Cornell University Library 
 BR404 .B98 
 
 Reformation in Sweden: its rise progres 
 
 Clin 
 
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Cornell University 
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 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
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The Reformation in Sweden 
 
 ITS RISE, PROGRESS, AND CRISIS; 
 
 AND ITS TRIUMPH UNDER 
 
 CHARLES IX. 
 
 C. M. BUTLER, D.D. 
 
 Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Divinity School of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia 
 
 New York 
 ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY 
 
 900 BROADWAY, COR. 20th STREET 
 
Copyright, 1883, 
 By Anson D. F. Randolph & Company. 
 
 ST. JOHNLAND 
 
 STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 
 SUFFOLK CO., «. V. 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 EDWARD O. JENKINS, 
 
 ao NORTH WILLIAM ST., n. Y. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SWEDEN FROM THE TREATY OF CALMAR, I398, TO THE 
 
 INVASION OF CHRISTIAN II. OF DENMARK, I52O . . . I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM THE INVASION OF CHRISTIAN II., I52O, TO THE AC- 
 CESSION OF GUSTAVUS TO THE THRONE, I523 . . . . 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM THE ELECTION OF GUSTAVUS TO THE THRONE, TO HIS 
 
 COLLISION WITH THE CLERGY, I526 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE OF GUSTAVUS WITH THE SPIRIT- 
 UAL POWER, 1526-27 75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT AND CONTINUED STRUGGLES OF THE 
 
 REFORMATION 97 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE CHURCH TO THE CLOSE OF THE REIGN 
 
 OF KING GUSTAVUS II9 
 
iv Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 KING ERIC AND HIS BROTHERS 147 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 KING eric's madness, IMPRISONMENT AND DEATH. DUKE 
 
 JOHN BECOMES KING OF SWEDEN, AND HIS SON SIGISMUND 
 KING OF POLAND 1 69 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE REIGN OF KING JOHN FROM I568 TO I583 .... I93 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE REIGN OF KING JOHN FROM 1 583, TO HIS DEATH, I592 . 209 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CHARLES AND SIGISMUND 229 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FROM THE MEETING OF THE DIET OF SODERKfflPING, SEPT. 
 30, 1596, TO THE CLOSE OF THE REIGN OF CHARLES 
 IX., OCT. 30, 161I 248 
 
THE REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SWEDEN FROM THE TREATY OF CALMAR, 1 398, TO 
 THE INVASION OF CHRISTIAN II. OF DENMARK, 1 52O. 
 
 ^ I ""HE history of Scandinavia, previous to the union 
 -■- of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and 
 Norway, under Queen Margaret, in accordance with 
 the treaty of Calmar, is a record of violent, commo- 
 tions and revolutions, and of incessant wars between 
 the three kingdoms. There is very little in it to repay 
 the student of general history for the time and toil it 
 will cost him to acquire any coherent idea of its ever- 
 shifting conditions, and still less to attract or reward 
 the student of ecclesiastical history. 
 Scandina- The reigns of Birger, 1 290-13 19, and of his 
 via previous ^^^ Magnus, 1 3 19-1363, in Sweden, were 
 
 to Treaty of ,,,,,■,. , 
 
 Calmar, SO marked by cruelty and disaster to the 
 '39^- nation that some of the banished nobles 
 
 invited Albert, Count of Mecklenburg, son of the sister 
 of Magnus, to invade the kingdom and take posses- 
 sion of the throne. He accepted the invitation and 
 succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1363 to 
 1389. But his favors to Germans so offended the na- 
 tive nobility that they compelled him to dismiss his 
 German favorites, and to accept one of their number, 
 Bo Jonsson, as his chief adviser in the government. 
 
2 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Jonