhabitants of the convent, besides learned men, there were architects, mechanicians, painters, sculptors, and artisans of every kind. Of its monks one became an archbishop, another a bishop. Entrance to Vadstena Church (1563) 200 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA The fame of the convent rose to its highest when, after the canonisation of Bridget's daughter Catherine, her remains, which until then had rested in con- secrated ground, were raised. The celebration took place in 1489. With all honour the sacred treasure was raised and placed on the altar where it remained till the beginning of the Reformation. The convent was at its zenith, and this day was one of the last great days it witnessed. In 1513 the shrine of St. Catherine was almost completed; the work was, however, never fin- ished, as King Gustavus Vasa used the silver of which it was to be made, and robbed the monks of much more for the needs of the country. It was the first step towards the destruction of the convent of St. Bridget. The year afterward the nuns received an order from King Gustavus to send some monks to Lapland, to convert the people to the Christian faith; in reality he wished to weaken the convent. From 1528 to 1541 we find no entries noted in the records of Vadstena ; it was desired that the convent of itself should cease to exist through a want of brothers and sisters. In 1540 the Catholic service was done away with in Vadstena, the archives of the convent and the treasures were removed, and in 1543 the monks were forbidden to wear the dress of the order. At the diet of Soderkoping in 1593 the suppression of the time-honoured convent was decreed. The costly shrines containing the remains of St. Bridget and St. Catherine, as well as of St. Eric, were torn down from the altars, and the relics of the saints buried in an unknown place. The nuns were no longer allowed to dwell there; for some time the convent had had no monks. Then the last abbess, Carin Olofsdotter, with seven of her faithful sisters, fled to the convent of their order in Poland. Thus fell this monastery, an honour to the country, and the northern church, the residence of true piety and knowledge ; after a famous existence of 240 years the work of the great Saint of Scandinavia was destroyed.^ CHAPTER VII THE UNION OF KALMAR [1397-1523 A.D.] EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE KALMAR rNION Margaret possessed masculine keenness of intellect, and subtlety tem- pered with kindliness, together with all the accomplishments of her sex. She was of a dark complexion and masculine in appearance, but pleasing withal, and as well disposed to love as to ambition. She gladly availed herself of any means to weaken the powerful nobility, at the same time ingratiating herself with the clergy by that liberality which has ever been the road to absolute power. She loved Denmark better than Sweden, as the sequel will abun- dantly show. But she nevertheless strove anxiously to lay the foundations of her power more firmly in this kingdom — the more so as she saw her rule thereby extended over the whole North, from Ladoga and Russia to the northern islands hard by Scotland, and from the uttermost pole southwards to Holstein. In the year 1389, being then in Malmo, she issued, at the request of both archbishops, an admonitory letter to the Laplanders, exhort- ing them to be converted to the Christian faith, whereof the principal articles were enumerated in the same letter. The abbey of Vadstena had been reduced to ashes in the troublous days of the war. The queen, who had loved the abbess from her childhood up, took the abbey under her protection, and thereafter bestowed many benefits upon it. In temporal matters she proved herself no less vigilant, but in all such things she had at first very great diffi- culties to contend with.& The Scandinavian union, usually called after the place where it was insti- tuted the "Kalmar Union," owes its existence to the following causes: When in 1375 King Valdemar of Denmark died without leaving any male 801 ■J t _^ 202 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1376-1385 A.D.] heirs to the throne, his son-in-law Hakon VII ruled in Norway. His wife was Princess Margaret of Denmark, at that time twenty-two years of age, who four years earlier presented him with a son, Olaf . Clever Queen Mar- garet successfully used the controversy about votes which soon after raged in Denmark to get Prince Olaf acknowledged king, as early as 1376, and her- self appointed his guardian during the time of his minority. Olaf died in his twelfth year, however, and as meanwhile Hakon had also died. Queen Mar- garet found herself in possession of both the Danish and Norwegian royal crowns. In all these proceedings the young and enterprising princess had discov- ered a most active co-operator in the Hansa — the burgomaster of Liibeck, Heinrich Westhof, was her steadfast admirer — and Lubeck had at that time very consid- erable influence in all decisions upon northern affairs. The great influ- ence which, since the Peace of the Hanse Towns, Stralsund had possessed over the Danish crown had in 1376 been turned to consid- erable account in Margaret's inter- ests in the follow- ing manner: Olaf was, as we have stated, acknowledged king by the Hansa, in pursu- ance of the old right to the franchise, and therefore the election (at the beginning very uncertain) was decided according to the wishes of his mother. The Hansa proved itself not less useful when it was a question of checking the plague of the Baltic pirates, who again had been long troubling all the waters of the Baltic Sea. Margaret had applied to the Hansa in this difii- culty; and in 1384 made a pilgrimage on foot to Stralsund, and received from the Hanse Towns a promise of strong measures against the pirates, whilst she and the leaders in her kingdom could only pledge themselves to provide nine weakly-manned vessels. In the spring of the same year, about Whitsuntide, the ships of the Hansa engaged the pirates and frightened them away from their haunts, so that trade on the Baltic could be carried on the summer through without fear of disturbance. This was no doubt greatly to the advantage of the whole northern world of commerce, but particularly to Den- mark, and was not accomplished without a serious sacrifice on the part of the Hansa. Accordingly, when in 1385 the treaty expired which for fifty years had controlled and protected the north German towns, King Olaf received his own possession, and Denmark thus once more held the key to the Sound. So far all had gone well for Queen Margaret. But from another direction, LCBECK TOWNHAIit. THE TJNION OF KALMAR 203 [1363-1389 A.D.] she incurred, by the further pursuit of her designs, a dangerous opposition. After uniting upon her own head the crowns of Denmark and Norway, she further intendea to win for herself supremacy over Sweden; and by this she opened the door to lengthy and burdensome complications. Since the year 1363, King Albert of the Mecklenburg ducal line had [as we have seen], reigned in Sweden. He had been raised to this eminence in the midst of the Danish Hanse feud, by the influence of the north German towns. This prince Margaret desired to push from his throne; which seemed to her the easier as Albert was little loved by the Swedes and, moreover, because the majority of the more distinguished nobility of his kingdom had declared themselves in her favour. In the year 1389, Margaret opened hos- tilities. Not far from Falkoping there was an encounter on February 24th, which ended most unhappily for Albert. In a swamp in which his horse had stuck, he was taken prisoner, and was brought thence in fetters to Lindholm. Immediately the whole country declared for Margaret; the chief ecclesias- tical dignitaries came over to her side, and all the castles in the kingdom opened their gates to the victor. THE CONSUMMATION OF THE UNION Stockholm alone prepared itself for a valorous resistance. In this city, the Germans — drawn thither partly by the attractions of trade, partly in the train of King Albert — formed the majority of the population. For a long time past they had enjoyed extraordinary privileges, probably taking even at that time a very important position in municipal affairs, and they showed no inclination to abandon the cause of their princes and landowners without further reason. They shortly received very powerful foreign aid; when in 1391 Margaret decided to besiege the town, a universal sympathy was aroused throughout Mecklenburg for the oppressed inhabitants of Stock- holm and for the fate of the unhappy king. Duke John, Albert's uncle, placed himself at the head of a squaidron, to free his nephew from imprison- ment. Numerous cruisers were fitted out to attack the Danes. The towns of Wismar and Rostock issued a proclamation, inviting all those " who at their own expense were desirous of buccaneering in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, there to plunder, rob, or burn," to come forward and receive so- called " thieving " or pirating letters of marque; and declaring that Wismar and Rostock harbours were open to them, to receive their plunder and sell it according to their desires. At the same time, Duke John made an announce- ment that his harbour of Ribnitz would also be open as a refuge to these freebooters. Thus, from all parts, there assembled in Wismar and Rostock a crowd of adventurers who called themselves the Society of Victualling Brothers — a band of roystering pirates, who at first had no other purpose than to carry provisions to the inhabitants of Stockholm, but who soon after made common cause with the other Baltic pirates, took possession of Gotland, and thence continued their plundering expeditions on the sea and along the neighbouring coasts. The active sympathy which the allied towns Rostock and Wismar showed m these circumstances, placed the Hansa in a curious position. On the one hand, the federation was unwilling to take up arms against Margaret, and was therefore obliged to condemn strongly the action of both towns; on the other, it knew very well that the freedom of King Albert, for which the Meck- lenburgers busied themselves assiduously, was the only hope of peace in the 204 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1394^1397 i..D.] North. Meanwhile Stockholm languished under its third year of siege, nor was there any prospect of the Danes being able to force the town into capitu- lation. Moreover, the Victualling Brothers acted with such vehemence towards both friend and foe that even the German towns found themselves obliged for three years to give up their expeditions to Skane, thus leav- ing the fishery stations on the Sound empty; and "herring became very dear." At last, in 1394, the Hansa prepared to take decided steps, in order that peace might again reign in the North. To the consternation of the united Victuallers, who had just attacked Malmo and set it on fire, a municipal fleet appeared in the Sound and — Margaret herself having in the meantime opened the way to a treaty of peace — deputies from the Hansa went during Whit- suntide of the following year to Skane, with the injunction to lay the utmost stress on the release of King Albert. The fact that this embassy was joined by two plenipotentiaries of the Teutonic order could only exercise a most favourable influence on the contemplated negotiations, for the grand master of the order stood in the friendliest relations not only with the Hansa, but also with Queen Margaret herself. Already in 1395 a treaty for an armed truce was signed on the feast of Corpus Christi, after which King Albert was given provisional freedom, and Stockholm was included in the Hansa. During the truce the regulation of other conditions of war was preserved. At the same time, the Hanse Towns engaged themselves, after the three years had elapsed, either to redehver the king into Margaret's hands, or to pay a ransom fixed at 60,000 marks of fine silver, or to quit Stockholm finally. The treaty com- prising all these conditions was to be concluded at Michaelmas, 1398. The three years elapsed. Directly after he was set at Uberty, Albert went to Mecklenburg. Here, as well as in Prussia, he in vain endeavoured to raise the necessary sum for his ransom. Since August 1st, 1395, there had been a powerful Hanse garrison in Stockholm, in readiness for the moment when either Queen Margaret or Albert should try to assume possession of the town. The insolence of the Baltic Victuallers was at length crushed since the Teutonic order had taken Gotland and scattered their bands. Meantime Margaret had pursued her ends with untiring zeal. First, in order to secure the hereditary succession to Norway and Denmark in her house, the queen, now childless, sent for Eric, son of Duke Wratislaw of Stolpe in Pomerania, her own grand-nephew. By the advice of the council, she pronounced him heir to the united crowns of Denmark and Norway. A similar ceremony followed in Sweden: on the 11th of July, 1396, Margaret's foster-son, according to the native custom, was proclaimed future king on the Mora stone. After such happy results, the queen no longer hesitated to undertake the most ambitious of her schemes — the public proclamation of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden as a united kingdom. The main grounds upon which this political union was to rest were briefly as follows : The three kingdoms were to be in future under one sovereign; in each of the three a council should take part in the government as before; should the sovereign die without issue, the councillors were empowered to elect a suc- cessor. In the event of one of the three states being entangled in a foreign war, the other two pledged themselves to assist. Each of the three was to keep its own laws and privileges; no feud between the three states would be lawful; treaties with foreign princes and towns would have a binding effect upon all three states. These points were embodied in an act, and at Kalmar, in June of the year 1397, Eric was proclaimed king over Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. THE UNION OF KALMAR 206 [1397-1433 A.D.] The queen, on her birthday, some four weeks later, issued the document which was to seal the perpetual union of the three kingdoms. While everything thus conspired to favour Margaret's plans. King Albert saw one hope after another disappear. The ransom could not be raised. Michaelmas, 1398, came ever nearer and nearer. The Hansa pressed him for a decision. At last the burgomaster of Stralsund was sent to interview the king and to bring back from him a definite statement of his intentions as to the Lindholm Treaty. As Albert still replied in an evasive fashion, the towns ceased to interest themselves in his behalf. Accordingly, Stockholm was evacuated and handed over to Margaret; and thus King Albert lost his kingdom. The decided attitude which the Hansa had maintained throughout these negotiations, and which had not been without its effect in influencing the completion of the Scandinavian Union, was essentially instrumental in at once assuring the increase of friendly relations between the northern royal house and the German seaport towns. THE HOLSTEIN WAR Since 1409, Denmark and Holstein had maintained an almost uninter- rupted feud. The duchy of Schleswig was the cause of this contention. As early as 1404, when Duke Gerhard of Holstein was engaged in warfare against the Ditmarshians, the crown of Denmark and the counts of Holstein were already contending for the duchy of Schleswig. Two years later, thanks to Margaret's discretion and foresight, a truce was arranged during which the dispute should have been adjusted. But her death, which followed in. 1412, leaving the sole government of the kingdom's affairs in the hands of the pas- sionate king Eric, closed the doors against all chance of a peaceable conclu- sion. Only two years later, the Ditmarshians, close adherents of the Danish king, declared hostilities against young Duke Henry, Gerhard's eldest son. In 1415, Eric himself appeared at the head of a force — to which Sweden, according to the Treaty of Union, had added troops — and took possession of the entire duchy, with the exception of Schleswig itself, which was strongly fortified. At this crisis, urged by necessity, the Holsteiners seized upon a valuable expedient. They called to their aid the Victualling Broth- ers, who had long given up the Baltic and withdrawn to the western seas. Letters of marque to the Scandinavian Kingdom were issued, all harbours of Holstein were thrown open to the bold pirates, and in a short time the south- ern waters of the Baltic were swarming as in former days. It was thus pos- sible for the Holsteiners to engage the enemy with great success both by sea and by land. In the summer of 1416, King Eric was compelled to return to Denmark, all his endeavours to snatch the town of Schleswig from the Hol- steiners having been unavailing." During the campaigns of 1417 and 1418, he did not reduce a single fortress (he was too powerful to be openly met in the field), while he lost several, and had even the mortification to see the isle of Femern in the power of his enemies. In 1419, indeed, he recovered that island, and signalised his suc- cess by a horrible carnage; but this was his only advantage: reverse after reverse befell both his land and sea armaments. In 1423, he applied to the emperor, the lord paramount of the province, for a confirmation of the judicial sentence which his own chancellor had pronounced. In Sigismund he found one sufficiently disposed to favour him; and a final decision was given that 206 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1423-1435 A.D.] the counts had forfeited all right to the duchy. In this decision they would not acquiesce; but the truce which followed enabled him to visit Jerusalem, by way of penance for the massacre which he had perpetrated in Femern. On his return, he found Schleswig and Gottorpch and the other fortresses still in the power of the counts. The imperial sentence, therefore, had been of no service; and for any tangible advantage, he must trust only to his own resources. With another large army, the equipment of which occasioned no little murmuring in all his kingdoms, especially in Sweden, he invested Schleswig and Gottorpch. But all his enterprises were destined to be tinfor- tunate. Scarcely had he opened his trenches, when he received from the Han- seatic League a declaration of war, in terms so absolute as to evince both their self-confidence and their contempt for his power. The blow, though it could scarcely have been unexpected, stunned him so much that he precipi- tately left the field. He foresaw that his own dominions would soon be invaded. That very year, he had the mortification to see Femern retaken; but, on the other hand, his enemies failed against Flensburg, and he had the good fortune to defeat them at sea, near the entrance of the Sound. Still they were not discouraged; they had evidently resolved on the reduction of Copenhagen — the possession of which enabled Eric to levy a tax on every vessel that passed through the Sound. That tax they felt to be obnoxious: it might be increased ad IMtum or their vessels might even be excluded alto- gether from their lucrative traffic in Norway. In 1428, Copenhagen was again invested by a powerful armament, which the league placed under the command of Count Gerhard of Holstein; and it would have fallen, but for the heroism of the queen Philippa, a daughter of Henry IV of England. She threw herself into it, and by her exhortations, no less than by her example, inspired the garrison with so much zeal that the assailants were at length compelled to retire. Elated by this success, while her husband was raising new supplies in Sweden, she determined to carry the war into the dominions of her enemies; and, with a fleet of seventy-five sail, she invested Stralsund. But on this occasion fortune was not propitious: her squadron was almost entirely destroyed in a long-contested action. In Eric's estimation, this disaster more than counterbalanced her successful defence of Copenhagen; and, without reflecting on his own martial reverses, which had been greater and more numerous than had befallen any general of his age, he yielded to his anger so far as to strike her. This brutality was not to be borne; and the high-spirited queen retired to Vadstena Convent, where she soon after ended her days. Her fate commanded the pity of the North- men, who had reason to esteem her for her many virtues, especially for the success with which she had so frequently inclined her cruel and capricious husband to mercy. After her death, new disasters awaited Eric. In 1430, one of his vessels, laden with specie, was captured; the following year, Flensburg capitulated to the count of Holstein; and in 1435, he was glad to make peace with both those nobles and the cities of the League, on such conditions as they pleased to dictate to him. During twenty-six years of war, he had gained nothing; on the contrary, he had lost several of his fortresses; and though these were restored, who was to repay him and his people for the losses which had been inflicted on their commerce — for the perpetual ravaging of their coasts — for the heavy ransom which had been paid for so many captives — for the waste of the national resources — for the dishonour of the Scandinavian arras? THE iJNiOIf OP KALMAR 207 [1482-1435 A.D.] THE UNION IS SHAKEN ; ERIC RESIGNS HIS CROWN Internally, the administration of this monarch was no less disastrous. Three or four years before the peace of Vordingborg, many of his people murmured at his oppressive levies of money and troops — the more so, as they were levied only for dishonour. On every occasion, the Swedes, whose detestation of everything Danish was not less than it is at present, distin- guished themselves by the loudness of their tone. In addition, they com- plained that the most lucrative and the most honourable posts were given to the Danes, while themselves were overlooked; that these civil functionaries were universally rapacious; and that the national commerce was ruined by the wanton measures of their king, whose wars had not even the pretext of Swedish good for their object.'^ On Midsummer Day of 1433, the peasants of the Dalecarlian valleys, formerly the Swedish iron country, rose under the leadership of a miner, Engelbrecht Engelbrechtsson, against the tyrannous rule of their Danish governor. The complaints of the Swedes against the harshness of the for- eign governors sent by King Eric into their country, were of long standing. The whole nation had found heavy the price it paid for the union with the Danish Empire; for the extortions of money and soldiery which Eric con- sidered necessary to his campaign against Holstein seemed endless. Indignant at this oppression, the Dalecarlians had already in 1432 made complaints through Engelbrechtsson to their king, but their position had not improved. The following year the insurrection broke out. Armed with steel bows and pikes, the Dalecarlians marched through the neighbouring coun- try to storm the castles and drive away the king's bailiffs. Soon the entire provinces of Upland, Vermland, and Sodermanland were in revolt. The Swedish council still tried, from dread of the terrors of anarchy, to support Eric; but the nation was no longer to be controlled. On August 16th, 1434, a letter of defiance was despatched from Vadstena to the Danish king. At the beginning of the following year, a council, called at Arboga, declared Engelbrecht Engelbrechtsson administrator of the country. Norway and the Hanse Towns received pressing invitations to make common cause with Sweden against Denmark. Eric's position was for the moment very grave. But his good fortune did not yet desert him. In order to throw a sop, in the first place, to the Hanse Towns, which in fact had already threatened to side with Sweden, he hastily concluded the peace of Vordingborg. Then he went to Stockholm, knowing well that he could still count upon the adherence of a not inconsiderable number of Swedish nobles in the council, who would decline to recognise the new order of things and the governorship of Engel- brechtsson. In October, 1435, Eric and the council were already in negotia- tion, with the result that the union between Denmark and Sweden was re-established, and the king reinstated, with few limitations, in his former position. Engelbrechtsson was now quickly discredited : he was believed to have been bought off by the concession of the fief of Orebro. The office of royal administrator, which had combined in one person the chief civil and military power, was abrogated, and by unanimous decision of king and coun- cil, the oflSces of a high bailiff and a marshal substituted. The first was given to an old friend of' King Eric, Christer Nilsson Vasa. But for commander of both the sea and land forces they chose Charles Knutsson Bond6, at that time twenty-seven years of age — a scion of one of the richest aristocratic Swedish families, with a temperament so imbued with the ardent enthusiasm of youth, and so fired with personal ambition, that from that moment he 208 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1436-1439 A.D.] knew no rest until time and his own exertions had raised him to the topmost pinnacle of power. The king had left Stockholm in November, to return to Denmark. Dur- ing the voyage, he was often forced by autumn storms and bad weather to land on the Swedish coast, and had then quietly permitted the crew of his ship to behave as, in war-time, during an invasion — to take by force from the inhabitants cattle for food, and other means of subsistence. This created a universal feeling of bitterness. Besides this, the king had appointed Danish bailiffs in Stock- holm, Kalmar, and Nykoping, which caused the old complaints to resound through the land. Suddenly the popular excitement, which had been temporarily allayed, turned the scales and once more allegiance to the king was renounced. In Stockholm, thirty members of the council met to choose an administrator for the kingdom, and this time Charles Knutsson was elected to the post, by a majority of twenty-five votes to five. Thus young Bonde found himself thrust nearer and nearer the goal of his desires. For a time, it is true, he was obliged to share the government with the popular favourite, Engel- brecht Engelbrechtsson, who had, with some foresight, been elected joint governor, in order that his numerous admirers should have no cause for discontent. But this association, so irksome to Charles Knutsson, did not last long. On the 27th of April, 1436, Engelbrecht Engel- brechtsson was assassinated by a Swedish noble- man on an island in the Hjellmar Lake; and the administrator had now a free hand. These events in Sweden made the deepest impression on King Eric, ageing as he now was. Too weak and undecided to venture upon a serious attempt to reinstate himself, he gradu- cosTUME OF SCANDINAVIAN KiNG ^Uy lost all hoM ou thc govemmeut and all in- OF THE Fifteenth Century terest in it. Finally, wheu dangcrous outbreaks threatened among the Danish peasantry, he re- signed his crowns and kingdoms, and in 1439 took ship for Gotland, never again to return to Denmark. He died in the year 1459, at the age of seventy-four, at Riigenwalde in Pomerania. THE THREE COUNTRIES ACCEPT CHRISTOPHER (1442 A.D.) Eric died childless, and immediately upon his deposition the Danish coun- cil met to choose a new prince. It was decided that Duke Christopher of Bavaria, a nephew of Eric, should be offered the government. Before the king's deposition, in 1439, Christopher had gone to Liibeck, in comphance with an invitation from the Danish council, which met there. Here the immediate future of Denmark had been discussed. King Eric's rule was declared detrimental to the kingdom. Christopher, in the first place elected to the post of administrator, or manager, only received in the following year the royal Danish crown. THE UNION OF KALMAE 209 [1439-1444 A.D.] Scarcely had the new king planted his foot firmly in Denmark before he began to covet the land on the farther side of the Sound, where Margaret's work, the Kalmar Union — although much shaken, particularly in Sweden, by the events of the last years — could with prompt assistance still be main- tained. At Jonkoping there had been, in 1439, a gathering of the Danish and Swedish delegates of the church, to assure Christopher of their allegiance and devotion to the Union. It soon became evident that the influence of the_ bishops and other church dignitaries was decisive in this matter, and their efforts resulted in Charles Knutsson's being persuaded to resign his office. It may well be that Charles had for a time cherished a vague hope of wearing the kingly crown himself. By the prophecy of a holy nun, whose words were carried from mouth to mouth among the people, he was desig- nated as the future king. In the church at Vadstena a young child declared it saw a shining crown suspended over Charles' head. But a feeling of recti- tude seems to have restrained him from stretching out his hand towards that dignity, since the will of the church outweighed the wishes of the laity. Ac- cordingly, after Finland had been assured to him for his lifetime, and the island of Oland mortgaged to him, he resigned his office of administrator, and so left the way to the Swedish throne clear for the Danish king. On October 4th, 1440, the council elected Christopher king. Charles Knutsson remained for a while longer in Sweden, and then betook himself to 'Finland. He went, to be sure, but not forever. In Norway, where Eric's following was still very considerable, the difficulties were serious, and under better leadership it might well have become formidable. The pendulum, nevertheless, gradually swung round in that country too; and in 1442 Christopher was proclaimed king of Norway, at Opslo (Christiania). After nearly fifty years of war and tumult the longed-for peace appeared likely once more to descend upon the northern seas. In the Scandinavian kingdom, calm and outward security reigned everywhere. Charles Knutsson lived far from the Swedish capital, in his self-elected and distinguished ban- ishment at Viborg in Finland; and an insurrection which broke out among the peasantry in Zealand and Jutland, about 1444, was quickly suppressed. Norway remained loyal to its king; and Christopher, proud of the title, had ever since 1442 signed himself King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and Lord of Gotland and Wendland. The sea-robberies of the Victualling Brothers had been put down in 1434, by the exertions of Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck. The leaders of the antagonistic robber-bands were either put to flight or securely imprisoned. On the Swedish coast, feeble attempts at plunder by a few pirates were occasionally heard of. These pirates were sent by King Eric from his rocky castle of Visby on Gotland, to supplement his means of livehhood : to do lasting harm was no longer in his power. Industry and commerce received a new impetus, and fleets of merchant ships once more sailed peacefully back and forth on their accustomed voyages on the high seas. SWEDEN AND DENMARK SEPARATE UNDER CHRISTOPHER'S SUCCESSOR, CHARLES KNUTSSON This calm however was not of long duration. There were constantly marvellous reports of a great conspiracy of princes against the head of the Hanseatic federation, and of plans, which King Christopher was maturing in secret, against Liibeck and the other seaport towns, with a view to their ruin. It is certain that after the year 1441 there was a marked difference in the H. W. — VOL. XVI. P 210 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1444-1448 A.D.; king's behaviour to the Hansa. Whereas formerly he made use of its help against the Dutch, he now ranged himself suddenly on the side of the latter, gave them the most important privileges in trade, and in every way treated them with unmistakeable partiality. All this was merely to put an end to the renewed influence, threatening to become more powerful than ever, which the Hansa exercised throughout the Scandinavian kingdom. As these means were not successful. King Christopher hit upon another policy. An attack upon Liibeck was prepared; the requisite funds had already been collected in secret, and several Bavarian and other princes had been won over to the plan, which was to be carried out in 1448. But at the commencement of this year, Christopher died suddenly. " His death," wrote the Liibeck chronicler, "defeated the wicked project of humiliating and destroying the Hanse Towns." But other consequences hnked themselves to Christopher's death. The continuance of the Scandinavian union was now again in question, and once more dark clouds gathered from all sides over the northern heavens. Scarcely four months had elapsed since Christopher's death, when Charles Knutsson re-appeared in Stockholm. He considered that the moment had arrived when the royal crown must fall to his share; and he was not mistaken. A council hurriedly summoned, elected him to the throne by an overpowering majority; and he was crowned in June of the same year, the separation of Sweden from Denmark being announced at the same time. Meanwhile, Christopher having left no heirs, a German prince was once more called to the Danish throne — Count Christian of Oldenburg, a nephew of Duke Adolf of Holstein. On the 28th of September, 1448, he was formally acknowledged, and thus the foundation of the royal house still reigning in Denmark was laid.^ UNDER CHBISTIAN THE THEEE KINGDOMS ARE AGAIN UNITED The question was now only whether Norway would henceforward be sub- ject to one of the two kingdoms, or whether it would choose a sovereign for itself. For the last contingency, a by no means inconsiderable party in the north had already declared itself, at the same time alluding in unmistakeable fashion to the deposed king Eric, whom it might possibly be desirable to receive again as king. Meantime, another opinion quickly claimed attention, according to which the welfare of the country would best be served by uniting Norway with Sweden and acknowledging Charles Knutsson as the liege lord ' Descent of Christian I of Denmark : Eric Qlippino Bikissa ^^ Nicholas of Mecklenburg Sophia ^^ Gerhard, count of Holstein Henry, count of Holstein Gerhard, count of Holstein iaoli, duke of Schleswig Hedwig ^^ Dietrich of Oldenburg Christian THE UNION OF KALMAE 211 [1449-1457 A..D.] of both countries. This view finally prevailed, and before the end of that year (1449), the Norwegian crown was entrusted to the king of Sweden. In the general uncertainty of the situation, such a settlement could not last. Soon a strong party sprang up in Norway for Christian of Denmark, which actually succeeded, in the following year, in declaring Charles' election null and void and handing over the crown to Christian. The young king received the news with delight; but a whole world of hope must have opened out for him when he learned, almost simultaneously, that in Sweden, too, the strength of Charles' position was declining. Without hesitation, he now raised the banner of the union, and prepared to reinstate the old Scandinavian federation, after the fashion of his predecessors, at the point of the sword. The war now kindled between the two monarchs lasted, with slight inter- ruptions, until the year 1457. Charles was at first stubbornly resolved against yielding, though the ground resounded more and more hollow beneath his feet and treachery and disloyalty surrounded him. At last he gave way. The hatred with which he was pursued by the archbishop Oxenstierna and the clergy sapped the last of his strength. He forsook his kingdom, and fled at night, on the 24th of February. A ship laden with gold and silver took him to Dantzic, where his safety was guaranteed, and where he remained seven years. Four months after Charles' departure, Christian received the royal crown in the cathedral at Upsala. The three kingdoms were thus once more united. It was then exactly sixty years since the foundation of the Kalmar Union. In June, 1397, Eric, the first king of the union, was crowned; in June, 1457, the coronation feast of Christian was celebrated. What changes had there not been throughout Europe within this period! What disastrous wars the lust of power in Margaret's successor had forced on every country between Finmarken and the Eider! They were all fought for the sake of that scheme of union which sprang from the heroic mind of the young queen, but which, manipulated by her with wise deliberation, changed its character after the time when her foster son Eric seized upon it with his undisciplined zeal, and continued to change, until finally there was little left of it but its mere outer husk. The deeper feelings which should have desired coherence for reasons of state policy never awoke in the minds of the generality of the Scandinavian peoples; instead of the anticipated union, that unquiet party spirit ensued, which through its resultant — the constant change of those in power — as well as through the ebb and flow of public opinion, would have inoculated with poison the character of any nation, no matter how sound or healthy by nature. These Scandinavian convulsions had scarcely exercised any influence over the neighbouring countries. The relations of England to Norway were of a purely commercial order, exclusive of political interests. At Novgorod, the old border quarrels still continued, which now and again gave an incentive to the Swedes for invading Russian territory — without any definite result, however. Finally, the Teutonic order had since the beginning of the fifteenth century been too busy with its own affairs to be able to take more than a very slight part in those of the far North." The capitulation which Christian I had signed on his election may afford us some idea of the limits within which, by the constitution, the royal author- ity was confined. Christian recognised the crown to be purely elective. Unless he had direct issue, none of his heirs could lay claim to any portion of his property, personal or real. He engaged never to call any foreign prince into Denmark, and never to pension one, without the express consent of the Sl« THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1448 A.D.] rigsraad, or council of the kingdom. Without that consent he was not to undertake any war, or make peace, or impose any tax, or confer the govern- ment of any fortress: nay, by the advice of that body he was to regulate his court. Other regulations of the same nature would have converted the gov- ernment into what it was meant to be — a pure aristocracy, or rather oligarchy — had such compacts been of much avail. But they were always violated by the crown, for the plain reason that they were inconsistent with the existence of an executive. The power thus arrogated by the rigsraad, of electing a sovereign without the consent of the nobles, prelates, and people — that is, without the inter- Abistocrats of the Fifteenth Cektcby (After an old print) vention of a diet — is not the least striking illustration of the progress made towards an oligarchy in Denmark. If there was one custom more ancient and more obligatory than another, it was this, that without the concurrence of deputies from all the orders of the state — the church, the nobles, the rural gentry, and even the peasantry (the municipal corporations were of more recent admission) — there could be no election. This custom, indeed, had existed in full vigour down to the Union of Kalmar. As a whole multitude could not leave the country, necessity demanded .that the suffrage should be confided to a few deputies (never exceeding thirty), who were to meet other deputies from Sweden and Norway at Halmstad, or some other place, where all might conveniently assemble. The trust was soon claimed as a right; the precedent was appealed to when there was no concurrence of other states; and, unfortunately for the liberties of the people, the claim was not resisted when the circumstances which had led to the trust no longer existed. Thus, when Eric of Pomerania fled to the isle of Gotland, the rigsraad assumed the right of offering the crown to Christopher of Bavaria; nor do we read that the assumption was condemned by the rest of the nation. On the present occasion, when that assumption was so much more glaring, there was still the THE. UNION OF KALMAR 213 [1457-1463 A.D.] same silence. In subsequent elections, down to the reign of Frederick III — after the union had ceased to exist, and botLSweden and Denmark elected, as before, three separate rulers — the four orders of the state, indeed, were present by their deputies, but they were present as spectators merely; the rigsraad performed the real business of the election. A similar innovation had been introduced into all the countries, except Poland, where popular suffrage once existed. Thus, the great dignitaries of Germany — the seven or eight hereditary officers of the imperial household — had usurped the right of the nobles and freemen. Thus, also, in Spain, the immediate descendants of Pelayo, originally chosen by all the assembled warriors, were soon chosen by a few. In Denmark, the multitude present at an election had, perhaps, for ages, or at least prior to the reign of Christopher the Bavarian, done little more than approve the choice made by the leading nobles. In 1457 the three northern crowns were again on the same brow; but the wearer soon found one of them too heavy for his ease. Christian VI made the most ample concessions to the Swedish clergy. In return, they were the chief means of instituting a process against Charles, whose possessions, on his non-appearance to the citation, were forfeited to the actual monarch. By revoking some of the grants which Charles had made to his creatures, Christian suddenly found himself in possession of ample revenues. The exiled prince endeavoured by alliances to open a way for his return; but the victor, too, could make allies, even in the regions where Charles had sought refuge — among the Livonian and Teutonic knights. It was not from foreign aid, but from the acts of Christian himself, and, above all, from the natural incon- stancy of the Swedes, that the exile could hope for a change. Different cir- cumstances tended to embroil the reigning king with the church. In the first place, he had a long and angry dispute with the pope respecting the presenta- tion to the see of Trondhjem. The chapter, under his influence, elected one churchman; the pope nominated another; and, though the dispute was car- ried on for many years, the holy see triumphed. Next, Christian did not show to the papal legate, who was sent into the north to raise money by the sale of indulgences, the respect due to so confidential a messenger of the pon- tiff; on the contrary, he msisted on participating in the profits of the traffic, and to a certain extent attained his object. Again, he laid forcible hands on some money held by the Dominicans of Stockholm, on the pretext that it belonged to the fugitive Charles. Next, on very slight suspicion, he put some innocent men to the torture, on the charge of corresponding with the exile. He imposed taxes, apparently without the sanction of a diet; but had he obtained its sanction a hundred times, the collection would not have rendered him the less unpopular. Even the excellent police regulations which he pub- lished gave offence, and properly so, since they issued not from Stockholm, or any Swedish city where a diet was held, but from Copenhagen. But what niost operated to his disadvantage, was his disputes with the very man who had raised him to the throne — the archbishop of Upsala. He went so far as to commit that princely churchman to a prison in Copenhagen. The clergy took fire at what they termed a bold invasion of their rights, and the pope menaced him with excommunication if he did not liberate his prisoner. He persisted, however, and with as much injustice as impolicy, refused to take sureties for the appearance of the prelate to answer any charge that might be urged against him. , . ^- c m. ■ a.- Seeing that nothing was to be obtained from the justice of Christian, Ketil Carlsson, bishop of Linkoping and nephew of the primate, pubhshed a manifesto in which he denounced the conduct of the king, who, as he had 214 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1463-1465 A.D.] little difficulty in proving, had in some respects broken his compact with the Swedes. The bishop, therefore, released them from their oath of allegiance, and still further imitated his uncle's example by a recourse to arms. At the outset he was defeated and compelled to flee into the wilds of Dalecarlia; but being pursued thither by the royal troops, his knowledge of the locaUties enabled him to triumph in his turn, to follow the king to Stockholm, and besiege him there. As the sea was open, Christian, leaving a garrison in the citadel, returned to Copenhagen. By the victorious, or, as they called them- selves, the national party, Charles Knutsson was recalled and restored to the throne, while the Danish garrison was so vigorously pressed as to be com- pelled to surrender. THE LAST CONFLICTS OF CHRISTIANAS REIGN It was now that Christian perceived the error which he had committed, in quarrelling with the only man who could maintain him on the throne. Fifteenth Century Archers From this moment he determined to smother his resentments, and to act with policy. He therefore sought a reconciliation with his prisoner, the archbishop of Upsala, who, as the price of liberty, readily entered into his views, and preserved no angry feeling for the indignities which he had sustained. Retiring to Sweden, he declared openly against Charles, whom he charged with all the troubles of the country. Fortunately for his views, his nephew Ketil had already quarreled with the restored monarch, and was anxious to send him a second time into exile. The union of temporal with spiritual arms soon effected the object. Charles, frequently defeated, was compelled to renounce the Swedish crown; but in one respect he was more fortunate than on the former occasion — he received for his support the gov- ernment of Finland, with the castle of Rosenberg for a residence. The primate now became the real sovereign of the country, and he ruled it with a vigour that no king had attempted. This vigour was hateful to the THE UNION OF KALMAR 215 [1466-1470 A.D.J nobles, who could not bear a master: they began to murmur; but none was bold enough to assail the formidable churchman, until Nils Boson Sture, one of the leading magnates, ventured to arraign the conduct of the administrator. To escape the vengeance which he had provoked, he withdrew to Viborg, of which his friend Eric Axelsson, a member of the great family of Tott, was governor. There the two concerted the means of humbling the man to whom Christian had entirely abandoned the exercise of power. In the next diet, held at Vadstena (1466), the adherents of both talked so freely that the pri- mate, in alarm, sought the aid of Christian, who had quietly watched the progress of events, in the hope of benefiting by the distraction of the hostile parties. _ Deputies from the diet met those of the Danish king, and, as before, a resolution was taken to maintain inviolate " the ancient and precious union of Kalmar." No effort, however, was made to recall Christian, through the opposition of another member of the Tott family, Ivar Axelsson, who, hav- ing quarreled with him, married a daughter of the exiled Charles, and threw all the weight of his party into the national scale. Its great heads, the Stures and the Axelssons, declared that they would not hear of a Danish connection; that they would obey only Charles, or some administrator elected by the voice of the diet. Through their opposition, the primate was compelled to resign that dignity to Eric Axelsson. From this moment his influence was at an end. He proceeded, indeed, to Copenhagen, and obtained troops; but his operations proving disastrous, he retired to the isle of Gland, where he shortly afterwards terminated his restless life. With him disappeared for a time (in such a country nothing could be permanent) the influence of the Danish party. Charles was invited by Axelsson to reascend the throne; and the invitation was eagerly accepted by the sexagenarian, who proceeded, with all the ardour of former years, to reconstruct the edifice of power which the breath of a moment might overturn. That Charles should long remain without rebellioifs subjects, was not to be expected. Eric Nilsson, of the family of Oxenstierna, and Eric Carlsson, of the family of Vasa, refused to acknowledge him, and joined the prelates who were friendly to the Danish connection. After some fruitless attempts at negotiation, both parties took the field. For some time the arms of Charles were unfortunate, and no doubt was entertained that his rival would reascend the throne; but in the chiefs of the Sture family he had generals so able, and resources so ample, that the fortune of the war was changed. The Danish troops were so signally defeated that any open attempt to seize the sover- eignty would have been treated as wild. Recourse was therefore had to nego- tiation; but it failed, through the influence of the Stures, who, perceiving how necessary they were to the reigning king, exercised a larger degree of power than himself. The death of Charles, in 1470, did not diminish it. In his last wiU, he left to Sten Sture the high post of administrator. The choice of course, required confirmation by the diet; and some nobles, among whom was Eric Carlsson, endeavoured to prevent it. But, though he placed him- self at the head of a considerable body of Danish troops and of as many natives as were favourable to the union, he could effect nothing against the Stures, aided as they were by the Axelssons and by the new archbishop of Upsala. Both Ivar and Eric Axelsson had recently married into the family of the deceased king — the one a daughter, the other a sister — and this alliance, coupled with the lucrative dignities which it brought them, will explain their adherence to the national party. Eric Carlsson was defeated. Equally fruitless were the efforts of Christian to attain by negotiation what could not be attained by arms. In great wrath, he again betook himself to 216 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDI^TAVIA [U59-1477 A.B.] the physical argument; but, though he had the advantage for a moment, his followers were so roughly treated before Stockholm (October, 1471) that he returned home with the full resolve no more to employ violent means to regain his sovereignty. From 1474 to 1477, he frequently negotiated with the senators; but the rulers of Sweden were too fond of power to resign it into his hands, or into the hands of any other king. In much vexation of spirit, he adopted the wise resolution of interfering no more in the affairs of that kingdom. These everlasting disputes with Sweden were not the only bitterness which Christian was destined to swallow. He found rivals as troublesome as Charles Knutsson in his own family. Adolf, duke of Schleswig and count of Hol- stein, uncle of King Christian, died in 1459. As he left no issue and had no kinsmen — for with him the great family branch to which he belonged was extinct — the important question arose. Who shall inherit these fiefs? The question involved some great principles of feudal law. Schleswig, as a Dan- ish fief, would indisputably have reverted to the crown had not the last instru- ment of investiture declared it hereditary and transmissible to heirs general, with the concurrence of the principal estates, however. In regard to Holstein, there were not wanting legists who declared that it was a masculine fief; that it could only follow the Salic law of inheritance; that Christian and his broth- ers, being sons of Hedwig, the sister of Adolf, therefore had no claim; and that the inheritance devolved on Otto, count of Shauenburg, who descended in a right line from the original counts of Holstein. There can be no doubt that, by the feudal law of Germany, this argument was valid; but that law had never been fully recognised in these provinces, the local constitution of which left much to the decision of the estates. Otto was not slow to urge the claim. The best course, perhaps, would have been for Christian to enter into possession of the duchy, and either leave the countship to Otto for some equivalent, or purchase the claims of that prince to the latter province. But the matter, in itself sufficiently jarring, was complicated by two circumstances. In the first place. Christian himself, before his accession to the crown, had, to tranquillise the people of Schleswig, agreed that the province should never be united with Denmark. Next, the two states, which had so much influence in the choice of a ruler, believing that, from their proximity, union would be their best policy, agreed, in an assembly at Rendsburg, never to follow separate interests, but in all things to act as if they were component parts of the same political system. Whatever justice the claims of Otto might possess, he could not hope to succeed against so powerful a rival, still less could he indulge the vision of inheriting both provinces. Christian lost not a moment in urging his claim as the proximate heir of Adolf; and, with the view at once of flattering the estates, and of preventing the cause from being taken before the imperial tribunal, which he well knew would be adverse to him, he left the decision entirely to them. He did more : he consented, in the event of his election, to conditions which virtually rendered these provinces independent of any ruler. The result was no longer doubtful: in March, 1460, he was elected duke of Schleswig and count of Holstein. Some of the conditions to which we have just alluded may surprise the reader. The king acknowledged that he had been elected duke of Schleswig and count of Holstein by the free choice of the estates, not as king of Den- mark, but purely through the good will of the electors. He agreed that his descendants could only succeed in virtue of a similar election, and that the estates should forever enjoy the right of choosing their princes. He prom- THE UNION OP KALMAE 217 [1460-1473 A.D.] ised to levy no tax without the sanction of the estates, nor to compel any inhabitant to follow his banner beyond the confines of the two provinces. Whenever he should come into the country, he engaged to pay for whatever his suite might consume. He engaged to ratify whatever the grand bailiff of Schleswig and the marshal of Holstein, in concurrence with the senate of either province, might do during his absence. He exempted from custom dues the commodities which the clergy and nobles might require for their own use. These and other conditions he not only swore to observe, but, on the requisition of the estates, caused some of his most distinguished subjects to guarantee that observance. Yet, with all these restrictions, there was some advantage in the posses- sion of these provinces. They formed a natural bulwark, on the German side, to the Danish monarchy. An enemy advancing in that direction would be sure to be assailed by two warlike peoples, whose fortresses could not be reduced before aid was brought from the Danish provinces. Through them, a passage would always be open to the Danish troops, whenever they took the field against a southern enemy. For these reasons, Christian was extremely anxious to make this acquisition secure. He persuaded Count Otto to renounce all claim to the succession for a considerable sum of money, and for the possession of three bailiwicks in Holstein. This arrangement was approved by the emperor Sigismund. As his two brothers, Gerhard and Maurice, might also trouble him or his descendants, he prevailed on them to renounce their claim, in consideration of 40,000 florins, and of his ceding to them the domains which he inherited conjointly with them in the lordship of Oldenburg. Having received the investiture from the hands of the bishop of Liibeck — a see which had enjoyed that privilege about thirty years, in virtue of an imperial grant — he called on the city of Hamburg to do him homage as count of Holstein; and the call was promptly obeyed. But these measures, secure as the monarch deemed them, contained the germs of future strife. First, his two brothers disagreed about the limits of their respective domains in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. Victory declared for Gerhard; and the peace of 1463 gave the former territory to him and the latter to Maurice. When Maurice died, the guardianship of his infant son, and the administration of Delmenhorst, fell to Gerhard, who soon proved him- self one of the most restless spirits of the age. His resources being thus aug- mented, he demanded that portion of the 40,000 florins which yet remained unpaid; and when, from the royal necessities, it could not promptly be paid, he seized some castles in Holstein. Christian was then embarrassed with the Swedish war; and to satisfy his importunate brother, he ceded to him, in 1467, the revenues of Schleswig and Holstein for four years, with the gov- ernment of those provinces. Gerhard, therefore, assumed the title of admin- istrator of both; but his sway was so rapacious, so tyrannical, so faithless to the interests of the sovereign, that the latter was compelled to seize his person, and to regain by force of arms the fortresses which had been seduced from their allegiance. In other respects Christian took no advantage of his brother, whom he paid in fuU, and released when sureties had been given that the latter would not again molest him, his allies, or his subjects. The prince, however, had not been long at liberty before he resumed his intrigues; and, in 1473, he entered Schleswig at the head of an armed force. But the appear- ance of the king sufficed to disperse his troops; some of the chief rebels were punished, but he himself contrived to escape. Placed under the ban of the empire, he offered his services to one of a kindred spirit, Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. On the fall of that prince, he served with honour in the 218 THE HI8T0EY OP SCANDINAVIA [1474-1481 A.D.] wars between England and France, and ended his days in a manner char- acteristic of the age — on a pilgrimage to Compostella. Christian himself was not, in this respect, above his age. Early in 1474, he undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, to procure absolution from a vow which he had made to visit the Holy Land. Assuming the black habit of pilgrim- age, with cross and staff, and accompanied by some bishops, nobles, and knights, he proceeded on his journey, and was everywhere nobly entertained. The emperor of Germany, the archduke of Austria, the duke of Milan, and the pope, vied with each other in doing honour to the monarch of Scandi- navia. This journey was not without its uses. In the first place, he had the good fortune to reconcile the duke of Milan with the emperor Frederick. From the latter monarch he obtained the cession, or rather the confirmation, of Ditmarsh (since it had been ceded to Denmark early in the thirteenth cen- tury, to Valdemar II by the emperor Frederick II), a region bordering on Holstein and Stormarn, and hitherto, from its inaccessible situation, enjoy- ing perfect independence. If the gift itself was of no great value, since the people could not become his subjects until they were subdued, the ducal title which he received, with the honours and privileges of prince of the empire, were not to be despised. But the greatest boon was one for which two, at least, of his predecessors had applied in vain — permission from the pope to found a university in his dominions. The " mundane sciences," as they were termed, might have been taught without the papal sanction; but for theol- ogy, a formal bull was requisite. The archbishop of Lund was ordered to prepare the statutes; and the establishment was opened with great pomp in June, 1477. It was honoured with many important privileges,, but was not well endowed before the reign of Christian III. Its benefits were soon apparent: Danish youths were no longer sent to Cologne, or Paris, or Bologna; and the influx of foreign students, from Iceland to north Germany, not only diffused money in the capital, but greatly refined the manners of- the people. Christian was not inattentive to foreign alliances. In 1456, he signed the first treaty with France. His object was to obtain support agamst the appre- hended hostiUties of England, the commerce of which both he and his prede- cessors were anxious to annihilate in the north of Europe. The alliance with France was so far useful that the interference of that power more than once saved him from hostilities. Thus, in regard to Scotland, the annual contribu- tion of 100 marks which Alexander III had agreed to pay the kings of Norway for the possession of the Hebrides, had never been punctually sent. When Christian ascended the throne, he found the arrears considerable enough to justify negotiation on the subject. The Scottish king, James III, having neither the incUnation nor the power to pay the arrears, war would have been inevitable but for the interference of the French king, who negotiated a mar- riage between James and Margaret, daughter of Christian. The dowry of the princess was to be 60,000 Rhenish florins, besides a total cancelling of the arrears. The position of the two monarchs was thenceforth changed, the Dane becoming the debtor of the Scot — 2,000 florins only were paid; and for the rest, the Orkney and Shetland isles were given in pledge. From that time (1469), both possessions remained with the Scottish crown. This monarch died in 1481. By his queen, Dorothea, widow of his prede- cessor, Christopher III, he had issue — besides the princess Margaret, four sons, two of whom preceded him to the tomb. The third, Hans or John, was recognised as his successor while a child. In 1478, this prince had been mar- ried to Christina, daughter of Ernest, duke of Saxony. The fourth son, THE UNION OP KALMAE 219 [1481-1497 A.D.] Frederick, who was created duke of Schleswig and Holstein, succeeded Hans on the thrones of Denmark and Norway. THE STORMY EEIGN OF HANS Hans ascended, without opposition, the throne of Denmark, but not those of Norway and Sweden, though by the estates of both kingdoms he had been solemnly recognised as the successor of his father. Two years elapsed before he could prevail on the Norwegian deputies to elect him. The grounds of this reluctance may be sought in the wish of the nobles and landowners to obtain for themselves as many new privileges as they could from a monarch eager to govern them, and still more in the intrigues of Sten Sture, the admin- istrator of Sweden, who, not satisfied with the government of one country, aspired to that of Norway. When, by promises and bribes Hans did attain the crown, he obtained but little power. The conditions, or, as they were called, the capitulation, which he was compelled to sign, left the administra- tion and the revenues of the country in the hands of the aristocracy. In regard to Sweden, sixteen years of intrigues, of negotiation, and of secret or open hostilities, were necessary before he could secure the crown; and we shall soon perceive that, when he did obtain it, his possession of it was brief. Sten Sture had tasted the sweets of power, and he would not sur- render them without compulsion. Such compulsion was long difficult, for though the church, or rather her dignitaries, were generally in favour of the Danish connection, there was a strong native party which detested everything Danish and everything foreign; and by its aid, no less than by his own talents, which were of a high order, he succeeded, during the long period we have mentioned, in baffling every effort of a great monarch to hurl him from his post. Not that several diets were not friendly to the claims of Hans; that of Kalmar, for instance (1483), elected him, but left to the next diet the confirmation of that election. When that diet met, Sture prevailed on it to insist on the restitution of Gotland, as a necessary preliminary. To this con- dition Hans was unable to consent; the. Danish estates, indeed, would not have permitted it. At another time, the administrator, who had been induced to meet the king, insinuated that, if the isle of Oland were ceded, the Swedish deputies would desist from their views on Gotland, and confirm the election. The credulous king surrendered the island, but found that he was not one step nearer to the object of his ambition. In revenge of what he called the rebellion of the people, he sometimes instigated the Russians to lay waste Finland with fire and sword. By this nefarious pohcy, he hoped so to embar- rass the administrator and the national party that they would be compelled to solicit his interference. In the meantime, his own party, consisting not merely of all who favoured the Union of Kalmar, but of the personal enemies of the administrator's family, endeavoured to place him on the throne. In 1494, the senate decreed that Sweden could no longer remain without a king; but this decree, through the address of Sture, had no effect. Hans now lost all patience (1496), and prepared to support his claims by force of arms. The opportunity was, in another respect, favourable. The Russians had just desolated Finland; the Swedish generals sent to oppose them, being unprovided with adequate means, loudly condemned Sture, and from that moment passed over to the army of the Danish king. Even one of the administrator's family, Svante Sture, who had zealously supported his kinsman, followed to the same side. In 1497 the senate, being convoked at Stockholm, accused him of governing the state rather for his own advantage 2eo THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1497-lSOl X.D.] than for that of the country. The charge, indeed, was baseless, since he was one of the best regents the nation had ever had; but it served the pUrpose of the members, who passed upon him a sentence of deposition. To tha,t sentence, however, he paid httle regard. On the contrary, in a public mani- festo, he accused the senate of all the evils which the country had sustained, and declared that, as he had not received his authority from it, but from a general meeting of the estates, so to the estates only should he hold himself responsible for his acts. In revenge, the senate invited the king to wrest the crown from the hands which withheld it. With a powerful armament, Hans reduced Kalmar, where he received the homage of the greater part of that body. At this time Sture was besieging the primate in Upsala; but hearing of the king's advance towards Stockholm, he hastened to that city. Though his losses had been severe, he stUl found himself at the head of ten thousand men, withthe assurance of a far greater reinforcement from Dalecarlia. That reinforcement, however, was defeated by the Danes; a sortie from the citadel of Stockholm had no better success; and Stiu-e, with all his courage, was at length compelled to submit. Yet he obtained honourable terms. He received, by way of fief, the two Bothnias and Finland, with some fortresses. At the coronation, which was celebrated at Upsala with much pomp and amidst much rejoicing, he was invested with the high dignity of grand master of the kingdom; while his kinsman, Svante Sture, was created marshal. In return, he swore unbounded fidelity to Hans; and, like the rest of Sweden, recognised Prince Christian, Hans' eldest son, who had already been recognised by Denmark and Norway, as heir to the Swedish crown. The administration of Sten Sture had been peculiarly agreeable to the great body of the people, though distasteful to the clergy and the leading nobles. For this reason, Hans treated him, for some time, with marked attention; and to screen him from the vengeance of his enemies, among whom the primate was the most active, guaranteed him from all past responsibility by letters of abolition. Yet, in spite of this instrument, the archbishop obtained the papal authority to proceed against him in the ecclesiastical tribunals; and to secure himself, he hastily withdrew into Finland. The following year Hans returned to Sweden, and endeavoured by gifts and benefits to secure the attachment of all classes and individuals. For a while he was, indeed, eminently popular. His queen was crowned with much splendour at Upsala; and with equal solemnity, the succession of his son Christian was confirmed. But the futility of such acts has been apparent enough in the present chapter, and will be more apparent as the reader proceeds. The popularity in question was as brief as it was sudden. Conceiving that he had now less need of Sten Sture's support, and instigated by that noble- man's enemies, Christian resumed several of the grants which he had made or confirmed in his behalf. The other quietly surrendered the governments of Abo, Niflet, and some other domains; but he was not the less determined to wait his day of revenge — a day which the frequent absences of the king would necessarily hasten. He well knew the fickleness of his countrjmaen; he knew that the great body of them were hostile to the Danish yoke, and that the discontented nobles would comprise all who were excluded from royal grants. Two or three arbitrary acts on the part of the royal officers — one, the execution of a vassal belonging to him, without even the form of a trial — soon converted the loyalty of the people into indifference, or even dislike. The king, too, was taught to distrust the noblest of his new subjects; and it was Swedes who thus instructed him. His conduct naturally produced the same feeling on the other side, and that feeling was disposed to revive THE UXION OF KALMAE 221 [1501 A.B.] every rumour unfavourable to him. It was asserted, for instance, that he was still instigating the Russians to devastate Finland — a charge sufficiently absurd. That his suspicions of Swedish fidelity should hourly deepen, was to be expected. That people could never be loyal, even to its own princes; to a foreigner, belonging to a nation always detested, and not unfrequently giving reason for umbrage, it bor.e a sentiment more unfavourable than want of loyalty. Sten Sture was the man whom, above all others, Hans was led to suspect. He was told that his vassal was intriguing to supplant him; that he was in secret communication with the Dalecarlian peasantry, who were peculiarly hostile to foreign domination; and that he had prepared a strong body of those men, with the determination to intercept and perhaps to . kill the monarch. In this critical position, the king (1501) convoked the estates-general; expressed his unconsciousness of having injured any of his subjects, and his readiness, if he had done so, to make any compensation that arbiters, chosen by the diet itself, might adjudge; and finally accused Sten Sture of treason. The precipitate departure of that noble, without taking leave of the king, had given some colour to the charge — his subsequent conduct deepened it. When required by the deputies to appear and defend himself, though a royal safe-conduct and hostages for his security were sent to him, he appeared with a body of horse formidable enough to alarm the king. Relying on this force, he did not so much vindicate himself as become accuser in his turn. Hans heard his complaints with much coolness, and replied to them with great moderation — so great, indeed, as to command the approbation of the sena- ators, and to draw from many of them new assurances of fidelity. That there was some hypocrisy in this demonstration, may be inferred from the ease with which Sture caused armed bodies of men to approach the capital. The king, more than ever convinced that his life or his liberty was in peril, shut himself up in the citadel, and refused to meet his too powerful vassal in any other place. The other was equally unwilling to trust himself into the royal hands. This mutual distrust, which deepened into hatred, was fatal to the dominion of Hans. By the native party, a confederation of senators and deputies was formed at Vadstena, and one of its avowed objects was to defend the liberties of the country against the tyranny of the Danish king. This meeting was attended by a powerful Norwegian chief, Knud Alfsson, whose connections and whose attachments were Swedish, and who readily undertook to secure for the party the co-operation of many leading nobles. It was also determined that a league should be formed with the Hanse Towns, or at least with Liibeck, which had been the open or secret enemy of Denmark. The -appearance of things was so menacing, that Hans sailed privately for Copenhagen, leaving his queen Christina and about a thousand of his adherents to defend the citadel until his return. Whatever the necessity may have been which dictated this precipitate departure, it was unmediately followed by the entire subversion of Hans' authority. A new assembly of deputies and senators at Vadstena sent him not merely a formal renunciation of their allegiance, but a warlike defiance. Hostilities under the direction of Sten Sture showed that the act was not an empty one. Orebro was first reduced, and the Danish officers treated with great severity; Stockholm was next invested; and as the winter season had arrived, there was little hope of its relief, or of a protracted resistance. Chris- tina, indeed, was soon forced to capitulate, but was not allowed to return to Copenhagen — the convent of Vadstena was selected by herself as the most eligible place of imprisonment. Three days after this event, she had the 222 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1501-1502 A.D.] mortification of learning that a Danish armament had arrived before Stock- holm, and that, hearing of her departure, it had promptly returned. Other fortresses were speedily reduced: at the end of. the year (1501) Kahnar only on the continent, and Borkholm on the isle of Oland, held out for the Danes. Even the archbishop of Upsala.was compelled to join the party of Sture, who was again invested with the high post of administrator. In revenge for the succour which Liibeck had sent to the Swedes, Hans ordered his seamen everjrwhere to seize the vessels of that city, proceeding with merchandise (arms, ammunition, provisions, etc.) to Stockholm; but the city had ships as well as he; and by these hostilities he gained no advantage, while he aug- mented the number of his enemies. While these events were passing in Sweden, others, not less disastrous, agitated Norway. Knud Alfsson did not lose sight of the promise which he made to Sture, and success crowned his efforts. To oppose the rising insur- rection, Hans sent the bishop of Roeskilde and one of his senators to Chris- tiania, with instructions, the flagitious tenor of which may be too well inferred from the tragedy that ensued. Arriving off the coast, they proclaimed that they were empowered by their royal master to effect a reconciliation between the disaffected Norwegians and the crown. They consequently invited Knud on board, assured him of their pacific intentions, and sent him a safe- conduct. Unsuspicious of danger, he repaired to the vessel, and was delib- erately killed in the midst of some high words which they probably raised for the occasion. This perfidious murder created a deep sensation throughout Norway, especially as not even the shadow of a chastisement was inflicted on its authors. It naturally hastened the effect which it was intended to destroy — the southern provinces immediately confederated with the Swedes. With much difficulty, Hans whose resources were exhausted, collected forces, partly from his nephew, the king of Scotland, and partly from his son-in-law, the elector of Brandenburg. These he placed imder the command of his eldest son. Prince Christian, then about twenty years of age; and joined with him the bishop of Hammer, without whose sanction the prince was to under- take nothing of moment. But Christian was not of a temper to submit to restraint. Obstinate in all his purposes, and ferocious by disposition, he soon showed what history would have to record concerning his reign. Having defeated a party of insurgents near Christiania, and taken the leader prisoner, he put him to the torture., Whether, in the hope of saving himself, Herlof Hiddef ad accused those who were not guilty — whether the accusations were wrung from him under his intolerable pain — or whether the conspiracy was as universally spread as he asserted — must always remain doubtful; but unfortunately, there is no doubt as to the use which Christian made of the information thus obtained. Herlof was broken on the wheel, and those whom he had deluded were put to death under circumstances of great atrocity. A great portion of the Norwegian nobility is said — perhaps with much exaggeration — to have thus perished. When the bishop of Hammer remon- strated with the prince on this inhuman policy, he was placed under restraint, consigned to a dungeon, and used so ill that in a few years death put an end to his sufferings. These executions had the effect designed: they terrified the nobles and the people, who, seeing with what a stern master they had to deal, universally submitted. From Norway, Christian proceeded into Sweden, where, by the same con- duct, he hoped to secure the same success. He besieged two fortresses in Vestergotland, defeated a body of troops sent by the administrator to relieve them, took them by assault, an,d put the garrison to the sword. Negotiations THE UNION OF KALMAR 223 [1503 A.D.] were now renewed with both the Hanse Towns and the Swedes, but led merely to a short suspension of arms, and to the dehverance of Queen Chris- tina after two years of detention. One of the last acts of Sten Sture was to conduct her to the frontier. He died suddenly — not without suspicion of poison (1503). The loss of so able, and so persevering a man afflicted the national party; but little time was lost in procuring him a successor in his kinsman Svante Sture, who had long exercised the office of marshal. The first act of the new administrator was to besiege Kalmar and Borkhohn, the only fortresses which held for the king. Against the latter he failed; the former he reduced, but only to lose it again in a few weeks. Enraged that the Swedish deputies did not, as the administrator had promised, meet his own to concert the terms of peace, Hans exercised more than his wonted severity against the Swedish officers whom he had made prisoners at Kalmar. This severity did no service to his cause, and his next proceeding covered him equally with ridicule and contempt. The pretext that all his Swedish sub- jects were rebels might have been admitted three centuries before, in France, or England, or Spain; but in Scandinavia, the crown of which even in the darkest ages, had been always elective, such a pretext, especially in the six- teenth century, was as ridiculous as it was insulting. Yet the king proceeded to act upon it, and in a way more extraordinary than the pretension itself. He submitted the conduct of the Swedish senators — who, as the represen- tatives of the aristocracy, the rural gentry, and even small landed proprie- tors, might almost be called the whole Swedish nation — to a judicial tribunal, composed entirely of such Danish and Norwegian senators as had followed him to Kalmar, that is, entirely of his own creatures. The proceedings were gravely opened in presence of envoys from several European powers; the delinquents who had been cited to appear not answering to their names, judgment went by default — Svante Sture, Eric Johansson Vasa, Sten Christersson, Oxenstiema, the two Bielkes, and all the other senators who adhered to the administrator, were pronounced guilty of high treason, were deposed from their dignities, and their estates were confiscated. Thus about half a hundred Danes and Norwegians ventured to sit in judgment on a great and independent nation. The thing was wholly unparal- leled; but, as it had a magnificent sound, it was less depised out of Sweden than might have been expected. Hans valued it so much that he carried it before the emperor Maximilian, whose confirmation he' besought. That the emperor shoidd be otherwise than gratified at this recognition of his superi- ority over the northern kingdoms — a doctrine which, from the Carlovingian times had always been a favourite one with the imperial legists — was not to be expected. He readily heard the cause, confirmed the decision of his royal vassal, and menaced with the pains of treason all who should presume to aid or abet, with troops or money or merchandise, the twofold rebek of Sweden — rebels at once to their own immediate ruler, and to their lord paramount, the emperor. This blow was particularly aimed at the Hanseatic League, especially Liibeck; and it was expected that the Swedes would offer no resistance to it: they would, no doubt, obey the imperial citation (for Maximilian had indulgence enough to fix a time when by submission they might appease their two mighty lords), and escape the severe penalties which were suspended over their heads. When this decree was ridiculed, the next step was to put the Swedish senators under the ban of the empire — to confiscate all their substance; to deprive them of all civil rights, to place the very life of each at the mercy of anyone who thought it worth taking away. Nay, even the pope threw the weight of his crosier into the scale unfavourable to the Swedes. 224 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1504-1512 A.D.] Because they would not receive as bishop of Linkoping, the cardinal legate Jayme of Arborea, whom both he and the Danish monarch had presented to that see, but insisted on the choice of a countryman, Hemming Gadd, he threatened both Hemming and them with excommunication if they persisted in their opposition. But nothing could daunt the Swedes. _ They fought when they had money and stores; when they had neither, owing to the fre- quent inactivity of their Hanse allies (for the latter, true to their interests and caring for neither party in the abstract, were sometimes induced by some royal concession to stand aloof from the contest), they consented to negotiate, but whether with any sincere wish for peace may be doubted. Their object apparently was to gain time — especially when they found the people of the Banse Towns ready to furnish them secretly with the sinews of war. When, as in 1509 and the two following years, Liibeck, and other towns of the league were openly at war with Denmark, they did not neglect so favourable an opportunity of annoying their implacable sovereign — if he could be called one, who held the title without even the shadow of the power. In general, the successes of both parties were nearly balanced: the confederates were supe- rior in number of ships; but the genius of the Danish admiral, Severin Norby, compensated for this inferiority. After innumerable events which it would be equally tedious and uninteresting to enumerate, Liibeck and her allies, with all their resources, became tired of the war, and as the condition of peace, agreed to abandon the Swedes (1512). The loss of so powerful an ally rendered the Swedes, as usual, disposed to aegotiate. The death of Svante Sture, too, or rather the divisions to which the event gave rise, contributed to the same end. In the choice of a successor there was much animosity: one party declared for Eric TroUe, a senator nobly connected, but suspected of some partiality to the Danish succession; another for Sten Sture, son of the administrator of that name and generally known as Sten Sture the younger. The latter triumphed. As a matter of course, the former, more decided in the expression of his partiality, becfame the head of a league, of which the prelates, with the archbishop of Upsala at their head, were the most distinguished members. But no advantage accrued to Denmark beyond this, that the party favourable to the connection between the two countries arose from its despondency and was enabled to maintain something like an equality with the other. The dispute with Sweden would probably have been more brief in its duration and more satisfactory in its conclusion, but for two other circum- stances which equally distracted the king's attention, and of which one had the more disastrous termination. The recognition by Christian I of the right claimed by the estates of Schleswig and Holstein to elect their own dukes, could not fail to be the source of some trouble. On that monarch's death, they urged the claim, and showed unequivocally that they should prefer Frederick, the brother of Hans to Hans himself. Such a disregard of the primogenital law had never entered the minds of the Danish monarchs, who had always considered the succession to the two duchies as inseparable from that of the crown. Yet justice was so manifestly on the side of the estates that the king was placed in a situation of considerable embarrassment. On the one hand, he would never consent to the separation between the ducal and royal dignities; on the other, he was loth to risk a war with his southern subjects — especially when he reflected that they would be sure to have allies and that the aspect of affairs in Sweden was sufficiently gloomy. What added to his embarrassment was the fact that, by his father, Frederick had been invested with the ducal title, and had been designed as the successor — sub- THE UNION OF KALMAE «26 [1481-1500 A.D.] ject, of course, to the approval of the estates. This disposition of Christian had been created by his queen, who had more attachment for her second than for her eldest son. The same influence was now at work; and' Hans was com- pelled to show more deference towards his mother's wishes than he liked. To secure his election, she hastened with the young prince to Kiel, where the diet was to be held. The king followed, to protest against the mediated choice. He was surprised no less than embarrassed, when his brother, at the instiga- tion of his mother and tutors, demanded also a share in the government of Norway, which had been declared equally elective, and which might devolve on the second as well as on the eldest son. This latter claim, indeed, was for the present withdrawn; but Frederick would undoubtedly have been elected to the ducal throne had not the king hastily collected a strong body of troops and overawed the diet. This was a glaring violation of the right which Christian had so solemnly declared to be inherent in the estates; but what could abstract justice avail against brute force? The electors were glad to adopt a compromise, and to choose both brothers as their rulers. For some years the regal power was exercised by the king. In 1483, he prevailed on the diet of Flensburg to vote him two florins for each plough. Whether any portion of this tax was directed to other purposes than the wants of the local government, is not very clear; for, though Hans redeemed many of the fortresses and domains on which his father had raised money, com- plaints were not wanting against the application of the proceeds. In con- junction with his brother, he received the homage of the Hamburgers — always a reluctant homage, and on the present occasion successfully withheld during five years. In a few years more, he found that Frederick would not be satisfied with merely a nominal share in the administration. In vain did he strive to send the obnoxious claimant into the cloister: the prince, indeed, dissembled for a time; but in 1490 he appeared with many supporters at a diet, and demanded a participation in the goverimient. Hans was reluc- tantly compelled to sanction a division of the territories in dispute, so that each might govern his own portion without collision with the other. The only reservations were Ditmarsh, which had yet to be subdued and the sov- ereignty over Hamburg, which was of little value; these were to be held in common. Ample as were the possessions which Duke Frederick thus obtained, he was not satisfied. He next applied for an appanage, which, he contended, by the immemorial custom of Denmark, ought to be his; and he indicated three islands with their fortresses and dependencies. The rigsraad, however, and next the estates-general, refused to entertain the application. Hans did not openly interfere in the matter; but his influence, no doubt, induced both powers to reject the application. THE CAMPAIGN IN DITMARSH (l500 A.D.) The second disaster to which we have alluded was the signal defeat of the Danish troops by the wild and independent inhabitants of Ditmarsh. In the reign of the preceding monarch, we have recorded the grant of that country to the Danish crown by the emperor Frederick IV. From the commencement of his reign, Hans meditated its subjection; but his disputes with Norway, with Sweden, and the Hanse Towns, left him, during twenty years, no leisure for the enterprise. But no sooner was he recognised by Sweden (1499) than, in conjunction with his brother, he aspired to something more than a nominal sovereignty. By the emperor Henry the Fowler, this region had been formed into a H. W. — VOL. XVI. Q 226 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1214-1500 A.D.] countship dependent on the dukes of Saxony. But, in the twelfth century, the archbishops of Bremen, profiting by the misfortunes of those mighty feudatories, had obtained the superiority over the fief. By Valdemar, bishop of Schleswig, this superiority was contested; and the misfortimes of that pre- late threw the province into the hands of the Danish kings. Knud VI had left it to Valdemar II, who had been confirmed in it (1214) by the emperor Frederick II. But in about thirteen years (1227), the Danish nionarch lost it in the disastrous battle of Bornhoved. From that period, the_ inhabitants, though nominally dependent on the see of Bremen, were in reality independent. In vain several counts of Holstein had endeavoured to subjugate them. Protected by the nature of their country — by their deep marshes, their scarcity of paths, and their sluices, by which the progress of an invading army might at any time be arrested — they had regarded with indifference the warlike preparations of their neighbours. The summons of Christian I, in virtue of the emperor Frederick's decree, to do him homage, they had heard unmoved. They were not, in the present instance, more favourable to the claim of Hans; and, in a general assembly of the people, they resolved to die sooner than sacrifice the independence which they had enjoyed for so many ages. Hans and his brother, who had claimed the sovereignty in common, expected this answer; and they collected troops with so much expedition, that they were soon ready for the field. It was in February of the year 1500, that the two princes penetrated into that region. Why they should have marched at such a season, unless they calculated on a long frost,, is not very clear; but perhaps they were indiffer- ently aware of the obstacles they would encounter; and they certainly believed that no force could resist the formidable army (thirty thousand strong) which marched under their orders."^ A chronicler of the fifteenth century gives the following account of the expedition: a The king and his brother, having made aU their preparations, entered Ditmarsh in the beginning of February. Nearly six thousand of the num- erous foot soldiers were said to be Rytherse, who were mercenaries. Others who fiocked from the towns and country of Jutland, Friesland, and Holstein, cannot be coimted. Secure in the hope of victory, many came provided with the means of carrying away the money which they were going to take as booty, and with tokens to serve as receipts when the money was weighed out. Magnificent horsemen from Holstein, Jutland and all Denmark went thither, with that splendour of arms which is customarily prepared for great weddings, and they carried gold in their purses. Some came from the territories of Liineburg and Brunswick. The invaders were persuaded that to such a force the Ditmarshians would yield forthwith, and that if it should come to a pitched battle the result would not be doubtful. Thus, with every advantage of time and place, on the 15th of February the princes marched a great army into the enemy's country and occupied the town of Meldorf . Sauve qui pent. The utmost ferocity was displayed towards persons of every estate, rank, and sex, so that they might be subdued the more quickly. The princes sent spies, one of whom, being taken, was forced to confess by what avenue the enemy would arrive. When they had learned this, the Ditmarshians dug, during the following night, an intrenchment in the muddy way by which the invaders were coming. There some thousand men lay in wait for them, and others in another place. It was therefore imder the worst auguries that, in ignorance of the intrenchment the princes struck camp on the Monday which was February 17th, amidst loud acclamations. But the counsels of the cap- THE UNION OP KALMAE 827 [1500 A.D.] tains of the guard (which came first, to the number of two thousand, with a still greater crowd of citizens and country people) prevailed. The cavalry- followed, so sure of an easy victory that they even had carts in their train. They advanced, moreover, by a path whose narrow width was the cause of infinite disaster to the horsemen. No one thought there would be any danger when the foot guards had passed, and the whole affair was regarded as an easy matter. The mire and depth of the road, lined on each side by wide ditches, threw the riders into confusion as they advanced in a great crowd, hoping and expecting to pass over sohd groimd. The Ditmarshians, hidden by their rampart, now poured forth missiles at the advancing enemy, and not without effect. The foremost of the foot soldiers, however, placed their shields before them, and, throwing away their spears, crossed the ditches and stood presenting a solid front, but so close together that they could not fight. The day was cloudy, and rain, mingled with hail, and raging winds were fighting for them. But the earth dug from the numerous ditches pre- vented them from using their swords, or attacking. The royal artillery was now brought up, but rain and wind prevented the discharge of the missiles. Some of the Ditmarshians rushed up to prevent the artUlery from being fired, but were flung back. Meantime a fire was poured from the whole rampart, and the lines of the foot were broken. But when the Ditmarshians perceived they were surrounded by the enemy, they attacked though few in number — not more than three or four hundred — these thousands of men cooped up in the mire and cold in a narrow place. Spring- ing across the ditches, they fought, few against many; twice repulsed, they returned twice, recovered from flight, and cut down their enemies — thus caught in a trap and deep in mire — and threw them down into the ditches. And now the sluices were opened, and the waters poured in, so that in the rushing floods the ditches could not be distinguished. The foot soldiers of the guard were the first to take to flight, in which, however, many fell. Then the Ditmarshians, gathering courage, inflicted deadly punishment on the remaining band, collected from the neighbouring towns and villages, and these were drowned in the waters, which came in a great flood. Finally they fell on the crowd of horsemen pressed together in that narrow spot and unable to move or flee. With the fallen infantry in front of them, pressed in the rear by the flying, and flanked on either side by the ditches, they stood motion- less and pale in the presence of death. The Ditmarshians, thronging round them, flung lances and arrows from the side, first wounding the horses. These, when they felt the steel, went mad, fiinging their riders and trampling on them. A dismal noise was heard, and a horrible vapour of rising sweat obscured the eyes. The princes themselves got away with many others, not knowing how they had escaped; for the rainy and foggy atmosphere, together with snow, wind, and the mist of perspiration, deprived everyone of sight. In order that none might get away, the Ditmarshians pressed the flying. Some are believed to have escaped through the crowd of corpses of the slain and drowned. Incredible as it may seem, this slaughter is said to have occurred within the space of three hours. The greater number of dead, however, were unwounded, and it was said that most were drowned by the waters. No one knew exactly what took place. Each was terrified by his own danger, the fog, and the gathering night, and blinded by the smoke and the vapour exhaled from his own horse. Soon some of the Ditmarshians came up and stripped the fallen of their arms, clothes, belts, and purses, and those whom they found breathing they massacred. They robbed the dying of their very 228 THE HISTOET OF SCANDIFAVIA [1500-1513 A.D.] shirts. With such cruelty did they war against the slain. They buried some thousands of the foot soldiers, but this favour was denied to the horsemen. Amongst the latter were two counts of Aldenborgh, Adolphus and Otto, and many soldiers — Danes, Holsteiners, and levies without number. The very flower of the Holstein army perished, to the lamentation of their own people and the great regret of all. The number of slain is not given exactly. The Dit- marshians say, a great number, but others deny this, saying a few thousand. The cause of the disaster may be imputed to two things, namely, overconfi- dence in beginning the war, and the cruelties at Meldorf against all persons of either sex and all ages and ranks.e The king, in great wrath, vowed to be revenged; but a new army was not easily raised, and he was glad to accept the mediation of the Hanse Towns, which concluded a treaty that left both parties exactly where it foimd them. The king pre- served his claim, and the natives their independ- ence. The reign of Hans was, in other respects, troubled. During much of it, the northern seas were infested with pirates, not from the Hanse Towns merely, but from Russia, Scotland, England, and Hol- land. At length a treaty of com- merce was con- cluded between the king of Eng- land (Henry VII) and Hans — the more easily as at that period (1489) the latter was dissatisfied with the Hanse Towns. It secured to the English the right of commerce in the north seas, subject to certain duties; it allowed them to have their commercial establishments in the seaports, and their own judges in all controversies between their own countrymen. It even allowed them to fish on the coast of Iceland; though the permission was to be renewed every seven years. Let us add that famine and the plague more than once visited the north during this monarch's life; and we may term it the reverse of a h9,ppy one. The death of Hans was hastened by a fall from his horse (1513). In his last illness, he called Prince Christian to his bedside and gave him some advice, the tenor of which shows that he perfectly; understood the character of his successor. The latter was exhorted to forsake low and dissolute company, to consult only men esteemed for their age and wisdom; to renounce great designs, which would end only in disappointment; to forswear violence, and trust to calm moderation; to employ natives in preference to foreigners; to win the love of all by a government of mildness. In general, Hans himself had so acted: he had been always popular in Denmark; he had preferred caution to rashness, the solid to the splendid. His wisdom, in this respect, was fre- EiNO Hans and His Sons (From an old tomb) THE UFIOF OF KALMAE 229 [1513-1518 A.D.] quently evident. For instance, he carefully refrained from all interference between the emperors and the holy see. Again, when besought by his nephew James IV, king of Scotland, to join the latter in the war against England — a war so disastrous for the Scot — he exhorted his fiery kinsman to cultivate the blessings of peace.<* CHRISTIAN (II) THE TYRANT (1513-1523 A.D.) Christian II, called in Sweden the Ungentle, and also the Tyrant, whose administration in Norway had already been stained with blood, and who now succeeded his father in that country as in Denmark, laid claim also to the Swedish throne, to which he was at once elected, and commenced nego- tiations whereby the truce concluded with Denmark was several times renewed. In 1516 the war broke out anew, produced by the intestine commo- tions which the new archbishop Gustavus TroUe excited. This prelate sprang from a family linked with the union interest by its large posses- sions in Denmark, and which for two generations back had been inimical totheStures. An attempt had al- ready been made by one faction to set up his grandfather, Arvid TroUe, agamst Sten the Elder, while his father, Eric Trolle, had lost the government by the election of the younger Sture. This Gustavus Trolle was of a temper that never for- gave a past wrong, real or fancied, although the administrator himself, to bring about a reconciliation, had promoted his election to the archbishopric. Their animosities now led to open war, in consequence whereof Gustavus Trolle, after a Danish fleet had fruitlessly endeavoured to relieve him, was unanimously declared at the diet of Arboga to have forfeited his oflBce, and his fortified castle of Stacket was demolished. Next year Christian himself accomplished a landing in the neighbourhood of Stockholm, but suffered a complete overthrow from Sten Sture. In this battle, fought at the Brenn- kirk, July 22nd, 1518, and celebrated in a popular ballad, the Swedish banner was borne by the young Gustavus Ericsson Vasa. Being afterwards sent as a hostage to the Danish fleet on the occasion of a personal interview which the king requested with the administrator, he was carried off prisoner to Denmark, contrary to the pledged faith of the former, along with Hemming Gadd and four other Swedish nobles. Thither Christian also returned, after he had so treacherously broken off the negotiations which he had himself commenced. By the papal command, an investigation was instituted into the charges Qdegn Chbisiina and Heb Dauohxebs (From an old tomb) 230 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1519-1530 A.D.] which the deposed archbishop had brought against Sten, at the see of Rome. A spiritual court commenced its sittings in Denmark; the administrator with all his adherents was excommunicated, and the whole kingdom was placed under an interdict. "The Swedes," says Olaus Petri (Olaf Peterson), "did not in the least regard this ban and interdict." Christian, however, procured the execution of the sentence to be committed to himself, and the whole of the year 1519 was spent in making preparations. New taxes were imposed; levies were made in various countries; and in the beginning of 1520, the Danish army broke into Sweden under their general Otte Krumpen, who caused the papal ban to be affixed to all the churches upon the march. Sten encountered the invaders on the ice of Lake Asunden, by Bogesund, in Vestergotland; he was wounded at the opening of the battle, and obliged to be carried out of the conflict, the issue of which was decided by this disaster. Being conveyed to Strengnas, he soon received intelligence that the Danes, to whom a Swedish nobleman pointed out the way, had surrounded the intrenchment in the forest of Tived, had cut to pieces the troops stationed there, and were already on their march to Upland, Collecting the remains of his strength, he hastened to Stockholm, but died in his sledge upon the ice of Lake Malar, February 3rd, 1520. By his death, all government in Sweden was dissolved; the magnates indeed held consultations, but no one had courage to command, or will to obey. The country-people gathered in the view of attempting a stand against the enemy, but from want of a leader were soon dispersed by the foreign soldiery, whose track was marked by homicide and conflagration, and who insolently boasted that they would not care although in Sweden it should rain peasants from heaven. The heroical Christina Gyllenstierna alone, widow of Sten, and the mother of four children still of tender age, did not lose heart; she continued to defend Stockholm, and refused to accede to the convention ratified with the Danish generals at a baronial diet convoked in Upsala, by which Christian was acknowledged king, on condition that he should govern conformably to the laws of Sweden and the Treaty of Kalmar, and not exact vengeance for what had passed. These engagements were personally confirmed by the king upon arriving with his fleet before Stockholm, with the express addition, that the measures adopted against Gustavus TroUe, who was now restored to his office, should be forgotten and forgiven. The same promises were repeated in the king's letter to all the provinces, and being seconded by the efforts of the prelates and the nobility, completely disarmed the resistance still kept up by the people. These assurances were again renewed when Hemming Gadd, after a life spent in struggling against Danish domination, now appeared in his old age as its advocate, and by the weight of his influence at length induced Chris- tina Gyllenstierna to surrender Stockholm, although against the wish of the burghers. When the king in the autumn returned to Sweden, and was crowned in Stockholm, he once more confirmed by oath and reception of the sacrament the securities he had given. But at this very moment Chris- tian had resolved that the blood of the chief men of Sweden should be shed, although he himself "appeared friendly to all, and was very merry and pleasant in his demeanour, caressing some with hypocritical kisses, and others with embraces, clapping his hands, smiling, and displaying on all hands tokens of affection." The instigator of this resolution was Didrick Slaghok, formerly a barber, and a relative of Sigbrit, a Dutch huckster, who by the beauty of her daughter had gained an ascendancy over the king's mind, which she had tact enough to preserve during his whole reign. [1520 A.D.] THE UNION OP KALMAR The Carnage of Stockholm 931 On the third day of the solemnities which followed the coronation, the gates of the castle of Stockholm were unexpectedly barred, and the archbishop Gustavus Trolle came into the king's presence, to complain of the violences and injuries suffered by himself and the archiepiscopal see of Upsala, at the hands of the deceased administrator, for which he now demanded satisfaction. He was probably himself ignorant of the atrocities, for the perpetration of which he was to be used as an instrument. He is said, as we may conclude from a contemporary account, to have maintained that the question of pun- ishment and compensation must be referred to Rome; but the king negatived his proposal, declaring that the matter should be adjudicated forthwith. As the prelate's charges were really directed again Sten Sture, his widow Chris- tina Gyllenstierna stood up and appealed to the resolution of the estates, whereby Gustavus Trolle was unani- mously declared to have forfeited his dignity, and which the principal spiri- tual and secular lords had subscribed under an express obligation to common responsibility. Such of these as were now present, and among them two bishops, were immediately seized and thrown into prison; the remainder were confined over night in the castle — the clergy in a separate chamber./ The following morning, the 8th of November, at nine in the forenoon, several of the Swedish clergy, who had been shut up during the night, were called to the large hall, where they, to- gether with Jons Beldenack, Gustavus Trolle, the bishops, Hans Brask, and Otte Swinhufwud, were to form a spiritual court. Jons Beldenack then put to them the question whether those who had conspired against the pope and the holy chair of Rome ought not to be considered heretics. Some of the priests were agreed with Christian, and answered "Yes." Others did not perceive what this was meant to conceal, and answered, " Yes." Others again, though they very well perceived the drift of the question, also an- swered, " Yes." The king was satisfied with the result, and pronounced the rest of the judgment himself — that the Swedish lords, having set themselves against the pope, were heretics according to the judgment of the court, and therefore should as heretics die. The whole of that day the city gates were shut, so that none could get out. Early in the morning the trumpeters rode round the town, proclaiming that no citizen was to dare, for his life, to leave his house, till permission was again granted to do so. Large crowds of armed Danes were placed here and there on the chief squares; loaded cannon were drawn out on .the Great square with their muzzles pointed towards the principal streets. The whole town was in a dread and solemn expectation. The castle gates were at last thrown open at noon; and a mighty body of armed soldiers first appeared, and placed themselves in two long lines, reaching from the castle to the town houSBk The imprisoned Swedish lords were led between them as far as the Christian II (1481-1559) «32 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [isao A.D.] Great square, where a strong guard of Danish soldiers closed around them. The people who had now regained permission to leave their houses, streamed in that direction, and with anguish and alarm beheld the frightful prepara- tions. Sir Nils Lycke, the new knight, now appeared on the balcony of the town hall, and addressed his speech to the assembled multitude thus " Ye good men, are not to wonder at what ye here behold, for these men altogether were wicked heretics, disobedient to the holy father in Rome. They have laid powder under the castle to kill the king, who would notwithstanding have spared them; but Archbishop Gustavus TroUe has three times knelt before him and demanded justice." Bishop Vincent, from the square below, now interrupted him, and called aloud that all this was lies and nonsense, but that God would yet punish Christian's cruelty and treachery. Sir Anders Karlsson and Anders Rut, two councillors of Stockholm, also loudly called on the other Swedes, begging and beseeching them in future not to permit themselves to be deceived by false promises, but one day to avenge this terrible treachery and tjrranny. The Danish soldiers now made a great noise, so that their words could no longer be distinguished, and at the king's order (it is said, that from a window in the town hall he looked on during the whole proceedings) the execution began, and Klas Bille placed himself at hand to receive the golden chain and ring of every knight before he was beheaded. The prisoners then implored that they might at least be permitted first to confess and receive the holy sacrament. But even this was refused, and Bishop Matthias was led forth first. While he was kneeling with clasped and uplifted hands, his secretary Olaus Petri and the latter's brother rushed forward; but before they could reach the spot, their beloved master's head had fallen before one blow of the sword, and rolled towards them on the ground. Beside themselves with horror, they cried out that this was an inhimian action. "For these words they were immediately seized and dragged within the circle, and would cer- tainly have been executed had not some German soldiers saved them.'" Bishop Vincent was next beheaded, and then came the senators' turn — Eric Lejonhufwud, Knut Kurk, Eric Johansson Vasa, father of Gustavus Vasa, Eric Ryning, Eric Gyllenstierna, Eskil Baner, Joachim Brahe, and thirteen nobles and knights of the senate. These were followed by the three burgo- masters of the town, and thirteen of the town council, together with fifteen of the chief citizens, some of whom, without the slightest warning, were snatched out of their houses, and led to execution. A citizen named Lars Hansson was standing in tears beholding this terrible scene; the soldiers dragged him within their lines, and he was made to pay with his death for his compassion. At last the execution stopped for that day; the heads were set up on poles, with the exception of that of Bishop Matthias, to whom, in consideration of his great services to the king, this favour was shown that, instead of being impaled, it was laid between his feet. The dead bodies were left where they had fallen, to the horror of all. A violent rain came on, which yet more disfigured the pale remains, and redly dyed water ran everywhere from the Great square down into the streets, bearing a bloody witness to what had there taken place. The second day, Friday the 9th, Christian remarked that many had hid- ' These two brothers had studied at the University of W^ittenberg in Germany. Ewert Leuf, one of the German soldiers, had seen them there, and believing them to be' Germans, represented to his comrades that, not being Swedes, they ought to be spared. This had its effect ; the brothers escaped, and some years later afforded Gustavus Vasa signal assistance in the introduction of Lutheranism into Sweden, THE UNION OF KALMAR 833 [1520 A.D.] den themselves whom he would willingly have murdered; he therefore made a proclamation that the inhabitants might now freely show themselves, for he did not intend to punish any more. Some were simple enough to permit this trick to deceive them, and imprudently showed themselves, on which the massacre recommenced. Six or eight were beheaded on the square; the gallows were continually full of dead bodies, and the servants of the deceased lords, who came to town ignorant of what had happened, were often pulled from their horses with so much haste, that they were hoisted on the gallows, booted and spurred, as they had come. The king's soldiers and satellites broke into the houses, murdering the men, violating the women, and plunder- ing everywhere. They bore away as much as they could carry; and it seemed to them enough to leave the bare walls standing for the widows and father- less children. The corpses remained this whole day and night still lying on the Great square; and with horror and loathing the people saw the dogs begin to tear the remains of so many noble and innocent men. As the air, was yet mild, a poisonous exhalation began to arise, which, it was feared would bring the plague; it was therefore determined that the bodies should be carried away before the break of the Sabbath mom. Jons Beldenack, however, remembered that they, as heretics, could not be buried in form; but ought, properly, to be burnt, which was done. A huge pyre was erected in the southern suburb on the very spot where St. Catherine's church now stands, to which the pale and mangled corpses were carried by cartloads, and there burned to ashes. Christian seemed to have given himself up to a sort of madness of rage and fury. He ordered that the body of Sten Sture the Younger should be torn from his grave in Riddarholm church; and it is said that in his frenzy he bit at the half-consumed remains. He also caused the remains of the young son of Lord Sten and Lady Christina, who had died during the siege, to be disinterred. He permitted the revengeful Gustavus TroUe to disentomb the remains of the reverend father Martin Jonsson, who had, while he was Sten Sture's secretary, highly offended the archbishop. These three bodies were carried to the great pyre on the Sodermalm to be burnt with the rest, and the quarters of the town of St. Catherine's church, still bear the name of Sture, in memory of the dead. Christian next called Christina Gyllenstierna to his presence. When she, in her sorrow and despair, presented herself before him, he bid her choose whether she would be burned, drowned, or buried alive. The noble lady fainted at his feet. The entreaties of the witnesses of this scene, her own tears and great riches, at last mollified the tyrant; but she was obliged to promise to recall her young son from Dantzic that he might be educated in Denmark. Her mother, the old Lady Sigrid Ban^r, who by a former mar- riage was grandmother of Gustavus Vasa, was shut up in a bag and thrown into the stream; but some of the people on the shore succeeded in saving her by promising Christian her great fortune — for this was the best way to soften him to mercy. Lady Sigrid was taken up; but she herself, her two daughters. Lady Christina and Lady Cecilia of Eka, two of Gustavus Vasa's sisters, together with many other noble and honourable women, were carried away as hostages to Copenhagen, and shut into the dreadful dungeon, called the Blue Tower. There Gustavus Vasa's mother and two sisters died, and many others, of hunger, thirst, and cold; and those who escajjed with their lives had to thank Queen Isabella's mildness alone, who against her cruel husband's will, softened their captivity as much as lay in her power. 234 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1520 A.B.] Further Atrocities Not in Stockholm alone did the blood-thirsty monarch let the sword of the executioner massacre the Swedes: he commenced similar executions throughout the country. Such a king had taken care to place officers whom neither shame nor horror could withhold from the performance of such a com- mand. Didrik Slaghok, who succeeded Vincent in his bishopric, and was likewise appointed governor of the castle of Stockholm, Jons Beldenack who succeded Matthias in Strengnas, Anders Perssons in Orebro, Joran Matsson, and the young Sir Thomas in Finland, all possessed the king's greatest confi- dence in this matter, and never for an instant spent a thought on shedding Swedish blood. These persecutions were carried on in every province, and many of the Swedish nobles were despicable enough to betray each other to the Danes, seeking thus a hateful and contemptible revenge for private and often insignificant disputes. Some days after the massacre in Stockholm, Christian received the news that his queen had borne him a daughter. The miserable flatterer Gregorius Hoist prepared a great festivity. The citizens were invited to assemble for a magnificent repast in the town hall, to be followed by dancing and other amusements, in demonstration of their joy at the happy news. The enter- tainment was to take place at the expense of the burghers; and one may imagine with what satisfaction they paid their money, and their wives danced with their bloody oppressors. Christian then published a manifesto through- out the kingdom, in which he declared that, the Swedish lords whom he had beheaded having been heretics, their death alone was able to deliver the country from the pope's curse and excommunication, and that, as this had now taken place, he would be at liberty to rule the country accordmg to its old laws. The government during his absence was to be superintended by Archbishop Gustavus TroUe and his father. Sir Eric TroUe. Christian, still fearing a rebellion, renewed the old resolution of the council of Linkoping, made in 1153, that no peasant should bear arms; and he even, in many places, had them taken from them by force. It was not a little humiliating and hard for the Swedes to see the Danes, proud and triumphant, rob them of their guns, bows, and swords. It is related that some, irritated beyond endurance, suffered the words to escape them, that iron and swords should Qot be wanting to punish the tyrant, as long as they were permitted to retain their feet to pursue, and their hands to revenge. To this the arro- gant conquerors replied that a hand and foot might well be cut off from the Swedish peasant; he would be able, notwithstanding, with one hand and a wooden leg to steer his plough. This senseless report was spread, believed, and caused a general panic; for Christian's unnatural cruelty was such that the incredible became credible. At last, in December, he prepared for his return; the wheel, the gallows, and bloody executioners marked his journey. In Nykoping he caused his own favourite, Klas Hoist, to be hung. He passed Christmas in Linkoping with Bishop Hans Brask, who betrayed to him two of Sture's most devoted friends, Sven Hok and Peter Smed — they were both quartered and exposed on the wheel. He laid hold of Sir Lindorm Ribbing in Jonkoping, and beheaded him and his servants. Shortly after, seeing by chance Sir Lm- dorm's two little boys, the one eight and the other six years old, and fearing their revengie at a future period, he determined to make away with them both. The eldest boy was led out first and was beheaded. The younger looked at the streaming blood and the red stains on his brother's clothes, THE UNION OF KALMAE 235 [1530 A.D.] without knowing what it meant; but when he was led out, he turned with childish innocence to the executioner, and said: "Dear man, don't stain my shirt like my brother's, for then mamma will whip me." The executioner, melted at these words, threw the sword from him, and said : " I would rather blood my own shirt than thine." But the tiger-hearted Christian, who had been an eye-witness of this heart-rending spectacle, was not to be touched by it. In a fury, he called for a more savage servant, who struck off the heads of the innocent child and the compassionate executioner. From this he pro- ceeded to Nydala cloister, and continued the same course there. But enough has been already said of his madness and fury. In this detestable assemblage of crimes, it is a consolation to find some noble-minded men who dared to breast the dangerous stream. When Suckot, the emperor Charles' legate, found that by all his exhortations he could not restrain Christian from the massacre in Stockholm, he left him suddenly, expressing his abhorrence of such a deed. Sir Otte Krumpen abandoned Christian immediately, and would no longer serve such a master. The Danish nobles detested and cursed their king's treachery; and Severin Norby openly protected the Swedish lords who took refuge with him — but these were not many. Death or dread had concealed many in the grave, and the poor remnant, in the inaccessible mountains. If they had by their selfishness, ambition, litigiousness, and stubbornness during previous ages prepared so many misfortunes for their native land, they had now themselves paid the bitterest penalty. But Christian, the means of punishment, we cannot con- template in his dreadful progress without horror, from the moment he had determined on the impious and monstrous treachery we have related. Neither compassion nor the fear of God nor the advice of his friends, his own reason nor his own advantage, were in any way able to stem his fury. He had thrown himself, with firm determination, into the path of crime; blindly he rushed on in it, trampling justice, humanity, and virtue, boldly under his feet; and flung himself at last with greater haste into the deep destruction which already had long awaited the royal criminal.9 In these sanguinary proceedings, we may be surprised at the little defer- ence which Christian showed to the church. Though her avowed servant, the minister of her vengeance, he did not hesitate to violate her long-estab- lished rights, whenever his own interests or caprice intervened. Of this disposition he afforded two signal proofs immediately after his return from Sweden; and he also showed how little dependence his most necessary crea- tures could place on the continuance of his favour. Early in 1520, he had forced the chapter of Lund to annul their election of an archbishop, and place one of his favourites on the vacant throne. In this violence, his design was to find a ready instrument for some purposes which he had in view. One of these was the restoration to the crown of the isle of Bornholm — the posses- sion of which had long been a subject of dispute between the chapter and his predecessors. He demanded from the new primate the cession of the island. The position of the latter was one of difficulty. On the one hand, there was his oath to maintain at all risks the rights and privileges of his church; on the other, was the royal displeasure, which seldom spared its victims. In this emergency he obtained permission to resign his dignity and retire into a monastery; but he soon left his retreat, and hastened to Rome, to complain of the violence which he had sustained. The canons, thus left to Christian's influence, were terrified into the cession, and into the election of the notorious Didrik Slaghok now bishop of Skara, to the vacant dignity. In his administration of Sweden — of which he had been appointed one of the 286 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1520-1524 1..D.] regents — this worthy had successfully imitated the violence of his master. The complaints which rose from every quarter against him were received by Christian at the moment of his return from a short visit to his brother-in-law, the emperor Charles; and their inefficacy was proved by the elevation of the obnoxious churchman to the supremacy of Denmark. The arrival of a papal legate, whose mission was evidently to inquire into the Stockholm massacre, gave him at first some uneasiness; but he soon divined the character of the stranger, a Dominican friar, whose good opinion he gained by extravagant praises of the order, and by the most delicate per- sonal attentions. Still, the complaints of the celebrated Johannes Magnus, canon of Linkoping, then at the Roman court, and the fact that two bishops, besides other ecclesiastics, had been executed by his commands, were too grave even for the most reverend Dominican to overlook; and the king found it necessary to sacrifice the new primate of Denmark. The career of this wretch was now at its close: as he had not received his bulls of confirmation, he was bishop only in virtue of the royal nomination. His person, therefore, was not yet invested with the necessary episcopal sanctity; and he was delivered over to the secular arm, as the sole author of the massacre, and was burned to death in the public square of Copenhagen (1522). This holocaust was intended to propitiate the legate. The zeal with which the king destroyed everything Lutheran in his dominions (and many attempts at reformation had been made both by his father and himself) was a more acceptable offer- ing. The piety of the good friar was gratified by the royal wish that all the monasteries of Denmark were subject to the rule of St. Dominic, and by the ardour with which he was aided in effecting the objects of his mission. The character of Christian was represented to the pope in the most favourable colours, and his absolution from all church censures recommended. But Adrian VI, who now ascended the papal throne, took a different view of the affair, and entrusted the legatine authority to Johannes Magnus, who was sent into Sweden to examine the matter de novo. The new functionary after a careful examination threw the blame on the king, and declared Gustavus TroUe incapable of holding the primacy of Sweden. Two years afterwards, the sentence was confirmed by Clement VII; but no step was taken to punish the royal criminal. Gustavus Vasa Before the termination of this affair, Sweden was the theatre of events which forever terminated the authority of Denmark over that kingdom. Though, by a royal decree, the peasantry were disarmed — though the fortresses were filled with garrisons devoted to the king, and all places of trust by his adherents — he had scarcely left the country, when the public mind began to recover its vigour, and to devise the means of his downfall. The instrument designed by Providence for this purpose was the captive Gustavus Vasa. Whether the patriotism of this noble equalled his ambition, or his thirst for revenge, may be doubted; but if his motives have been too highly esteemed, and his general character over-rated, there can be no dispute as to the good of which he was the cause — that he was the saviour of his country. That he had many faults, will be acknowledged by everybody out of Sweden, but this only proves that he was a man; and if great undertakings should devolve on the immaculate only, history would have none to record. His own wrongs sank the most deeply into the soul of the captive (he had not heard of his father's murder before he effected his escape); he was agitated by apprehen- THE UNION OF KALMAR 237 [1519-1520 A.D.] sion of the future, since under such a king he could scarcely hope to end his days in peace. To escape was his first resolve. But how elude the vigilance of his keepers? He feigned resignation to his lot, and so won the confidence of his noble guardian Eric Baner, that he was guarded with much less strict- ness; he was allowed to walk, and even to hunt, for hours together, in the vicinity of the fortress where he was confined. One fine morning he assumed the disguise of a peasant, passed undiscov- ered through the gates, and proceeded with such diligence as to reach Flensburg the following day at noon. By entering into the service of a cattle- drover who was proceeding with a herd into Saxony, he escaped the notice of the men whom Ban^r had sent in pursuit of him; and he safely reached Liibeck. There he made himself known to the authorities, in the belief that they who had so recently assisted Christina, the widow of Sten Sture, would be ready to assist him. For some months, however, he was in great jeopardy: the republic knew its interests too well to quarrel openly with the king, who reclaimed the fugitive, with the most terrible menaces in case of a refusal. Ban^r, his gaoler, also appeared to demand him, and he had reasons to be apprehensive that he would be delivered into the hands of his enemies. Such, no doubt, would have been his. fate, but for the juncture of favourable circum- stances. In the first place, the doctrines of Luther were making great progress in Liibeck, and Gustavus embraced them — whether through conviction, or with the view of obtaining the support of the re- formed party, can be known only to the Om- niscient. In the next place, he had an enga- ging presence and much natural eloquence; and he had little difiiculty in persuading some of the senators that to deliver him into the hands of an hereditary foe — one necessarily hostile to the prosperity of the city — would not only be the most foohsh policy, but a deep stain on the hospitality of the place. Again, the union of Sweden and Denmark had never been approved by the people of Liibeck : it might, if consolidated, render the monarch too powerful a rival in commerce, and it would certainly destroy the opportunity, so long enjoyed, of profiting by the dissensions of the two kingdoms. Sweden, from apprehension of the Danish yoke, would always be the ally of the Hanse Towns, and especially of Liibeck. Interest, therefore, turned the scale; and the resolution was taken to provide the noble Swede with a vessel, and send him back to his own country. In May, 1520, some months previous to the massacre of Stockholm, Gus- tavus landed at Kalmar. This place had not yet acknowledged the Danes; but it had little chance, and less desire, of resisting. His eloquence had no effect either on the garrison or the inhabitants; and in some apprehension for his personal safety, he precipitately left the place. As all the other for- tresses were in the hands of the Danes, and as his departure from Liibeck was known both in Sweden and Denmark, and a price was put on his head, his motions could not fail to be attended with extreme danger. Proceeding Gustavus I, Swedish Kino (1496-1560) 638 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1520 A.D.] through Smaland and Ostergotland, he was compelled frequently to change his disguise, to travel by night rather than by day, and to choose the least frequented paths. At length he reached the house of his brother-in-law, the senator Brahe, where he found a hospitable reception but no encouragement for his ambitious designs. Both his sister and the senator opposed them, and earnestly besought him to renounce an enterprise which would be followed by ruin. The rural gentry to whom he addressed himself were not more favour- able; the peasantry were equally indifferent; and he was advised by some to make his peace with Christian. " Whoever is king," replied the people, " we must labour. We have herring and salt under Christian, and we should have no more under any other ruler." Finding these people too reasonable for his views, Gustavus, who was now informed of the massacre at Stockholm, and who had reason to fear lest the fate of his father should speedily be his own, hastened into Dalecarlia. That region, as we have had frequent opportunities of remarking, had always been distinguished for the restless disposition of its inhabitants. Isolated from the rest of the kingdom, and impassable in many places from its vast forests, deep marshes, and abrupt mountains, it had preserved an independence unkuown to other provinces. The poverty of the people, too, had offered no induce- ment to the rapacity of power; and their strength, their courage, their love of freedom — the necessary results of their hardy life, their temperate habits, and their consciousness of strength — rendered them impatient of any attempt on the part of the government either to abridge their privileges, or to load them with new taxes. This hardy race heard with anger of the dreadful scenes in the capital; they detested the Danish yoke; but then they had equal reason to detest the rapacity of their own nobles, which it required all their energy to resist. Among them Gustavus might find a greater degree of security than anywhere else, but even there were men eager to deliver him into the hands of the Danes; and to defeat treachery, he was frequently compelled to change alike his garments and his place of refuge. On one occasion, while the master of the house in which he was entertained went to the nearest military station to reveal his name and designs, the wife, more compassionate, contrived the means of his escape. Frequently, therefore, was he forced to bury himself in the deepest obscurity, and to trust to the most precarious means of support. It has been said that he worked in the mines as a common labourer; that his rank was at length discovered by his embroidered collar; that he was recognised by a neighbouring gentleman; that he obtained a wonderful ascendency over the sons of the cavern, and by degrees prepared them to be his assistants in the subversion of the Danish yoke. All this is romance, like a thousand other incidents, to which the imagination of poets, and of historians no less inven- tive than poets, has given rise. That on one occasion he hired himself to thresh the corn of a farmer, seems to be true; but this expedient was not adopted for securing a maintenance so much as for temporary safety. After many wanderings, many disguises, many hair-breadth escapes from treachery, even more than from his Danish pursuers, Gustavus harangued a great multitude who had repaired to Mora for the celebration of the Christ- mas festivities. The picture which he drew of ancient plenty under the gov- ernment of their own princes, was chiefly drawn from imagination, since the " good old times " in which every mind is fond of dwelling, are fair only at a distance; but it answered his purpose. It made a deep impression on hearers who had little happiness in the present, and who, therefore, beheld it in the past. When he spoke of the insults which Christian had heaped upon the national character — of his perfidiousness, bloodshed, and tyranny — of THE UNION OF KALMAE 230 [1531 A.D.] the rapacity for which many of the Danish officers had distinguished them- selves; and still more, when he spoke of the exactions, the insults, the wrongs in store for them — that they were to be deprived of their dearest liberties, and transformed into slaves, for the benefit of their Danish masters — he roused his hearers to the highest pitch of indignation. Artfully alluding to their strength, which, if concentrated, would be capable of effecting anything, he offered to obtain for them the restoration of their ancient happiness, if they would support him. His eloquence induced about two hundred to join him; the rest would wait the course of events, and help him to the throne or scaf- fold, according to his success or failure. Of the handful who did join him, more were actuated by hope of plunder than by love of freedom. But this was a beginning, which was all that the adventurer wished. With this little band, which was soon augmented by the idle and the industrious, the male- factor and the patriot, he overran the more obnoxious districts, plundered or destroyed the houses of all the Danish adherents, intercepted the local taxes, massacred every enemy to Sweden, — that is, every friend to the Union of Kahnar — and inspired with some alarm not merely the provincial govern- ors, but the regents to whom Christian had confided the administration of the kingdom. At the head of three thousand resolute followers, he now prepared for higher achievements. He forced whole provinces to declare for him; and, while organising a larger force, had the satisfaction of hearing that one of his captains had defeated a body of Danish and Swedish troops, sent by the regents to exterminate him. In another engagement he was less fortunate, but as the number of his followers hourly increased — for when was the standard of rebellion in any country erected in vain? — he was so far from losing his confidence that, in a public manifesto, he declared Christian a usurper whom he was resolved to punish. His next exploit was the reduction of Vesteras, a town which, from its position on the high road between Dalecarlia and Stockhohn, was of the utmost importance as a military station. The citadel refused to surrender; but it was closely invested, while detachments were spared from the main body to besiege four other fortresses, which were at length forced or persuaded to capitulate. The next object of assault was Upsala, the archbishop of which, as head of the regency, was peculiarly obnoxious to the patriots. The place, incapable of a long defence, soon opened its gates; the canons were immedi- ately expelled, were sharply upbraided for their attachment to a foreign yoke, and required to take the oath of allegiance to the liberator. Trembling and irresolute, they requested permission to consult their chief, then in Stock- hohn, and a short delay was granted them for that purpose. The indignant primate insisted on being the bearer of his answer at the head of a select body of troops; and he arrived within half a league of Upsala, at a moment when Gustavus had weakened himself by allowing many of his followers to repair to the harvest. Unable to resist, the latter was compelled to evacuate the place. But this check was temporary; reinforcements were soon collected, and before the archbishop could reach Stockhohn on his return, he was defeated by one of the liberator's captains. Elated by this success, Gus- tavus himself hastened to the capital, and invested it in form. Christian Aids His Ovm Downfall During these events, what was the conduct of Christian? He has been accused of crimes equal in atrocity to those which he had perpetrated at Stockholm. He informed Gustavus, we are told, that if the siege of Stock- 240 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1581 A.D.] holm were not immediately raised, he would put to death the mother and sister of that noble, and with them all the Swedish ladies whom he held in captivity. The menace being disregarded, proceeds the story (which a hun- dred pens have repeated), all were drowned, and many of them were pre- viously compelled to make the sacks in which they were cast into the river. The character of Christian need not be unnecessarily blackened, however, for it is dark enough. The mother and sister died of the plague; the other prisoners were restored by the successor of Christian.* The garrison of Stockholm defended the place with great bravery; it even forced the assailants to encamp at a greater distance from the walls; and though, owing to the unprepared state of DeBtmark, supplies could not soon be expected, there was no prospect of an immediate reduction of the place. Gustavus, therefore, turned the siege into a blockade, and marched detach- ments into other quarters of the kingdom, both to increase the number of his adherents by compulsory levies, and to gain possession of such towns as had hitherto refused to acknowledge him. His followers were now so numerous, his hope of ultimate success so flattering, that in August, 1521, he convoked a general diet at Vadstena. Many of the nobles through jealousy of his ascendancy, some through attachment to the Union of Kalmar, refused to attend; but the greater part was present, and most of the towns were repre- sented by their deputies. The assembly, indeed, was a nimierous one, and animated by the best spirit. The speech of Gustavus had on this occasion less of his wonted exaggeration, more reason, more argument, more patriotism. It was heard with applause; he was justly hailed as the liberator of Sweden, and might easily have obtained the crown, had not good policy induced him to decline that wmch could not add to his power, but would be sure to disgust many of his supporters and alienate many of the oldest nobility. The titles of administrator and of captain-general, he willingly received; and at the same time he expressed his readiness to support, on some future occasion any candidate for the crown who might have a majority of suffrages. For this speech he has been much lauded; but its policy was at least equal to its magnanimity, for he well knew that the most powerful, the most successful of candidates — in other words, himseK — must obtain the prize. The cause of Gustavus, being thus rendered legitimate by the sanction of the people, could not fail to increase in prosperity. The most important fortresses opened their gates to him. Stockholm, indeed, still held out; but the garrison was mutinous for want of pay, and the primate Trolle, with one of his suffragans, hastily retired into Denmark, under the pretext of obtaining new supplies. Their reception by a monarch whom the intelligence of every day soured, was not the most grateful. But they had reason to congratulate themselves on their escape, when they learned that, in the irritation of his feelings, he had transmitted orders to the Danish governors to execute all the Swedes — especially the nobles — whom they could seize. Some obeyed the order; some, instead of becoming the instruments of another atrocious massacre, passed over to the service of Gustavus. There was at all times an infatuation in the conduct of this prince, indicative of his impending fall. While he exasperated everybody, he made no serious effort to avert the loss of a kingdom. His admiral Norby, however, fought nobly for him, and pre- [' Dunham's version of this incident is not accepted by the Swedish writers. Geijer/ states that the mother and sister of Gustavus were thrown into dungeons, where they died either of plague or, as Gustavus complained, hy violence. Fryxell" accepts the story that Christian sent letters to Gustavus threatening to drown the captive wives and daughters of the victims of the Stockholm massacre and to torture Gustavus' mother, and adds that the latter died of want and neglect.] THE UNION OF KALMAE 241 [1531-1522 A.D.] served the three keys of the realm: Stockhohn, Kahnar, and Abo. Had he himself done what his chancellor in Sweden advised him to do — sent an army through the Gothlands to the relief of Stockholm — a great portion of the kingdom would have returned to its obedience. But Christian had other difficulties besides those of the Swedish rebellion, and his ruin was not to come from that quarter. Those difficulties, and still more his own conduct, were hastening the period of his domination in Denmark itself. He offended his uncle Frederick, by obtaining from the emperor letters patent transferring the right of investing Schleswig and Hol- stein from the bishops of Liibeck to the kings of Denmark. Frederick, who had manifestly aspired to an independent sovereignty in those regions, was extremely dissatisfied with a change which must necessarily make them more dependent on the crown than they had lately been. Yet for this act the king is surely not to be blamed; it might injure an individual, but it was for the good of the people. The manner, however, in which he attempted to enforce homage from the duke, was in the highest degree censurable. At Kolding where he met that prince together with many Holstein nobles, he caused gibbets to be erected to terrify them into the act, but the brutal exhibition only exasperated them. Again, after the Swedish war, where troops of Schleswig and Holstein were employed, he dismissed them to their homes without pay, without even the horses which some of them had brought into the field. In the next place, he drew on himself the enmity of the people of Liibeck, not merely by his new commercial regulations, but by his seizure of the supplies destined for the insurgents of Sweden and Finland. That in both instances he was justifiable, will be readily admitted; yet policy should have taught him to manage a power that, by openly embracing the cause of Gustavus, must greatly increase the difficulties of his position. The war with that formidable republic was immediately disastrous. Copenhagen was insulted; Elsinore was plundered and burnt. In these hostilities he could no longer rely on the aid of his uncle, or the people of Holstein, whom he had offended beyond forgiveness, and v/ho were in no way obliged to assist in any expedition beyond the bounds of their own territories. But his greatest crime was held to be one which, in the eyes of posterity, does him the most honour: his constant efforts to restrain the power of the lord over the vassal, of the noble over the serf. No class in Europe urged pretensions so monstrous, or committed acts so t)Tannical, as the territorial lords of that kingdom, especially those of Jutland. In the two codes which Christian compiled — the one chiefly ecclesiastical, the other chiefly civil — he abolished as impious and wicked the custom of selling human creatures like brute beasts; and he permitted serfs who were ill-treated, to flee and settle in other provinces. All the provinces of Denmark were not equally guilty; in some — Skane for instance — the local customs were more favourable to that unfortunate class. Another law — that which abolished the right of plundering shipwrecked mariners — was dictated by a kindred feeling of humanity, not unmixed, perhaps, with some delight of annoying the aristocracy. Whatever his motive, the benefit (so far, at least, as the law could be put into operation) was the same; and for it Christian must be no less praised by history. The laws which procured him the enmity of the church do him no less honour. He passed one similar to the English Statute of Mortmain: future bequests were to be in money only. On every clergyman with a cure of souls, residence was to be compulsory. No bishop, when he travelled, was to have a greater suite than fourteen domestics, no archbishop, more than twenty. Against these ordinances churchmen declaimed with much anger: the king was H. W. — VOL. XVI. H 248 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1532 A.D.] depriving them of their manifest right to expend their revenues in whatever manner they pleased — to do what they would with their own. Nor were some, at least, of these holy personages less dissatisfied with the ordinance respecting shipwreck. The bishops of Borgliun and Viborg, and the arch- bishop of Lund, openly exclaimed against it. All three, says a contem- porary writer, were accustomed to send out their men to the coasts, to seize on all the property which the tempest threw on the shore, and to kill without pity any of the crew that ventured to resist spoliation. As the crown itself had extensive domains on the Jutland coast, the con- duct of the king in this case is the more to be praised. History has preserved the reply which he made to one of his officers who remonstrated with him on the loss that the royal revenues must sustain by such an edict: "I would rather have no revenues at all, than that the poor mariners should be so inhumanly treated." Equally striking was his reply to another bishop, who complained of the ordinance in question as subversive of the ancient customs of the realm. The king observed that he had no wish to alter any ancient customs, except such as were contrary to the divine law. "And how," demanded the other, " is the ancient custom in regard to shipwreck contrary to that law?" "It is contrary," was the reply, " to two express command- ments: 'Thou shalt not steal,' 'Thou shalt do no murder.'" By the law of Christian the authorities of the district were compelled to assist shipwrecked mariners in the preservation of their merchandise; but this assistance was not to be gratuitous; it was to be paid for by the mariners. Bloodthirsty as was the character, tj^annical as were many acts, of this monarch, it may be doubted whether these hastened his downfall half so much as the noble ordinances to which we have alluded. As by them the nobles and senators of Jutland were the most aggrieved, so they were the first to plot his deposition. Towards the close of 1522, the result of their secret associa- tion appeared in a solemn act, by which they forever renounced their allegiance to Christian and transferred it to Duke Frederick. The reasons which they adduced for this extraordinary proceeding were numerous, and no doubt, weighty. They could, indeed, scarcely exaggerate, when they dwelt on his tyranny; but, still, their own privileges, their own immunities, were evidently the only things of which they really felt the violation. The prelates had an additional reason for his deposition, in the favour which he had shown to the apostles of Lutheranism. Before this act could reach him, he had proba- bly some notion of the real state of the province; he could not well, indeed, be ignorant of it. Yet he convoked, at Kallundborg in Zealand, the nobles of Jutland, whose opinion, he said, he wished to obtain respecting the pre- tensions of his uncle to a portion of Norway, and the war with Liibeck and Sweden. That he had another object — the extermination or the imprison- ment of the leading nobles — is affirmed by a contemporary writer. Of this opinion were the intended victims themselves, since not one of them repaired to the place of assembly. They might suspect that their secret consultations, and their correspondence with Duke Frederick — who, though little exposed in these transactions, was, beyond doubt, the soul of the conspiracy — were known to the king; and they could scarcely hope for more favour than the nobles of Norway and Sweden had experienced at his hands. Their refusal to obey the royal summons hastened the catastrophe. The act which deposed him was ingeniously laid before him, while the one that called Frederick to the throne was forwarded to that prince. Jutland was soon in arms; the duke prepared an army to take possession of the crown; and Christian hastened to Kolding, to consult with the handful of nobles who still adhered to him. THE UNION OF EALMAE «43 [1582-1533 A.D.] He was advised to try the effect of entreaties, promises, and engagements to do whatever his rigsraad should wish him to do; to exclaim against the injustice of condemning him unheard; and to request a meeting with the most discontented of the aristocracy. There was so much justice in the request that, had not his ruin been long determined, it must have been heard. After some delay, the only answer returned was, that the estates (the nobles and prelates, for no other class was requested, or would have been allowed, to give an opinion) had already judged him; that another king, whose presence was daily expected, had been chosen; that his own evil deeds Were known to everybody; and that no other evidence was needed. Seeing the utter hopelessness of a reconciliation with that great province. Christian passed into Fiinen, the estates of which acknowledged him; and from the people of Zealand he received even stronger assurances of support. Skane, too, through the influence of the primate (his own creature), was induced to declare for him. But probably none of these provinces had at this time much notion of the extent to which the conspiracy had been carried, for these acts were followed by no outward demonstration of assistance. While Christian threw himself into Copenhagen, which he declared his resolution of defending, the Jutland rebels (for history cannot give them a more honourable name) were not inactive. They wrote to all the other provinces, using alike entreaties and menaces to procure their co-operation. They entered into a close league with Liibeck, which was still at war with Christian, and which readily agreed to furnish both money and troops towards the common cause. They urged the preparations of Duke Frederick, who required little stimulus on the occasion. A civil war seemed inevitable, when, to the surprise of the kingdom. Christian, collecting all the money, the jewels, and other precious effects he could, abandoned Copenhagen in company with the despised Sigbrit, the archbishop of Sweden, and others whom his mis- fortunes could not alienate from him. His object, according to hia own account, was to solicit aid from his brother-in-law, the emperor Charles. His departure was the signal for a general defection. The fate of Christian was, henceforth, a melancholy one. A tempest, by which he lost most of his valuable effects, threw him on the coast of Norway. With difficulty his life was saved; nor was his subsequent escape to the Low Countries without danger. He was no longer to taste the sweets of royalty. An exile for some years from his throne and country, with limited means of support, without the respect of his old adherents or the fear of his enemies, he could not attempt, without rashness, to regain possession of the crown. Yet, as we shaU per- ceive in the reign of his successor, that attempt he did make, and it had the result which might have been anticipated. It led to his close imprisonment for the remainder of his life — that is, for no less a period than twenty-seven years. By his queen, Isabella of Austria, Christian had issue: (1) John, who was educated in the Low Countries, by the famous Cornelius Agrippa, and who did not discredit his tutor; (2) Dorothea, married to Frederick the elector palatine; (3) Christina, married, first, to Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan, and afterwards to Francis, duke of Lorraine. Besides these, there were two princes who died young. FREDERICK I (1523-1533 A.D.) No sooner did Frederick hear of his nephew's unexpected flight, than he hastened to Viborg, in Jutland, where he received the homage of the estates. 244 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [152S A.D.] As his royalty was the work of the nobles of that important province, he endeavoured to secure their favour by the most lavish concessions to their order. In criminal matters he gave them the power of life and death, with confiscation of substance, over their vassals; and in civil actions that of deciding in cases where the fines amounted to 40 marks. "Never," observes the chancellor Hoitfeld, "did the Danish nobihty obtain such advantages under former kings: from this period, it became equal, in power and rank, to the nobles of Schleswig and Holstein. Those of Norway and Sweden have no such powers; even in Germany, they are enjoyed only by the princes of the empire, and the counts and barons with territorial jurisdiction ;_ so that our gentry, without titles or dignities, are in this respect on a par with those princes." From these observations may be deduced the true cause of the revolution which we have just contemplated. The policy of Christian II was to diminish the overgrown privileges of the aristocracy; and in the same degree to elevate the peasantry and burgesses in the social scale. His expulsion was the effect of the ill-will engendered by that policy, and of the imderstanding between the nobles and Duke Frederick that the latter should not merely imdo what his nephew had done, but confer on the privileged orders righte which they never yet had enjoyed. It is melancholy to see that the clergy were among the most eager in producing this odious revolution. Some of them had subsequently the honesty to confess their error. " I repent," wrote one of them to a canon of Roeskilde, "the share which I had in the last revolution; the new form of government has not been established as I could have wished it. Vain was the hope that some remedy was thereby devised for the evUs of the state, and that the blessings of the change would soon be felt; there are now more heavy complaints of the prelates and nobles than there ever were of Christian II. It is the opinion of many that this prince was expelled rather for the advantage of the great, than for the welfare of the commonwealth. Would that they had moderated the exercise of their rights (if they can be called rights) over the peasants until tranquillity had been restored. Many are the people who think that the tjTanny of one man would have been far preferable to that of so many oppressors, whose rapacity cannot possibly be satiated." But criminal as were the grants of this prince, and much as the higher orders of the state were, in consequence, disposed to aid him, his accession was not without its difficulties. Though Fiinen declared for him, Zealand and Sk&,ne refused for some time to acknowledge him, and Copenhagen and KaUundborg avowed their resolution to resist him to the last. With a body of six thousand men, which he had assembled at Kolding, a reinforcement of two thousand more, and some vessels sent him by the regency of Liibeck, he landed in Zealand, and invested the capital. Though he obtained possession of KaUundborg — probably by the golden key — he could make no impression on Copenhagen. The fidelity of the garrison was strengthened by the report that Christian himself, with a large German force, would soon arrive to relieve them. That the exiled prince was using every effort to obtain assistance, was indeed true: but many were the disappointments which he had to endure. His brother-in-law the emperor was in Spain, and could only address menacing letters to the inhabitants of the three kingdoms. Henry VIII of England could spare neither money nor troops. The elector of Brandenburg, his kins- man, would try what could be effected by negotiation before he would sanction an appeal to arms, the issue of which, as he well knew, must be doubtful. In vain did the imperial chamber, in vain did the German univer- XVI. Ignominious Entry of Peter Sunnanvader and Master Knud INTO Stockholm (1526) (From the painting by C. G. Hellqvist, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) THE UNION OF KALMAE 245 [1523-1535 A.D.] sities, declare for him; in vain were the authorities of Liibeck commanded not to take part with the rebels. The cause of Frederick grew stronger every day- He persuaded the estates, or rather the nobles, of Skane, to follow the example of Jutland, by conferring on them the same privileges that he had conferred on the other nobles. Of all the towns in the province, one only held for Christian. Norway was next induced to declare for him; and in return he recognised the elective privilege of that kingdom as fully as it existed in Den- mark or Sweden. He also engaged to procure from the Scottish crown the restoration of the Orkney and Shetland isles. His tritmiph, indeed, was con- siderably abated by the news that an army of twenty-six thousand Germans, commanded by the elector of Brandenburg, was preparing to invade the kingdom; but he was not discouraged. Leaving the siege of Copenhagen to his son Christian, he hastened to meet his rival, whose forces were soon dispersed for want of pay, and even of necessaries. Nothing now remained to resist the progress of Fre4erick. Early in 1524, Copenhagen capitulated; and the example was speedily followed by Malmo. The two kingdoms, there- fore, of Denmark and Norway, with the exception of two provinces — Vigen, dependent on the latter, and Blekinge, on the former, both of which had during the recent troubles been seized by the Swedes — were now held by the new monarch. Still, Admiral Norby, who had been invested by Christian with the government of Gotland, and whose valour at sea had often been proved by the Swedes and Liibeckers, refused to submit; but less, as we shall soon perceive, through a principle of loyalty than from a wild ambition. The transactions of Frederick with Sweden were seldom of an amicable character, though the circumstances of both kingdoms prevented an open collision. On the flight of Christian, Gustavus Vasa, as might have been fore- seen, was raised to the throne. This circumstance, indeed, did not prevent : Frederick from assuming at his coronation the vain title of king of Sweden, in virtue of the Union of Kalmar; and it probably inspired Gustavus with the resolution of maintaining his sway over the two provinces just mentioned. Gotland too was a subject of dispute. At the instance of Liibeck, which severely felt the piratical courses of Norby, Gustavus sent a body of men to reduce the island. The admiral, politic enough to discern the true senti- ments of the two kings, submitted to Frederick, on the condition of his being recognised governor of the island. The Swede, imwiUing to try the hazardous experiment of a war at a time when he was exposed, no less than his rival, to the wrath of the exiled Christian, who had the avowed support of the empire, withdrew from the contest. The same apprehension induced the Dane to conceal his dissatisfaction with the Swede. It led both to negotiate, where, in a different position, both would have recurred to hostilities. In 1524, it produced a personal interview and a conference between them. Gustavus restored Blekinge, which, though geographically included in Sweden, had always been subject to Denmark; but he retained Vigen imtil a congress of deputies should decide on this and other disputes between the two crowns. Gotland was provisionally to remain in the hands of the nation whose troops should, at a given period, be in possession of the fortress of Visborg. But, in regard to the last place, a third party had to be consulted — Admiral Norby, who, though nominally the vassal of Frederick, was attempting, as King Eric had done before him, to establish for himself an independent sovereignty in that island. Suddenly declaring for the exiled Christian, whose cause he valued no more than Frederick's, he invaded Skane, which he speedily reduced. Nor will this success surprise us, when we observe that Frederick was at this critical juncture (1525) absent in Holstein, and that the peasants, universally 246 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA fl525-1529 A.D.] oppressed through the fatal concession of the reigning king, flocked in great numbers to his standard. A letter of Christian, adroitly published, still further explains the secret of that success. It declared that whatever Norby did would be done by his authority. It promised freedom to his "poor people," whom "children of the devil so impiously treated." It asserted that the royal misfortunes were attributable only to his determination to resist the intolerable rapacity of men " who held a peasant in no higher estimation than a dog." These representations were admirably adapted for the purpose in view; and had Christian been advancing to aid them by the physical argument, they must have been resistless. Excited by natural, although reprehensible, feehngs, the peasantry arose, assailed these tjo-ants, and, when- ever victors, showed them little mercy. The triumph was of short continuance. Frederick readily obtained aid from his allies, the Swedish king and Liibeck, who had suffered so much from the piracy of the admiral; a small army was sent into Skane, and Norby was twice defeated — on the second occasion so completely, that he was glad to capitulate. In return for the government of a fortress and a considerable sima by way of indemnity, he surrendered Gotland to Frederick. But his disposition was too restless to allow him to remain at peace. War was his element; he had been nursed in it, and out of it he could not live. With vessels which he bought or built, he recommenced his piratical courses, on the ships of Denmark no less than on those of Sweden and Liibeck. It was now the interest of aU the three powers to combine their forces for the destruc- tion of this audacious outlaw. He was defeated, and compelled to seek refuge in Muscovy, where, through the influence of Gustavus, he was detained a prisoner until 1529. Charles V obtained his liberation; he entered the service of that prince, but soon fell, at the siege of Florence. During these transactions, Christian was not idle. The victory [Pavia, . 1525] which placed Francis I at the mercy of the emperor, seemed also to menace his speedy restoration. The belief was very generally entertained that Charles would arm in behalf of his brother-in-law. To avert this probable event, Frederick, who could be influenced only by his fears, and who had not one particle of generosity or of conmion feeling for his deposed kinsman, con- sented to negotiate. By certain arbitrators it was agreed that he should purchase a foreign lordship for Christian, or allow him a suitable pension. Nor was this all : in a subsequent negotiation, the Danish rigsraad proposed that, after Frederick's death, the crown should devolve on Prince John, the son of Christian; and that Frederick's own son should be content with the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Why this convention was not executed, we are not informed: probably Frederick devised means to annul it. This, at least, is certain, that both parties continued to make preparations — the one for attack, the other for defence. It was soon reported in the North that Ferdinand, king of the Romans and brother of the emperor, was preparing to assist the dethroned king more efficiently than by negotiation. Why such assistance had not been long given, will surprise no reader who is acquainted with the empire, in regard both to the war with France and to the progress of the Reformation. Both Gustavus and Frederick were known to be friendly to the opinions of Luther: both, therefore, were obnoxious to the universal Catholic party, which openly threatened an invasion in behalf of Christian, who, though perfectly indifferent to religion, had policy enough to declare himself the champion of the ancient faith. On the other hand, the reformed princes of Germany declared for the actual occupants of the Northern thrones. Had the Scandinavians themselves been imiform in their doctrines, they THE UNION OF KALMAR 247 -1530 A.D.] would have had little to apprehend from foreign enemies; but, though the Reformation had undoubtedly made considerable progress among them, especially in the large towns, the majority, perhaps, still adhered to the Romish communion. This was particularly the case in Norway, which, for that reason, was more favourable to Christian than to the reigning king. So apprehensive was Frederick for the result that, in 1529, he sent his son into that kingdom, to obtain from the estates a recognition as successor to the crown. They refused to act, on the just ground that they had the elective right no less than Denmark; and that, as the two crowns were inseparable by the treaty of union, the sovereign elected by the one would naturally be chosen by the other. But their real motive was their attachment to Prince John — or, we should rather say, to the church of which John was considered the champion. They hoped, too, that the day was not far distant, when he or his father would arrive with a formidable armament to restore the ancient worship throughout the North. Frederick and Gustavus participated in the opinion ; and, in 1530, they renewed another of the disputes which had so often agitated them. Vigen was restored to Norway; but the administration and the revenues were to remain six years longer in the hands of Gustavus, as a kind of indemnity for the renunciation of his pretensions. At the same time, both monarchs drew still closer the ties which connected them with the reformed princes of Germany. Christian Reappears, and is Cast into Prison The time was now come when Christian could again try the fortunes of war. Emboldened by a supply of money from the emperor; by another from Norway, with the promise ©f a general rise on his disembarkation in that kingdom; by numerous emigrants from all the three kingdoms; by the good wishes of the clergy and peasantry ; by about ten thousand mercenary soldiers belonging to several nations; and by a fleet of about thirty sail which the merchants of the Low Countries hired to him, he left the ports of Holland late in October, and steered for Norway. Why he should venture to sea at such a tempestuous period of the year, can only be explained by that fatality which seemed to attend everything he undertook. On the coast of Friesland, a storm sank ten of his vessels; with the rest in a shattered condition, he reached Christiania. His proclamations, however, had much effect: thousands, including senators and nobles, but especially the clergy and the rustics, flocked to his standard. Among these were the primate, two bishops, many priors, and a great number of the inferior clergy. Even towns declared for him; so that in a short time three fortified places only in the south of Norway — Aggershus, Bergenhus, and Bahus — held for Frederick. But these were by far the strongest towns in the kingdom. They were defended by valiant men, and the governors were actuated by the best spirit. At such a season of the year, there was little hope of reducing them; but Christian invested Aggershus, the key of Christiania, and suffered himself to be deluded by the promise of the governor that, if the place was not relieved within a given time, it should be surrendered to him. He might have known that Frederick would never suffer the fall of so important a place, but he seems to have relied, with something like infatuation, on the promises of men whose sole object was to gain time. ITiat there was an understanding between Frederick and these functionaries not to spare assurances of any kind, so that he might be lulled into perfect security until the hour of action was past, is evident from the tenor of his 248 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1533 A.D.] negotiations with Gyllenstiern, the governor of Aggershus, from his otherwise unaccountable inactivity, and still more from the result. While treated with so much respect by that officer — while made to believe that relief could not arrive in time, that the stipulation was only to save the honour of the com- mandant, and that the place would infallibly and immediately be surrendered — while receiving the homage of the Norwegians, who acknowledged his son, Prince John, as his successor, and sent to Frederick a renunciation of their allegiance — he had the mortification to learn that one thousand chosen men, with stores and provisions of every kind, had thrown themselves into the for- tress. Indignant at the deception which had been practised on him, he now invested the place with vigour — but in vain. He could make no impression on the massive bulwarks, and had even the grief to perceive that a formidable armament was approaching to raise the siege entirely. The Danish fleet, increased by the vessels of Liibeck disembarked within sight of Christiania early in May (1532). At this moment Christian was making an unsuccessful attempt on the neighbouring provinces of Sweden, in the belief that the Roman Catholics generally, and all who wished for the restoration of the Kalmar Union, would either aid him, or at least offer no resistance to his progress. But the troops of Gustavus offered resistance enough. Having sustained a defeat, he was compelled to throw himself into Konghella, where, owing to the Danish and Swedish reinforcements daily received by his enemies, his position was soon a critical one. That he was betrayed into it by one of his faithless attendants — and he had many of the kind — was his own firm belief, and must be the belief of all impartial writers. But the conviction arose too late : if the traitor was punished, the evil could not be recalled. With much difficulty, indeed. Christian cut his way through the surprised enemies who environed the place, and threw himself into Chris- tiania; but if this step delayed, it could not avert, his fate. That place was soon invested by new and more formidable armaments; his own vessels were burnt before his eyes, and he was thus cut off from all supplies; his provisions were alarmingly diminished; he had no longer money to satisfy his mercena- ries; and it was evident that he must soon either fall with arms in his hands, or make terms with the besiegers — if, indeed, he could not escape in disguise. Perceiving the hopelessness of resistance, he made overtures of accommodation. What follows is not the brightest page of this dark history. Under the walls of Christiania, his deputies and the Danish chiefs met to agree on the terms of surrender. After some parley, it was manifest that they could not agree; and, in conformity with the entreaty of the latter. Christian himself repaired to the conference. There, with much affability of manner, with the greatest sincerity, with the noblest confidence in the honour of the chiefs, he requested them to name the course which they would have him adopt. They advised him to go to the court of his uncle, who, they assured him, would receive him with the utmost distinction, and even kindness; "they engaged, before God, on their faith, their honour, and their salvation, to provide for his safety, and that of one himdred persons in his suite;" to treat him with all possible respect; to let him negotiate with whomsoever he pleased, whether in Nor- way, or on his passage to Copenhagen, or during his sojourn in Denmark; to procure for his adherents a complete oblivion of the past; to use their influence to obtain for him the best terms from Frederick; and if the two kings should not agree, still the safe-conduct which they gave him should be equally binding, and he should be at liberty to go wherever he pleased. After this clear and unequivocal engagement, Christian no longer hesitated to confide in the Danish chiefs. He received the safe-conduct; wrote a THE UNION OF KALMAE 249 ! A.D.] humble and even affecting letter to his uncle, whom he promised "thence- forward to obey as a son would his father"; and in July embarked for Copen- hagen. He now discovered the extent of the treachery of which he was the victim. Frederick refused to sanction the convention. But so notorious a breach of faith required some colour of excuse, and he assembled his rigsraad, or rather, such members as he knew would abide by his resolution. The major- ity — for there was an honourable minority — were of opinion that the condi- tions and the safe-conduct should be disregarded, on the ground that they had been signed "against the intentions of the king." Gyllenstiern, the chief actor in the perfidy, was next examined; and he too advised the retention of Christian, on the plea that he (Christian) had violated the safe conduct, which was therefore null! The determination to imprison him, which was urged alike by the nobility and the deputies from Liibeck, was soon taken. All this time he remained on board the ship which had brought him from Norway, suspicious, indeed, of some knavery, but little apprehensive of the severe fate which awaited him. To his demand that he should be admitted into his uncle's presence, it was replied that the king was at Flensburg, and that the interview solicited would there take place. Towards that city the course of the vessel which carried him, and of some others, designed not to honour him but to secure his imprisonment, was immediately directed. From the sea he contemplated with a gleam of hope the towers of Flensburg, but that gleam soon vanished; the squadron passed along, and bore him to the strong fortress of Sonderburg, in the solitary isle of Alsen, within which he was speedily immured. The place was well chosen. It lay far from the route of the Swedish and Norwegian vessels, but within a short sail of Liibeck and Holstein, both of which had an interest in his safe detention. He had but one apartment, and that a dungeon the door of which was walled up. There was a small grated window in the wall, through which his scanty provisions were daily handed. During twelve long years he languished in that horrible abode, with a dwarf as his only companion. He was abandoned by the world, even by his imperial brother-in-law; and his existence was remembered only by the anxiety of the nobles of Holstein, Denmark, and Sweden to prevent his enlargement. Two Other circumstances concurred in the establishment of Frederick's throne. One was the submission of the Norwegians, who bent to the power which coerced them; the other was the death of Prince John, the son of Christian. There was now no rival to the pretensions of Prince Christian, the son of Frederick, who had already been acknowledged heir to the thrones of Denmark and Norway by the estates, or rather, by the rigsraad and nobles of both kingdoms. Before we dismiss the reign of this monarch, we must advert more particu- larly to the religious state of the North. From the contiguity of Denmark to the Protestant states of Germany, the new opinions could not fail to be introduced into it immediately after their promulgation by Luther. The Scandinavians, too, had sense enough to perceive the monstrosity of the doc- trines respecting indulgence, openly preached by the papal legate Arcemboldi. Rome claimed a right which God himself has not claimed — that of dispensing with the eternal obligations of religion and morality. But if reason has often led to the conversion of individuals, it has seldom influenced a nation, and still less that portion of it denominated the great. The majority of men do not reason: they are led by example; while those in authority are influenced by their interests. Christian looked on the Reformation with a favourable eye, because it gave the prince, in matters purely ecclesiastical, a voice which, since «50 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1530 A.D.] the days of Constantine, perhaps — certainly since those of the Carlovingian dynasty — no sovereign had enjoyed. It did more: it placed at his disposal the revenues of the church and many extensive domains, which, by the sup- pression of the monastic orders, reverted to the crown. These advantages, coupled with the diminished power of the bishops, who had often been the tyrants of the North, made him so much favour the Reformation as to send for missionaries to preach it openly.** PONTOPPIDAN TELLS THE STORY OF THE REFORMATION IN DENMARK Things had come to such a pass that it can justly be said that the govern- ment had become dual, and the archbishop a monarch of the church who scarcely gave precedence to the king. It may not be true, as is related, that a bishop on drinking the king's health said : " Our favour brings your favour ;" but it is, nevertheless, certain that these lords had gone far toward gaining the ascendancy over the king. How great the state and revenues of these prelates were, can be guessed from the fact that King Christian II, who with jealous eyes watched the increase of their power, gave orders that in future the archbishop was only to be accompanied by twenty horsemen when in the field, and the remaining bishops by only ten. Previously they had had a hundred. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries they were real war heroes, who generally commanded the army of the kings at sea and on land. When they summoned their peasants and those of the capital, they could assemble a fair force of so called " choirmen," who fought with clubs, and even attacked royal castles. In the battle fought at Fodevig in 1135, under King Niels, six bishops and six hundred priests were killed. By wills and other presents for masses for the dead, these lords had gained so many noble lands that thirty-three fiefs were subservient to the episcopal see of Roeskilde ; and, as can be seen from a writing of King Christo- pher I, a great many nobles were boimd by allegiance to them alone, and not to the king. Only daily misfortune and weakness could therefore arise in the state. The luxury and terrible extravagance of the clergy of those times certainly could not have been greater. Coarseness and Ignorance of the Clergy Most of the bishops, abbots, prelates and priests were according to the literary standards of the period, to be counted among the unlettered. In the time of the Reformation there was not one who, at the conference at Copen- hagen in 1530, could have been compared to Magister Hans Thauson and other Protestants who had studied at Wittenberg; but Doctor Stagefyer and other learned men were brought from Cologne as champions. Those of the prelates who had studied were rarely theologians, but mostly Juris and decret doctores or Ldcentiati. They applied themselves to that which belonged to the maintenance of their state, supremacy, and advantage. They " disputed," with the ban, against the heretics and relied on the argu- ment of the sword. Those who had scruples were told, " Eat, bird, what is placed before you, or die." It must also be remembered that theology and the Holy Scriptures were not allowed to be taught at the University of Copen- hagen. One Dane appends to a document the statement: "As I cannot write myself, so and so has signed in my stead." Jerpager, in Orat. Jubil., assures us that a canon of Ribe, Nicolaus Ebbonis, was not able to sign his own name. Some studied in Paris and in Cologne on the Rhine, but these THE UNION OF KALMAR 25J [1580 A.D.] were few compared to those who learned a Httle bad Latin in the convents, or who had been only officials and servants of the bishops, and had then become preachers. As they themselves had little light they could not impart much to others. Their sermons were full of absurd fables of miracles which were said to have taken place here and 'there; and these preachers concerned themselves only with private confession, veneration of the saints, etc. This is satisfactorily attested by the work of the papist Postil still kept in the libraries of curio lovers — written in the Danish language by Christen Pedersen, canon of Lund, and published in Paris shortly before the Reformation, namely in 1515. In this volume one finds a whole store of superstitious absurdities. It is worth while to introduce the following passage as a specimen of the old Danish credulity: "We read that there was a jailer who, whenever he passed before the image of the Virgin Mary, honoured her with an Ave Maria, and commended himself to her care. Once when he was praying to the Virgin Mary, the judge ordered that he should come and hang a man. On the way, his enemies came and killed him. Now, there was in the town a pious priest, who had the habit of going round all the churches of the town at night. In the night he came to the churchyard of Our Lady where he found many people he had known in their lifetime. To one of them he said, ' How is it there are so many people here to-night?' He replied, 'The jailer of this place has been killed to-day, and devils have taken his soul, and say it belongs to them; on the other hand the Virgin Mary asserts it belongs to her. Now all the people are standing here to see the outcome of the affair. For the almighty God, a severe and just judge, is now to come from Heaven to disperse them by one word.' Then the priest thought to himself, ' I wish I could hide myself somewhere here, so as to listen to the sentence.' He therefore crept behind some timber. When he had thus hidden himself, he saw the all-powerful Judge descend, sitting on his judgment seat and accompanied by his devoted Mother, the Virgin Mary. Then came the devils, bringing with them the jailer's soul, which they had bound tightly. They asserted that, on account of the many evil deeds committed, it rightly fell to them. Then Mary replied that in the hour of his death the jailer had prayed to her, and commended his soul to her, and that therefore by right it was hers. When the Judge heard this he did not wish to anger his dearly loved Mother, neither did he desire to wrong the devil. He therefore commanded the soul again to enter the body, so as to atone for its sins, and ordered a notification sent to the pope that the universal prayers of the church should be offered up for the jailer. Someone asked who was to inform the pope. Then the Virgin Mary replied, 'Call the priest who has hidden himself.' When the latter came forth she gave him a beautiful rose saying, 'Take this to the pope, and teU him what thou hast heard and seen, and give him this rose as a proof.' As soon as the pope saw the rose he believed the priest and credited his mission, and he had the prayers said. Afterwards the soul was released and entered Heaven. May almighty God grant us all the joy of entering and abiding there. Amen! " Wretched as was the standard of sermons, few priests had energy to preach at all. Many village churches belonged to the cathedral chapters; and therefore it was the duty of the canons, either themselves or through their deputies, to conduct divine service. But they neglected it at their leisure, yet nevertheless demanded their rents and tithes from the peasants, who uttered constant complaints. Once under King Christopher III they raised a rebel- lion, but found little redress. 252 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1537 A.DJ The Odense Recess and its Results In 1527, a free and public diet was held in the town of Odense on the festival of the Assumption. The bishops, prelates, knights, and lower estates appeared there to consider various matters. The principal question was that of religious disturbances, and the speech which the king then pubhcly made to the bishops redounds to his undying honour. The tenor thereof was that they should be mindful to keep the charge of their great pastoral office more heed- fully than had been done heretofore ; and should at least see to it that the pure and saving word of God should everjrwhere be expounded to the lay people in their churches — in place of which nothing had been heard up to this time save miracles, fables, lies, and foolish inventions of men. Although he had promised to maintain the doctrines of the church of Rome, yet they should not stretch his promise farther than to cover what was true and fundamental in the said doctrine, nor extend it to the palpable errors which might so easily creep in at divers times. What he had promised concerning the dignity of their order, he fully intended to abide by. But they themselves should con- sider no less what use they made of their greatness and power, and with what conscience they thought one day to give accoimt of it to God, to whom both they and he owed fuller obedience than to the see of Rome. For the rest, since by this time the teaching of Luther had beenso far disseminated in the country that they could not hope to stifle it without detriment to the common weal, and since they had heard that in other countries the said teaching had been adopted by whole kingdoms and provinces, and could therefore no longer pass for heresy, he, for his part, taking all these things into consideration, was deter- mined to tolerate both religions within his kingdom, until at length, as all men hoped and expected, a general council of the whole Christian church should be held. That which was then decreed in the matter of religion he, in common with other Christians, would hold binding upon himself. After many debates, and in spite of the opposition of the bishops, who obstructed it, so to speak, with hands and feet, the king, reinforced by the support of several members of the rigsraad, overcame all obstacles and obtained this much: that the subjoined constitution was made and con- firmed by the pvblica auctoritate. It is the more remarkable because it laid the foundation of the liberty of the Danish church, and paved the way for a complete reformation. Article 1. From this day foi:ward every one of the clergy shall enjoy liberty in so far as no man shall be authorized to examine another's con- science, whether he be Lutheran or papist. Rather let every man take thought for his own soul. Article 2. Tlie Lutheran confession in particular, which had hitherto had no full security nor safeguard [Danish Leyde], the king henceforth receives into equal protection and shelter as the papist. Article 3. The estate of matrimony, which for several himdred years hath been prohibited to the servants of the church, canons, monks, and clerics of all sorts, is now permitted; and every man is free to enter into the married state, or to remain in purity of life (Reenlifvenhed). Article 4. Henceforward bishops shall not go to Rome for the pallium, but shall receive confirmation from the king only, after they have been lawfully elected by the chapter, which retains its liberty in the matter. Furthermore, another constitution was made concerning the jurisdiction of the clergy and their right or claim to fines, tithes, . etc. The quarrel that was pending between the bishops and nobles on the question of forty-mark fines, was settled in such wise that fines due for murder and offences against THE UNION OF KALMAE 253 [1520-1529 A.D.] the church, the peace of the church, and clerical persons, remained under the jurisdiction of the clergy^ In all other cases the crown was to levy the fines from its dependants according to law, and the nobles were to do the same from theirs. The tithes were confirmed to the clergy according to the statutes of King Christopher III and other kings, the king as well as the nobles under- taking to bestow them. Any man might make offerings for the souls of the departed as God put it in his heart to do, but voluntarily and without com- pulsion. Bishops, prelates, churches, and abbeys were to retain possession of the property they held, till such time as it should be taken from them by the law of the land. Priests, monks, and other clerical persons were not to be brought before the assizes or provincial courts, but left to the jurisdiction of their rightful judges the prelates, except in cases concerning certain locali- ties with which the assize and provincial courts alone should be competent to deal. Immediately after the diet of Odense, the character of the church and of religion in Denmark assumed a new and far more satisfactory aspect. The assurance of religious liberty and toleration aroused joy unspeakable in some thousand peculiarly timorous souls, but no small indignation among the bishops and their followers, who saw whither matters were tending, yet were powerless to interfere. The strength of truth was not on their side to enable them to hold the fort, and had it been otherwise, they would not have known how to avail themselves of it, for there were but few among them who had rightly perused God's word, or had laboured honestly at theology — as could be said of their opponents, especially of Hans Thauson, Jorgen Sadolin, and others, who had employed their time well at Wittenberg. On the other hand, " the fleshy arm and the strength of an horse," which had hitherto been the papists' strong support, began to corrupt, yea, to perish altogether, by the aforesaid constitution of Odense. When men would no longer be forced to believe and confess the faith, but sought to be convinced out of the Scriptures, their method of teaching was undone. Many a Nicodemus might now be seen creeping out of his corner, and coming over to the Protestant side. There were now almost as many Protestants as papists, and that not only in the towns, but in the villages and on the estates of the nobles. But many clave to the old superstition. The bishops were concerned only to save their order with the scectdaribus thereto appertaining. They almost abandoned the defence of their doctrines, and could only look on and see, not the lay people alone, but a goodly number of preachers turn against them. Whereby, alas! it is to be feared that much impurity mingled with men's motives, and some so-called priests were induced to change, rather by the liberty to marry than by heartfelt acceptance of the truth. Anthon Heinrich adduces more than one example of those who had long had their foscaria (who were called Steelten), and were now joined with them in matrimony, according no uncer- tain recognition to children they had already had. Nicol Helwaderus, who was secretly inclined to popery, casts ridicule upon them for this, saying in Sylva Chron. Mar. Balth., "Then they began to look round upon the daughters of men {Si te delectant jormosm membra pnellce, I, pete conjugium)." Some monks and nuns who had been thrust into the cloister in youth, and without due probation, began secretly to desert in certain places, and to take upon themselves a different manner of life. But there were not many such, since the proceeding was approved by few; and most monasteries remained in fair condition for a long while, save that a few mendicant friars in the towns, for lack of alms and for other causes, abandoned their mon- asteries, which were then turned to different uses. But the members of the 254 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1539-1533 A.D.] many endowed orders or those which lived de propriis, especially the Bene- dictines, Bernardines, and Augustinians, abode by their former way of life.* THE DEATH OF FREDERICK Events soon showed that the decree of the estates of Odense was not to be a barren one. Independent of the secularisation of ecclesiastical property, occasioned alike by the desertion of the monastic orders and the forfeitures exacted from clerical delinquents, no bishop was thenceforth elected without the recommendation of the crown. His confirmation only had been stipu- lated, which was to act as a kind of veto on the choice of the chapter, if an improper subject should be elected. But by this innovation — by an exer- cise of authority, which even the pope, in all the plenitude of his power, had never claimed — the chapter had no longer a voice in the matter. Nor was this all: such dignities were no longer to be gratuitous; they were to be bought. Thus, in 1529, on the death of the bishop of Roeskilde, his suc- cessor, who was recommended — that is, nominated — by the crown, was constrained to pay 6,000 florins to the king. Even this was not all: he also engaged not to oppose the progress of the reformation, but to fill his diocese with evangelical — that is, Lutheran — preachers; and, lest he should violate the engagement, he was required to give security for its due performance. The effect of such measures soon appeared. Holstein, Schleswig, Jutland, and still more, the cities of Copenhagen and Mahno, were filled with Lutheran missionaries, whose zeal and whose novelty of manner made a great sensation wherever they appeared. In the cities, there was more education, more gen- eral intelligence, than in the rural districts; in them, the new doctrines were more eagerly examined and more promptly adopted. We do not, however, read of public disputations in this country, which were so common in Ger- many. In 1530, indeed, a great one was to be held at Copenhagen; but, owing to some misunderstanding as to the conditions, it never took place. Frederick took advantage of the circumstance to obtain from the estates a confirnmtion of the decree that the professors of both religions should be equally protected by the law. Yet this decree could not prevent occasional disturbances. Sometimes the bishops found opportunities of persecuting; sometimes the Protestants refused to tolerate what they termed the idolatry of the mass, and became persecutors in their turn. In general, however, there was much less tumult in Denmark than in most other countries. The bias of the court was too evident to allow of the Lutheran professors' being materi- ally hurt; and the latter, though vehement in their sermons, had too much prudence needlessly to exasperate a yet powerful body, who might be assisted at any moment by foreign intervention. On the whole, then, the Reformation made great progress in Denmark, and some in Norway, during this monarch's short reign. The ancient church received a blow from which it could not afterwards recover. It might totter for a while; it might for a while appear majestic, and even formidable, to all who assailed it; but its ultimate ruin was inevitable. One of the king's last acts was to receive the Confession of Augsburg, which, though he could not enforce it on his Catholic subjects, he imposed on the Protestants. Frederick died in 1533. His character has been much lauded by the national historians, from the chancellor Hoitfeld down to our own day. But a foreigner can see little to admire in it. Without genius, without gen- erosity, without honour, without any other guiding principle than his own THE UNION OF KALMAR 255 [1533-1534 A.D.] interests, he has no one claim to our respect. By his queen, Anne of Bran- denburg, he had issue — Christian III, his successor; and Dorothea, married to Albert, markgraf of Brandenburg and first duke of Prussia. These con- nections will account, in some degree, for his decided measures in regard to the Reformation. His second wife, daughter of Bogislaw, duke of Pomer- ania, was also a Protestant. By her he had (1) John, who inherited one-third of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, (2) Adolf, successor of the ducal branch of Gottorp, (3) Frederick, successively bishop of Schleswig and Hil- desheim, and coadjutor of Bremen. INTEBBEGNUM (1533-1534 A.D.) The fifteen months which followed the death of Frederick were among the most momentous in the modern annals of Denmark. It might have been supposed that the captivity of Christian II, and the death of his son John, would have removed all obstacles to the accession of Christian, the eldest son of Frederick — especially as his brothers were yet in their infancy. But the bishops and the superior clergy were determined to exclude him — first, because they were angry with his father; and, next, because they knew his own attachment to the principles of the Reformation. Their influence over the other members of the rigsraad, who were few in number, connected with them by the ties of blood, and still adherents of Rome, will go far to explain the events which followed. The rigsraad, as we have before observed, had by degrees usurped many of the attributes of the estates general; among them was the momentous one of a royal election. As usual, they met at Copenhagen, not so much to fix on the choice of a sovereign, as to consult with each other on the aspect of affairs, and to hold the reins of government until they could agree in the election of some prince. Their intention to exclude Christian was evident from their not inviting him to be present, and still more, from their receiving with cold- ness the envoys whom, without their invitation, he sent to protect his inter- ests. He had even much difficulty in securing his election as administrator of Holstein until his brothers should reach maturity. He was thus in danger of losing, by the elective suffrage, all chance of authority in the estates held by his father. He saw, too, that in Denmark there was a party which, though adopting a policy distinct from that of the bishops, was no less hostile to him: this was the party favourable to the restoration of Christian II. He had, however, the satisfaction of perceiving that the majority of the nobles — those, at least, of Jutland, Fiinen, and Skane — were zealous for his elec- tion. Thus, there were three divisions in the state; and, though that of the bishops was numerically the smallest, yet, as representatives of the church, as leading members of the rigsraad, and invested with the actual administra- tion, their preponderance was manifest. This influence was strikingly displayed at the meeting of the estates gen- eral on the festival of St. John. In the discourse which the prelates delivered on the occasion, they condemned the " rash innovations " of the preceding reign, especially the abandonment of the cloister by the monks, the transfer of church property to the hands of laymen, the desecration of church build- ings, the lamentable decline in voluntary offerings, and the contempt in which the holy sacrifice of the mass — the only foundation of religion — was held by a great portion of the kingdom. In conclusion, they loudly demanded the restoration of the old order of things. These complaints were heard with comparative indifference by many of the nobles, especially by those who had 266 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1533-1534 A.D.] shared in the usurpations of the times; but a body equal m number, who had not touched the spoil, were either neuter or disposed to the bishops. Some management, therefore, was necessary — some concessions must be made, which it was intended to revoke whenever there should be a monarch ready to assist in the act. A decree was passed that bishops alone should have the power of conferring holy orders; that the tithe should be duly paid; and whoever should refuse it should have no protection from the civil power; that bequests to the church might be lawfully made and peacefully enjoyed; that the church should be supported in her actual rights and possessions. These concessions were openly opposed by two members of the rigsraad, but their opposition could avail little against the demands of one party and the timid policy of another. The next proceeding of the rigsraad was to prepare for the election of a king. There was no intention in any quarter of excluding the Oldenburg family; but, respecting the individual, there was likely to be dissension enough. Opposed alike to Christian II, and Christian duke of Holstein, who divided the wishes of above three-fourths of the nation, the bishops declared for Prince John of Holstein, brother of the duke. The reasons which they advanced for the preference of the younger over the elder prince, were spe- cious. Christian, they affirmed, being born while his father was merely a duke, had less claim to the crown than John, who, from his birth, was the son of a king. The former had received his early education in Holstein, a stranger to the habits, the manners, the feelings, the very language of the Danes; and had imbibed at the courts of his kinsmen, the German princes, a spirit that must necessarily be in many respects irreconcilable with the insti- tutions of the North; while the latter was truly a Dane in birth, education, language, sentiment, and principle. But the true reason for this preference was carefully withheld by the noble ecclesiastics; and this was the tender youth of John, who was scarcely twelve years old, and who, in their hands, might be moulded to any shape. The majority exclaimed against the choice of a mere child at a time when the maturest judgment and the greatest firm- ness were necessary to guide the vessel of the state. At length, the contest assumed a character ahnost entirely religious; the Roman Catholics following the example of their spiritual heads, by declaring for John; the Protestants, with equal pertinacity, calling for the elder brother. The former, apprehen- sive lest violence should be done to their independence of choice by the unruly mob of Copenhagen, were anxious to gain time, by the very natural proposi- tion, that the Norwegians, who were as deeply interested in the choice as themselves, should concur in the act. Here, too, was displayed the usual cunning of churchmen; for the majority of that people were hostile to the Reformation. As the season was too far advanced to allow the arrival of deputies from that kingdom before the winter, it was agreed that the election should be postponed until the following year. The interim each determined to employ in the manner best calculated to advance his own end. Scarcely was this compromise effected, when the members of the rigsraad found themselves in an embarrassed position. From Duke Christian, who was too good a politician to menace them, they experienced only offers of mediation with their enemy, the governor of the Low Countries — a power that they had incensed alike by the imprisonment of Christian II and by the shackles which they had imposed on commerce. But from Liibeck, which had resolved, in active commercial spirit, to derive every advantage from the internal dissensions of a rival, they received a very different treatment. Wol- lenwever, the envoy of that regency, and one of the burgomasters, demanded THE UNION OF KALMAE 257 [1533-1534 A.D.] for that all-engrossing republic the exclusion from the trade of the Baltic, of all other people, especially the English and the Dutch, to whom the Sound was to be rigorously closed. Considering the power of Liibeck, the head of the Hanseatic League, and the services which she had recently performed in behalf of northern independence, a refusal might provoke a dangerous enemy, and would certainly be construed into ingratitude. On the other hand, to exasperate the Low Countries and consequently the emperor and his allies, might be more dangerous, and would assuredly be more detrimental to the national interests. After much hesitation, a negative to the envoy's propo- sition was returned in terms of studied courtesy, and with many expressions of gratitude and goodwill. But these availed nothing. Foiled in his project of engrossing all the trade of the North, and of humbling the Dutch, who had become the most formidable rivals of Liibeck, Wollenwever determined on revenge. The bishops, who ruled the rigsraad, must first be overpowered; and this could be done only by contributing to the exaltation of the reformed party. By his artful representations of the danger to which the Protestant religion was exposed, and of the advantage which their respective communi- ties must reap by an alliance with the Hanse Towns, he brought the two burgomasters of Copenhagen and Malmo — magistrates otherwise dissatisfied with the conduct of the bishops, and eager for revenge — completely within his influence. But the views of these allies were widely different: he aimed merely at perpetuating dissension, and profiting by it; they, at the termina- tion of all dissension by the election of Prince Christian, and the consequent triumph of their own party. The conduct of the bishops, which daily became more arbitrary and more odious to the reformers, did, for the cause of the latter, more than intrigue or even arms could have effected. The two burgo- masters forsook with disgust their seats in the rigsraad, and confined them- selves to their magisterial duties. By so doing, they became popular in pro- portion to the unpopularity of the churchmen. At length, seeing the archbishop of Lund and his suffragans openly enjoin silence on the reformed preachers, and menace with excommunication all who refused to return to the ancient church, they repaired to Duke Chris- tian in Holstein, and exhorted him to place himself at the head of the Protes- tants, and seat himself on the vacant throne. Christian had the good sense to decline the dazzling offer, though he well knew that it would obtain the end proposed. He declared, that no one ought to be king of Denmark, who was not previously elected by the estates; and that he should not attempt to obtain by violence what ought to be conferred by the deliberate voice of the nation. This moderation was as much the result of good policy as of good feeling, since it would not fail to make a favourable impression on the elec- tors. In other respects he cultivated their goodwill. He negotiated a union between the nobles of Denmark and of the two duchies, and advised a treaty of commerce between Denmark and the Low Countries. By this treaty, the Sound was opened to the Dutch vessels on payment of the usual dues. The Danish senate even entered into a defensive alliance with the queen regent of the Netherlands, and provided still farther for the security of the realm by a similar alliance with Sweden. The alliance with the Netherlands was the more offensive to the people of Liibeck, as the two j)owers were then at war. Influenced by Wollenwever, the latter power bent its thoughts towards revenge — revenge on Denmark, which thus opposed its monopoly, its interests, its ambitious policy in every respect. In the attainment of so great an object, all minor ones must be dis- regarded: every jealousy of the Dutch was sacrificed to indignation against H. W. — VOL. XVI. S 258 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA ri634A.D.l the Danes; and a peace between the two commercial powers was soon nego- tiated. One of the conditions was that Holland might send as many vessels as she pleased into the Baltic. For this entire change of policy we may easily account. Liibeck now began to entertain the project of seizing for herself the passage of the Sound, and consequently the dominion of the Baltic; then, nothing could be so easy as to exclude Holland and all Europe from partici- pation in the monopoly. The means for executing this magnificent, project must, be an immediate war with Denmark. War, therefore, was resolved. But who was to head the expedition? Liibeck had no citizen or vassal impor- tant or able enough to undertake such a trust. Choice was at length, made of a German count named Christopher, a member of the house of Oldenburg, whose talents and whose ambition were well known. He was easily persuaded to assume a command, which might possibly obtain him a sceptre, which would certainly bring him riches, and probably avenge his imprisoned kins- man 'Christian II. The deliverance of that monarch was one of the pretexts which would most justify the war in the eyes of Europe. He therefore demanded the prisoner's enlargement from the duke of Holstein. When the demand was refused, he did not repeat it to the Danish rigsraad, which might have been frightened into compliance, but declared war against both Holstein and Denmark (1534). THE count's WAE Christopher had raised 4,000 infantry in Germany; these, added to the armaments which the Hanse Towns themselves furnished, made a respectable force. With it he penetrated into Holstein, took several towns, plundered them and the open country, and before he could be resisted by either the duke or the Danes, returned with great plunder to Liibeck. There he obtained large reinforcements; and then, with the burgomasters, sailed for Copen- hagen. Within four leagues of that capital, he was joined by the burgomaster of Malmo, who assured him of the good wishes of the inhabitants. He there- fore with his ships blockaded the city, while with a land force he disembarked, seized Roeskilde, forced the people to swear allegiance to Christian II, and replaced the bishop by the famous Gustavus Trolle, whose life had been one continued series of intrigues. That Copenhagen should offer no resistance to the invaders, may seem extraordinary; but the majority of the inhabitants were in favour of Christian II, and their leaders were certainly won over by the agents of Liibeck. The count, after pillaging the two nearest towns, pro- ceeded towards the capital, and summoned it to acknowledge the captive monarch. The summons was obeyed by the city; and though the fortress held out, it was soon compelled to capitulate. All Zealand was persuaded or forced to do the same; Malmo opened its gates, and, with most of Skane, declared for Christian II. The bishops, the clergy, and such of the nobles as were still hostile to that monarch, fled into Jutland, which would listen to no proposal that involved his restoration. The isles south of Zealand submitted, Fiinen was blockaded, and Jutland menaced. In these successes, the con- queror — if he who declares himself the head of a large native party, and triumphs by the aid of that party, may be called one — committed many excesses. There was, at the best, little discipline among his mercenaries; but he gave full run to their rapacity, by abandoning to them the domains of all who were represented as unfavourable to his views. A worse evil was the ferocity of the peasants, who, actuated by revenge against their feudal oppressors, massacred all that were so unfortunate as to fall into their hands, and delivered their dwellings to the flames. THE UNION OF KALMAE 259 [1534 A.T,.] Why, it may be asked, did Duke Christian not advance to the aid of the rigsraad and nobles? Two reasons may be assigned for this inactivity. The first and chief was that he was not solicited; and he knew too well the appre- hensions entertained of him by the church, wantonly to obtrude the offer of his services. Besides, he was too discerning not to perceive that the progress of events was favourable to his hopes. He alone, of all the members of the Oldenburg family, was in a condition to measure arms with the invaders; and sooner or later his interference would scarcely fail to be solicited. But another reason is that he was, at this very moment, effecting a powerful diversion in favour of the kingdom by menacing Liibeck itself. That important city he invested by sea and land; and, though he could scarcely hope to reduce it, he effectually interrupted its commerce, and in other respects wasted its resources. The only consolation left — and this was no slight one — was that the arms of the regency were as successful in Denmark as they were disastrous at home. The foresight of Duke Christian was soon justified by the event. The nobles of Jutland and Fiinen began to exclaim against the obstinacy of the bishops, in excluding from the throne those who alone could save the rest of the kingdom. In a general meeting of the rigsraad at Ry, in the former pro- vince, the burgomaster of Copenhagen harangued the members with much force and much eloquence. He observed, that if the duke had been chosen, Skane and Zealand, and the other islands would not now be in the power of Liibeck; that if the choice were not immediately made, the party of Christian II must triumph — and who present could wish for the restoration of a king always sanguinary, and rendered ferocious by exile and imprisonment? The secular members applauded the discourse, but the bishops still resisted, and would have continued to resist had not the nobles, who were outside the hall, suspected the truth, forced open the doors, rushed into the room, and exclaimed with a loud voice, that Duke Christian must be chosen. Terrified at this demonstration, the churchmen withdrew their opposition — with a protest, however, against the violence of the nobles, and on the express condition that Christian should recognise the privileges of the rigsraad and of the church. He was instantly proclaimed; deputies were sent to acquaint him with the event, at the camp before Liibeck; he hastened to meet other deputies and confirm the privileges of the rigsraad and nobles; and at Horsens, in Jut- land, he received the homage of that province and Fiinen. To the bishops and all ecclesiastics, he promised the continuance of their revenues, privileges, and immunities, whether they remained in the church, or embraced the Reformation; and he guaranteed to both communions perfect liberty of worship. How he kept these promises will appear in the sequel. THE ACCESSION OF CHRISTIAN III (1534 A.D.) No monarch ever ascended the throne in circumstances more difficult or more disheartening than those by which Christian III was surrounded. One half the kingdom held, the other half menaced, by a powerful enemy; the church, the peasantry, and most of the burgesses — constituting at least five sixths of the nation — unfriendly to his claim; the nobles themselves, his only supporters, discouraged; the empire and the Netherlands no less hostile to , him than Liibeck — these conditions were surely enough to damp the enterprise of any thinking man. But Christian was in all the fire of youth; he had not experienced the chilling misfortunes of life; his ardour was unquenched; he relied on the sympathies and even the .support of Sweden and the reformed princes of Germany; and he had at his command a body of 260 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1534 A.D.] martial nobles, whose interests, and even whose lives, were inseparably con- nected with his success. At the events of the war which followed — events complicated, uniform, and uninteresting — we can only glance. Having prevailed on Gustavus of Sweden to make a diversion in his favour by the invasion of Skane, Christian proceeded to attempt the deliverance of Fiinen, which was now almost entirely in the hands of the count of Olden- burg. He succeeded but he had scarcely left the island to carry his arms elsewhere, when the count returned and again reduced it. That ambitious chief had other objects than the interest of the republic or that of Christian II, in whose name he had drawn the sword. Hearing of the new kind's departure, he detached a part of his force into Jutland, the reduction of which would insure the submission of the whole kingdom. The attempt was an arduous one, since that province contained the most numerous, the most warlike, and the most devoted portion of the Danish nobility. Yet Aalborg was taken; all Verdsyssel was occu- pied; devastation marked the track of the invaders, and terror preceded their march. The undisguised prayers of the peasantry for the success of men whom they hailed as their de- liverers, alarmed the nobles and caused them to flee to the strong for- tress of Renders. A stand was, in- deed, made by the royal generals, but they were signally defeated. The moral effect of this victory was more valuable than the victory itself, since it induced the peasantry, whom fear had hitherto kept aloof, to take an active part in the war. Woe to the local tyrants on whom they laid their hands! Yet they could not perpe trate worse deeds than the invaders, or the nobles themselves, whenever the latter had the opportunity. For- tunately for Christian, Renders repelled its assailants and forced them to seek a refuge in Aalborg. Equalljr fortunate was the convention which, under the mediation of some reformed princes, he made with Liibeck. That republic, on the condition of his raising the siege and of respecting its territory, which was thenceforth to be neutral, engaged not to act against Holstein, which was to be equally neutral. But in regard to the war in Denmark, both parties were at liberty to push it as zealously as they wished. In accordance with this treaty, the king hastened with the troops which were thus rendered dis- posable to the succor of the Jutlanders, while the regency sent the defenders of Liibeck to prosecute the war in Denmark. With the reinforcements thus obtained, the royal party laid siege to Aal- borg, defended by Clement, one of the count's generals, with a considerable body of Danish peasantry. Brave as was the defence, the place was taken by assault, and every man put to the sword; two thousand rustics thus per- ished, while their leaders were reserved for more lingering and more painful deaths. No wonder that the people should retaliate when such horrible . severity disgraced the royal army. What few rights the Jutland peasantry still held, were declared forfeited by their rebellion. During the winter which Christian III THE UNION OF KALMAE 261 [1535-1536 A.D.] followed Christian made some overtures to the count, but they were rejected; and preparations were made for the resumption of the warfare in the spring. The count had men enough, but he wanted money to pay his German mer- cenaries, and this he could not obtain from the peasantry: he could only wring it from the nobles and the clergy; and in proportion to these demands upon them, were .their secret aspirations for the triumph of Christian. The progress of the Swedish arms in service inspired them with new hope. Halm- stad, Varberg, and Helsingborg, with the intervening region, were reduced. Malmo and Landskrona were invested; a fleet which Christian had obtained from his allies soon appeared off the coast of Fiinen; and in a general "action victory declared for the king. A new armament soon arrived from Liibeck headed by Albert duke of Mecklenburg, who had married a niece of Christian II. The count of Oldenburg complained bitterly of this supersession, which was most impolitic; and as he had a large body of devoted followers, he retained a share in the command. But this compromise was worse than the evil it was designed to remedy; the two chiefs were too jealous of each other ever cordially to co-operate. The necessary result was, that few trophies more were won by the invaders. Fiinen was restored to the royal dominion. Zealand was next occupied, and Copenhagen invested. At the same time, detachments were spared from the royal army to commence the siege of other fortresses on the neighbouring islands, and to press those of Malmo and Landskrona, which still resisted. Before the siege of Copenhagen, southern Norway had been induced to acknowledge Christian III. But the northern provinces, influenced by the clergy and the archbishop of Trondhjem, would hsten to no terms of accom- modation. Yet the adhesion of a part of that kingdom was a great advan- tage to the king, since it furnished him with vessels to press the siege of Copenhagen. Equally useful were those which he received from Sweden, independently of the inestimable benefit produced by the diversion of the Swedish' troops in Skane. Christian had the satisfaction to see the recon- quest of Varberg, which the Liibeckers had recovered by stratagem. On this occasion, he stained his laurels by the execution of Meyer, burgomaster of Liibeck and governor of the fortress; and that, too, in opposition to the terms of the capitula.tion. On the rack, Meyer is said to have confessed that the republic had agreed to sell Denmark, or at least its chief fortresses, to Henry VIII of England. Henry, surely, who was no general, and whose army was in no high state of discipline, could not be so foolish as to offer money for what could never be his. Probably the whole is an invention of the Danish writers, to lessen the odium inseparable from this violation of the laws of Landskrona now capitulated; while Copenhagen and Malmo were pressed with renewed vigour. To relieve them, a new armament of eighteen vessels arrived from the Hanse Towns; and notwithstanding the opposition of the royal fleet, supplies were thrown into the former. The place, there- fore, was in a condition to resist many months longer. On the other hand, early in the following year (1536), Cronenburg, the key of Copenhagen, was reduced, and some other fortresses on the islands; so that the capital in Zealand and the town in Skane were the only places which now held for the Liibeck party. That republic was weary of the war; and after much nego- tiation, peace was finally made between the king and the regency. The latter retained their commercial advantages in the Baltic, and received Bornholm, which they were to hold fifty years as some indemnification for their heavy expenditure during the war. Faithful to their new engagement, they recalled their troops at Copenhagen and Malmo; but the latter, at the instance of the S62 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1536 A.D.i two generals, chose to remain, in the expectation of aid from the Netherlands. The only advantage, therefore, which the king derived from this treaty was an open sea, which the vessels of the republic had previously infested. This, however, was a great advantage, and it enabled his fleet to intercept the sup- plies sent from some towns in Pomerania for the besieged. His next success was the capitulation of Malmo. But Copenhagen, without provisions, without hope, except from a doubt- ful reinforcement promised by the Netherlands, still held out. Famine at length appeared; horses, dogs, cats, and the vilest aUments were all con- sumed; and starvation seemed inevitable, unless the obstinate chiefs could be brought to capitulate. An evil scarcely less tolerable was the license of the soldiers, who went from house to house to seize any bread that might remain, to violate the women, and often to murder the fathers or husbands. Some died of hunger in the public streets, more in their beds; the survivors, pale, emaciated, scarcely able to walk across the floor of their own houses, awaited in despair the issue of this dreadful extremity. These privations were less felt by the soldiery than by the inhabitants; yet the soldiery found them intolerable, and were the first to make overtures of submission to the king. A capitulation was soon negotiated. The two chiefs were to be sent to their respective lordships, followed by all the Germans who chose to go; but they were to leave their artillery and stores of every kind. There were no condi- tions imposed on Albert; but the count of Oldenburg was obliged to swear never to re-enter Denmark, and never to make war on the king, his subjects, or his allies. All the citizens who wished were also at liberty to accompany the German mercenaries; but two leaders were excepted, Munter and Bog- binder, who were to remain in the kingdom. Yet even these were assured of pardon; and so were all the citizens who remained. Albert, the count, and many followers, embarked while Christian made his public entry into Copen- hagen. The spectacle of the distress to which the citizens were reduced is said to have moved him; but if he had such compassionate feehngs, they were sure to be absorbed by his thirst of vengeance on the originators of the late resistance. But he knew how to dissemble, and his entry was hailed with joy by the famished inhabitants [July, 1536]. THE DIET OF COPENHAGEN (1536 A.D.) In the opinion of Christian and his Lutheran adherents, these originators were no other than the bishops, the destruction of whose order had been determined in the royal mind long before the fall of Copenhagen. Probably they were not ignorant of this hostile feeling towards them, when they so zealously resisted his election; but in that resistance they were justified alike by the constitution and their duty to the church. From the time they had acknowledged Christian, and received his engagement to protect them in their actual rights, they had taken no part in the war against him. What, indeed, could they expect, in the event of the former Christian's restoration, but a persecution more bitter than they had before experienced? Passively, but not without anxiety, they had watched the progress of events; and now that the king was master of all Denmark, they could only trust to the royal faith for their continued security. But that h6 cared very little for such engagements was evident from his treatment of Meyer and from his avowed intention cf bringing to justice one whom in the recent capitulation he had solemnly agreed to pardon. This was Bogbinder, who, to escape the fate designed him, swallowed poison. But it was still more evident from his plot THE UNION OP KALMAR 263 [1536 A.D.] against the bishops. His first step was to exclude them from the rigsraad; to interdict them from all authority in temporal concerns. But his thirst for revenge, and, still more, his avarice, were not to be thus satisfied. It was not difficult for him, a conqueror, to procure the sanction of the rigsraad to any proposal affecting churchmen, especially when they knew that they were to share in the spoil. Having privately assembled them, a resolution was put to abolish the temporal authority of the bishops, to confiscate their revenues for the use of the state, to destroy their jurisdiction in the church as well as in the state, and not to restore them if even a general council should decree their restoration, unless the king, the rigsraad, and the estates of the realm should see fit to revoke the present resolution. It was also agreed to adhere in future to the Protestant religion, to defend and advance its interests. An act embodying these resolutions was signed by each member, who promised to keep the secret. At this very crisis, the archbishop of Lund and the bishop of Roeskilde arrived, with the intention of testifying their duty to the sovereign. Both were arrested, and committed to close custody. At the same time, in accord- ance with a preconcerted design, all the other bishops of the kingdom were seized — some by open force, some by perfidy. To justify this extraordinary step in the eyes of the nation, and of all Europe, Christian convoked the estates at Copenhagen — if those could be called estates where the clergy, one of the most important sections, were not present, because not summoned. From an elevated stage, on which the king and the members of the rigsraad appeared, he inveighed against the whole church, especially against the bishops: they had opposed by every species of violence the progress of the Reformation; they had persecuted the ministers of the gospel; they had promulgated statutes and decrees contrary to the national laws; they had been tyrants within their dioceses; they had resisted the election of the king; and were, in short, the source of all the troubles which the realm had suffered, or was suffering. Accusations so indefinite, so vague, so unsatisfactory in every legal sense, would have had no weight where the accusers were not the judges and predetermined to find a verdict of guilty. That verdict was given; it annihilated for ever the haughty domination of the clergy, and declared that the work of the Reformation must be completed by a total abolition of the Roman Catholic worship. It adjudged the vast revenues of the church to the wants of the state, to the support of the Protestant ministers, to the maintenance of the poor, to the foundation of hospitals, and to the susten- tation of the university and the schools. In virtue of the sentence, a public edict appointed reformed theologians called superintendants, one to each of the vacant dioceses (the name of bishop, however, was soon restored). It tmited for ever to the crown all the palaces, towns, fortresses, villages, estates, and revenues of every kind, that had hitherto belonged to the church. It allowed the monks and nuns either to leave the cloister, or to remain in it provided they agreed to lead an edifying life and hear the preaching of God's word. It divided the tithe into three equal portions, of which one went to the feudal superior of the parish, one to the crown, and one to the support of the resident minister. Some schools and hospitals were founded, and some lands were appropriated to the reward of such theologians as might distinguish themselves by their acquirements; but the great portion of church property in Denmark, as in some other coim- tries, went neither to learning nor religion, neither to poverty nor sickness."^ [To reorganise the church Christian summoned from Germany the learned Dr. Bugenhagen, of whom Pontoppidan gives the following account:] 2C4 THE HISTOE"? OF SCAKDINAVIA [1536-1541 A.D.] Doctor Johann Bugenhagen, otherwise called Pomeranus, belonged to an old and noble family, although his father had held the office of alderman at WoUin in Pomerania, where he himself was born on June 24th, 1485. He pursued his academic studies at Greifswald, and in the 20th year of his age became rector of Treptow, having early given many proofs,, not only of skill in languages, but of true piety and devotion; for he was ill content with the ancient and frigid system of outward worship, and insisted at every oppor- tunity upon faith, love, and the true obedience of the heart. Nevertheless, he could not at first rid himself of a prejudice, derived from hearsay, against the doctrines of Luther; but in 1520, when the said teacher's book upon the Babylonian captivity was shown to him amidst a company of good friends, and his opinion demanded thereon, he said, after reading a few pages, that since Christ had suffered, many heretics had shamefully misled and distracted the church of God, but none so mischievously as Luther. But it was not long before the scales fell from the good man's eyes, and having read the whole book in solitude and maturely reflected upon it, he spoke to his friends and col- leagues in a very different tone: "What need of many words? The whole world is blind and lies in outer darkness; Luther alone sees the truth." His friends agreed with him, but likewise fell with him under the displeasure of the bishop of Kammin, who expelled them from the town. Under these circumstances Bugenhagen went to Wittenberg, where he found Karlstad in the full tide of iconoclasm, and opposed him in such acts of violence. He soon became intimately acquainted with Luther, who was returning from his Patmos, and likewise with Melanchthon, and, by the magis- trate of that place, was first appointed regular town preacher (Stadt-Prediger) and, soon after, professor of Holy Writ. Both these offices he held so dear that he would never exchange them for the bishoprics which were several times offered to him. Meanwhile his reputation for great piety and profound erudition was so spread abroad that he was summoned to various places in the north of the empire, to draw up new systems of church organisation and to give good counsel and help in all that concerned the Reformation. When he was in Hamburg about this business, and while the Flensburg colloquium with Melchior Hoffman in puncto S. ccence was in prospect, he received his first call to Denmark. He was likewise present at the aforesaid colloquium, and there pleased Christian, the prince royal, who was also present, so well that when, in the year 1536, the latter ascended the throne to which his claim had been disputed, and resolved to depose the popish bishops and to introduce the Protestant form of church government, he summoned Bugenhagen to the country once more as a reformer of much experience. As it appears from his letters, he arrived at Copenhagen at the beginning of the so-called dog- days. Soon afterwards he had the honour of crowning the king and queen, ordaining seven superintendents, presiding in conjunction with Petrus Pal- ladius, bishop of Zealand, at the First synod of Copenhagen — which was convoked from all the provinces to establish new church ordinances — and providing for the regulation of its lectiones at the University of Copenhagen. At the beginning of the year 1539, he journeyed into Saxony for a short time, but speedily returned, in Jime, and was present at the ratification of the ecclesiastical ordinances at the diet of Odense. He then went to Copen- hagen again, lectured at the university, and frequently preached at court upon the psalms of David. He remained there, engaged in such affairs, imtil the year 1542, and enjoyed great favour with the king; so much, indeed, that in the year 1541 the wealthy bishopric of Schleswig was offered to him. This he declined, saying, " Should I act thus, it might be said that we thrust the THE UNIOF OP KALMAE 205 [1542-1558 A.D.] popish bishops from their sees to set ourselves in thera." From which, among other things, his humility and moderation are clearly manifest. This man is said, by his mildness, frequently to have moderated the vehemence of Luther. In 1542 he returned to Wittenberg for the last time, and greatly extolled the love that had been displayed towards him in Denmark. During his stay in Denmark he wrote various things concerning the state of the church there to his colleagues at Wittenberg. After his departure men would have been glad to see him return to Den- mark for the fourth time and there abide tiU death. This the king asked him to do — in a letter dated Gottorp, die trium Regum, 1543 — in which he says, among other things: " Therefore we have thought upon you with favour, and have desired to request you, if it be in any way possible, to come hither again, since we should be glad to have such an old Pomeranian or Chaw-bacon, who might perhaps endure the air of this country better than another. We would take such care of him that he should have cause to be grateful to us." But Bugenhagen was already a man of sixty, enfeebled by many labours and desired to end his days in his beloved Wittenberg — which he did on April 20th, 1558.'' NORWAY AND PROTESTANTISM The bishops continued in prison for some time after the diet of Copen- hagen; but at length, they were all liberated except one, on their engagement never to disturb the new order of things. That one was the bishop of Roes- kilde, whom no entreaties, no threats, could induce to submit, and who therefore died in confinement. From this moment must be dated the entire ruin of the Romish church in Denmark. Liberty did not gain by the change. The reformed clergy had not influence enough to curb that wild and licentious power by which both thrones and altars, both freedom and religion, have been frequently swept away. The burgesses also were too insignificant per se to offer any resistance; and the peasantry were, as we have already stated, deprived of what little voice they had enjoyed in the general assem- blies. No check, therefore, remained on the inevitable usurpations of the nobility. The decree of the diet of Copenhagen is remarkable for two other points deserving of the reader's consideration. There was evidently a compromise between the crown and the nobles. (1) It was asserted that, as experience had proved the danger of leaving the throne vacant, the recurrence of such evils must be averted by the recognition of Duke Frederick, eldest son of the king, as successor to the throne. If he died before the father, then the next son should be the designated heir; and if all the sons died, the estates, during the life of the king, should be bound to name a successor, and that intended successor should assume the title of Prince of Denmark. Here was the legal establishment of the hereditary principle. The price which Christian paid for it was, first, a large participation, as we have just seen, in the titles, and, we may add, in the confiscated church lands. (2) But the other articles of the decree to which we have alluded will equally establish the fact of a com- promise. The king confirmed to the nobles the power of life and death over their vassals; the infliction of fines up to forty marks; and "all other privi- leges, powers, and prerogatives which the king himself could exercise on his domains." The conduct of this monarch towards Norway does not increase our respect for his memory. The southern provinces of that coimtry had, as 206 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1536-1540 A.1).] we have before related, acknowledged him; the northern, influenced by the archbishop of Trondhjem and the clergy, had refused to do so. Before the reduction of Copenhagen, yet when his iiltimate triumph was inevitable, he despatched three members of the rigsraad to Norway, demanding not only his election by all the estates, but a subsidy for the continuance of the war. The former demand was received with coldiiess, the latter with indignation. In the north, the people called on the archbishop to prevent the election. To that call he, who was one of the most violent of men, instantly responded; and, as the head of the regency which had been established, arrested the bishop of Christiania, the bishop of Hammer, and another senator in the interests of Christian. He did more : he procured the condemnation of all the senators who had offered the crown to the "Danish tyrant." Some were put to death; some were imprisoned; and the popular mind throughout the realm — in the south no less than in the north — became hostile to his claims. But what dependence can be placed on such a basis? The victories of Chris- tian inspired the Roman Catholics with fear, the Protestants with hope. That he would struggle for the crown, and struggle successfully, became by degrees the general opinion — so much so, that even the primate released the senators whom he had imprisoned and made overtures of submission. As usual, they were accepted by the royal officers, with a belief that they would not be ratified by the king. But whether ratified or not, one advantage would be gained — his immediate election. It was gained, and the royal perfidy was soon made apparent by the equipment of a fleet to seize the arch- bishop and other persons supposed to be unfriendly to the new king. Warned of the fate designed for him, the churchman fled to the Netherlands. His metropolis was seized; while another royal general marched on Christiania, which had also refused to acknowledge Christian. The bishop capitulated; so did all the southern towns which had not already submitted. What was the reward? At this very time, and immediately after the destruction of the Danish bishops and clergy, a royal decree forever destroyed the independ- ence of Norway by declaring it to be an integral portion of the Danish mon- archy, "just the same as Jutland, Fiinen, Zealand, or Skane." Nor was this a vain menace — it was immediately carried into effect. By degrees, too, the Roman Catholic religion was extirpated, and the Protestant faith established: nor was there any open opposition to the change. But in Ice- land there was much resistance; and it required an armament to convince that sequestered people how necessary the Reformation was to their ever- lasting welfare.*^ The state of the church in this island during the year 1540 has been described as half evangelist, particularly in the southern part, under Bishop Marten Enerson of Skdlholt, an enthusiastic reformer, though still half popish. The northern part, the bishopric of Holum,was under Bishop Jon Arneson, who, although he received, as the others had, the royal command to abstain from manifest superstitions and to reform his see, not only refused to comply, but also endeavoured in every possible way to contravene the activities of his fellow bishop. In this he was especially active in the year 1547, and caused Bishop Marten Enerson such distress by his knavish tricks that Ener- son found himself necessitated to make the long sea-journey to Denmark in person, in order to lay before the king his own distress and the troubles of the church. When he had arrived in Kolding, he was given gracious audience by his majesty; he took the oath of fidelity and received thereupon a royal protectorium for his person and teachings, with the assurances of adequate help for the propagation of the Reformation throughout his fatherland. THE UNION OF KALMAE 267 [1551 A.D.] His enemy, Bishop Jon Arneson, received an imperative summons to present himself before the king. But for such a journey Arneson had no inehnation. Instead, he instituted a fresh rebellion, put himself at the head of three hun- dred men, attacked Bishop Marten and took him prisoner, deposed the royal judge who should have executed the king's commands and (by which one sees that he was in the matter of celibacy not papistically inclined) installed his own son in his place. Besides this, he was reported to have had the intention of placing himself and the whole island under the protection of the English. In Denmark there was much dismay at this news, and great bitterness was felt against the scoundrel. But for certain reasons this state of things was for a time endured, and the rebellious bishop was not only spared excom- munication, but was pronounced exonerated by royal patent. For the sake of sequence, we will here give a summary of this affair, although in actual time it belongs to the chronicle of 1551. For in that year it dawned upon the king that the time was ripe for crushing Jon Arneson, and for leaving the Protestant faith an open path in Iceland. Therefore two ships were sent with the two knights, Axel Tuul and Christopher Trund-Tnmd- son, and five hundred soldiers, carrying with them a command dated from Flensburg on the Thursday after Low Sunday, to give the imprisoned Bishop Marten his liberty, and, should he be already dead, to ordain another evange- list teacher bishop; but especially to seize the persons of Jon Arneson and his sons, and bring them prisoners to Flensburg; also again to put the inhabi- tants of the land to the oath of fidelity and duty. But before these ships and their passengers could arrive, as they did about Whitsuntide, their trouble was saved them by another person. Bishop Jon Arneson's father-in- law, a man of wealth and consideration, David Gudmundarson. Jon Arneson expected no good of this man, and dared not push his designs to fulfilment, or have himself, with the aid of the English, constituted king of the country, until he had put Gudmundarson out of the way — knowing him for a powerful man, devoted to the Protestant doctrines, and a loyal subject of the king. To effect his purpose he gathered a force of five hundred soldiers, and took the field against Gudmundarson. The latter made all counter prepara- tions with what haste he could, but could only muster three hundred armed men. With these he met his enemies boldly, but, before the attack, made a sensible speech to his faithless countrymen, representing to them how perfid- ious their conduct was, and how thankless in the end they might expect to find the service of the popish bishop. When by this means he had won some minds and persuaded them to return to their duty, he attacked the remainder with so much spirit that he soon overmastered them; and the often-mentioned bishop, together with two of his sons, fell prisoners to him, whereupon he had them all three beheaded, urged by the consideration that, if they were spared a new revolt to give them freedom would be instigated by the bishop's third son, who had escaped. When, after this event, help arrived from Denmark, the knights in authority made one Oluf Hulteson evangelist bishop and absolute head of the see of Holle, adding all necessary aids for the propagation of the Reformation of the church similar to those which ten years previously had been successfully carried out in the Skdlholt see.'' The transactions of Christian III with Germany in themselves were of no great moment. His position, in regard both to the emperor and to the Roman Catholics, naturally threw him into the arms of the Protestant party; and he shared the fate of that party. He was fortunate enough to defeat all the attempts of the elector palatine, who had married a daughter of Christian II, on the crown. He was equally successful in humbling the Dutch, and in 268 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1543-1559 A.D.] opposing all the designs of the emperor to undermine his authority The Peace of Speier (1543) reconciled him with Charles V as sovereign of the Netherlands, but not as emperor. By adhering to the league, he was neces- sarily the enemy of that monarch; but he exhibited no great zeal in the reformed cause, and he was generally reproached for the indifference with which he beheld the most deadly blows aimed at it by the opposite party. With Sweden he maintained pacific relations to the close of his life. Not that war was not often impending, but both he and his ally always contrived to adopt some compromise by which actual hostilities were averted. THE DEATH OF CHRISTIAN III Two other things must be recorded of Christian III. Towards the close of his life, he so far relaxed in his behaviour to Christian II as to transfer that unfortunate king to Kallundborg in Zealand, to enjoy more room, less restraint, better food, and more indulgence in every respect — as much, perhaps, as could be enjoyed consistently with the prisoner's safe custody. The other event relates to the injudicious partition of Holstein and Schleswig. In con- formity with a pernicious usage, the king, considering that his brothers had a right to a share of the inheritance, reluctantly consented to invest two of them with extensive domains (his third brother, being a Romish ecclesiastic, had no share in the inheritance). This division, as we shall have too frequent occasion to record, was the source of the worst evils to the monarchy. Chris- tian died in 1559.'* Pontoppidan's Estimate of Christian III Christian III, under God the true reformer of the Danish church, was born at Gottorp on the 12th of August, 1504. In early youth he was sent by his father Frederick, at that time duke of Holstein, to his brother-in-law, the elector Joachim I of Brandenburg, to be educated at his court. Although the latter, who was his mother's brother, was zealously devoted to popery. Prince Christian had opportxmities of gathering so much information con- cerning the religious quarrels then just arisen in Germany that his mind was early disinclined to popery and well disposed to the new doctrines proclaimed by Luther. Of this he gave proof early, when in the seventeenth year of his age he went with the aforesaid prince, his uncle, to the diet at Worms. There it came to pass that, in a church wherein the emperor Charles and many princes were assembled, a Franciscan monk inveighed vehemently against Luther and his heretical followers. The sermon ended, he knelt down to pray, and acci- dentally let the cord of his order wherewith he was girded slip through a chink in the pulpit. Prince Christian, who was seated just below the pulpit, delayed not to make the cord fast with a knot, so that the monk could not rise up again untU he had summoned help. Whereupon he, noting the trick played on him, cried out: "My Lord Emperor, if even in your sovereign presence they do not refrain from such treatment of us poor monks, what will not be done in your absence?" When the emperor afterwards met our prince at dinner, and heard that it was he who had played the trick on the monk, he is reported to have laughed and said of him that it might be this was a token that he would give the monks more cause for annoyance in his day; which also came to pass in Reformation times. We may infer, from this and other proofs, that in his early years he was somewhat over-sprightly and almost of a flighty tempera- ment; which may Ukewise be the reason why in the twenty-first year of his THE UNION OF KALMAR 269 [1521-1558 A.D.] age he married Princess Dorothea of Lauenburg, who was at that time fifteen years old, in direct opposition to the will of his father, who at first looked upon the marriage with a very unfavourable eye. Until Christian ascended the throne, 1535, by the election of the Danish estates, he lived with her at the castle of Hadersleben, as governor of the two principalities. But since this youthful precipitancy was but vitium naturae, not animi, the lapse of years and the grace of God, which wrought powerfully in his heart, changed and amended all this in such degree that Christian not only grew into a most admirable ruler well worthy of the purple, but also, as his name denoted, into a true Christian and a man after God's own heart, whereof so many evidences are extant that only a few of the most weighty can be cited. To his fear of God Arild Hvitfeld,*' among others, bears witness in the words: "He led a devout fife; no day passed on which he did not make his prayer to God on his knees, and have the Bible read to him in his chamber, and the psalms of David sung. He was meek, charitable, and compassionate to such a degree that, when his notorious enemies Count Christopher of Oldenburg and Duke Albert of Mecklenburg were reduced to such straits in the protracted siege of Copen- hagen, that they had nothing to eat and must have died of hunger, he sent certain refreshments and personal necessaries expresse for them into the town, and when they afterwards came humbly into his camp with white staves in their hands, he received them into favour as though they had never given him trouble. Blasphemers, murderers, and adulterers he did not readily pardon. But save in these cases he was loth that blood should be shed, and in punish- ments as in rewards he was a prudent ruler. He usually travelled through the country yearly, taking a few councillors with him, that in the principal' towns of every province he might hear the complaints of those who were in distress, and remedy them as far as in him lay. With his neighbours he lived in peace and confidence, and after having successfully and valiantly put down the rebellion plotted in the interregnum, and the sanguinary ci-vil wars, he would not hear of war any more, though he was frequently provoked to it. The great work on which, above all else. Christian's desires and inclinations were set, and for which Heaven had raised him up in these perilous times, was the very necessary task of reforming the radically corrupt system of the church and the schools of Denmark. The death of this king, like his life, was admirable and worthy beyond the wont of men, hence I hold it good for edification to cite certain specialia. Though of his body he was well-grown, strong, and robust, he did not live as long as was expected, but only to the fifty-fourth year and fourth month of his age. An obstruction of the so-called "golden vein," from which he had suffered many times before, compelled him to take to his bed in the castle of Arnsburg at Kolding in December, 1558, and gave no uncertain warnings of the approach of death. But another herald is said to have warned him likewise; to wit, an angel or, as Selneccerus expresses it, a man in white garments, who appeared to the king eight days before his death, as he lay in bed, though (as he himself strongly asseverated) neither sleeping nor wan- dering in mind, and who, drawing near, thus addressed him: "On the coming New Year's Day thy_ sickness will end and be followed by eternal health!" Neither his chaplain in ordinary, Magister Paulus Noviomagus, nor his phy- sician Cornelius ab Hamsfurth, could dissuade him from putting his trust in this glorious vision of consolation; but when New Year's Day, or the 1st of January, 1559, was come, he comforted his wife, blessed the royal children, bestowed gifts on his servants, begged forgiveness of all he had unwittingly 270 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1559 A.D.] offended, and exhorted his councillors that they should act according to their conscience, and loyally and honestly serve his son Frederick, who was then on his way from Malmo but had not yet arrived; that they should be vigilant in the maintenance of law and order, and should rather increase than diminish legacies bequeathed to churches, schools, and the poor. After that, to all men's amazement, he said, with cheerful voice and glad gestures, "Now I will sing, and you must sing with me, that it may be said that the king sang himself to the grave." Whereupon he himself started the hymn of praise taken from the 103rd psalm, " Praise the Lord, my soul," etc., and when he came to the words, "As a father pitieth," his sanctified soul almost imper- ceptibly took flight. His inanimate body was at first buried in the church of St. Knud at Odense. His son afterwards had him borne to Roeskilde and buried under a very splendid marble mausoleum. Since I can find no epitaph upon this king, I wiU substitute for it the words of Reusner, quoted by Herr Lackmann: "His" (Christian Ill's) "royal capital was an eye of wisdom, a scale of justice, a seat of valour, a criterion of moderation, a pattern of honour, a weU of kindness, an assembly of the liberal arts, a school of learning, a holy place for teachers of the church, a table for the poor, a refuge for the innocent; and he himself, a most godly Christian and indomitable prince. His motto was, Mein Trost zu Gott allein, sonst andem kein (My trust in God alone, and in no other) .'' CHAPTER VIII GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX [1523-1611 A.D.] GUSTAVUS VASA ASCENDS THE THRONE (1523 A.D.) The fall and flight of King Christian II cast the whole burden of the struggle against Sweden's ruler and the Wend states upon Severin Norby's shoulders. Norby as King Christian's governor ruled Gotland with the stronghold of Visborg and had command of the Baltic where he conducted his king's war against the Swedes and Liibeck. He took all the enemy's goods wherever he could find them, and he captured every ship he could, which went to and fro from the Wend Hanse cities and Dantzic to any of the parts of Sweden which were in the power of the kingdom's deliverer, and rich was the booty from that privateering, otherwise the war would soon have come to an end, as Norby could get no funds from King Christian. At the time when Gustavus Vasa was chosen ruler in Vadstena there had been talk of placing him on the throne of Sweden. Then he declined the crown, but when the fresh insurrection betokened an irreconcilable breach with the other country it was necessary for Sweden to have a king. It was therefore natural and just that the diet in Strengnas should choose the regent to be Sweden's king, and there could be no question of anyone but Gustavus. The 7th of June, 1523, was the ever-to-be-remembered day in the history of the North when the first king of the Vasa family ascended the throne. Then the town of Kalmar was taken by Arvid Vestgothe on the _27th of May; on the 7th of July the castle of Kalmar fell; and before the middle of June the city and castle of Stockholm also capitulated. On St. John's day, 1523, King Gustavus made his entry into his nearly deserted capital, and before the end of the year Finland was also taken from Norby's men. Even districts beyond Sweden's boundaries were conquered. If King Christian had not threatened the new ruler in Denmark and Severin Norby had not continued the war from Visborg with Sweden and Liibeck, the two new 371 • 272 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1523 A.D.] kings would soon have been at war with each other. However, Liibeck would not permit that: she wished to have peace between Sweden and Den- mark, both as a condition for King Christian's expulsion, and for the freedom of the Baltic; and that could not be until Gotland had ceased to be the centre of a war jvhich stopped one of the means of intercourse for their king- dom. Liibeck regarded Gustavus' success and accession to the throne essentially as her own work, and she now wanted to be rewarded for her aid. The men of Liibeck meant to have in Gustavus a useful instrument for their plans, and to be in a position to keep him in dependence upon them. At the ap- pointed diet at Strengnas two of Liibeck's councillors demanded payment ^YT*" '"* S5 ' I ^ — , ■ -■' ■ j;."'. * • .,<■ .61. fe-a=^^3- Olopsbobo Fobtbess, Finland from the new king for Liibeck's outlay and great expenses. At that moment when the war in Sweden was still going on, and Gustavus had a considerable number of soldiers to satisfy in order to take over the government in that devastated land, he could naturally not produce a sum of over 69,000 marks, and the people of Liibeck would not consent to accept paper promises alone. King Gustavus thus found himself obliged to consent to the proposed Strengnas Privilegium of the 10th of June, 1523, which shows how the Hanse Towns would have treated the whole of the North if they had been able; because according to this Privilegium King Gustavus and his council had to give the siistenance of the whole of the Swedish people into their power. Nothing can show their self-interest plainer than these articles: This agreement secured to Liibeck and Dantzic and their confederacy freedom from all taxes and other imposts everywhere in the kingdom. No foreigner of any land or nation was permitted to buy or sell in Stockholm, Kalmar, or any other place in the kingdom, except those of Liibeck and Dantzic and their confederacy and those whom the merchants of Liibeck should see fit to privilege. Neither should permission be granted to anybody else at any future time. Moreover no foreigners were allowed to be citizens either in Stockholm or Kalmar or to have permission to sail to other cities in the kingdom than those named.^ Though in possession of the object for which he had so long fought and so long intrigued, Gustavus refused to be immediately crowned. His pre- GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 273 [1523 A.D.] text was that so long as Sweden was polluted by a hostile foot he would not consent to any public rejoicings: his real motive was to evade the oaths which he well knew the clergy would, on that occasion, impose upon him. His intrigues were now directed to the augmentation of the royal authority; and he obtained, from the gratitude or fear of the states, concessions which had been granted to none of his predecessors. The public voice called upon him to procure the liberation of the late administrator's widow and the other ladies who had lingered in captivity ever since the massacre of Stockholm, under the eyes, first of Christian and now of Frederick, his successor. He was for some time evidently averse to the return of the princess, since she had borne to Sten Sture two sons, who might trouble him at some future period. But he yielded to the popular voice, and indeed his own reason told him that he should have less to apprehend under the influence of a monarch who, though outwardly amicable, was secretly hostile to his elevation. He received them and their mother with much external respect; lodged them in his own palace; and to be secure against her being made the instrument of some enterprising, ambitious noble, married her to a man of bounded intellect, without courage, without weight in the state. Her eldest son too soon descended to the tomb; and the younger, being merely an infant, could not for many years cause him any uneasiness. GUSTAVUS AND THE CLERGY To abase the clergy, yet without appearing their enemy, was an object that no monarch whose dissimulation was less profound than that of Gustavus could have attained. Nothing indeed can equal the caution or the effective- ness of his measures. He began by nominating to the vacant sees such ecclesiastics as he knew were devoted to his will. He forced the chapter of Upsala to make another election, in lieu of Archbishop TroUe, who remained in Denmark occupied in preparing the restoration of Christian. That body had no right to venture on such a step; but violence induced them to cite the absent prelate to appear, and, on his non-appearance, to imite their suf- frages in behalf of the royal candidate, Johannes Magnus, the celebrated historian of Sweden. His next object was to encourage, underhand, the preaching of the Lutheran doctrines; and when the party was sufficiently strong to throw off the mask, seize- the revenues of the dominant church and abolish her worship. When pressed by Lars Anderson [Latirentius Andrese], a man of low birth but of great talents and greater ambition, whom he had elevated from a subordinate post to the dignity of chancellor, to submit to the ceremony of his coronation, he replied that he was well acquainted with the effect such a ceremony must have, but that he coxild not, in his actual circvunstances, con- sent to its performance. He should, he added, never think himself a king — never be able to support the proper dignity of the office — tmtil he were in possession of all the fortresses held by the bishops; imtil he had reimited to the crown all the church lands and revenues which his predecessors had alienated from it. He confessed, however, that he was afraid to venture on such a measure, knowing as he did the influence which the clergy exercised over their flocks. Anderson, who was a Lutheran at heart, endeavoured to remove the royal scruples by reasoning in which there was much truth and some falsehood. The king needed not arguments, but aid, in the course which he had resolved to pursue; and he was overjoyed to find his chancellor as clearsighted as H. W. — VOL. XVI. T 274 THE HISTOBY OP SCANDINAVIA [1523-1524 A.D.] himself. Both agreed that the first and most necessary step, the foundation of all future proceedings, was to increase the number of Lutherans, without seeming to notice them. In accordance with their secret scheme, new doctors, new missionaries were brought from Germany; and those who were already in Sweden were privately informed by the chancellor that they might dis- seminate their opinions in the confidence that they would not be opposed by the monarch. Emboldened by this intimation, they preached with less secrecy. As they were superior in eloquence and knowledge to the estab- lished clergy, as they had that fervour which distinguishes the missionaries of a new creed, and which has more influence over mankind than either, their success was prodigious. As the king witnessed the rapid advance of the new doctrines, he pro- ceeded to assaU the clergy in matters where he knew he should be supported by most Roman Catholic la3mien. The Jurisdiction of the bishop and his officials had, in all coimtries — in Sweden quite as much as anywhere else — encroached on that of the temporal judges. Fines and other penalties were exacted for offences which the canons, indeed, denounced, but which, in the best ages of Christianity, had never been amenable to any tribunal; so that the church could raise a fruitful harvest from the disorders of society (and most crimes of this nature were commutable by money), she cared little for either religion or morals. By degrees, Gustavus abolished this onerous jurisdiction; and, even in cases where no just complaint could be made against the ecclesiastical tribunals, he substituted for them those of the royal judges. The clergy were loud in their murmurs: to punish them he resorted to an expedient which none of his predecessors would have ventured to adopt — he billeted his troops on their domains during the long winters. To annoy the monks especially, whom he cordially hated, he assigned their houses to his cavalry, who dwelt in them as securely as in any hostel. Some of the more obnoxious monasteries were commanded to exhibit the charters by which they held their lands; and such as could not (during the civil troubles many had been lost or destroyed), were at once deprived of their possessions. All these were so many preparatory measures, designed to accustom the people to see the humihation of the church, and to prepare them for the far greater innovations contemplated. One of the most popular missionaries of the Reformation was Olaus or Olaf Petri, a divine of great zeal, great eloquence, considerable talent, and undaunted courage. To prove that the peculiar doctrines of the Catholic church were not to be found in the Scriptures, but were the inventions of men, he published, in the Swedish language, a translation of the New Testa- ment. This was, in the main, a translation of Luther's German version; it contained the same bold license; and, as it was peculiarly adapted to the imderstanding of the villgar, it made a profoimd impression on the national mind. Yet the Scriptures, however perverted by human error in then- transfusion into other dialects, have always a captivating simplicity about them that finds its way to the heart. Thousands who had never before learned to read now applied themselves to the task, that they might be able to judge for themselves how far the new doctors were justified in forsaking the ancient church. In great alarm, the bishops called on the king to sup- press the new version, to silence its advocates, and even to punish them as heretics. As he had hitherto shown no partiality for the Reformation; as he had listened to none of its apostles, but had constantly attended the established service, some hopes were entertained that he might be induced to arrest the progress of the missionaries. With much apparent indifference, GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 275 [1535-1526 A.D.J he observed that he was ready to abandon Olaus, or any other doctor, that should be convicted of heresy; but he must hear before he would condemn. He had heard nothing against the morals of the preachers; and he was afraid that there was more acrimony among churchmen of all denominations, more contention for points trifling in themselves, than became the ministers of peace. The archbishop, who was the spokesman of the deputation, was both surprised and offended with the gentle language of the king. He engaged to prove, that some of Olaus' doctrines, so far from being idle and useless speculations, had a most pernicious tendency. The offer was accepted, and a day appointed for a public disputation at Upsala. When that day arrived, the king, with a numerous court, with many of his nobles and depeadents, repaired to the place of meeting. As the bishops were to be the judges of the controversy, they prudently refrained from taking any part in the debate; and they devolved the defence of the Catholic doctrines on a theologian named Gallus [or Galle]. Olaus was there, secure of the royal protection, and disposed to spare none of the abuses which had crept into the church. But such exhibitions have never been of much ser- vice; they may gratify partisans; they never carry conviction to the hearer. The two adversaries could not agree on their premises. Olaus would receive Scripture only in matters whether of faith or discipline; GaUus gave equal authority to tradition, to the decisions of synods and councils, to the senti- ments of the ancient doctors. Wha;tever might be thought of the other points of dispute, most of the nobles present applauded Olaf when he demanded a scriptural warrant for the enjoyment of temporal principalities by the clergy. What resemblance was there between Peter the fisherman and his pretended vicar, the Roman pontiff? In what did the bishops of that age resemble the Apostle of the Gentiles? Did not the Gospel itself expressly and earnestly prohibit all ecclesiastics from seeking, or even holding the dignities and riches of the world? Here Gallus was vanquished. He was more successful when he began to assail the mistranslation, the wilful perver- sions of the new version of the Scriptures. The king interposed by requesting the archbishop to make a new and more accurate translation. This, he observed, would be the most effectual way to convict Luther and Olaus of error, and would do much good in Sweden, where very few could read the Latin vulgate. For his own part, he should read an authorised, orthodox version with much pleasure; and the nobles, who were always intent on treading in his footsteps, made the same request. Unable to refuse, the archbishop gave the necessary directions, and within a short period the new translation appeared. This was just what the monarch wanted. To place two different versions before his subjects was to familiarize them with religious matters, to exercise their reason, and teach them to rely on their own judgment in the interpretation of God's Word. It may be doubted whether the authorised version -did not occasion nearly as much injury to the church as that of Olaus. Little fit was the simple-minded prelate to deal with so astute, so sagacious a hypocrite as the Swedish king. Olaus was not slow to publish the acts of this dispute, and to claim all the honour of victory. They were read with much interest. So rapid was the progress of the new missionaries that the houses of the greater part of the nobles were thrown open to them, and they were not merely allowed but invited to preach. It was now that Gustavus, overjoyed at the sensation which had been created, determined to commence his long-meditated career of spoliation. Assembling his senators at Stockholm, lie besought them to put the realm into a defensive state — to repair the fortresses and to aug- 276 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1526 A.D.] ment the military force. In conformity with his views they replied that the public revenues were reduced to nothing, in consequence of the monopoly enjoyed by Liibeck; that the people were exhausted by their past efforts; that the only way to replenish the treasury was to pay the regency of Liibeck, and open the ports to the vessels of all nations which should pay the usual duties. But, however necessary the discharge of the debt, where could the means be foimd for that purpose? The chancellor came at once to the object of the government. In his anxiety not to oppress his loving subjects the nobles, burghers, and rural inhabitants, the king proposed that two thirds of the tithe should, for a time at least, be applied to the support of the arma- ments required by the pubHc weal: and as to the debt due to the regency of Liibeck, might it not be discharged by the superfluous church plate? All present (for all had been gained) applauded this proof of paternal regard on the part of their monarch, and two decrees were passed — one that two thirds of the tithe should be apportioned in the way proposed; the other that the church bells, no less than the plate, should be seized in every province, every district, for the \ises of the state. The blow came on the church like a thunderbolt. The primate flew to the court to remonstrate with the king on this plunder of the holy things. The latter listened with patience, and then proudly answered that the useless ornaments on which so much value was placed were surely better employed in the service of the state than in idle pomp; and that the tithes would be more useful in the same way than in supporting the dignity of worldly- minded bishops or a host of lazy friars. This was the first time that Gus- tavus had clearly expressed himself on the subject of church temporalities; and his words sounded ominously in the ears of the primate. That, notwithstanding the empire which Gustavus had obtained over the national mind, he should meet with no opposition when he attempted to urge such measures was impossible. The clergy declaimed against him as a heretic and a usurper; and. the peasants, influenced by them, were soon organised for an insurrection. The approaching fair at Upsala was to be the rendezvous for the disaffected. Aware of the design (for he had his spies everjrwhere), the king, with a body of cavalry, hastened to the place; remonstrated with them for their stupidity in opposing what was designed for their own advantage; and, when reasoning was ineffectual, commanded his soldiers to level their pieces. Terrified by this unexpected demonstration, they knelt, implored his mercy, and were allowed to depart. He was much more seriously embarrassed by the attempt of an impostor to pass as Nils Stiire, son of the late administrator, who had died in the palace of the king near two years before. His name was Hans ; and he was a muleteer of Vestmanland. He must, however, have been used to better society than the province yielded, or he would never have duped so many thousands, not merely of the peasantry but of the clergy, the burghers, and the rural gentry. But his career in Sweden was a brief one. At the request of the monarch, the mother of the deceased prince wrote to the authorities of Dalecarlia, mentioned the time of her eldest son's death, appealed to aU Stockholm as witness of his funeral, and concluded by observing that her second son was still in the royal palace, and treated with as much distinction as if he were the son of Gustavus. Discredited and scorned, Hans now took refuge in Norway, and was supported for a time by the nobles and clergy of Trondnjem. On the complaint of the Swedish king, he was compelled to leave that country and seek a refuge at Rostock. But even there he was pursued by his vindictive enemy, who menaced the magistrates of the city with the seizure of their GTJSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 277 [1527 A.D.] vessels unless they surrendered the fugitives. They had the baseness to exceed his commands by putting the adventurer to death. The monks and friars were the next objects of the royal displeasure. Foreign abbots were banished, and the brethren allowed to leave their monas- teries only twice a year, and then for a short period. He then endeavoured to obtain the surrender of the fortresses held by the bishops. Two of the order — those whom he had nominated — showed no repugnance to the proposal; but the primate was inflexible. He had, he said, yielded enough, and he would now make a determined stand against every new demand. Fearing the influence of his virtues, the king determined to send him away under the pretext of an embassy to Poland. Landing at Dantzic, he repaired to Rome to solicit the aid of the pope; but the pope was more intent on the Tomb op King Charles Knutsson in Stockholm aggrandisement of his family than on the prosperity of religion in so barbarous a country as Sweden. Besides, the pontiff was in jeopardy from one of his own sons — the most Catholic king of Spain and most redoubtable emperor of Germany, whose army was about to sack the holy city. This was an occasion peculiarly favourable to the views of Gustavus, who proceeded more eagerly in what he called the work of reformation. If the bishops now refused to surrender the fortified towns and castles they should be reduced to obedi- ence; and all grants made to the church since the time of King Knutsson were to be revoked. Assembling the estates-general at Vesteras, he secretly directed his ofiicers to attend and demand the arrears of pay due to the army.c THE DIET OF VESTEKAS (1527 A.D.) Olaf Celsius,'^ the eighteenth century biographer of Gustavus, gives the following account of the diet : The opening of the diet was appointed for the 24th of June. The day before, the king gave a magnificent banquet to which the bishops were invited, as well as the gentlefolk among all ranks. When they went to the table, the priests, according to their usual custom, stepped forth to take the high places. At the moment when the king sat down, he 278 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1527 A.D.] commanded the council of the kingdom to sit next to him, and then the chief nobles were shown to places next to these; and therefore the bishops received their command to place themselves in proximity to the lesser eccle- siastics —where the burghers and peasants were ranged. The bishops could not conceal their consternation at this clap of thunder. They who for a long time had been accustomed to be next to the king, and who always went above the council and also above the regent, now found themselves not only below the council of the kingdom but also below the knights. They did not know whether to go away or to sit down. The first would have been the bet- ter choice, but the fear of the anger of the king impelled them to take the seats to which they were shown. The king made himself quite merry at their expense, when he saw their indignation. For a long time they were si- lent and had nothing to offer, because they were so exasperated, until the king himself suggested that they should have an op- portimity to come before the diet with their com- plaint. Then arose a great dispute about the rights of the clergy, and the bish- ops fought, in order to get at the mere truth, while the king, who now and then allowed his ardour to run away with him, had the intention of allowing them a hearing. The ban- quet and the contention were finally over, with this resolution — that in the future the bishops should content themselves with the rank which the king deigned to concede to them. The estates assembled in the great hall of the cloister because the castle had not been repaired since the last storm. Everyone was all attention and on the alert for what was coming, looking beforehand to see what was to follow worthy of remark in the order of the day. Finally the archdeacon Lars Anderson, who filled the office of chancellor to the royal court arose; he was to make a speech in the name of the king. He gave a report of all that had happened during the seven years in which Gustavus had reigned, and also of the reasons which actuated him to receive the onerous burden which belonged to the richly honoured title of king, saying that the honours to which Gustavus was raised might be considered too great a responsibility, if the love which he bore the fatherland had not overtopped the annoyance which unceasing cares brought with them. Knowledge of his sincerity must 'iWiWy((iMlllliiilil(iiUil«llllttlilipiiiM)^ ~" -di— z?^';^ — ^' Stranqo Church Doob GUSTAVtrS VASA TO CHAELES IX 279 [1527 A.D.] spread far and wide; why should he be censured for punishing the conspira- tors? What else could he do under such circumstances? What course would be most advantageous and acceptable? Should he cast away the sceptre which was entrusted to him? Such a resolution he had already formed, but the council of the kingdom and the estates had hindered it. They had repented of their folly with tears, and entreated pardon; yet they had kept on in the same way with new acts of the same tenor. He demanded a free- will offering with the advice and consent of the estates. In reply they ranted about the expensive times, as though famine and plenty were in the hands of the king. There were indeed many establishments for housing sufficient corn and salt. The needs of the hungry were already quieted by his care. It must also be imderstood that while universal disquiet reigned in Europe, Sweden also, as well as other lands, would be disaffected and feel its share. They had no need with cunning and power to tear the sceptre from his hand. He would give it to them, although he had the power to show them his strength. What kind of a prop would it be to him, that he should care for it? On the contrary, he would be glad to dwell in retirement on the thought of their happiness under another master. They need fear from him neither trouble nor any violence. Yet he would first lay the common needs before them — those which concerned the whole body of the kingdom, with- out the supply of which no one could favourably esteem his government. For the first act the income of the crown must be increased, to meet the increase of the annual expenses. The maintenance of the court, the govern- ment, the fleet, relations with foreign powers, and other needs must be sup- plied, but the lesser income of the kingdom must be separate from that. The obedience of inferiors to their ruler must be given the first place. Tlie nobility of the kingdom must be uplifted from its poverty to its former prestige. It would then appear as an ornament and a bulwark of the kingdom. The castles and fortifications of the kingdom, the best and the most desir- able of which the bishops had in their possession, must be improved and given up to the crown. The inward discontent, which for a long time had been the ruin of the noble houses and which had spread into other sections of the nation, must be wholly laid aside. The fatherland had recognised the divine teaching and it must be the thought of all to strive for one aim, to use one means — to obey the king. These were the ill-assorted matters with which a Swedish ruler had to deal. His subjects must settle these points in order that he might not be wearied with the burden. This was the sole condition on which he would be their king. When the chancellor had finished the address the king turned to the leader of the senate, Thure Jonsson, in order that he should reply in the name of the nobles. , Immediately Thure Jonsson gave his oration in order publicly to show to the bishop of Linkoping that priority belonged to him. The prelate spoke afterwards: "We of the religious world must recognise," he said, " that we are under obligations and bound by different oaths and to different masters, viz. to the pope and to the king of Sweden. To the first we have sworn an inviolable obedience, and never to allow any changes which would be detrimental to the rights of the clergy. For we possess this wealth, not as our own but as a fief of the church. And for its administration we must render a sharp account to the apostolic tribunal." The king turned again to the senators. Jonsson replied inamediately : "We are all with one mind in favour of what the bishop of Linkoping has said, in whose well-composed speech everything has been expressed." " Good! " 280 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1527 A..D.] answered the king. " It is also my conclusion. I renounce the kingdom and only demand my own again — my father's inheritance which I turned over to the good of the land. After that, I will journey out of the kingdom and I promise never to burden you with my company hereafter." It almost seemed [he proceeded] as if the subjects thought that the king controlled the rain and storms as much as he did his kingdom, when they permitted themselves to blame the ruler for every evil with which the land was plagued. He said: "There is no devil in hell, much less a man, who would be able to rule it." With these words the king's countenance changed, the tears flowed from his eyes, and he went out. This occasioned an amazing and universal stillness. Then, little by little discussion began. The priests drew near to Brask while the nobility approached the leader of the senate. The burgher and peasant were without courage and almost without feeling. The King is Besought to Assume the Administration However, the burghers had grasped the right view of the whole thing and they were on the side of the king. On the f oUowmg day the estates naet again There was a high, wordy debate, without result, and conducted in great disorder. The first half of the day passed in such proceedings, without practical results or earnestness of effort. At length the leader of the burghers arose and took the floor. He entreated the nobility and the bishops by all that was sacred to weigh the importance of the thing — to study it with determination and energy, in order to reach a final conclusion. Many of the burghers began to shout: "The king brought peace, his rule was so cautious; and everyone must know that he was pre-eminently wise. How could any- one desert him?" But the Catholic priests stormed so much the more, in order to quell the sound with their murmurs and also audibly to express their displeasure. TTie speech of the burghers rang out with clear full tone: " If those in authority do not soon decide what is to be done, then the burghers will decide to give to the king all that he wishes. They have determined to follow the counsel of the king and they are sure to stand and persevere in their oath of allegiance to him. If any oppose and stir up discord, then at their own cost and for two years long they will hold, for the service of the king, all lake cities and especially chief cities." The peasants ever3nvhere now said the same. In his heart Brask pitied himself for being deceived by his colleagues; he could do nothing further, however, than pity himself. The nobility thought that the Catholic priests should be recalled and allowed to defend their teach- ing against opposition. The first question was whether the discussions should be in Latin or Swedish. Olaus Petri spoke for Swedish, in order that all might understand it; Gallus held out for the Latin because this thing could only be properly rendered in that language. So they argued — one for Swed- ish, and one for Latin. There was no end to the war till late in the evening, when Olaus Petri conquered, and the estates closed the day's proceedings. Several of the nobility, besides the common people, went immediately to the king in order on that day to take a firm oath of loyalty to him. The assembly began on the third day with the same clamour as on the day previous. 'The Catholic priests had ever new grievances to state and their speeches were so filled with circumlocution that the day was spent fruitlessly. But the burgher and peasant showed their earnestness: "We are all of one mind," they said, "and by our deputies we have declared our loyal allegiance ■^ GUSTAVUS VASA ENTERING STOCKHOLM (Painted for The Historians' History of the Would by Thure de Thulstrup) GTJSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 281 [1527 A.D.] to the king, and also our wish to follow his desire." One Mans Bryntesson went to the leader of the senate and whispered to him that he must restrain himself and defer his anger till another time. With that Jonsson allowed his vehemence to subside and declared himself ready for an accommodation. However, it was impossible for him to forbear to remark, "The king can be found another time; his highness can wait." Now arose the question of how to conciliate the king. How it would be possible to bring him into the assembly? The chancellor Lars Anderson and Olaus Petri were chosen to bear the loyal request. They maintained that because a resolution had been passed which was conformable to the will of the king he would not be disinclined to resume the administration. The deputies declared to the king the repentance of his subjects and they heartily implored forgiveness. However, Gustavus listened to their prolonged address with coldness and hauteur, and after it was concluded he replied briefly: "I am tired of being your king." The deputies continued most urgent. They stamped their feet with vehemence, and struggled to emphasise their words with an accompaniment of tears ; but there was no reply. This scene aroused great anguish in the assembly of the estates; and for the moment everything was in an uproar. THE RECESS OF VESTERAS (1527 A.D.) After numberless deputations the king finally returned the answer that he would join them. This occasioned universal joy, and all awaited his return with eagerness. Gustavus allowed them to wait for three long days. On the fourth day, accompanied by the council of the kingdom, by the chief nobles, by the common people, also by the burghers and peasants, besides twelve of the bodyguard, who were newly clad in polished armour, he went to them. Only the priests were lacking in his following. On his arrival the estates went out to meet him. His form, speech, and bearing took on a double majesty for this occasion, and so impressed the common people with high thoughts of his person that the tone of their language could not be sub- missive and loyal enough to him. All entreated forgiveness and laid before him their requests.** All his demands were conceded. The king's propositions were answered by each class for itself — by the nobility, the traders, the miners, and the peasants, although their deliberations appear to have been held in company. The statute which was the result of these, known under the title of the Recess of Vesteras, and dated on Midsummer's Day, 1527, was issued in the name of the council of state, whose seals were appended to it, with those of the nobility and of certain burghers and miners appointed on the part of the commonalty. The bishops, who from this time were no longer summoned to the council, briefly declared, in a special instrument, that they were content, how rich or poor soever his grace would have them to be. The act of the coimcil on the Recess of Vesteras contains (1) a mutual engagement to withstand all attempts at revolt and to punish them, as also to defend the present government against all enemies, foreign and domestic; (2) a grant of power to the king, to take into his own hands the castles and strongholds of the bishops, and to fix their revenues as well as those of the prebends and canonries, to levy fines hitherto payable to the bishops, and to regulate the monasteries, in which there had for a long time been "woeful misgovernment"; (3) authority for the nobles to resume that part of their hereditary property which had been conveyed to churches and convents since the Inquisition {rdfst) of 282 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1528 A.D.] Charles Knutsson in 1454, if the heir-at-law could substantiate his birthright thereto, at the Thing, by the oaths of twelve men; (4) liberty for the preachers to proclaim the pure word of God, "but not" the barons add, "uncertain miracles, human inventions and fables, as hath been much used heretofore." Respecting the new faith, on the other hand the burghers and miners declare that "inquiry might be made, but that the matter passed their under- standing"; as do the peasants, since "it was hard to judge more deeply than understanding permitted." The answer of the latter betrays the affection they still, for the most part, bore .to the clergy, with the exception of the mendicant friars or sack-monks, of whose conduct they complain. Of the bishops' castles they say that the king may take them in keeping, imtil the kingdom shall be more firmly settled; for the article respecting the revenues of the church, they believe they are unable to answer it, but commit this matter to the king and his council. In that supplement to the statute which is entitled the Ordinance of Vesteras, it is enacted that a register of all the rents of the bishops, cathedrals, and canons should be drawn up, and the king might direct what proportion of these should be reserved to the former owners, and how much paid over to him for the requirements of the crown; that ecclesiastical offices, not merely the higher but the inferior, should for the future be filled up only with the king's consent, so that the bishops might supply the vacant parishes with preachers, but subject to reviewal by the king, who might remove those whom he found to be unfit; that in secular matters priests should be amenable to the civil jurisdiction, and on their decease no part of their effects should devolve to the bishops; finally, that from that day the gospels should be read in all schools, " as beseems those which are truly Christian." When these arrangements had been concerted, the king turned towards the prelates, and demanded from the bishop of Strengnas the castle of Tyn- nelso, which the latter declared himself ready to surrender. A similar answer was returned by the bishop of Skara in reference to that of Lecko; but when, the king came to Bishop Brask and requested his castle of Munkeboda, silence and sighs were the only reply. Thiu-e Jonsson begged for his old friend that the castle might be at least spared to him during his lifetime, but the king answered shortly, "No!" Eight lords of the coimcil were obliged on the spot to become sureties for the bishop's obedience. Forty men of his bodyguard were taken from him to be entered among the royal forces, and they formed a portion of the troops, who were forthwith dispatched to take possession of the fortress with its artillery and appurtenances. At the same time the king sent various men of note as commissioners to the principal churches and monasteries throughout Sweden, to take into their keeping all documents concerning the estates and revenues of these foundations, and a declaratory letter of the council on the Recess and Ordinance of Vesteras was issued to all the provinces. Bishop Brask succeeded by a seeming submission in freeing himself from the secm-ities he had been obliged to find; shortly afterwards, pretending a visitation to Gotland, he quitted the kingdom forever and joined the archbishop, who was likewise a fugitive in Dantzic.e At the head of his cavalry, with the evangelical doctors in his train, Gustavus proceeded into the provinces, caused them everj^here to preach before him, and resumed the lands which had been granted to the church, before as well as after the time of Charles Knutsson. At one blow he took away two thirds of all hqr revenues : no fewer than sixteen thousand manors were thus placed at his disposal. The greater number he united to the crown; GtJSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX S83 r^g/.-^ •■ [152S-1529 A.D.] but many also he gave to his nobles, to his officers, to his courtiers, to all whose co-operation was likely to be useful. But he touched not the lands or revenues of the chiu"ches, or even of the monasteries, which consented to embrace the Lutheran doctrines. This was the most effectual way of pro- selytising. The next in efficiency was the permission now allowed the eccle- siastics to marry and mix with the world. A great number, however, with the bishop of Linkoping, retired into foreign countries; and many into Dalecarlia, with the hope of enjoy- ing religious liberty and of organ- ising a more successful resistance. Gustavus was well prepared for the manifestation now visible in Dalecarlia and the western prov- inces. Through the influence of the ecclesiastics, a formidable band was ready to take the field. But, in the first instance, it was judged advisable to send him a deputation, praying him to undo what he had lately done. He answered them by fair promises until his forces were collected; then he hastened to them, seized such of their chiefs as had not time to escape, and made the multitude sue for pardon. The ancient church was overthrown. The king declared himself a Luth- eran, nominated Lutherans to the vacant sees, and placed Lutherans in the parish churches." THE SYNOD OF OREBRO (1529 A.D.) The Lutherans had spread Maria Elizabeth, Wife op Duke Johan op ostebqotland (1596-1618) themselves over the entire king- dom; but the greater part of the common people, who occupied the land, still had Catholic teachers ; for that reason there were everywhere traces of a medley of Lutheran and Catholic ceremonies. Gustavus wished to have a imif orm worship, throughout the kingdom. Finally, he summoned a general council to Orebro. . He had doubtless often thought of convoking such an assembly, but the priests especially had zealously opposed it, and they had succeeded in hindering it until this time. Finally the religious body met, in the beginning of the year 1529, at Orebro. Besides the bishops and priests, who were clothed with the highest authority, there were also assembled in opposition to them the foremost men of the kingdom. The chancellor, Lars Aiiderson, who was at the same time archdeacon of Upsala, presided over the assembly, in the name of the king. He exerted himself in every particular to put all Catholic ceremonies out of the way at once; made use of all kinds of expedients and many artifices in order to bring this about. He scarcely dared to mention the name of Luther in this connection, and still less could he acknowledge his teachings as the underlying motive of the thing in view. It was appropriate and fitting for 284 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1539 A.D.1 the chancellor to declare that the sacred writings should be industriously- read. However, most of those present were not inclined to concede that Luther's version should be universally introduced into the kingdom. The monks must be allowed instead to furnish the Latin version, generally used in the popish church, which is usually ascribed to the saintly father, St. Jerome. The number of the feast days must be limited; yet the Lutheran must suffer still, in order that the feasts of the patron saints of the kingdom and of the church might be kept. Lars Anderson fully realized that at this time it would be simply impos- sible to tamper with and abrogate what it was perfectly evident would be publicly missed from the service of God; then he adopted the means of explaining things away: the holy water should be used, not for the reason that it washed away sins — because the blood of Christ alone could effect that — but as a mere remembrance of the baptismal vow. The pictures should remain in the churches, not for adoration and worship but as an ornament to the temple, and in order to direct the thoughts of the people to the glory of the saints. Palms should be waved — not as if any power could be derived from the act or anything effected by it, but as a remembrance of the honour which the people showed to Christ when he was on his way to Jerusalem. The priests were exhorted to instruct their hearers diligently in this particular, and to teach them to cherish no superstition which was connected with the usual ceremonial of the church. The final resolutions of this council were subscribed to by all who were present, and they were put under seal on Low Sunday, 1529. As soon as Olaus Petri had retm-ned to Stockholm from this council, he wrote a Swedish Handbook of Evangelical Proofs, wherein many popish cere- monies were omitted and several were retained. However, the priests found great difficulty in using this handbook among the women; as they were wholly unreconciled to the abolition of the prayers for the dead. Neither did they feel that their children were properly baptised unless salt were placed in the mouth during the ritual of baptism, and unless the horrible exorcisms were used to which they were accustomed. In order to avoid an uproar the king indicated to the priests that salt and exorcisms might be added to the service to pacify the people, who were indeed so strong and so imperative that they might better be conciliated in matters which, them- selves, meant nothing and -which contributed little to the confirmation of the faith.** THE REVOLT OF THE VESTERGOTLANDERS Of all the insurrectionary movements in the time of King Gustavus, the revolt of the Vestergotlanders was the only one which was called into activity at the instigation, not only of the clergy, but of the nobility. Yet the lords sought to push forward the peasants — a proof sufficient that the barons were no longer so powerful as they had been. The energies of democracy in Sweden were never more vigorous than after the massacre of Stockholm had broken the strength of the magnates, and the diet of Vesteras, that of the bishops. Gustavus stood amidst a turbulent stream of popular force which had burst its bounds. This had first raised him to a throne which during twenty years it struggled to overturn. His accustomed mode of action, to follow the torrent when it was about to overpower him, until he should gain firm footing, was dictated to him by necessity; and it must be acknowledged that he well knew how to guide himself among the dangers of his position. GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 285 [1529 A.D.] Letters of the king and his council were despatched to all the provinces, to the effect that he would gladly mend whatever might be wrong in his gov- ernment; touching religion and the church, nothing had been determined without the assent of the council and the estates, nor should be hereafter. The Smalanders were, besides, wheedled with a pledge that two convents should be preserved; the clergy he engaged to exempt from entertaining the royal troops, if they would give their aid in appeasing the commons; to the Dalesmen he promised the remission of the tax they had so keenly contested; and to the miners, an acquittance from some of the demands of the crown. The abundance of the sovereign's good words seemed not to suffice; he begged that others too would employ the like. It was usual at this time when one province was in revolt to invoke the mediation of the rest, in reference to the ancient league by which they had been united. Thus the town of Stockholm now wrote to the Dalesmen, praying them to refrain from taking part in this insurrection. The Dalesmen and the miners on the other hand, although two years afterwards they were themselves ready for a new rising, addressed on this occasion a specialletter of admonition to the factious Vestergotlanders and Smalanders; but the Ostergotlanders, the neighbours of the latter, were in par- ticular employed as mediators. Delegates from Upland and Ostergotland, with the royal envoys, hastened to Vestergotland and Smaland, bearing an offer of full pardon for the men of these territories, if they returned to their obedience. The result was that when Thure Jonsson convoked a meeting of the Vestergotlanders on Larf s heath, on April 17th, 1529, and harangued them from a great stone — on the expediency of electing another king, Magnus, bishop of Skara, and also assm-ing them that the pope would absolve them from their oaths, the yeomen made answer that "a change of lords seldom made matters better; therefore it seemed to them most advisable to hold fast to the fealty which they had sworn to king Gustavus." Thereupon both the Vestergotlanders and the Smalanders, who had informed the royal com- missioners that they would be guided by the decision of their brethren, laid down their arms. In the writ of accommodation, pledges were given to them, that what had happened should be as a matter dead and forgotten, and that no heresy should be introduced into the kingdom; yet, the king added, the recess of Vesteras should be observed on every point. In this settlement the mediators are placed on a parallel with the authorities, for it is stated that " the good men of Upland and Ostergotland likewise, who have inter- ceded for the disturbers, shall have power to mulct of goods and life every man who, after this day, by word or deed shall stir up any disorders against the king." So this sedition was quelled. Joran Thureson, the dean who had attempted to raise the Helsingers, was at last seized by them and delivered to the king, who was satisfied with dismissing him from his office. His father, the old high steward, with bishop Magnus, fled across the border to Denmark. Seven barons, who all styled themselves councillors of state in Vester- gotland, had plotted with the rebel leaders of Larfs heath, before the reso- lution of the yeomanry was known, to change the government of Sweden, and had renounced fealty and obedience to King Gustavus. Their letter was not sent; and assurances were afterwards given them by the priest, master Nils of Hwalstad, that all the documents by which their participation in the revolt might be proved should be committed to the flames. Deeming that the king did not know or would not see their guilt, they ventured to lay the whole blame of this transaction on Thure Jonsson and the bishop, and to offer themselves to the judgment of the council and the estates at the diet now convoked in Strengnas. Here Gustavus vindicated himself at length from 286 THE HISTORY OP SCANDINAVIA [1529-1530 A.D.] the accusations brought against him, and caused a defence of the Recess of Vesteras, composed by Lawrence Peterson, to be made pubUc. On the trial, it was declared that the arraigned lords had forfeited all claim to be included in the warrant of peace granted by the king, or to obtain a pardon; the more so as, although thrice called upon by him to acknowledge their guilt and sue for grace, they had refused to comply. They were, therefore, in accordance with the tenor of their own letters now produced against them, condemned to death; and the sentence was executed on two of them. The pardon of a third was granted to the supplications of his mother, but he was obliged to pay a fine of 2,000 guilders (£158), and the rest of those who had borne a leading part in the revolt saw themselves under the necessity of afterwards purchasing the king's good will with money and costly presents. THE DEBT TO LXTBECK The debt to Liibeck was still unpaid. From an account adjusted in 1529 by the king's brother-in-law, the count of Hoya, with the authorities of the town, it is plain that the capital had not been di- minished since the year 1523, notwithstanding the tax levied for its dis- charge, and this circum- stance was one cause of the general discontent which prevailed. An agreement had now, in- deed, been concluded, by which the privileges granted in 1523 were to be confined to Liibeck, the town consenting that the debt should be paid by instalments within four years; but even this ar- rangement rendered neces- • sary the employment of extraordinary means. Imitating an example which had already been set in Denmark, a baronial diet held at Upsala in the early part of the year 1530 resolved that, from all the town churches of the king- dom, one bell should be taken towards the cancelling of this debt. The municipalities acceded to this measure, and in the following year the same requisition was extended to the rural churches, the bells being redeemable with money, at the option of the parishes. Agents specially commissioned by the council settled the conditions of arrangement with the commonalty of the various districts; engaging, on the king's part, that what was thus col- lected should be appUed only to the object specified, and that the expenditure of the sum should be accounted for by persons thereto appointed. The tithes for the years were besides exacted, with all the money and plate still remaining in the church coffers that could be spared. In this way the debt to Liibeck was entirely paid off; but its discharge cost the king a new insur- rection. The Dalecarlians once more rose; took back their bells, which they had already delivered up; and despatched letters throughout the kingdom, in which they invoked the remembrance of the ancient confederation, request- TOCKMOCK'S CHAPEI. GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 287 [1530-1531 A.D.] ing that twelve men of condition from every hundred might assemble in a general diet at Arboga, on St. Eric's day (the 18th of May), 1531, in order to deliberate, and to come to a decision upon certain affairs of the commons, which concerned the interests of all men, more especially respecting the dissensions in the Christian church. The peasants in Gestricland, in a part of Vestmanland, and in Nerike, likewise resumed possession of their bells. The king with difficulty appeased the discontent of the Uplanders; subse- quently he employed their chiefs, with the magistrates of Stockholm, in a negotiation with the insurgents of Dalecarlia. At the head of the latter, in the present attempt, appeared men who had heretofore been the most faithful adherents of the king. The peasants of the Dales, said these, would not again allow themselves to be pinned in a ring, as once upon Tuna Heath : to come across the Dal-elf at Brunback without the Dalesmen's leave, was what no king or lord of the land had ever dared, and even Gustavus should not come into their country without safe-conduct, or with a greater following than they themselves should appoint; nor would they suffer any officers to live among them, other than such as they had themselves consented to receive, and as had been born among them. All this they alleged to be the old custom of their country, and they now kept armed guard upon the borders. When the king came to hear this, he said that it was now the time of the Dalesmen, but that his own time was coming; and to the astonishment of all, he nominated one of the principal insurgent leaders to be governor of the Dales. GUSTAVUS DEFEATS CHRISTIAN IN NORWAY This caution was rendered necessary by the perils which threatened from another quarter. Christian II, though dethroned, was ever busied with plans for recovering the kingdoms of which he had been master, and he had more than once, for this purpose, collected troops, which yet he never had suc- ceeded in keeping together. Meanwhile the dwelling of Christian in the Netherlands, where he lived under the protection of the emperor, was a point of reunion for all the Swedish malcontents and exiles. Here resided the former archbishop, Gustavus TroUe, who had carried off with him the old records of the kingdom; here were gathered Thure Jonsson, bishop Magnus of Skara, and Jon Ericson, dean of Upsala, who held commimication with bishop Hans Brask,now likewise a refugee. In the year 1530 they bound themselves, by a special covenant, to replace Christian "by the arms of their adherents" on the throne, and invoked the aid of the emperor, " to free Sweden, for the boot of Christendom, from a tyrant who cared neither for God nor men, for word, honour, nor repute." By the end of October, 1531, Christian put to sea with a fleet of twenty-five vessels, and though these were dispersed by a storm in which several were lost, he was himself fortimate enough to effect a landing in Norway at Opslo. The Northmen, who had long been disaffected from Danish rule, perceived in Christian the instrument by which they might regain independence. The fate of Christian was, however, soon decided. His ships were burned by the united squadrons of Denmark and Liibeck; and the unfortunate prince was incarcerated in the eastern tower of the castle of Sonderburg, in a vaulted chamber of which all the apertures were walled up, one little window excepted, through which his food was introduced. In this abode of horror, where a Norwegian dwarf was his only companion. King Christian lived seventeen years, the first twelve without any alleviation of his misery. His imprisonment lasted in all seven and twenty years, and was only terminated by death. 888 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1531-1533 A.D.] THE LAST EISING OF THE DALECAELIANS Such being the event of Christian's invasion, Gustavus obtained time again to turn his thoughts to the Dalecarlians, in whose territory all was for the present tranquil. The Dalesmen, weary of moving about in arms among their forests, had made an offer to the king, at the end of the ye^r 1531, to redeem their bells with a sum of 2,000 marks, and were the more gladdened by his promise of pardon, as they regarded it as a silent confirmation of their privileges. They celebrated with feasts, say the chronicles, the old liberty of the Dales. But the king, on the other hand, had determined forever to extinguish their claims to peculiar privileges above the other inhabitants of the kingdom; and he was, besides, moved anew to indignation when the miners set at naught his summons to defend the kingdom against the attack of Christian, and held communications with his runaway subjects. These mutinous excesses were ascribed more especially to " Magnus Nilson with his faction," who — the real instigator of the bell-sedition — was at that time the richest miner in the Kopparberg, and of whom it is popularly said that he shod his horses with silver. In the commencement of the year 1533 Gustavus cited his own retainers, with those of the nobility, to meet at Vesteras. No man knew against whom this armament was really directed, although rumour spoke of new complots by the factionaries of King Christian. The king's injunctions to his captains were, " Wheresoever ye see me advance, thither haste ye speedily after." The expedition took its way to the Dale country, whose inhabitants had lately sent representatives to Vesteras. These the king detained, and in their stead despatched proclamations to the Dalecarlians, purporting that " he well knew that little of what had happened could be imputed to the common people; he came only to hold an inquisition upon the guilty, whom it was meet they should cast out from among them." He invited them all to come to a conference at the Kopparberg. The king arrived as soon as the letters, and the commonalty assembled — some with good will, others by constraint. As on the previous occasion, troops encompassed the assembly; first several lords of the council spoke to the people, afterwards the king himself. He asked the Dalesmen whether they remembered their promise made six years before, when he had pardoned the revolt then commenced, or they supposed they might play this game with him every year with impunity. This bout should be the last. He would suffer no province in his dominion to be hostile; for the future theirs should be either obedient, or so desolated that neither hound nor cock should be heard in it. He asked them where they would have that border which their king must not dare to overstep, and whether it became them as sub- jects thus to master their magistrates. What was the true reason why the Stures, although the rulers of the land, had never ventured to cross the stream at Bmnback without the leave of the miners? To such insolence he, at least, would not submit. After this fashion, the king spoke to them long and sharply, and during that time the whole of the commonalty were upon their knees. He called upon them to deliver up the instigators of the last sedition, which was forthwith performed. Five of them were tried and executed upon the spot; the rest were carried prisoners to Stockholm, where, in the following year, three of them, pursuant to the judgment of the. council and the town magistrates, were put to death — among them Anders Person of Rankhytta, in whose barn Gustavus had once threshed. The forfeited property of the offenders was restored to their wives and children. Thus ended the third and last rising of the Dalecarlians against King Gustavus. GIJSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 289 [1533-1536 A.D.] lubeck's last efforts are subdued At this time Liibeck was calling up its last energies for the maintenance of its comnlercial power; for its citizens, who "wished to hold in their sole grasp the keys of the Baltic, looking only to their own advantage," had long seen with reluctance the Hollanders dividing with themselves the trade of the North. They had contributed to the overthrow of Christian II because he had favoured these rivals, but they had not reaped the fruits expected from his fall; and they ended by wishing to raise him from his prison to the throne. Gustavus had already, in 1526, formed a commercial treaty with the regent Margaret of the Netherlands, and although Christian had received support from that quarter ' in his last enterprise, the misimderstandings thereby created were eventually adjusted. Liibeck, on the other hand, demanded that Sweden and Denmark should declare war on the Hollanders, and in the mean time postpone the assertion of its own quarrel with them, in order to kindle a new one in the North. Marcus Meyer and Gorgen Wollen- wever, two bold demagogues, were the men who, having ejected the old council of Liibeck and usurped the government in the name of the populace, ruined the power of their native city by the attempt again to make and unmake kings. By the death of Frederick of Denmark, on the 3rd April, 1533, and the disputes which afterwards arose respecting the succession, their plans were advanced. To excite new troubles in Sweden they employed the name of young Svante Sture, a son of the last administrator, who had fallen into their hands. The generous youth refused to be the tool of their designs, for which they found a more willing instrument in the count John of Hoya, whom Christian reckoned one of the persons "introduced into the govern- ment by the towns." Gustavus had united him in marriage with his sister, placed him in his coimcil, and bestowed upon him a considerable territory in Finland. Estrangement seems to have first arisen between the count and his sovereign from the computation of the Swedish debt made by the former at Liibeck in 1529, fixing the amount at 10,000 marks higher than Gustavus would acknowledge. The debt was afterwards discharged within the period agreed upon, but the Liibeckers maintained that from 8,000 to 10,000 marks of the same were still wanting, while Gustavus asserted that the Liibeck commissioners had omitted just so much from their accoimts, and applied the money to their own use. The consequence was that the Liibeckers seized a ship belonging to the king, whereupon he laid an embargo on all Liibeck vessels in Swedish harbours, the bitter hatred of the townsmen to him finding vent in speeches, writings, overt acts of hostility, and at last also in clandestine designs against his life. The count of Hoya fled, with his wife and children, from Sweden, and was received at Liibeck with public demonstrations of rejoicing. Associating himself with the other Swedish exiles, he took part with Gustavus Trolle and Bernard of Melen in the war which now broke out. In the year 1534 began the Count's Feud, so called because the possessors of power in Liibeck placed Count Christopher of Oldenburg at the head of their attack upon Demnark. This was the last blow struck for Christian II, whose cause Liibeck pretended to lead. Lubeck saw itself reduced, in 1536, to conclude a peace with Denmark, which brought the war with Sweden also to an end. But the dissatisfaction of Gustavus that Denmark should have concluded a separate peace, and under conditions by which he deemed his interests to be prejudiced in several points, the difficulties which arose concerning the payment of the loan wherewith he had assisted Christian III, and various other disputes, afterwards well-nigh H. W. — VOL. XVI. U 290 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1536-1554 A.D.] led to a rupture with Denmark. At length a good understanding was restored, and an alliance between the two kingdoms for twenty years contracted, at a personal interview of the sovereigns in Bromsebro. The Hanse Towns, on the other hand, after this unsuccessful attempt to restore their ancient influ- ence in the North, never recovered their former privileges. In Liibeck, the party which had instigated the war was overturned. Among their plans was included a conspiracy against Gustavus: the king was to be assassinated, and Stockholm delivered to the Liibeckers. The plot was detected; and its authors, who were for the most part German burgesses, suffered (in 1536) the penalty of their crime. THE ACT OF HERBDITAEY SETTLEMENT As early as the year 1526, when the comicil solicited the king to choose a consort, provision was made that, if God should grant him sons, one of them — and the eldest in preference — should be his successor, while lands and fiefs were to be settled on the others, as was beseeming for the children of a sover- eign. Eric and John (the king's firstborn son by Margaret) were presented to the council convened at Orebro on the 4th of January, 1540, along with several of the chief nobles and prelates. The king drew his sword, and the assembled peers, touching the blade, took an oath, administered by him and confirmed by the reception of the sacrament, in which they acknowledged his sons as the legitimate heirs of the kingdom. Four years afterwards, at the diet of Vesteras, this act was further confirmed, and the succession to the throne settled, according to priority of birth, upon the male heirs of the sovereign, the estates recognising and doing solemn homage to Eric as crown prince. The act of Hereditary Settlement passed at Vesteras, and dated the 13th of January, 1544, was drawn up in the name of all estates by order of the nobles, who here styled themselves "members and props of the crown of Sweden." At the diet of Strengnas, in 1547, the estates declared themselves likewise ready to acknowledge and maintain "the testamentary disposition which the king's majesty has made or may yet make for the princely heirs of his body." The statute for this purpose was framed by the clergy, although it is plain, from various records, that the other orders also gave their assent to it. Now, for the first time after the beginning of the Reformation, we find this estate — no longer represented by the bishops only, but also by pastors of churches, both in towns and rural parishes — again mentioned as present at the diet; a proof that the greater number, at least, were now Protestants. After the act of settlement had been passed, an order was made, "that the king's majesty might not daily be burdened and troubled with so many affairs," for the councillors of state to be in attendance upon him continually, two every month. TROUBLES CONCERNING FINLAND In 1554 the Russian war broke out on the borders of Finland. Gustavus had regarded this portion of his dominions with a paternal solicitude which was extended likewise to the more distant Laplanders. He forbade the oppressions practised by the trading peasants of Norrland and Finland upon this wild and defenceless race, and sought to disseminate Christianity among the Lapps by missionaries. By the labours of Michael Agricola, a Firm by birth and the pupil of Luther and Melanchthon, whom Gustavus appointed ordinary of Abo, the Finlanders obtained the Bible, prayer-book, psalms, and GTJSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 291 [1551-1559 A.D.] the first books of instruction in their language. Their manners were still marked by much barbarity and lawlessness. The king was obliged, in 1551, to chastise the Tavastrians, who had surprised and burned the newly estab- lished settlements of the Swedes, already flourishing, in the forests of East Bothnia. Dark and extraordinary crimes are mentioned, and the remoteness of situation, tempting by the prospect of impunity, led to great outrages on the part of the possessors of fiefs and the royal bailiffs, as is shown by the king's letters to the Flemings, who then exercised great power in Finland. The peace subsisting with Russia since 1510 had been last confirmed in 1537; but the frontier was undefined, and in desolate Lapland it was unknown to either side. Yet disputes speedily arose which produced quarrels between the baUiffs respecting the collection of the crown dues,' and at length mutual plundering, homicides, and burnings. As early as 1545, Gustavus, in a letter to Francis I, complains of an inroad of the Russians into Finland. This was returned with equal damage from the Swedish side, though without the king's orders, and brought on an open war, in which the grand master of the Livonian knights and the king of Poland promised their aid to Gustavus against the czar Ivan Vasilievitsch II. The king himself repaired to Finland in the fol- lowing year, with a fleet and army. But mutual devastations, from which Finland suffered most, composed the whole occurrences of the war. The Russians laid fruitless siege to Viborg with a very large army, and carried off with them a crowd of captives. Their chronicles relate that a man was sold for ten copecks, and a maiden for fifteen. The war occasioned great outlay, and disease raged among the soldiery. These causes, coupled with the failure of the promised help from Livonia and Poland, led first to a cessa- tion of arms, and thereafter to a peace, concluded at Moscow (April 2nd, 1557), for forty years. The disputed boundaries were to be determined by special commissioners. Designs on Livonia from this side were soon to set the whole North in flames. The Russian giant was now beginning to struggle towards the sea, whence fresher air might stream upon his sluggish body. Gustavus kept aloof from the discords which were soon engendered. His sons, however, did not share his own caution, and his knowledge of their character filled him with apprehension. Heavy was the weight of care which accumulated upon his last years. He complained that his old friends had departed, and that he felt himself lonely in the world. He had lost, in 1551, his beloved consort Margaret Lejonhufvud, who had borne to him ten children: five sons and five daughters. He married again, after the lapse of a year, the young Catherine Stenbock. In February, 1559, after the Russians had plundered the whole country to Riga, Ivan Vasilievitsch II was informed by his commanders that Livonia lay in ashes. Before this invasion, commenced in the year previous, fell the old but now shattered dominion of the sword-knights; and as aid was sought from Poland, the emperor, Denmark, and Sweden, the coimtry was now about to become — as throughout a whole century it continued — the theatre for the settlement of their contending pretensions. He was already opening that series of wars beyond the Baltic in which Sweden was to be engaged; and it was not without good grounds that he who is justly styled the father of his coimtry scrupled to enter on a path so full of uncertainty. AH the sentiments recorded as having fallen from him in his last year show that he viewed with the pro- foundest anxiety the prospect of Sweden's future. The very expedient he adopted, to avoid setting her all to hazard in the dangerous hands of Eric, in- volved risks which undoubtedly did not escape his penetration. All around, 292 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1558 A.D.] clouds were darkening the political horizon. He had received information that another last attempt was about to be made on behalf of the family of his old enemy Christian; and, on the side of Denmark, under the new king Frederick II the chances of war seemed so imminent that Gustavtis kept his arniy and fleet in readiness. Those who now invoked his assistance for Livonia, the granting of which would have provided a new war with Russia, were the same who deserted him in his former war with that country. He discerned only one Swedish interest at stake in the whole quarrel — that of setting bounds to the augmentation of the Danish power in this quarter, after Reval had offered, in 1558, its submission to King Christian III — and beyond question this was his motive in binding himself to support the grand master of the order by a loan, ob- taining that town as secm-ity; unless it was a mere pretext on the king's part to take the matter out of the management of his sons. For we know that John also, who had formed connections with Reval by giving shelter in Finland to the pi- rates of this town (the sea thieves of Re- val, as Gustavus calls them), was nego- tiating with the grand master to furnish a loan upon the security of certain for- tresses, and had made an engagement to this effect without his father's privity. The king had observed, as he de- clared, that his son had some clandestine matter on his mind, and made him earnest representations on this subject. "Seeing thou well knowest that Fin- land is not a separate dominion from Sweden, but that both are counted as members of one body, it becomes thee to undertake nothing which concerns the whole kingdom, unless he who is the true head of Sweden, with the estates of the realm, be consulted thereupon, and it be approved and confirmed by him and them, as thy bounden duty points out, and Sweden's law requires." But John turned for counsel in this design, not to his father, but to Eric. The latter informed his brother, who was stiU busied with his embassy to London, that he had given orders to his secretary with Clas Christerson Horn to negotiate with the grand master for the delivery of the castles of Sonnenburg and Padis, for the sum of 50,000 dollars, of which 10,000 was to be raised in Finland. " And when the king our father hears that this matter has had a happy issue," he added, "and we hold the keys of the castles, doubt not that he will lay out the rest for us; or it can be procured in some other mode." He pledged himself to further the scheme, according to the engagement he had made, "even should it move the wrath of the king." Eric gave command for the immediate equipment of ships m Finland, which drew forth a letter from the old monarch, forbidding any obedience being given in matters of importance to "what Eric or our A FEMAIiH SCHAMAK GITSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 993 [1660 A.D.] other children may order without our knowledge an;l sanction." Thus we see the sons united against the father on the very point which was to enkindle a deadly enmity between them. THE DEATH OF THE KING On June 16th Gustavus came to Stockholm, and informed the estates, by message, that he would meet them at the palace on the 25th of the month. On the appointed day he took his place in the hall of assemblage, accompanied by all his sons — King Eric, Duke John, Duke Magnus, and Duke Charles. The last, who was still a child, stood at his father's knee; the others on his left hand, each according to his age. The king having saluted the estates, they listened for the last time to the accents of that eloquence so well liked by the people. Upon the 14th of August, the very day of Eric's departure, Gustavus lay on his death-bed. When his confessor began a long discourse of devotion, the king bade him cut it short, and instead of that bring him a medicine for a sick stomach arid a brain that felt as if it were burning. He was heard to exclaim that he had busied himself too much with the cares of this world, but with all his wealth he could not buy himself physicians. Such of his bailiffs as were incarcerated for debts owed to himself, he now restored to freedom. His mood was capri- cious and changeable : now harsh and morose, so that his children trembled in his presence; now soft even to tears; at other times merry and jesting, espe- cially at the endeavours of those who wished to prolong his life. When one asked him if he needed aught, his reply was, " The kingdom of Heaven, which thou canst not give me." He seemed not to place overmuch confidence even in his ghostly advisers; when the priest exhorted him to confess his sins, the king angrily broke out, " Shall I tell my sins to thee?" To the bystanders he declared that he forgave his enemies, and begged pardon of all for anything in which he had dealt unjustly with them, enjoining them to make known this to all. To his sons he said, "A man is but a man; when the play is out, we are all alike," and enjoined them to imity and steadfastness in their reli- gion. The consort of the dying king never quitted his side. During the first three weeks of his illness he spoke often, sometimes with wonderful energy, on temporal and spiritual affairs. The three following weeks he passed chiefly in silence and, as it seemed, with no great pain; he was often seen to raise his hands as in prayer. Having received the sacrament, made confes- sion of his faith, and sworn his son to adhere firmly to it, he beckoned for writing materials, and inscribed these words, " Once confessed, so persist, or a hundred times repeated" — but his trembling hand had not the power to finish the sentence. The confessor continued his exhortations, till, as life was flying, Sten Ericson Lejonhufvud interrupted him by saying, "All that you talk is in vain, for our lord heareth no more." Thereupon the priest bent down to the ear of the dying man and said, " If thou believe in Jesus Christ, and hear my voice, give us some sign thereof." To the amazement of all, the king answered with a loud voice, "Yes!" This was his last breath, at eight of the clock in the morning, the 29th of September, 1560.« fhyxell's estimate of king gustavus King Gustavus I was a tall and well-made man, somewhat above six feet high. He had a firm and full body without spot or blemish, strong arms. 294 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1580 A.D.] delicate legs, small and beautiful hands and feet. His hair of a light yellow, combed down and cut straight across his eye-brows; forehead of a middle height, with two perpendicular lines between the eyes, which were blue and piercing; his nose straight, and not long; red lips, and roses on his cheeks, even in his old age. His beard in younger years was brown and parted, a hand-breadth long, and cut straight across; in later years growing at will, till it at last reached his waist and became hoary like his hair. As his body was faultless in every respect, any dress that he wore became him. Fortiuie favoured him in all that he undertook: fishing, hunting, agriculture, cattle- breeding, mining, even to casting the dice, when he could be induced to take part in it — which, however, was very seldom. As in his body, so in his soul was King Gustavus endowed with the most noble qualities. His memory was so strong that, having seen a person once, after the lapse of ten or twelve years he recognised him again at first sight. The road he had once travelled he could never mistake again; he knew the names of the villages; nay, even those of the peasants who lived there during his youthful excursions. As was his memory, such was his imderstanding. When he saw a painting, sculpture, or architecture he could immediately and acutely judge its merits and defects, though he had himself never received any instruction in these arts. When there was a crowd of people at the Castle,' he spoke with each, and on the subjects which those he addressed best understood; all were familiar to him. No man in the kingdom was so well acquainted with it as himself; none knew as well as he did in what its deficiencies lay. For this reason, and because in the beginning he was entirely without well-informed and capable officers, he was obliged himself to compose every ordinance and decree which he enacted, and the kingdom was not a loser by it. He was prudent in the highest degree. But once, when Gustavus TroUe was about to take him prisoner at Upsala, did he show himself careless or credulous. Otherwise he was so provident that he might rather be called suspicious. "Look well before you. Think well of all men; but most of yourself" — thus he exhorted the people; and it was thus true, as an old author says of him, "he calculated every step, and could stand firm as a mountain at each." Firmness and perseverance in what he undertook were striking features in his character. Example sufficient of this we find in his long, vehement, but honestly conducted struggle with the power of popery. Most others would have wearied, or desired by a blow to decide the matter with violence. Gus- tavus let time and reflection work for him; though slowly, he went ever for- wards, Seldom or never did he change his resolution; it was an adage of his which he often repeated: "Better say once and remain by it, than speak a hundred times." He was a stern and serious gentleman, and well Imew how to preserve his dignity. It was not advisable for any, whether high or low, to attempt to encroach upon it; in such circumstances he rebuffed peasants, bishops, or kings, with equal severity. He was just, but severe, with the men he had placed in civil charges; on which account many abandoned him. When any one laboured to show off his talents and capabilities in the hopes of ingratiating himself, or others commenced extolling such an one, the sharp- sighted king would answer: "He is but a dabbler with all his pound from our Lord." ^ Qr palace, The palace at Stockholm is still called the Castle, GrSTAVtTS VASA TO CHARLES IX «95 [1506 A.D.] Gustavus was careful of money; for, said he, "it costs the sweat and labour of the subjects." His court was very frugal. He generally lived at one or other of the royal estates, and consumed their produce. His chil- dren were kept strictly. Hams and buttra- were sent from the country for the supper of the princes at Upsala; the queen herself sewed their shirts, and it was considered a great present if ever one of the princesses got a blank riksthaler. Gustavus' love of money seduced him to several injustices, which, however, were not so striking in those days as now. He sometimes permitted parishes to remain without rectors, having them administered by vicars, and appropriated their returns to himself. He forbade the export of cattle to his subjects in general, buying them himself at a low price from the peasants, and selling them abroad with great profit. This last circum- stance was one of the chief causes of the Dacke Feud.^ Several things of this kind which are less creditable to him are related; but the people overlooked them for the sake of his many virtues. They also knew that this money was not uselessly squandered. Herr Eskil's Hall, and the other vaulted chambers of the treasury, were full of good silver buUion at the king's death. When, however, pomp was required, he did not spare; but showed himself the equal of other kings. " The Lord's anointed," he said, "should be girded with splendour, that the commonalty may view him with reverence, and not imagine themselves to be the equals of majesty to the small profit of the land." A pure and unaffected piety dwelt in his heart, and showed itself in his actions. Prayers were read morning and evening in his apartments; divine service he never neglected. He was better informed of the contents of the Bible and the catechism than most of the priests in his kingdom. Therefore Le Palm, his chief physician, wrote of him to Paris: "My king is a God's prince, who has scarcely his equal in spiritual and temporal measure. He is so experienced in the Scriptures that he can rectify his priests; and none understands the government of the kingdom like himself." During the Dacke Feud Gustavus w;rote to the rebels as follows: "Ye can threaten us as much as ye will; ye can drive us from our royal throne; rob us of estate, wife, and children — ay, of life itself; but from that knowledge which we have attained of God's word, ye shall never part us, as long as our heart is whole and our blood is warm." He was equally venerable in his domestic life. No vice stains his memory. He liked the society of handsome and agreeable women; but no mistress, no illegitimate child, not the slightest foible can be laid to his charge, though he was forty-one before he married for the first time. His marriage vows he kept inviolate. Gluttony, drunkenness, gambling, and idleness were what he could never endure in others, much less in himself. As he in his younger years was of a cheerful temper, when business was done he kept a gay and lively court, though in aU sobriety. Every afternoon at a certain hour the lords and ladies assembled in the great hall where the king's musicians made music for them while they danced. "For," said he, " youth shall not be clownish, but gallant to the ladies and to all." They were often out together, to walk or to hunt. Once a week a school for fencing [' The Dacke Feud was a formidable rebellion beaded by Nils Dacke, a peasant, tbe chief seats of which were Smaland and Gland. The rebels chiefly kept to the forest country, whence they plundered the wealthier landowners. They professed to have taken arms in order to restore the old form of worship and endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to persuade Svante Sture, son of Sten Sture the younger, to become their leader and Gustavus' rival for the crown. The rebellion, which had begun in 1543, was finally suppressed in the summer of the following year.] 296 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1560 A.D.] was open for the young nobles; tournaments were afterwards introduced, at which the victors received their rewards from the hands of the fairest ladies at court. They often entertained themselves with music, song as well as playing on stringed instruments, the latter especially, in which the king delighted. He made and himself played several instruments, of which the lute was his favourite. There was never an evening when he was alone that he did not occupy some hours with it. He often travelled through the country, chiefly to great markets and other meetings, where he addressed the people; sometimes instructing them in matters of faith; sometimes regarding their house-keeping, agriculture, cattle-breeding, and so on. The peasants soon learned that the king's advice was good, and listened to him willingly; also on account of his extraordinary eloquence. His voice was strong, clear, expressive, and pleasant in sound. No king of Sweden has ever been or deserved to be more beloved by the com- mon people than he was. Every peasant who possessed any fortune used to leave, by will, some silver to the king, so that at his death no inconsiderable store of bequeathed silver was found in the treasury; and in the tmquiet years which followed the people used ever to speak with regret of " old King Gustaf " and his happy days. Gustavus loved and protected learning. He was, however, supremely desirous of the instruction of the people, and sought by every means to get a sensible and well-informed peasantry. His own children received a careful education; so that they were amongst the most learned of their day. Like his children were their descendants, the whole Vasa dynasty as far as Chris- tina; so that the royal house was the first, not only in pomp and bravery but likewise in science and knowledge, and in this last respect not in Sweden alone but in all Europe. When the king grew older and his children were growing up, he used often after meals to sit before the fire, and conversing with them give them useful exhortations on many points. It was a royal school in its teacher, disciples, and doctrines. "Be steady in your faith; imited amongst yourselves," said he. "If you fail in the first, you anger your Maker; if you neglect the second, you win faU a prey to man. Make war by compulsion — peace without com- pulsion; but shoidd your neighbour threaten — strike. From my very child- hood, and ever since, I have been at war; oftenest with my countrymen, sad to say! and I have grown grey in armour. Believe me, seek peace with all!" When he saw them proud and vain-glorious of their royal birth and descent from Odin, he said: "One like another — when the play is out we are all equal." Another time: "Ye shaU reflect on all things well, execute with speed, and remain by it, deferring nothing to the morrow. The resolves which are not carried at the right time into execution resemble clouds without rain in long drought. Let everything be done in its right time; time will then be sufficient for all — for the man in office, as for all others downwards; otherwise there will be provocation, hurry, and postponement in every part." Again he would say; " It is the fault of the rulers if the governed do not obey, for the law must be followed without partiahty, and always. Let no one do what he pleases, but what he ought. No one in office is to be endured who is not frugal, useful, and industrious. The morning hour has gold in its mouth. Away with the idler; but honour and reward to the faithful labourer in the vineyard. Your men must live in discipline and the fear of the Lord, paying reverence to old age. He who does not may be expelled like the slanderers. Surround yourselves by answerable men of a pure life, for it will be believed GUSTAVUS VASA ADDRESSING HIS LAST MEETING OP THE ESTATES (1560 A.D.) GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 297 [1560 A.D.] of you as it is known of these." Of the nobihty he said: "Virtue, sense, and manliness make the noble." "The Swede," he would say again, "is often proud in the wrong season, and greedy to govern. They require a bold king with a manly mind; they cannot abide injustice, slavery, or a coward easily. They require a merry king, but a stern one; not one who looks through his fingers. In war they must fight — no parleying; they shame where little is done. Love therefore and honour this old kingdom whose inhabitants have been far and wide, and rebuked both east, south, and west. Encourage and found hospitals and schools, and your forces both on sea and land. Love and honour agriculture, mining, commerce, even books and the arts, and yom* subjects wiU willingly do so likewise: they will follow you. Therefore love yourselves, and keep your subjects to the pure word of God, prayers, and church-going; much depends upon these for the peace both of the soul and the country. Love your subjects; the right-minded among them will love you, and with them you will govern the rest. Thus have I done, dear children! I have, with God's grace, laboured on your fitting education. Remain such for the well- being of yourselves and others; and remember that the memory of a king ought not to die away with the sound of his funeral bells, but remain in the hearts of his people." MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TIME IN SWEDEN Frugality and simplicity in every-day life, extravagant pomp, often both tasteless and ridiculous on solemn occasions — such were the marks of the times. Many of our conveniences were wanting; glass was very rare, and instead of the wooden shutters once in use, fine net-work, linen, or parchment was now taken to supply their place. Hearths instead of stoves were used for a couple of hxmdred years longer. Carpets, very coarse with the poor, embroidered with gold and silk with the rich, covered the coarsely timbered walls. Thick benches were attached to them round the room, oaken in the houses of the rich. Before them stood long heavy tables equally thick; no chairs, but loose benches and small stools were moved about the room. Plates were scarce, and were never changed if the dishes were ever so many and so various; every guest had to bring his knife, fork, and spoon along with him. Clocks were so rare that when the grand duke of Muscovy at this time received one as a present from the king of Denmark, he thought it must be an enchanted animal sent for the ruin of himself and his kingdom; wherefore he returned it with the utmost despatch to Copenhagen. Dinner was eaten at ten; supper at five; between nine and ten they went to bed, to rise the earlier in the morning. Wearing apparel was mostly woollen; linen was barely used next the skin. Holiday dresses were costly, but substantial; the same petticoat often served mother, daughter, and grand- daughter for festal occasions. The women had their hair combed back, and long tight-fitting gowns with stiff high ruffies; the men wore the Spanish dress. Their hair was in the beginning long, and the beard shaved; but this was soon changed, so that the clergy alone retained the long hair and smooth skin; the others adopted short hair and long beard. Wax-lights were only used in churches, tallow-candles by the richest and greatest, torches of dry wood by the people. The beds were broad, fastened to the wall, and few in number; the guests were laid several together, often with the host himself. This was the case even in the houses of princes. The roads were so bad that carriages could seldom be used; besides, the first coach was not introduced 298 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1560 A.l>.] till the reign of John III. Most journeys took place on horseback, and when it rained the princesses were wrapped in wax-cloth cloaks. High titles were not in use. The king was called "his grace"; the princes Junker (young lord) the princesses Froken (young lady). The nobles did not use their family but their fathers' names; for instance, instead of Thure Roos, or Lars Sparre, one wrote and said Thure Jonsson, Lars Siggesson, etc., or still shorter, Herr Thure, Herr Lars. There was much of savage wildness and disorder yet amongst the people, partly a consequence of the times and of the long domestic broils. Club-law was more resorted to than the law of the land. Arms were in continual wear and exercise. According to an old custom the knights entered the bridal bed in full armour; but like the knights of old they were generally ignorant in the highest degree, especially the elder amongst them. Many of King Gustavus' officers and governors were un- able to read, still less to write; they were obliged to keep a clerk on purpose to read and answer the king's letters. The Romish faith was done away with, but many of its supersti- tions remained, and that not alone among the people, but even the great ones of the land be- lieved in witchcraft, fairies, elves, brownies, nixies, etc. The art of medicine consisted chiefly in prayers and exorcism./ ERIC XIV,' JOHN III, AND SIGISMUND The second monarch of the Vasa djmasty exhibited, from the first, occasional aberrations of mind. In everything he was capricious, and peculiarly so in his courtships. Elizabeth of England, Mary of Scotland, the daughter of TAILOR OF vesterqStiand, SEVEN- Philip, laudgraf of Hesse, were pursued at the TEENTH CENT0BY Same time and with equal want of success. At length he took to his mistress a country girl, wnom he saw standing in the market-place of Stockholm, and whom, in the last year of his reign, he married. One of Eric's first acts was to create the hereditary titles of count and baron for certain families. He had the imprudence to interfere in the troubles of Livonia, which was always destined to be the theatre of contending powers. There was one party in favour of the Danes, another of the Russians, a third of the knights, and now a fourth power, Sweden, must be called in to increase the elements of strife. His arms had little success; but his demonstration drew on him the wrath of the czar, who embarrassed him both in Livonia and Finland. With his Danish wars we shall deal when we come to the reign of Frederick II. But the greatest enemies of Eric were at home. From the first the design of dethroning him, or at least of obtaining a share in the administration, seems to have been indulged by his brother John, duke of Finland. That ambitious 1 It would puzzle a Swedish antiquary to account for this numeral. If all the Erics ol Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were added together they would amount to about the number. Such, as we shall have occasion to show, is also the case with the kings named Charles, GTJSTAVtJS VASA TO CHARLES IX 299 [1568 A.D.] man, by marrying the daughter of Sigismund, king of Poland, and fortifying himself by other alliances, incurred the jealousy of Eric. Abo, the capital of the duke's government, was taken by stratagem; and John, being conducted with his wife, his family, and his domestics to a Swedish dungeon, was tried for high treason, and condemned to death, unless the king should be graciously pleased to forgive him. That he was guilty cannot be denied, and Eric, who durst not venture on the experiment of executing him, sentenced him to per- petual imprisonment. If any faith is to be placed in the chronicles of the time, the king, who had frequent opportunities of learning that, even in cap- tivity, his brother was to be feared, sometimes went to the dungeon to perform the task of executioner with his own hands. But on looking at the duke his heart smote him, and he begged pardon for the crime which he had intended to commit. In about four years, he consented, at the express instance of the estates, which beheld with dismay the existence of so much fraternal discord, to enlarge him on certain conditions, among which was the renunciation of the duchy which their father had left him. How this clemency was repaid will soon appear. But the most disgraceful part of Eric's reign was his persecution of the Sture family, which had given administrators to Sweden. Nils, the repre- sentative of that house, was suspected, apparently with much injustice, of being an accomplice in the designs of Duke John. With Eric, suspicion was proof; but it was not so to the senate; and he could only exhibit his whimsical rage by making the nobleman ride through the streets of Stockholm with a crown of straw on his head, exposed to the derision of the lowest portion of the mob. The indignity was felt by the whole family; but it did not shake their loyalty, though it made them murmur. Baffled in this purpose, Eric now determined to sacrifice all the Stures. He was led to this atrocious project by an astrologer whom he maintained at his court, without whose advice he undertook nothing of moment, and who represented the obnoxious family as destined to occasion his downfall. By the intrigues of this worthy, charges were made against all of them; and forged docimients were produced to confirm the charges. They were arrested and committed to close confine- ment; but, as the evidence was manifestly insufficient to ensure their con- demnation, Eric adopted the summary way of removing them by assassination. With his own hand he stabbed Nils, who, in token of his loyalty, had pre- sented him with his dagger. The deed was concealed; but the remorse of the king drove him frantic. He ran into the woods; he howled like a wild beast, and for some time eluded the search of his court. When discovered, his mistress alone had influence enough to bring him back to the palace. He now endeavoured to allay the pangs of conscience by heaping riches, honours, and favours of every kind on the kindred of the man whom he had so bar- barously destroyed. That the duke should be an inattentive spectator of these events was not in his character. It was his constant object to organise a conspiracy for the downfall of his brother; and he masked his proceedings with so much art that, though he was imdoubtedly suspected, there was no evidence to criminate him. When the time for action was come, when he saw the public mind weaned from his brother, and knew that he could depend on the support of the chief nobles, he resolved not to delay a moment in executing his long- concerted scheme. He took advantage of the festivals given at Stockholm in honour of the king's marriage to seize the fortresses, three governors of which were in his interest. The civil war now broke out. In the first action Eric triumphed; but the 300 THE HISTOKY OF SCANDINAVIA [1568-1587 A.D.] two dukes (for John was joined by his brother Charles) now overran several of the provinces, penetrated to Upsala, and finally invested the king in Stock- holm. The place might long have held out, but Uttle reliance was to be placed on the garrison, and still less on the citizens. They even informed him of their intention to surrender; and though he threw himself into the citadel, he was persuaded to capitulate. His life and liberty were to be secure on his abdicating the throne. But no sooner was he in the power of his enemies than they consigned him to a dungeon, where ill-usage was employed to hasten his end. But the vigour of his constitution enabled him to survive, imtil he was made to swallow poison by order of the usurper, after an imprisonment of ten years. For some time he applied himself to music ; but even this_ indul- gence was at length taken from him. He then devoted his time to literary occupation. He wrote a treatise on the military art, translated into Swedish the history of Johannes Magnus, and versified some of the Psalms. It is impossible not to feel the deepest commiseration for his fate. JOHN III (1568-1592 A.D.) No sooner did John make his triumphant entry into Stockholm than he was declared king by the senators assembled. Early in the following year his title was confirmed by a general meeting of the estates, which sentenced the unfortunate Eric to perpetual imprisonment, and deprived his children of the rights of succession. How came John to an influence so unbounded, yet so sudden, over the nobles of the kingdom? The answer must, doubt- less, be sought in the senators whom he had bribed, in the hopes which a new reign always engenders, in the dislike borne to Eric by those who had sirffered from his caprice, and in the powerful armed body of followers who were ready to assist him in any enterprise. Besides, in Sweden, as every- where else, revolutions are, in general, the work of a minority: the bulk of the people regard them with comparative indifference. There was, however, one discontented noble, Duke Charles, to whom John had promised a share in the government. For some time the duke could obtain nothing; but an apprehension lest he should take part with the dethroned Eric led to his restoration to the provinces of Vermland, Sodermanland, and Nerike, which, however, he was to hold with such restrictions on his authority as to render him merely a dependent functionary. The man who was behaving to one brother with so much brutality was not likely to be just towards another. To the wars of John with Denmark we shaU allude in relation to Danish history. Those with Russia were almost equally striking in themselves, though less so in their results. The scene of them was generally Livonia, sometimes Finland; and the advantage was ultimately with the czar. This, indeed, was the period when that barbarian power began to interfere in the general affairs of Europe. If its efforts were long isolated, they were bold enough to inspire its neighbours with alarm, since they indicated an ambition beyond aU bounds, and a feeling which despised the ordinary maxuns of justice. Fortunately for John, Russia was at war with the Tatars, who more than once poured their wild hordes over the empire; and he himself had an able general in Pont de la Gardie, a Frenchman who had entered his services, and to whom he was indebted for the only successes of his reign. The election, too, of his son Sigismund to the throne of Poland (1587) strengthened the eastern barrier against Russian aggression. Independently of his affection for a country over which he was one day to rule, Sigismund felt that he had as much need of Swedish help as Sweden had of his. Yet with all these advan- GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 301 [1587-1592 A.D.] tages, in 1592, the last year of the Swedish monarch's reign, the preponder- ance of Russia in Ingermanland and Livonia was manifest. The blood and treasure of his reign were therefore wasted on objects which, though they ^ght be obtained for a moment, could never be preserved. More interesting than their indecisive however interminable hostilities were the disputes about religion. John had married Catherine, daughter of Sigismund II, king of Poland, and therefore a Roman Catholic. As her influence over her husband was great, she had little difficulty in prevailing on him to attempt many innovations in favour of her church. Her object was, doubtless, to favour its restoration to most of its ancient privileges; his was apparently confined to a union of the two churches, or, if that could not be obtained, simply to toleration and an equality of civil rights. How, consid- ering the prejudices of the Swedes, he could hope to succeed in either view is not very clear. From the very first he encoimtered an opposition which forced him to look cautiously before him. To some of his meditated designs he anticipated little resistance. The Lutheran clergy were no less fond of power than their predecessors; and they readily sanctioned maxims which elevated the church in the social scale, by rendering it less dependent on the state. And amongst them were some liberal men. They saw no harm in the colour of certain vestments, in the sign of the cross, in confession, or even in the mass — for did not Luther himself celebrate it to the last? Did he not believe in the real presence? The ceremonies of the church were purely arbitrary, and therefore indifferent : why, then, object to them? As the Romish church was the most ancient in Christendom, it had so far a fair claim to respect: many of its rites, and some of its tenets, might be the invention of later times; but still it possessed, however disguised, the essentials of Christianity. Thus reasoned many of the clergy, who at the king's request were induced to restore many observ- ances of the fallen church. But a considerable number stoutly resisted every concession to anti-Christ; they condemned what they termed the lax spirit of their brethren, and declared that the Confession of Augsburg was worth all that had ever appeared before it. The nobles, who apprehended that if this spirit went on they might, in the end, be compelled to restore the lands which they had usurped from the church, were more sturdy in their resistance. At their head was Duke Charles, who hoped that, by espousing their cause, he should win a support that might one day place him on the throne. At his instigation the diet gently remonstrated with the king on the course which he was pursuing; besought him not to favour popery; and hoped that Prince Sigismtind would be placed exclusively under the care of reformed tutors. Sigismund, however, was too deeply imbued with his mother's spirit to admit any dictation on this subject: he refused to compromise his principles; and declared that he should prefer a crown in heaven to one on earth. But the opposition was, for this time, so strenuous, the intrigues of Duke Charles so manifest, that John was compelled to pause in his career, and even to profess for the Lutheran faith a respect which he did not feel. After a time, however, he recovered all his former zeal. He prepared a new liturgy, the very title of which sufficiently indicates its spirit — "Liturgy of the Swed- ish Church, conformable to the Catholic and Orthodox Church." Yet it was not agreeable to the pope, who considered it as bad as the Lutheran; while, by the more zealous reformers, it was execrated as a portion of anti-Christ. Had John continued to act with moderation he might, indeed, have failed in his object, but he would have created no exasperation. But he became a persecutor of all the clergy who refused to adopt his ritual; and, what was 302 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1586-1592 A.D.] worse, he became more of a Romanist as he advanced in years. The mission to Rome of Pont de la Gardie, to obtain the papal sanction of his liturgy, had been viewed with much displeasure by the people at large. The arrival, in 1578, of the Jesuit Possevin, in Sweden, ostensibly as the ambassador of the emperor but in reality as nuncio of Gregory XIII, was still more loudly condemned, especially by Duke Charles. A ssTiod of the clergy subject to this prince assembled at Nykoping, and declared their adherence to the reformation. Still the king persevered; and in 1582 he prevailed on the greater part of the Swedish church to revise its liturgy, to declare all who refused guilty of schism, and to inhibit Duke Charles from continuing his opposition to measures which had been sanctioned alike by the church and the monarch. But that ambitious prince was not to be restrained. Having connected himself by marriage with the count palatine of the Rhine, he formed a league with Holland, England, Navarre, and the reformed states of Germany — outwardly for the defence of their common faith, but really to dethrone his brother. Neither of these circumstances was hidden from the king, who again paused in his hazardous course. The death of his queen, and his marriage with a Lutheran lady, conspired to the same end — viz., increased moderation. But Duke Charles, who attributed it to hypocrisy, continued to harass him so much by intrigue, or open disobedience that he summoned him to answer for his conduct before the estates of Vadstena. Charles obeyed the citation; but it was at the head of a strong body of troops, with whom to overawe the assembly, that he encamped near the town. Civil war was averted through the interference of the nobles; but there was no harmony, since, in the following year (1588), he again prevailed on the clergy of his duchy to reject the new liturgy more decisively than before. To make head against open and secret hostility, John turned for aid to his son Sigismund, king of Poland; but the interview between the two monarchs had no other result than to make the duke more powerful by connecting him more closely with the Lutheran party. Harassed by continual cares, and by still greater apprehensions, the king now saw that his only hope of security lay in a cordial reconciliation with his brother. The price was a dear one — a share in the govermnent of the kingdom; but it had been promised before the dethrone- ment of Eric, and nothing less would have satisfied the other. One of the last public acts of John was to demand vengeance on some nobles who, he asserted, had not only fomented the long misunderstanding between him and his brother, but had conspired against the royal family, and even intrigued with Russia. The justice of the accusation is not very clear; and as they were protected by the duke, he could not proceed with much severity against them. In 1592 he ended his agitated life — agitated by intrigues, disgraced by duplicity, and embittered by remorse for the murder of his elder brother. Whether he was much attached to the Romish church may be doubted: probably he had a philosophical indifference for both churches; and in his advances towards the ancient one was actuated by the hope of making the Catholic powers of Europe his allies against the invincible hostility of Den- mark, no less than by the affection which he bore to his first wife, a princess of that commimion. It is certain that, after his union with his second wife, a Protestant, he exhibited less zeal for the cause than he had previously shown. Such, however, was his obstinacy of temper, that he would never wholly change, though he would modify, his policy. It is worthy of remark that his death was for some time concealed by his queen and some of the senators, GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 303 [1593-1594 A.D.] even from Duke Charles, now regent of the kingdom during the absence of Sigismund, king of Poland, who rightfully succeeded to the Swedish crown The object of this policy was soon shown by the robbery of the pubhc treasury no less than of the palace : everything that could be carried away was shareci between the queen and the nobles in her confidence. SIGISMUND (1592-1604 A.DO That the reign of Sigismund would be nominal rather than real, and of short duration, might have been foreseen by the least prophetic. His absence in Poland, his religion, and, above all, the talents of his imcle, now grey in duplicity and intrigue, were insurmountable obstacles to his enjo3mient of the regal power. One of the first acts of the regent was sufficiently indicative of his long-cherished design: he ordered the Swedish officers in Esthonia not to deliver up the fortresses to Poland, even if the king should command them to do so. In the same view he endeavoured secretly to detach the leading nobles from their allegiance to his nephew. To the multitude, and to all who had profited by the robbery of the church, he was agreeable, as the great champion of the Reformation. To show his zeal for its interests, though in reality he cared as little for it as he did for Romanism, he induced the synod of Upsala (1593) to abolish the liturgy which the late king had employed so much time to introduce. The ecclesiastics who had defended that liturgy were deposed. Another blow at the royal power of Sigismund was of a still heavier kind: it prohibited all appeals to him whenever he should not be in Sweden; and if he refused to confirm both decrees, he was not to be regarded as king of Sweden. That he should long remain ignorant of the intrigues directed to deprive him of one of his crowns was impossible; many, indeed, of the discontented nobles (and what governor was ever without them?), and many who preferred their loyalty to the seductive offers of the duke, either hastened to him in Poland, or communicated with him. He soon found that his return to Sweden was necessary, and he obtained, without much difficulty, the consent of the Polish diet for that purpose. But he had the imprudence to select as his confidential adviser Malaspina, the papal nuncio, who was suspected — probably with much justice — of having obtained his consent, and even the promise of his assistance, in the restoration of the ancient chm-ch. And in the first diet which he convoked he had the still greater folly to propose the revocation of the decree made by the synod of Upsala — that which abolished the ritual introduced by his father. He insisted, too, that in every town there should be a Catholic church, where its votaries might worship in peace. The Lutheran eccle- siastics, sure of his uncle's support, now declaimed against him with vehe- mence. In the diet of Upsala, where he was crowned (1594), Charles appeared with an armed force, and compelled him to make some concessions to the popular voice; but in that of Stockholm, which was held immediately after- wards, he exasperated the Lutherans by the undisguised manner in which he attempted to promote the interests of the church. Disgusted with men whom he could neither persuade nor force to his wiU, and discouraged by the intrigues of his uncle, he listened to the cry of the Poles for his return, and left Sweden in the utmost confusion (July, 1594). By the retreat of Sigismund, Charles was the regent, though some portion of his authority was divided with the senate, and he determined not to relax his labours until he had obtained the title with the authority of king. The 304 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1594 A.D.] birth of a son, who became famous in history as Gustavus Adolphus, con- firmed him in his piirpose.<= Astrology was at that epoch both fashionable and respected. In every court there was a mysterious man clothed in a robe sown with constellations, and wearing a pointed hat, and who spoke the tongues of Asia, living^ alone in the highest room of the castle tower, a stranger to earthly things, his eyes constantly fixed on the heavens. This man claimed the power to foretell, by following the march of the stars, the destinies of his fellow beings. His pre- dictions were given, as is the case with all prophets, in ambiguous terms, lending themselves to double meaning and thus to some interpretation justi- fied by the development of events. And so the whole cohort of ambitious men, and intriguing women besieged the door of his laboratory in crowds. Even those whose talents placed them at the head of affairs, came like the most ordinary minds, to lend an eager ear to the charlatans' lies — so difficult is it for man, however vast the extent of his intelligence, to shake off the yoke of prejudice. The astrologer of the court of Stockholm had scarcely learned of the prince's birth, when he drew his horoscope and predicted, they say, that this prince would be king, that he would widely extend the limits of his kingdom, that he would die a violent death, and that his name would shine after him. So far back as 1572 Tycho Brahe, had announced that the comet then appearing in the constellation Cassiopeia, presaged the birth, in Finland, of a prince who would confer a great benefit upon all those of the reformed religion. This famous astrologer inhabited in 1594 his magnificent palace of Ura- nienborg on the island of Hven which he owed to the liberality of Frederick II. From this lone rock in the Sound his great voice resoimded and found an echo from the whole world. On learning of the event which had caused such joy in Sweden, he declared to his numerous pupils, gathered from the ends of the earth to listen to his learned discourse, that the new-born child was really the great prince whose birth the comet had predicted twenty-two years before. When someone objected that the child had come into the world in Sweden, not in Finland, he replied that the duchess of Sodermanland having spent some time in the latter province, the child was conceived there, and even if he was born on the other side of the Gulf of Bothnia, the prediction could be perfectly well applied to him. Chronicles fm-ther relate that Tycho Brahe, dowered with marvellous divinatory powers traced in a still famous lecture the future life of the man of genius whose coming he had annovmced. It would appear, however, that his predictions were much less understood in his life- time than after his death, from the fact that the famous astrologer, after having incurred the disfavour of Christian IV, and being compelled to .leave his native land, found at the court of the emperor Rudolf, devoted to alchemy and astrology, a generous hospitahty, and kept to the day of his death the friendship of this prince. Is it likely, is it possible that the emperor, restless and suspicious to a degree, and knowing the jargon of this profession, would have granted so many favours and shown such good will to a man who had complaisantly prophesied the ruin of his house? It is certain that all that was said and done about the prince's birth has been exaggerated, but man likes to surround the cradles of genius with marvels and mysteries, and if Gustavus Adolphus had been an ordinary sovereign many details which have given place to all sorts of commentaries would have passed unnoticed. Throughout Europe, but especially in the North, the Christmas and New Year festivals, which were celebrated together, were the signal for imiversal GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 305 [1594 A.D.] rejoicing. The duke of Sodermanland was naturally pious, but his antagonis- tic pQsition to Sigismund compelled him to give his piety an outward show that was perhaps a little too ostentatious, and history has accused him of making his religion serve his ambition. It is true that, to impress the people and make them more devoted to his son, he let it be imderstood that to the child's cradle was attached the fate of the nation, as had been the case with Moses' cradle. The ceremonies of the yoimg prince's baptism were, to this end, mingled with the fetes with which the nation celebrated the birth of its Redeemer, and gave these, indeed, a new 6clat. We have already said that the child received the combined names of both grand-parents, Gustavus and Adolphus. Finally, to bind his destiny indissolubly to that of Protestantism, the duke of Sodermanland founded, on the same day in his domain, and within the influence of his patronage, the celebrated University of Upsala whose devotion to the established church, and firmness in repelling the liturgy, have made it the victim of spoliations and persecutions without number. This clever and salutary measure was all the better received, since the Swedish clergy, justly alarmed at Sigismund's threatening projects, were not quite sure about the duke, whom they suspected of leaning towards Calvinism. In linking the famous school, whose professors bore the title of "Pillars of Protestantism," with the destiny of his son, was it not his p\ir- pose to establish beyond a doubt his intention to educate the boy in doctrines of the purest orthodoxy ? It is thus that the people reasonably explained the duke's conduct.'' At any rate he was encouraged to renew a career of alternate duplicity and defiance, of which there is scarcely a parallel in the annals of princes. One of his first steps was to depose from their dignities all who were favourable either to Sigismund or to the Roman Catholic church. His next was to make peace with the czar, in direct opposition to the commands of the king. Em- boldened by the obsequiousness of the senate, and by the attachment of the large towns, he convoked the estates at Soderkoping, and caused a decree to be passed that the Confession of Augsburg should be the only rule of faith observed in Sweden; that all Romish priests should be banished in six weeks; that Swedes who had embraced the religion of Rome prior to the accession of Sigismund might remain in the country — but they should be excluded from all posts of honour or emolument, no less than from the exercise of their worship; and that all, in future, who should declare for the obnoxious opin- ions, or who should not conform both outwardly and inwardly to the estab- lished creed, should be banished forever. In temporal matters the proceed- ings of this diet were equally insulting to the king. No ordinance issued by him was to be obeyed, or even promulgated, until confirmed by the duke and senate. He was deprived of the power of deposing any Swede from ofiice without the sanction of the senate. Nor could he appoint to any dignity or post: in every vacancy three names were to be sent to him, and he had the privilege of electing one of the number. In accordance with the ecclesiastical portion of these regulations, the priests, the monks, the nuns, and three fourths of the laity repaired to Germany, or to Poland, or to Finland. That Sigismund should be incensed at these proceedings was natural; but he saw the necessity of temporising; and he sent messengers to detach the senators and nobles from the party of his uncle. In the first object of their mission they succeeded completely; in the second, partially. The means employed on this occasion are purely matter of conjectm-e. Probably they were not slow to perceive that a ruler at a distance was preferable to one at home; that if Sigismund retained the sovereignty, their own authority B. W. — VOIi. XVI. X 306 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1597-1604 A.D,] must necessarily be secure; while under the iron yoke of Charles they had nothing to expect beyond servitude. Nor was the same consideration lost on many of the people, who knew that, in affairs unconnected with religion, the sway of Sigismund was far milder than the regent's. Hence the author- ity of the latter declined, especially when the former conferred on the senate alone the administration of the realm. But that prince was not thus to be baffled in the great object of his ambition. He was stiU at the head of a strong party; and he had influence enough to prevail on the diet of Arboga (1597) to restore him. When the senators refused to ratify this act, he expelled them from the kingdom, or rather, to avoid a worse result, they exiled themselves. His next step was to gain possession of the royal for- tresses, which he garrisoned with his own creatures, whom he enjoined to let no one enter, not even at the command of Sigismund. Yet aU this while he pretended great zeal for the service of his liege lord, and threw all the blame of these measures on the senate, who, he asserted, were endeavouring to dethrone the dynasty of Vasa. By that mixture of cunning and violence in which he was so great an adept, he prevailed on the diet of Stockholm to ratify all that he had done, and to declare the absent senators traitors to their country. Sigismund had still two or three fortified places in Finland; and when he heard that his imcle was besieging them, and was openly inculcating dis- obedience to all his mandates, he no longer hesitated to equip an armament for Sweden. He landed at Kalmar, and several provinces immediately declared for him. But he had not the degree of military talent necessary for one in his position, or perhaps he relied too much on the universality of the feeling manifested in his favour. In Linkoping he suffered himself to be surprised by his active enemy: his guard was forced, his own person in danger. But to destroy him was not the object of the artful regent, who made overtures of peace — insisting, however, that five of the senators then with the king should be surrendered to him. To this hard condition Sigis- mund was compelled to accede, and to confirm Charles in the regency. AU matters of dispute between the two and the fate of the imprisoned senators were to be decided by the estates — that is, by the creatures of Charles, who thus obtained every wish of his heart, without incurring the odium of wanton violence. Sigismund, as was doubtless foreseen, protested, on his return to Poland, against the convention of Linkoping; and, by so doing, enabled his imcle forever to throw off the mask which had been so long worn. Under his influence, the diet of Stockholm renounced its allegiance to the king, and offered the crown to Wladyslaw, son of Sigismund, on the impossible condi- tion that, within a year, the young prince should repair to Sweden and be instructed in the Lutheran faith. If he refused to comply, then he, his father, and their descendants were to be forever excluded from the throne. To be prepared against the probable hostilities of his nephew, Charles entered into an offensive alliance against Poland with the czar, reduced more of the Finland fortresses, and put to death many adherents of the king. In the diet of Linkoping (1600) he caused sentence to be pronounced and executed on the imprisoned senators, whose loyalty would have procured them favour with any other prince, and with any other people than the Swedes, who were now become the merest slaves of the usurper. The same obsequious assembly declared the throne vacant, and invested Charles with absolute power., Though he looked to the name as well as to the reality, he acted with consum- mate duplicity. In an assembly of the estates at Norrkoping (1604), he GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHARLES IX 307 A.D.] proposed to resign the cares of government in favour of Prince John, a younger brother of Sigismund, and, consequently, his nephew. John, who had made his., private arrangements with the regent, and been invested with the duchy of Ostergotland, refused a gift which would have required a large army to retain it a single month, and proposed his uncle. The farce ended, as every- body saw it would end, by the election of Charles and by the designation of his son for his successor. Thus ended the short and venial authority of Sigismund over Sweden. In his administration (if such it could be called), we see little to blame beyond his imprudent zeal on behalf of his co-religionists. Whether he hoped to obtain for them anything beyond mere toleration, is, notwithstanding the allegations of his enemies, exceedingly doubtful. But even in this object he was censurable enough, considering the progress which the Reformation had made in the kingdom. It was essentially Lutheran; and he had no right to disturb the unanimity of his people by the introduction of doctrines which they had long renounced, and to which they had vowed an unextinguishable hostility. CHARLES IX' (^604-1611 A.D.) The short reign of this prince was signalised by successive wars — first with the Poles, and then with the Danes. In Livonia his generals obtained some advantages; but they were lost as soon as won. Equally unsuccess- ful were his in- trigues in Russia to procure the crown vacant by the death of Boris Godunor, for a prince of his own family. The Poles were nearer than he to the scene of ambition, and en- abled to obtain more advantages — among- others the election of their prince Wladyslaw to the throne of the czars. But even they had little reason to congratulate themselves on this event; for Wladyslaw was soon expelled, and the barbarian sceptre transferred to the dynasty of Romanov. The Swedes had still less cause of triumph, in thus embarrassing themselves in wars of which the issue could not fail to be disastrous. A nearer enemy found them, during the rest of this reign, employment enough." ' How the native historians of Sweden contrive to place eight sovereigns of this name before the present one, is curious enough. There are but two authentic rulers of the name, as kings of all Sweden ; but in the Egyptian darkness prior to the tenth century, there is room for any number of any name. Probably the Goths and Svear, the two great branches of the paternal family, had petty chiefs after the German name ; but we have conjecture only for tlieir existence. Olotsboro Castle, Finland 308 THE HISTOEY. OF SCANDINAVIA [1611 A.S.] The Kalmar War The northern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, as already noticed, had been peopled from the remotest times by nomadic tribes called Finns or Cwenas by the Norwegians and Lapps by the Swedes, from which their terri- tory derived the name of Lapland. These aboriginal inhabitants retained their primitive manners, language, and religion, unaffected by the progress of Christianity in the North. No definite boundary separated the adjacent kingdoms of Sweden and Norway from the dreary wilderness occupied by their less civilised neighbours who subsisted by hunting and fishing. The progress of conquest had gradually pressed them nearer to the borders of the arctic circle, but still even vmder the Union of Kalmar their territorial limits remained undefined. The tribes scattered along the coasts beyond the North Cape paid tribute to Norway as early as the reign of Harold Harfagr. The Laplanders round the gulf of Bothnia were subdued by associations of fur-traders, to whom the exclusive monopoly of their commerce and government was granted by Magnus Ladulas; and so far had these merchants abused their privileges and thrown off their dependence on the Swedish crown that they styled them- selves "kings of the Lapps." Gustavus Vasa expelled these usurpers, and reduced the natives to the condition of tributaries. Charles IX after his accession assumed the title of "king of the Lapps of Norrland," and founded the new city Gothenburg (Goteborg), near the mouth of the Gota, to the inhabitants of which he granted the privilege of fishing on the northern coasts of Lapland. These measures, added to the interruption of the Danish commerce with the ports in the gulf of Riga, awakened the jealousy of Christian IV of Den- mark, who stationed a convoy in the Sound to protect all vessels navigating the Baltic, in which he claimed not merely freedom of mercantile intercourse but a right of dominion such as had been immemorially asserted by his royal predecessors. In vain did he remonstrate with the king and the senate against these encroachments upon the interests of his crown and the immimi- ties of his people; Charles evaded all proposals for redress, and in 1611 commenced that sanguinary struggle between the two kingdoms usually called the war of Kalmar. Before taking the field, Christian despatched-a herald-at-arms with a declaration of hostilities against Sweden, but Charles refused to admit him into his presence, and detained him as a prisoner; whilst his own messenger reached the enemy's camp, where he presented a counter declaration, repeating the arguments advanced in the Danish manifesto and endeavouring to throw the odium of the rupture upon his adversary. The national land-forces of Denmark at this epoch consisted in the feudal militia, composed of the nobility and their vassals, the tenant of every crown fief being compelled to serve in person on horseback, and also to furnish a certain number of his serfs for the infantry, which was divided into regiments, or "banners," of six hundred men each, commanded by a captain, and sub- divided into twelve companies, headed by as many lieutenants. These levies furnished an army of sixteen thousand native troops, and they were increased by four thousand mercenaries, consisting of German cavalry, with English and Scottish infantry. The defence of Norway was confided to the national militia. The whole naval force was divided into two squadrons, one of which was sent to cruise in the Kattegat, and the other to blockade Kalmar, the key of Sweden on the Baltic frontier. Notwithstanding these formidable preparations. Christian laboured under GUSTAVUS VASA TO CHAELES IX 309 [1611 A.D.] certain obvious disadvantages; the Danish nobility grudged the pecuniary supphes; the nation had. not heard the sound of war since the Treaty of Stettin in 1570; whilst the Swedes, on the other hand, had been constantly engaged in hostilities with Poland and Russia. One division of the Danish army, under Steen Schestedt, grand-marshal of the kingdom, penetrated through Vestergotland to Jonkoping; and the other, commanded by Christian in person, laid siege to Kalmar, which was soon obliged to capitulate, the king himself mounting the breech at the head of his troops. The garrison retreated into the citadel, but the town was given up to be plundered by the soldiery. Charles, and his son Gustavus Adolphus, who had surprised the principal military depot of the enemy, advanced by rapid marches to the relief of the place, whilst Admiral Gyldenstiern arrived with a su- perior naval force, and threw a consider- able supply of men and provisions into the besieged citadel. Schestedt was re- called from Vestergotland, but the Swedes, determined to attack the Danish entrenchments before the arrival of this reinforcement, broke the enemy's lines, whilst the garrison made a sortie, set fire to the town, and penetrated to the royal camp. On this occasion Christian signalised his personal courage, presence of mind, and other great military qualities, for which he was distinguished. After an obstinate com- bat, the assailants were driven back to their original position; and Schestedt, ar- riving in the midst of the battle, decided the fortime of the day. A short time afterwards the Swedes abandoned their camp in the night, and withdrew to Risby, in the expectation of receiving ad- ditional supplies. Their retreat compelled the surrender of the citadel, in which was found a vast store of bronze artillery, with other munitions of war. Exasperated by these misfortunes, the Swedish monarch sent a cartel to Christian, accusing him in the most bitter and reproachful terms of having broken the peace of Stettin, taken the city of Kalmar by treachery, and shed a profusion of innocent blood in an unjust cause. Every means of conciliation being exhausted, he offered to terminate the quarrel by single combat. " Come then," said he, after the old Gothic fashion, "into the open field with us, accompanied by two of your vassals, in full armour, and we wiU meet you sword in hand, without helm or harness, attended in the same manner. Herein if you fail we shall no longer consider you as an honourable king or a soldier." Christian answered this extraordinary letter in terms still more reproachful, declining to accept the challenge of "a paralytic dotard," whom he sarcasti- cally counselled to remain by a warm fire with his nurse and physician, rather than expose himself to combat in the open field, with his younger and more Laplander op the Sixteenth Cent0RT SIO THE HISTOSY OF SCANDINATIA [1611 A.D,1 robust competitor. This severe reply the king followed up by attacking the Swedes in their entrenchments at Risby; but after three days hard fighting, he was compelled to retreat, and set sail for Copenhagen, where he remained dm-ing the winter. Charles did not long survive these exertions, dying at Nykoping in 1611, worn out with fatigue of body and mind.^ During this war the sixteen-year-old prince, afterwards distinguished as Gustavus (II) Adol- phus, won his spurs. Commanding a separate division of the army, he accom- plished the destruction of Christianopel, the principal arsenal of the Danes in Skania, and reconquered Oland. These victories were perhaps the most notable achievements of the war." GEI.IER ON CHARLES IX One quality was ever pre-eminent in Charles, and in some measure it should mitigate our judgment of his blood-stained path : this was his inborn striving to reach across every limit, beyond every goal to set another. He struggled to win for himself a crown. At this point another would have halted; to him it was so far from being the greatest, the tdtimate conquest, that he left it insecure. The strife ensuing, which from Sigismimd's slowness and irresolu- tion might, for some time longer, have been waged by words and manifestos, he straightway removed out of Sweden to Livonia, Poland, and Russia; nor did the outbreak of war with Denmark prevent him from mustering in his last gaze, as it were, the members of a future league against the papacy and the house of Habsburg; for we fiiid that in his testament he especially recom- mends to his children friendship with the evangelical princes of Germany. Thus in the soul of Charles, perchance more than in any of his contempo- raries, laboured the burning future which burst forth in the Thirty Years' War; and not without significance was he wont to observe, laying his hand on the head of the yoimg Gustavus Adolphus, " Ille jaciet!" (He will do it!) Such men verily there are, full of the hereafter, who, with or without their own will and intent, carry the nations onward at their side. Except his father, no man before him exercised so deep an influence on the Swedish people. More than a hundred years passed away, and a like personal influence was still reigning upon the throne of Sweden. The nation, hard to move save for immediate self-defence, was borne along, unwilling and yet admiring, repug- nant yet loving; as by some potent impulsion, following her Gustavuses and Charleses to victory, fame, and to the verge of perdition. This is neither praise nor blame; but so it was. And as I write the history of the Swedish people, I feel convincingly that it is the history of their kings.« CHAPTER IX GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS [1611-1633 A.D.] THE ACCESSION OP GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS The illustrious hero whom history has rendered immortal under the name of Gustavus Adolphus was a minor at the time of his father's death; but he had given such proofs of precocious wisdom and valour that the estates did not hesitate to suspend, in favour of a youth of eighteen, the fundamental law of the realm, by which the expiration of the king's minority was fixed at twenty-four years of age. The state of perplexity and confusion in which the affairs of the nation were found at his accession required all the talent and energy of which he was possessed. The campaign in Russia, under the con- duct of De la Gardie, had been attended with brilliant success; but although that general had made strong efforts to have Charles Philip, second son of the late monarch, elected czar, in opposition to Wladyslaw of Poland, the negotia- tions for procuring him the imperial dignity had made little progress. Whilst Sweden was menaced with formidable enemies on every side, her only support at home consisted of weak friends, ill-paid armies, and empty treasuries, exhausted by a series of wars and revolutions. In this feeble condition, it was of the utmost importance to secure internal tranquiUity; and, accord- ingly, the diet prevailed with Duke John to confirm his renunciation of all claim to the throne, and allow the young prince to take upon himself the sole administration of the government. The first acts of Gustavus' reign impressed his subjects with a favourable opinion of that singular penetration and capacity for business which marked the whole of his extraordinary career. The celebrated Oxenstierna was made chancellor, and every post, civil and military, was filled with equal discrimi- Sll S12 THE HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA [1611-1617 A.D.] nation. To carry on the foreign wars in which he was engaged, he resumed all the crown-grants, and ordered an account of the produce of tithes and feudal lands to be delivered annually into the royal exchequer. The peace concluded with Denmark allowed him to devote his attention, for a short interval, to the study of civil affairs. He concluded a treaty of commerce with the Dutch, and established a society of trade at Stockhobn, every sub- scriber to which advanced certain sums to the crown on being released for the space of three years from all taxes, duties, and imposts. To encourage agricultural industry, he absolved peasants and farmers from the obliga- tion of supplying the gov- ernment with horses and carriages. An edict was published to abridge the tediousness and expense of litigation, especially in af- fairs of regal judicature; and no measures were omitted that could im- prove the national institu- tions or ameliorate the con- dition of the people. Within three years after his accession, Gustavus assem- bled the estates at Hels- ingborg, to deUberate on the proceedings necessary to be adopted for the speedy adjustment of the dispute with Russia. The whole northern quarter .of that great empire had ex- pressed a desire to have a Swedish prince, in the hope of extending their commer- cial relations with the Baltic; but Charles Philip had no ambition to become the ruler of a nation of barbarians. The scheme, which for some years had been a favourite object at the court of Stockholm, was now finally and sud- denly defeated (1613) by the election to the dignity of czar of Michael Feodorovitch, a native prince of the Romanov family, remotely connected with that of the Ruriks, and founder of a new dynasty, which has continued ever since to sway the sceptre of that immense empire. Determined to revenge this affront, Gustavus obtained the concurrence of the estates in a resolution to compel the Muscovites to refund the debt they had contracted under the late reign. Their haughty refusal led to immediate hostilities; the indignant monarch entered Ingermanland at the head of an army, took Kexholm by storm, and was laying siege to Pskov, when James I of England offered his mediation, and succeeded in restoring peace (1617), on condition of Russia's making payment of the loan and ceding the contested provinces of Ingermanland and Karelia to Sweden. Brief as was the dura- tion of this war, it is memorable as the school where Gustavus learned the rudiments of that art which afterwards made him the admiration of Europe.^ Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632) [1617-1625 A.D.] GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS THE POLISH WAR SIS It was impossible to get Sigismund, king of Poland, to agree to renounce his claims to the Swedish throne, and to recognise the reigning dynasty in that country. He continued to take the title of King of Sweden and to give Gustavus Adolphus that of Duke of Sodermanland, Nerike and Vermland, the provinces which had formerly formed Charles IX's appanage. Sigismund also sought to incite trouble by introducing clandestinely ordinances and let- ters, signed by himself, and spies, into the realm, but he went no further. At the moment of Charles IX's death, Sigismund could at least have taken Esthonia while Sweden and the young king were occupied with threatening wars. He did not take the slightest advantage of the favourable opportunity, however, either because of his natural slow- ness, or because the Polish estates-general showed themselves little disposed to uphold him. The Polish and Swedish troops, face to face in Livonia, in small numbers and in bad condition, remained in complete in- activity, and truces continually succeeded one another. Thus the years passed from 1611 to 1617. Gustavus Adolphus had had the good fortune in this interval to terminate his wars with Denmark and Russia, and was dis- posed to turn all his forces against Poland. Sweden, however, desired peace in this di- rection also, in order to put an end to the sacrifices demanded by a war which had lasted nearly sixty years. The young king hunself felt the necessity for this. He pro- posed reasonable conditions to Sigismund, but the latter responded with such exorbi- tant demands as the renunciation by Gus- tavus Adolphus of his father's throne. These pretensions, on the part of a prince who could not even defend his own frontiers, aroused great anger in Sweden. The diet assembled at Orebro in 1617, and Gustavus Adolphus gave proof of his pacific intentions and of Sigismund's unjust claims, and caused to be read a letter from this prince, addressed to [the latter's half-brother] Duke John, and written with the intention of fomenting troubles in the kingdom. The estates- general, irritated by Sigismund's conduct, declared that, in spite of the great necessity there was for peace, they would grant the subsidies asked for to chastise " the insolent king of Poland." The war against that country recom- menced with new vigour, and lasted twelve years. Its .principal arena during the first eight years was Livonia and afterwards Polish Prussia, particularly in the vicinity of the lower Vistula. During 1617 and 1618 there was nothing but insignificant skirmishes, after which a truce was concluded, to last until 1621. By this time the negotiations for the marriage of Gustavus Adolphub with Maria Eleonore, sister of George William, elector of Brandenburg, were finished, and the kingdom had recovered some of its strength; so the war was renewed with spirit. JYom 1621 to 1625 there was fighting in Livonia and Courland. Gustavus Adolphus seized these two provinces, took Riga, Axel Oxenstiebna, Chancellob of Sweden • (1583-1054) 314 THE HISTORY OP SCANDIKAVIA [1636-1629 A.D.] a commercial city of great importance, made an excursion into Samogitia, and defeated the Poles in several encounters. Again the question of peace was raised. The Lithuanians, dreading a Swedish invasion, were disposed to some sort of an arrangement; but the Poles proper allowed themselves to be influenced by Sigismund, and the negotiations came to nothing. Gustavus Adolphus then determined to act more vigorously, in order to inspire the Poles and their king with thoughts of peace. He transferred the seat of war to Prussia, to make the Poles realise what misery it could bring with it. His plan was to seize all the ports, to impede the enemy's trade, and turn all the customs revenue to his profit. Jakob de la Gardie and Gustaf Horn were charged with the defence of Livonia against the Lithuanians, and acquitted themselves with honour. On the 15th of June, 1626, Gustavus Adolphus landed not far from Pillau, and seized the same year Konigsberg, Braunsberg, Elbing, Stuhm, Marien- burg, Mewe, etc. He returned to Sweden for the winter, rejoined the army in the month of May, 1627, and again measured his strength with the Poles — first near Dantzic, and then in the vicinity of Dirschau. He would have obtained very great advantages, if wounds had not twice prevented him from giving his troops the inspiration of his presence. He returned again to his country for the winter, coming back to the army in 1628, and pushing his conquests as far as the Polish frontier. His light troops marched all around Warsaw, spreading universal terror. The king would perhaps have won more signal victories with the main body of his army, if he had not made it a principle in all his wars to keep as close to the shore as possible, in order always to be within reach of relief from Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus passed the following winter in his kingdom, and it was during this interval that Hermann Wrangel won the important victory of Gorzno. This series of defeats made the estates-general of Poland more and more disposed to peace; but Sigismund was not yet willing to renounce his claims, all the more as he expected the emperor's long-promised help. In fact, ten thousand auxiliary troops arrived from Germany in 1629. Gustavus Adolphus had also received fresh troops from Sweden. Bloody conflicts took place near Stuhm and Marienburg, but without decisive victories for one side or the other. At the same time, a pest broke out in. both camps, which was more deadly for the Poles. Misunderstandings arose between the Poles and the Germans; and neither the former nor the latter seemed disposed to let themselves be killed in support of Sigismund's preposterous claims. This prince was, therefore, forced to arrange, in September, 1629, a six years' truce, afterwards pro- longed to twenty-five years. The superiority of the Swedish troops over the Polish became more appa- rent as the war lasted from year to year. The Polish troops maintained themselves with great difficulty in Prussia, whose inhabitants began also to show a particular personal attachment to Gustavus Adolphus. He was often received in the towns with the acclamation, " Our king has come! " Had it not been for his wounds and the rainy summer of 1628, it is most probable that all Prussia would have been conquered, as well as Livonia. It must not be forgotten, however, that the stubborn defence of Dantzic con- tributed much to save the country.* SWEDEN AS A MILITARY MONARCHY Sweden had enjoyed no peace since the days of Gustavus I. There had been fraternal war and civil war; two kings had been overthrown. Charles OtJSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 315 [1611-1629 A.D.] bequeathed to his son a blood-besprent throne — and war with all his neigh- bours. And if we cast our glance forwards — war, again war, without inter- mission, during long times to come! Through Gustavus Adolphus, the weight of the Swedish arms was to be felt over the world. It is a foreground lighted up by the flames of war. But the fame which may outstand the probing gaze of history must possess other claims to the homage of the af terworld than the splendour of arms alone. We begin with what concerns most nearly the constitution itself. The greatest change in this respect was the hereditary monarchy, and the contest which it h_d called forth was scarcely yet fought out. This was carried on under circumstances which instructively show how, in politics, the word " liberty " is not always a sure indication of the presence of its real benefits. Who can doubt that in Sweden, during the union, this idea was represented by the insurgent peasants and the lawless power of the administrator, and that the magnates employed all the liberty known to the law of Sweden only to preserve for the union-kings the name, and for themselves the exercise, of power? Gustavus Vasa stamped legality on revolt, and suppressed it after- wards; but found himself, on the instant, directly opposed to that party which so long had used the cloak of the law for its own advantage. Thus was the foundation of royal power in Sweden, as everywhere, at the com- mencement of modern history, the work of stringent absolutism; and yet, who can deny that the unity and self-rule, thus established, was in the very deed the mainspring of freedom? With Charles' consolidation of his father's work, men in Sweden seemed to have ascertained the dangers of extremes clearly enough to return to a middle way; and the royal warranty fkonunga- forsdkran) of Gustavus Adolphus may be termed a new form of government, which aimed at confining power on all sides within the bounds of law. This warranty was founded upon the king's oath introduced in the ancient law-book, but contains besides divers more exact definitions and limitations. The arbitrairiness to which, under the foregoing reign, so much calamity was chargeable, now gave occasion to a more express confirmation of the prin- ciple sanctified by the law, that no one should be apprehended or condemned upon a mere allegation, or without knowing his accuser and being brought face to face with him before the judgment seat. The king was to ensure to all orders, especially that of the nobility, due respect, and to every office dignity and power, dismissing no man from office unless he should be law- fully adjudged culpable. The enactment in the Land's Law (Lands-lag) that, without consent of the people, neither a new law should be made nor a new tax imposed, was ratified anew with the addition that the assent of Duke John, of the council, and of the estates, should hkewise be requisite thereto. Without this, neither war, peace, truce, nor alliance, could be made. The council was reinstated in its position of mediator between king and people, and the estates deprecated their being burdened with too frequent holding of diets. Hereby, in the great necessities of the crown, the right of the estates to tax themselves was brought into jeopardy, especially as the expres- sions of the king's oath respecting the taxes are very indefinite, namely, that " they shall not be imposed without the knowledge of the council and the consent of those to whom it belongeth." Thus was the power of the council augmented both from the side of the king and that of the people; and, in proof thereof, the provision of the old regal oath which forbids the king of Sweden to alienate or diminish the property of the crown, was omitted from the form of warranty pronounced by the young Gustavus Adolphus. King John III declared, in 1573. that every nobleman who was more than 316 THE HISTORY OF SCANDIFAVIA [1611-1629 A.D.] . seventeen years old, and unable to discharge his horse service, should, if he would retain his shield of nobility, at least serve for pay, since in the service of the crown he must be. Charles IV required that all sons of noblemen, when they had reached the lawful age — even those whose fathers hadbeen beheaded or banished — should come to the weapon show and follow him to the war; wherefore we hear thenceforward of noble volunteers and " younk- ers of gentry" who served as common soldiers, even on foot and for pay. The nobiUty of Sweden included all having command, whether civil or mili- tary, and almost all the public servants of the realm in the secular depart- ments. Hence, the nobles looked upon their claim to offices of state as their highest right. At the same time, theirs was properly a military order; for every noble was at least a common soldier, if nothing else, and thereto bom. Charles had strengthened the influence of the army by sumnioning to the diets a number of officers as its representatives, a practice which continued long afterwards. Axel Oxenstierna mentions this as a custom peculiar to Sweden. The military, which sent deputies from among both the oflBcers and the privates (though they had no votes), strengthened the nobility at the diets, where every nobleman who had come to lawful years was bound to give his attendance. Add hereto long and prosperous wars, and the military monarchy is complete. Such a military monarchy had Sweden now become; and under this aspect it was regarded by its greatest statesmen. The mili- tary spirit pervaded all. With such a spirit and a young hero wearing the crown, we may not wonder at that claim of pre-eminence, so nearly coinciding with reality, made by the nobility, or its assertion that the nobleman was immediately, the peasant only mediately, the subject of the realm — claims which, finally led to the formally expressed dogma of the nobility, that " it could not be out-voted at the diets by the other estates." After the close of the Danish war, in January, 1613, Gustavus caused a declaration to be drawn up for the right understanding of the nobility's privileges, which he committed to the custody of John Skytte. Those of the nobility, the declaration ran, who neither themselves bore part in the Danish war, nor fulfilled their horse service, but slunk away, while the king himself lay afield against the enemies of the realm, should lose their baronial freedom, unless they had lawful excuse and by grace obtained a new confirmation. They were reminded that inheritable estates, as well as fiefs, were subject to the burden of horse service. It was noted as an abuse that the nobility released their peasants, not only within the free-mile round their mansions, but generally upon their lands held in fief from the crown, from portages, lodgment, and other works of succour (hjelp); that they built as many seats CsdtesgardarnaJ as they pleased, and claimed for them the same immunities as -for their individual place of abode, thus also withdrawing a large number of persons from conscription; that, whereas the houses of the nobles in the towns were free from all civic burdens, they unlawfully, either themselves or by others, pursued civic callings, maintaining even in some cases tap-rooms and places of dissolute resort; that they had abused likewise their toU-free right for inland traffic and foreign commerce, as well on their own account as that of others; with much else to the same purpose. A statute passed in Gustavus' second diet, of the year 1612, provided that all fiefs conferred at pleasure should be revoked till the investigation of the grounds of tenure was completed; "since, in a word, the largest portion of the income and rents of the realm is bestowed in fiefs." This statute remained on the whole without effect; and naturally enough, seeing that such infeu- dations, however great the inconveniences they entailed on both governors GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 317 [1611-1629 x.J>.] and subjects, constituted from of old the payment for the entire service of the state, and the remedy of the evil woula thus have required a new regula- tion of stipends in every department. For this, the wars that had broken out left no time, and the confusion of the finances, no means. We see the king for the most part reduced to the necessity of giving with one hand what he had taken back with the other. Great merits and brilliant proofs of brav- ery called for rewards which he, least of all men, could refuse; and the conquests of the Russian and Polish wars supplied new channels for his generosity. The erection of the Swedish House of Barons (Riddarhus) took place in 1625. The king gave his assent to the petition of the nobility on this subject, in recompense for the readiness wherewith they had received the royal proposals, respecting the maintenance of a standing army, made to the estates at the diet of that year. At this point the horse service virtu- ally ceased to be the ground of freedom of nobility, and the old contest regarding it became at least of smaller importance. Nobility, as completely hereditary, was separated from the other gentry, although left open to merit of every kind; but its destination mainly for warlike objects continued the same, and, hence, in Sweden a standing army and a permanent house of barons were contemporary institutions. What Gustavus, looking into the future, designed by the great dignities wherewith he surrounded his throne, what he purposed with the nobility of Sweden, is as uncertain as what he intended with Sweden itself. Everywhere we find the tracks of greatness, but no goal — scattered premises to a conclusion cut off by death. That he held control over his work (which without him became something entirely different in character), is certain. The officers of the army continued to be called to the diets. The statutes were passed in the name of the " council and estates, counts, free-barons, bishops, nobles, clergy, military command- ers, burgesses, and common folk (menige allmoge), of the realm of Sweden," but the military commanders, although not named in the ordinance for the House of Barons, were reckoned of the nobility. With all this enhancement of the influence of the nobihty, the king yet possessed, in respect to all the estates, the power, requisite to a ruler, of having the last word in deliberations and resolutions. The forms appointed for a Swedish diet of estates, in 1617, were little different from the oldest in which the king spoke to the country's army, and acclamation decided the adoption of the statute. Nor was the plan of representation by estates yet fully developed. This can properly be said only of the first estate, which outweighed the rest, much was yet indeterminate. The presence of all the nobles, unless hindered by years, sickness, or the public service, was, though required by law, hardly possible. From the clergy, were commonly summoned the bishop of every diocese, with a member of the chapter, and a minister from every hundred; from the burgesses, the burgomaster and one of the council or the commonalty in every town; of the yeomen, one or two from every hundred. The old popular right of self -taxation had become more and more a sub- ject for the arbitrary disposal of the governors. These relations suffered little change under the first kings of the Vasa family; especially as, according to the country's law, supply was not yet a question for the diet in the later sense, and the representation long continued to oscillate between provincial and general estates. The crown, with augumented power, naturally inter- vened; and thus we see that Gustavus I sometimes levied heavy taxes, with no reference except to the consent of the council. The numerous diets of Charles IX in part changed this relation, and at the diet of 1602 we observe 318 THE HISTORY 0^ SCANDINAVIA [1611-1639 A..D.] that even the amount of a tax was fixed, although it was to be paid in wares. But this was not the rule. Over the grave of Gustavus Adolphus it was said : "He received his kingdom with two empty hands, yet deprived no man of his own by violence; but what the necessities of the realm required, that did he let his people know on their days of free assemblage, that they might consider the matter, and give tribute to the crown according to its need." In comparison with earlier times, this judgment may be viewed as correct; and it belongs to the undying renown of this king that he, the greatest warrior of the Swedish throne, was, among all the rulers of his house, the least given to violence. Those who speak so much of the weight of taxes with which he loaded the country, should at least reflect that what under him was done by the law, was before him often done against law, and that arbitrariness, heretofore almost the rule, now appears the exception. No Swedish king before Gustavus Adolphus demanded and received greater sacrifices from the nobility. The hardest sacrifice was the abolition, by the diet of the year 1627, of all exemptions from conscrip- tion previously allowed. Complaints of the pressure of the public burdens were not unknown; and the new burdens were not introduced without dis- turbances. In 1620 representations were made that the contributions which heretofore were paid to the crown had occasioned discontent and must be reduced, seeing that the poor and indigent paid equally with the rich and prosperous, whereby many were impoverished and their farms made waste. Therefore the cattle and field tax, which was now levied, was paid according to every man's ability. But to ascertain each man's circumstances, ministers, bailiffs, and the six-men of the church in each parish, had to enrol the cattle and seed-corn of every yeoman; and it was soon found that this brought with it great inconvenience. The land tax and excise imposed restrictions hitherto unknown in Sweden, on the industry of the country. Barriers, with gates and toll-houses, were built at the outskirts of every town, and inspectors appointed; the same forms being observed at the market-places throughout the country. The most ordinary household business, brewing, baking, or killing, could no longer be pursued freely in the towns. All this caused at the outset great discontent. The rigour of the levies was most keenly felt during the long period of war. Provinces occasionally made contracts with the crown, to avoid these levies; but they did not generally cease until the days of Charles XI. The militia contracts then entered into with the pro- vinces were made yet more burdensome by the frequent returns of the con- scription under Charles XII. The sufferings of Sweden in those times and during wars of such long continuance pass our conception. The resources of the country appear to have been little answerable to its great undertakings; and the inadequacy of the income is best shown by the extraordinary means to which the govern- ment was compelled to resort, especially to procure ready money, whereof was great want for carrying on the war; when the crown revenues were mostly paid in produce, or consisted in the performance of personal services. The extraordinary means were loans, sale and mortgage of the crown estates, and monopolies; and these enforced expedients of supply are to be reckoned among the most grievous measures of this reign. They multiplied what the Swede sees with impatience — middle powers in his relations with his rulers. All who possessed influence through property — as lenders, holders of land- fiefs, farmers, managers of profitable enterprises — became intermediate pow- ers, on which the government, no less than the subject, was dependent. On the other hand, no administration evoked more abundant energies; GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 319 [16U-1629 A.n.] in this respect the reign of Gustavus Adolphus forms an epoch for Sweden. This is apparent not less in reference to the industry and education of the people, than in the executive and legislative functions of the state. We quote the judgment of a foreigner upon the country and its inhabitants at this day. "This kingdom," observes William Usselinx of Sweden, "has many advantages above other countries in sea-ports, timber, victuals, the wages of labour, copper, iron, steel, pitch, tar, shot, and other munitions of war. The inhabitants of the country are a hardy folk, who can endure cold and heat; they are docile, active, quick. They are, besides, obedient to their rulers, and little bent to sedition and revolt, wherein they excel many other nations and peoples. They have the qualities, if they would but exert themselves, of expert seamen; for they have no defect of intelligence, dexterity, and courage; and if they had a little practice, they would easily become good ship-builders, the more so as almost all of them know how to handle the axe. In respect to various manufactures of fine linen, cloth, worsted, baize, bom- bazine, and others, there is little of this kind done in the country, partly be- cause impulse and materials are want- ing, and partly also because there are no means for exporting their wares. But of skill and shrewdness they have no want, for we find peasants able at all sorts of handiwork. They are car- penters, joiners, smiths; they bake, brew, weave, dye, make shoes and clothes, and the like, wherein they sur- pass all other nations of Europe, inas- much as in other countries hardly any- one will attempt to put hands to any craft that he hath not learned. Their wives and daughters make many curi- ous devices in sewing, weaving, and other pleasant arts, whence it appeareth that they are very knowing and wise-minded. True it is that they cannot arrive at the perfection which is found in other countries, when a man ever remaineth in one trade and becomes inured to it by long time, man after man, from father to son. But it is not to be doubted that he who hath wit and memory to learn in haste, and thereafter himself to invent, would become perfect in his trade, if from his youth upward he practised one thing and kept himself faithful thereto. Some are of opinion that this nation is given to in- temperance in eating and drinking, as also to sloth, and therefore will not apply themselves to any steady labour. But concerning this I pronounce no judgment." Sweden for the first time, under this reign learned to know in what the rule of officials consists. In earlier times we see but the contest between the power of the magnates and the arbitrariness of the kings; it was the former of these which obtained the sanction of law in the Swedish Middle Age. The old order, or disorder, of administration was in the hands of a polycracy of feudatories. This barbarous method was gradually abandoned, but at first only by the employment of violent and illegal means, and substituted by A Costume of the Valley of Aure 320 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1611-1629 A.D.] what we may call the secretary government, directly dependent on the king. Under it, in the country, was created the office of bailiff, confided, as was the secretary government of the towns, out of mistrust of the council and lieu- tenants (stathallama), to persons of mean condition, dependent on the king alone, and who, though often inculpated, were yet a necessary evil. Thus matters remained under the first princes of the house of Vasa,_ until Charles IX broke the old power of the lieutenants, those " kings in their dis- tricts," as he himself named them; and after him Gustavus Adolphus ven- tured to collect around his throne great but subordinate legal authorities. The tension which the kingdom felt in all its members required the reins of government to be tightly drawn. We discern a stricter unity of power in the highest place, with its inevitable condition: a greater division of labour in the administration, so far as the preponderant demands of military affairs allowed. These arrangements (afterwards developed by Axel Oxenstierna in the form of government of 1634) — a complete gradation of offices, with powers in several respects even impairing the old political rights of the peo- ple; the five high officers of state at the head of as many departments assisted by royal councillors appointed thereto, and standing boards or col- leges now first brought into intimate connection with the prefectures — all belong to the period of Gustavus Adolphus. The king's absence, occasioned by the wars, too often hindered his own watchfulness over the judicatory. The council of state was in fact the supreme tribunal. In a period so unsettled, so small an amount of litigation is not a little wonderful. Such a fact lays open to our glance the inner moral life of the people, and indicates at the same time that hidden fund of strength which must have existed somewhere in the country, to outlast exertions so great, distress and unquiet so trying. Such a fund lay in the public morals; and in this respect, as in others, the era of Gustavus Adolphus presents the true transition from the Middle Age of Sweden. The old blood-feuds disap- peared before the power of law; but the ties of kindred still retained all their natural freshness and force, purged of violent excess, and operating only to beneficent ends. No one was desolate; for all might reckon upon home, kindred, and help in need. ■ Much was borne, but borne in common, and Sweden was as one man. Nor was the condition of the people at the king's death by any means such as might be imagined after so many years of war. D'Ogier, who visited Sweden in the winter of 1634, in company with the French ambassador. Count D'Avaux, says in his journal, that he does not remember having seen in the whole country any one naked or in rags. Pea- sant lads and lasses sprang gladsomely about the sledges; and though he had free portage, the yeomen showed themselves not at all slow in forwarding him on his way — probably, he adds, because in other matters they are not heavily taxed. On a journey to the Copper Mount, he saw the people gath- ered at a church in the Dale country, and exclaims: "These country folk are neither ragged nor hungry, as with us." And yet they were people with whom it was no uncommon thing to mix bark in their bread. "They felt no unhappiness. A great present, a great future, quickened the spirit of all. This trust in the future Gustavus Adolphus himself showed in nothing more clearly than in his immortal institutes for general education. In the University of Upsala the dissensions among the teachers, especially between Messenius and John Rudbeck, with their factions among the students, con- tinued under the first years of this reign. The mode in which the king restored order, as well as the wisdom and bounty which marked his care of the univer- sity, redound to his honour. Messenius and Rudbeck, both men as hot- GIJSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 321 [lCU-1639 A..D.] tempered as they were able, were removed, but to honourable and weighty charges; and the work of instruction continued to be a main object of the king's solicitude. In the year 1620 he proposed to the bishops the question as to the manner in which art and knowledge might be furthered in his dominions, taking notice that the university and schools were ill-conducted, so that there were few fit for the office of the ministry, and none at all for affairs of government. The magistrates of the towns were so ignorant that they could not write their names; the students were hindered by their pov- erty from making progress; and instruction at the university was impeded by too many holidays. The teachers were ec- clesiastics; and as the clergy did not under- stand matters belong- ing to government and civic life, they could not teach these branches. There was a yet greater want of competent per- sons to do the work of the country than there was of money to repay them. Therefore the bishops were com- manded to state how many royal schools and seminaries were needful in the kingdom; what course of education was most desirable to be given there; how good teachers might be obtained, and one gen- eral method of instruc- tion introduced ; how the so-called parish- rounds Csockne-gangarJ, by which the students begged their sustenance in the hamlets, might be abolished, and in their stead a fixed contribution, to be collected by the ministers, established. They were to declare how many professors were required in the university; and as there was a want of learned men at home, from what places these should be invited: how the professors should be paid, since the manner now in use — by the church tithes — was ineffective, yielding more one year, another less; how the community of the students, the privileges of the university, and the ren- dering of accounts by the professors, might be arranged. Lastly, the king required their opinion respecting the hospitals; especially as the grievous infection of leprosy was beginning to spread, chiefly in Finland, and what the crown expended upon hospitals was embezzled, and the poor were treated worse than dogs. The reply of the bishops is fantastical and silly. But the king put his own hand to the work, and to his individual liberality the University of Upsala owes its existence, The first gymnasium in Sweden was erected at H. W. — VOL. XVI. Y I I iii_~~ni'li"inirl >—■■■- L ■l,Wll7£'"'»Illu,"*»"''4Syiii^'l Cathedral of Abo 322 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1611-1629 A.B.1 Vesteras in 1620, and enlarged in 1623 and 1627; the second at Strengnas in 1626; the third at Linkoping in 1628. The same year Finland, which had possessed the gymnasium of Viborg since 1618, obtained another at Abo. Thus was this great- king in the midst of his wars the founder of Sweden's system of education. No hopes are nobler or more elevating than those which Gustavus Adolphus opened up to a future generation by his institutes. They were not less important for their political than for their scientific results; for if Sweden, from this time, continually saw men rising by their knowledge and merits from the hut to the highest dignities of the state, it was the work of Gustavus Adolphus./ GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS AND THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR* Within a very few years the king, seconded by his youthful chancellor, Oxenstierna, had established the best organised representative monarchy of his time in the country so lately distracted by civil war. Lagerquist (Laurel Bough), Oernflycht (Eagle's Flight), Erenrot (Root of Honour) — such were the proud names of the great families which, like the aristocracy of the whole Baltic coast, were loth to bow their stubborn neck to the yoke of the monarchy. This hard-handed aristocracy was won over to the service of the crown, with amazing readiness, by the alluring prospect of military glory and spoil; any nobleman who, in time of war, stayed at home, " dm kericht zu huten" (to look after the dustbin) forfeited the fief he held of the crown. Hence it was possible to impose the heavy burden of military service on the loyal peasantry too, and every year the clergy read out from their pulpits the names of the young men who were called upon to join the militia. The king directed the whole administration by means of five great central bureaux. He permitted freedom of debate to the four estates of the diet, but after the royal decision was once given he required unquestioning obedi- ence, for " no martial laurels grow amidst these eternal brawls and wrangles." Thus, in firm reliance on his people, he undertook to end the three wars his father had bequeathed to him; and in the school of nineteen years of warfare he trained an army accustomed to conquer. Against the Danes, he maintained his position with difficulty. Evading his most formidable foe, he turned his arms against the Muscovite, drove the Russian robbers from their haunts on the Baltic, subjugated Ingermanland, Karelia, and all the maritime provinces of the Gulf of Finland, and, hard by the site where St. Petersburg now stands, erected the column which pro- claimed to the world that here Gustavus Adolphus had set the frontier of the kingdom. He next led his trusty vassals against Poland, where he met the legions of the Counter-Reformation for the first time. For all her pride of victory, he inflicted on Poland the first great defeat she had suffered for two hundred years; he conquered Livonia, secured the Protestant church in her precarious tenure, and gained a foothold in the harbours of Prussia. The guiding idea of his life stood more and more plainly revealed : the scheme of a Scandinavian empire, which should unite all the countries of the Baltic under the dominion of the blue and yellow flag. Gustavus Adolphus had gained all these successes without any interference on the part of the western powers, for as yet there was no state system. The tract of central Europe — that Germany which was destined at some future time to bind the east and v/est of Europe into an organic association of political entities — was prostrate [' For a full account of the Thirty Tears' War, and the part taken in it by Gustavus Adol- phus, the reader is referred to volume XIV, pages 339-368.] GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 323 [1611-1639 A.D.] and bleeding from a thousand wounds, torn asunder by furious party strife; and not until his triumphal march brought him close upon the German fron- tier was Gustavus Adolphus drawn into the whirlpool of the great German war. For thirty-three years Germany had lived as in a dream, imder the protection of the Religious Peace of Augsburg — a fallacious peace, which brought about no genuine reconciliation, and left aU the burning questions of the law of the empire unresolved. Wholly preoccupied with the dreary quarrels of Lutheran and Calvinistic theologians, the German Protestants had looked on idly while the Jesuits, careless of the Peace, brought large dis- tricts in the south and west of Germany once more under the sway of the church of Rome; and while the Dutch, to the north of the German river, took up the desperate struggle against the Habsburg empire, William of Orange uttering the warning cry: "If Germany remains an idle spectator of our tragedy, a war will presently be kindled on German soil which will swallow up all the wars that have gone before it." The most ghastly of all wars began — ghastly not only by reason of the hideous havoc it wrought, but by reason of its utter barrenness of thought — for while the empire was tossed distractedly between four parties, religious and political contentions grew tangled into an inextricable maze, and of the lofty passions of the early days of the Reformation little survived beyond the gloomy malevolence of sectarian hatred. Austria and Spain, the two branches of the house of Habsburg, made common cause in the struggle with heresy; they allied themselves with Maximilian of Bavaria, the head of the Catholic League in Germany, with Italian princes, and with the crown of Poland. Almost the whole of Catholic Europe, with the sole exception of France, placed its mercenaries at the service of this imperial policy, which strode resolutely towards its goal, daring and favoured by fortune, commanding the admiration of even Gustavus Adolphus by its ruthless strength of wiU. "The emperor," he often said, "is a great statesman; he does what will serve his purpose." All the em- peror's hereditary dominions, including even Bohemia, thut ancient home of heresy, and the Protestant peasantry of Upper Austria, had been coerced into conformity with the Roman Catholic faith. South Germany was already subjugated, the elector palatine exiled from his lands and lieges; Spain held command of a series of strongholds along the Rhine, and was thus able to send her mercenaries safely from MUan through the Tyrol and Germany, to make war upon the Netherlands. The little armies of the partisans of Protestant- ism in the north were crushed, even the Danish duke of Holstein was driven back. The emperor's legions pressed forward to Jutland, as they had done in the days of the Ottos. His victorious banners, bearing the emblems of the Virgin Mary and the double eagle, floated on the shores of both the seas of Germany, and his commander-in-chief, the Czech Wallenstein, was at work on the project of a maritime empire — he was going to link the Baltic and the North Sea by a canal between Wismar and the Elbe, and establish a naval port of the empire in the bay of Jade (where Wilhelmshaven now stands) at the very doors of the rebel Dutch. In the year 1629 the imperial policy uttered its last fiat. The edict of Restitution excluded Calvinists from toleration under the Peace of Augs- burg, and directed that all religious institutions which had joined the Calvinis- tic. church since the date of the Peace, all the old "immediate" bishoprics of the ancient Germania Sacra of the north — Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Bremen, Liibeck — as well as the provincial bishoprics of Meissen, Brandenburg, and coimtless others, should be delivered over to the Romish church. What a 324 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1611-1639 A.D.] prospect! The peaceful development of two generations wiped out at a blow; the people of these whilom ecclesiastical territories, with their thorough- going Protestantism, once more under the sway of the crozier, while an arch- duke should make his entry into Mainz as Catholic archbishop! The success of such a project would have struck a blow at the very root of German Pro- testantism, in its ecclesiastical no less than its political aspect; and nothing would have been lacking for its utter annihilation but that the illustrious Protestant dynasties of the empire — the electors of Brandenburg and Hesse, the elector Palatine and the Askanian Anhalts (the Aschersleben line) — should forfeit their fiefs to the empire as rebels and heretics, like the dukes of Mecklenburg and Brunswick and many other Protestant princes, who had been driven into exUe and seen their ancient hereditary do-, minions fall a prey to the arbitrary rule of imperialist commanders. Never had Germany been so near a condition of political unity. " We need no more princes or prince electors," was WaUenstein's threat. But unity so created, by Spanish priests of the Society of Jesus, by condottieri and hordes of mercena- ries who had renounced their na- tionality, would have destroyed all intellectual liberty, would have gone far to annihilate the essence of the German ego. A cry of hor- ror rose from the whole Protestant world. And yet, whence was res- cue to be looked for? The only two Protestants who stiU wore the electoral hat — the electors of Brandenburg and Saxony — saw their dominions flooded with impe- rial troops; they were paralysed by the weakness of their own will and by their traditional loyalty to the emperor — a feeling honourable even when mistaken — paralysed by the insubordination of the provincial estates, which obstructed every serious attempt at military preparation. There was no help for it; the dissensions and inertia of the German Protestants had brought things to such a pass that nothing but foreign intervention could save them. The king of Sweden had no alternative. He reahsed the vast co-ordination of European affairs; he had long vainly striven to induce the free Protestant powers of Northern Europe — England, the Netherlands, and Denmark — to league themselves together against the Habsburgs; and during his Polish campaign he had already met the imperial troops in one unsuccessful engage- ment. If the sway of the brutal imperial soldiery were to extend farther along the Baltic, it would not only shatter the great septentrional monarchy of his hopeful dreams, but would endanger the little throne of his own dominions; for there was no question but that Austria's allies, the Pohsh Vasas, would endeavour to make good their claims to the crown. "In the safety of our neighbours," he said to his loyal estates, " we must secure our own." And in ItBMKAHT TOBSTENSON, SWEDISH GENERAL (1603-1651) GUSTAVUS ADOLPHTFS 826 [1611-1629 1.D.] glowing language, he, who had never learned to dissemble, added, "I will deliver our oppressed co-religionists from the papal yoke." His political and religious duty both pointed to the same goal; but in this, as in aU epoch- making crises, the issue was determined by the obscure promptings of genius, by the mysterious presentiment of prodigious successes, and by the call of divine providence.? Leipsic, Liitzen, and the Death of Gustaviis Gustavus negotiated with France, England, and Holland, before he began his march. Charles I agreed to send the king of Sweden six thousand men. These troops were raised in the name of the marquis of Hamilton and supposed to be maintained by that nobleman, that the appearance of neutrality might be preserved. The most necessary supply that Gustavus received was an annual subsidy, from Cardinal Richelieu, of twelve hundred thousand livres — a small sum in our days, but considerable at that time, especially in a country where the precious metals are still scarce. The treaty between France and Sweden was a masterpiece in politics. Glistavus agreed, in consideration of the stipu- lated subsidy to maintain in Germany an army of thirty-six thousand men; and bound himself, to observe a strict neutrality towards the duke of Bavaria and all the princes of the Catholic league, on condition that they should not join the emperor against the Swedes, and to preserve the rights of the Romish church, wherever he should find it established. By these ingenious stipula- tions, which do so much honour to the genius of Richelieu, the Catholic princes were not only freed from all alarm on the score of religion, but fur- nished with a pretext for withholding their assistance from the emperor, as a step which would expose them to the arms of Sweden. Gustavus had entered Pomerania when this treaty was concluded, and soon after made himself master of Frankfort-upon-the-Oder, Kolberg, and several other important places. The Protestant princes, however, were still backward in declaring themselves, lest they should be separately crushed by the imperial power, before the king of Sweden could march to their assistance. In order to put an end to this irresolution, Gustavus summoned the elector of Brandenburg to declare himself openly in three days; and on receiving an evasive answer, he marched directly to Berlin. This spirited conduct had the desired effect: the gates were thrown open, and Gustavus was received as a friend. He was soon after joined by the landgraf of Hesse and the elector of Saxony. Gustavus now marched towards Leipsic, where Tilly lay encamped. That experienced general advanced into the plain of Breiten- feld to meet his antagonist, at the head of thirty thousand veterans. The king of Sweden's army consisted of a nearly equal number of men; but the Saxon auxiliaries were raw and undisciplined, and fled at the first onset. Yet Gustavus, by his superior conduct and the superior valour of the Swedes, gained a complete victory over Tilly and the imperials. The consequences of the victory at Leipsic were great; nor did the conqueror fail to improve that success which he had so gloriously earned. He was instantly joined by all the members of the Evangelical union, determined at last to throw off the imperial bondage. The measures of the Catholic league were utterly dis- concerted; and Gustavus made himself master of the whole country from the Elbe to the Rhine, comprehending a space of near one hundred leagues, full of fortified towns. The elector of Saxony, in the meantime, entered Bohemia, and took Prague. Tilly was killed in disputing with the Swedes the passage of 320 THE HISTOEY OF SCANDINAVIA [1611-1639 A.D,] the Lech. Gustavus soon after reduced Augsburg, and there re-estabhshed the Protestant reUgion. He next marched into Bavaria, where he found the gates of almost every city thrown open on his approach. When pressed to revenge on Munich the cruelties which Tilly had perpetrated at Magdeburg, to give up the city to pillage, and reduce the elector's magnificent palace to ashes, he replied : " No ! let us not imitate the barbarity of the Goths our ances- tors, who have rendered their memory detestable bj^ abusing the rights of conquest, in doing violence to humanity, and destroying the precious monu- ments of art." During these transactions, the renowned Wallenstein, who had been for a time in disgrace, but had been restored to the chief command with absolute powers soon after the defeat of Leipsic, had recovered Prague and the greater part of Bohemia. Gustavus offered him battle near Nuremberg; but the cautious veteran prudently declined the challenge, and the king of Sweden was repulsed in attempting to force his intrenchments. The action lasted for ten hours, during which every regiment in the Swedish army, not excepting the body of reserve, was led on to the attack. The king's person was in imminent danger, the Austrian cavalry sallying out furiously from their intrenchments on the right and left when the efforts of the Swedes began to slacken; and a- masterly retreat alone saved him from a total overthrow. Gustavus afterwards attacked Wallenstein in the wide plain of Liitzen, near Leipsic, where a great battle was fought and the Swedish monarch lost his life in the height of a complete victory, which was improved by Bernhard, duke of Saxe-Weimar, his lieutenant-general.. No prince, ancient or modern, seems to have possessed, in so eminent a degree as Gustavus, the united qualities of the hero, the statesman, and the commander — that intuitive genius which conceives, that wisdom which plans, and that combination of conduct and courage which gives success to an enterprise. Nor was the military progress of any prince ever equally rapid, under circumstances equally difficult, with an inferior force against warlike nations and disciphned troops conducted by able and experienced generals.'' AIMS AND CHARACTER OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS What was his aim? This, posterity has striven to learn; this, it has fancied it has discovered. From generation to generation the story has gone — gathering assurance as it went, and being handed on and on with fresh embellishments — that he came down upon the empire from the North to save and protect the Protestant religion; that he aimed at uniting Prot- estant Germany and being himself the Protestant emperor. But the tale we have told points to other aims than these. Long after the death of Gustavus Adolphus the royal chancellor said to Bengt Oxenstierna, "King Gustavus Adolphus wanted the Baltic coast; he aspired to be one day emperor of Scandinavia, and his empire was to embrace Sweden and Norway, Denmark as far as the Great Belt, and the Baltic provinces. With this end in view, he first concluded a peace with Denmark on the most favourable terms he could get, and then one with Russia respecting the Baltic coast. By means of lucra- tive duties he took the coast and river mouths away from the Poles. He then attacked the German emperor, and demanded Pomerania and Mecklenburg as a war indemnity from the Protestant princes, who were to receive Catholic provinces in exchange. Denmark was to be reduced to the territory beyond the Great Belt, and Norway was to be ours. By such means this great king GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 327 [1611-1639 A.D.] aimed at founding an independent empire. But it was not true (as report says) that he wished to make himself emperor of Germany." His contemporaries were full of admiration for his soldierly courage and his wisdom as a general. For a general he was, bold almost to foolhardiness. A dagger in his hand would arouse all the Northman, " the Goth," in him; then he showed that he belonged to the Vasa brood. How often did he not stake his life on a chance before he finally threw it away in a rash skirmish! From the very beginning of his reign his improvements and innovations in military arrangements were the constant subjects of his thoughts. The embassy to the Netherlands in 1615, which has furnished so many personal details about Gustavus Adolphus, gives a list of these. "Nine large new ships" are mentioned, as well as the militia brought up to the strength of forty thousand men; there is, besides, an account of a new arsenal of great cannon and weapons of every description. The young king had begged of their high mightinesses " that the controller monier " might come to him for a time in Holland, bringing with him engineers, artillerymen, gunners, and other such people. His admiration for the military spirit of the prince of Orange impelled him to this step — to complete his armament after the Orange pattern, and with the assistance of Orange workmen. And how often in his German wars did he take Orange for his example, not only in operations in the field, but more especially when he had a fortress to besiege. He showed the envoys a piece of ordnance he had invented, which he wished to try in their presence. It weighed only twenty pounds, and threw balls of the same weight. He told them he hoped to make it still lighter. Europe witnessed the rise of a warlike star in the North. Spinola had already said at the battle of Prague, " Gustavus Adolphus is the only Protestant sovereign whom one must be cautious not to offend." The only history which appeared of him during his life echoed the universal contemporary judgment: "There are few men to be found in Christendom at the present day whose experience in war equals his." And this determined, rough, reserved, hard ruler — this leo arcticus — taller than the tallest of his countrymen, broad-shouldered, white-skinned and with the fairest of fair hair, slow in his movements, which in later years when he became rather too corpulent were somewhat unwieldy, loved soft music and songs of the simplest kind, and would often sit, lute in hand, lost in the dreams which its tones awakened. We like to compare him, separated from us by a distance of over two centuries, with those who are nearer our times; and who is not strangely moved by the remembrance of how the con- queror of Silesia dreamed in restful solitude over the soft-toned lute? Con- centrated will, energy pursuing a great end, sought an instant's pause, while genius lulled them musically into the short slumber the pressure of the time allowed. Like an aurora borealis Gustavus appears — great, wonderful, luminous, and cold.* Geijer's Estimate of Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus was taken away in his thirty-eighth year. Never has one man's death made a deeper impression throughout a whole quarter of the world. Wheresoever his name had been heard, a ray of hope for the oppressed had penetrated. Even the Greek, at its sound, dreamed of free- dom; and prayers for the success of the Swedish monarch's arms were sent up at the Holy Sepulchre. What then must he not have been for the partners of his faith? We may conceive this; nay, rather, it is no longer possible to do 328 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDIKAVIA [1611-1639 A.D.] SO. The feelings with which the inhabitants of Augsburg, with streaming tears, crowded to the evangehcal worship restored by Gustavus Adolphus; the feelings with which the people in Saxony, on bended knees, stretched out thankful hands to the hero, for the second time their saviour, are become strange to the world in which we live. In those days men felt then: dangers, and knew how to requite their deliverer worthily. We speak of the people whose champion Gustavus Adolphus was by his cause as well as by his quali- ties. The agency of both extended far, and burst even the bonds of hate and prejudice; for he is perchance the only man (so great was the might of his vurtue) whose image is reflected with truth, even in the portraiture of his enemies. It is not only Axel Oxenstierna who has said of him, "He was a prince God-fearing in all his doings and transactions, even to the death." Lutheran theologians have wished in some sort to exalt him into a saint of their per- suasion. If withal he had too much of Caesar and Alexander (whom he ad- mired), we must acknowledge, on the other hand, that he was better than his spiritual advisers, and far above his age in Christian tolerance. The manner in which the future juggled with his life-work, frustrating his designs and letting his plans die with him, belongs to the common lot of mankind, and may silently be added to the immeasurable sum of hopes unfulfilled. One is conscious of a higher power working through the whole life of Gustavus Adolphus. There was in him that boimdless reach of view which with con- querors is inborn, and he accepted without amazement his own fortime. His profound belief in his own destiny is conspicuous in all the transactions of his life; and yet, though nothing hardens the heart so much as prosperity, Gustavus Adolphus was humble and meek. In his vocation he acknowledged guidance from on high. He was far from looking upon himself as indispensa- ble, however; for his goal was placed far above his own personality. There- fore was he, like the high-hearted Roman, not niggardly of his great life. "God the almighty liveth," he said to Axel Oxenstierna when that statesman warned him, in Prussia, not so rashly to expose himself to death. More cheerful and heroic courage never walked on earth. What, besides, did he purpose? A great monarchy, without doubt; for whose future props in Germany he counted upon the young Frederick William of Brandenburg, afterwards the great elector, and Bernhard of Weimar, intending for the one the hand of his daughter, for the other that of his niece. Probably even a Protestant empire was not foreign to his con- templations. For the rest, nothing was determined, even in his own breast. The sphere of his vision stretched far and wide; and it was his pleasure to hold in his hand the threads of many possibilities. Thus we see him enter- tain the proposal that he, after Sigismund's death, should himself be elected king of Poland, through the Polish dissidents. Thus we find him in alliance with the prince of Transylvania, the Crimean Tatars, and Russia, for the weakening of the Austrian interest as well in Poland as in Germany. Great designs were extinguished with his life on the battle-field of Liitzen./ CHAPTER X CHRISTINA TO CHARLES XI [1632-1697 A.D.] THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA (1648 A.D.) Christina, who succeeded Gustavus (II) Adolphus on the throne of Sweden, was only six years of age when her father fell upon the plains of Liitzen; and a council of regency, consisting of five great officers of state, at the head of whom was the chancellor Oxenstierna, was placed over the realm. It was expected by the Catholic party that now, when the hero of the reformed cause was no more, and that the elector of Saxony, one of his best supports, was about to pass over to the imperials, the war in Germany would be a short one. They were wofully deceived. It raged with alternate glory and disaster down to the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648. Gustavus had trained in his school a host of generals who were fit for every emergency; and the statesmen whom he had instructed were in no respect inferior. Horn, Ban^r, Torstenson, and Wrangel, assisted by Duke Bernhard and the landgraf, gathered la,urels in the field, which woidd not have disgraced even the coronet of Gustavus. For most of these successes, indeed, Sweden was indebted to other causes than even the ability of her generals or the discipline of her brave veterans. The ablest generals of France were also contending with the Catholic powers of Europe. But these events belong to German or to European history, rather than to that of Sweden. We will not, therefore, detail them, but will 329 330 THE HISTOEY OP SCANDINAVIA [1654 A.S.] pass at once to the celebrated treaty which restored peace to Europe. That treaty was most honourable to Sweden. Five millions of crowns were con- ceded to her, as some indemnification for the expenses of the war. She wag confirmed in the possession of Bremen and Verden, which were secularised. She was allowed to retain Upper Pomerania, a part of the Lower, with Riigen, Wismar, and three votes in the German diet. This was a glorious result; yet it was less glorious than the war itself, which had raised Sweden from an obscure state to one of the first of European kingdoms — which had disci- plined her troops, established her martial character, and rendered her formid- able in the eyes of Europe. Before the conclusion of this war, Sweden increased the number of her enemies by a sudden irruption into Holstein. The circumstances and end of this new war we shall give in a future chapter. It, too, contributed as much td the triumph of Christma as to the disgrace of her royal neighbour. THE ABDICATION OF CHRISTINA (1654 A.D.) But the most remarkable event of Christina's reign is her voluntary abdi- cation. Though fond of power, the cares which surrounded it and the duties which it involved were too much for her inclination. Affecting a peculiar love of retirement, a peculiar devotion to birds, to antiquities, to the fine arts, to criticism, and to philosophical reflection, she lamented a course of life which interfered with the attainment of her wishes, and expressed her intention to abdicate, long before she carried it into effect. Her vanity was delighted with the homage paid to her by literary men; she corresponded with all of any note, and invited several to her court; she pensioned such as she thought ready to extend her reputation; she purchased, at an immense price, the rarest editions of old books, and the choicest specimens of art. Her subjects were not well pleased with her prodigality; they condemned her tastes; they lamented her unchastity; and sensibly advised her to marry and attend more strictly to her duties as a sovereign. Against marriage, which would have subjected her caprice to restraints that she would have felt to be intolerable, she indignantly remonstrated, and declared that she would retire into private life. This resolution alarmed her people, who were proud of the glories that illustrated her reign, and who loved the daughter of their hero. Her ministers, especially Oxenstierna, remonstrated with her on a resolution which, if carried into effect, must, as they were well convinced, end in their fall from power. Under such a woman, they were the virtual sovereigns of Sweden; but her designated successor, Charles Gustavus (the son of the hero's sister by the count palatine), was a bold, active, enterprising prince, who would reign alone. Though she yielded for a time to the entreaties of her advisers, she never renounced her purpose; and in 1654 she announced it so energetically that all opposition was felt to be unavailing. It was in the diet of Upsala, held in May, 1654, that Christina made this irrevocable annunciation. In the event of her successor's dying without issue, she wished the sceptre to devolve on the count de Tott, one of her paramours, and descended from a daughter of Eric XIV; but she met with little encour- agement in such a project. In the following montji, wishing to imitate the illustrious example of Charles V, she publicly resigned all the ensigns of her dignity into the hands of her cousin, whom she exhorted to a right fulfilment of the royal duties. For the gratification of her pleasures, she reserved to herself the revenues of ample domains. Her subsequent Ufe was not like that of the renowned emperor .& CHRISTINA TO CHAELES XI 331 [1656 A.D.] She had reserved to herself her own independence, an absolute authority over such of her subjects as should accompany her, and the revenues of Pomerania and Mecklenburg, with those of several Swedish provinces. Quit- ting the habit of her sex, and taking the words. Fata mam invenient as a device, she left her kingdom, traversed Denmark and Germany, and established herself at Brussels. Here she remained for nearly a year, signalising her sojourn by the private renunciation of Lutheranism, which she afterwards solemnly and pubUcly abjured at Innsbruck. From Innsbruck she went to Italy. She entered Rome on horseback, was received, confirmed, and bap- tised Alexandra by Alexander VII, and was lodged in the Palazzo Farnese, where she surrounded herself with art- ists and amorists, with philosophers and mountebanks. In 1656, having quar- relled with some members of the college of cardinals, she made her first trip to France, where she had much success as a spectacle, called on the king at Com- pi^gne, was lodged at Fontainebleau, and stayed for some time in Paris. She was most gracious with the men of letters and science, but she outraged all the women by her expressions of contempt for their sex and themselves (which called forth many illiberal re- marks concerning her spare figure and humped shoulder), and declared that Ninon de I'Enclos was the only one of them worth her regard. She also at- tempted to instil a few of her own po- litical theories into the bosom of Ma- zarin; but that subtle diplomatist resisted, and when in the following year, after a journey to Italy, she at- tempted to renew her visit, he found means to have her detained at Fon- tainebleau. It was here that, after writing to Cromwell, who would none of her, she caused her favourite Monaldeschi, in revenge for the betrayal of her secrets, to be put to death by the captain of her guard." The French historian Catteau-Calleville gives the following account of this famous incident." Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN AND MONALDESCHI Attached to the queen were Count Sentinelli, her captain of the guard and first chamberlain, and the marquis Monaldeschi, her grand equerry. There reigned great jealousy between these two Italians, both desirous of keeping Christina's favour. The princess, however, had been for some time suspicious of Monaldeschi's conduct, and having intercepted his correspond- ence found that he was betraying her interests and at the same time attempt- ing to lay at another door the treason of which he was guilty. She feigned innocence in the matter and asked the marquis one day what punishment 332 THE HISTOKY OP SCANDINAVIA [1656 ca. A.B,] treason deserved. "Your majesty," he replied, "should have the traitor executed on the spot without mercy." "Good," said the gueen, "remember these words; and for my part I tell you I shall never fqrgive him." On the 6th of November she summoned to her, in the Gal^rie des Cerfs, Father Lebel, the Mathurin prior, and put into his hand a packet of papers sealed in three places and bearing no address, with the charge that he was to return it to her whenever she called for it and requesting him to make note of the day, hour, and place he had received it. Meanwhile Monaldeschi observed that several posts had passed without his receiving any letters; and becoming mistrustful took several steps which looked like preparations for flight. But the queen forestalled hina, and on the 10th of November she caUed him into the Galerie des Cerfs. He arrived trembling, pale, and haggard. After some irrelevant remarks by the queen Father Lebel entered by a door which was immediately shut, while through another entrance came Sentinelli the captain of the guard, and two soldiers. The queen asked the prior for the packet she had committed to his care,. took out the letters and papers which she showed and read to the marquis, asking him in a firm but passionate voice if he recognised them. The marquis denied they were anything but copies she had made herself. "You have, then," she asked him, "no knowl- edge of these letters and writings?" Leaving him to think for a minute, she produced the originals which she showed him, exclaiming, "0 you traitor!" After several attempts to justify himself Monaldeschi threw himself for pardon at Christina's feet. At the same time the captain and his soldiers drew their swords. Monaldeschi came closer to the queen, who listened a few moments but soon told him his arrest had been ordered and requested the prior to prepare him for death. She left the gallery and withdrew to an adjoining room. It appears, from Father Lebel's narrative, that Sentinelli himself interceded for the culprit, or at least he made a pretence of doing so. This proceeding pro- ducing no effect, the marquis implored the prior to intercede for him; and the latter did go to the queen, whom he found with calm and imruffied counte- nance. He threw himself at her feet, and in a voice choked with sobs begged her for the sake of Christ's sufferings to deign to show a little mercy. She represented to the good man how sorry she was not to be able to grant what he asked, pointing out the blackness of Monaldeschi's crime, and adding that so guilty a man had no forgiveness or mercy to hope for and that many who deserved less than this traitor had been broken on the wheel. Where- upon the prior, who has himself given an account of this whole circumstance, took the liberty of observing that she was in the palace of a great king and that she should give careful thought as to whether the king would approve of what she was about to do. This remark of the prior's instead of moving Christina, only wounded her pride. She replied that she had the right to dispense justice; that the king was not treating her as a prisoner and fugitive; that she was mistress of her own wishes and could punish her own officials for anything and at all times; that she was responsible for her conduct to God alone, and that this particular act of hers was not without precedent. The prior argued that there was a difference, and that if princes had done such things they did them on_ their own territory and not elsewhere; but, fearing to irritate her, he continued: "It is for the honour and reputation which your majesty has acquired in this kingdom, and for the hope which the nation has conceived of mediation that I humbly beg of you to consider that your action, entirely just as it maybe from your majesty's standpoint, might be regarded by others as an act of hasty violence. May your majesty CHEISTINA TO CHAELES XI 333 tX6B8-i660 A.II;,] do rather a deed of generosity and mercy towards this man by delivering him to the justice of the king and letting him stand trial in due form." ""V^at," the queen cried, "I, who have sovereign and absolute judicial power over those who serve me, be reduced to plead at law against a traitor of my house- hold of whose treason I hold the proof in my hands! " " That is true, madam, but your majesty is an interested party." "No, no," she replied, "I will tell the king about it. Go back and look after his soul. I cannot in conscience do what you ask." , The priest, noting the change of tone with which she uttered these last words, remarked that perhaps she would have given in if things had not gone so far. The priest returned to the gallery and announced the confirmation of arrest to Monaldeschi, whom he confessed, but who, preserving still some hope, addressed himself to the queen's chaplain who had arrived during his confession. But all attempts were unavailing and Monaldeschi was put to death by the soldiers and the captain of the guard, his rival for the queen's favour. As he wore under his vestments a thick coat of mail, he received several blows before expiring, and the gallery was stained with his blood. Finally a dagger was plunged into his throat and he was dead. The prior was charged with the burial ceremonies. The queen sent a sum of money to the monastery and had masses said for the repose of the marquis's soul. He was buried with the usual ceremonial in the parish church of Avon.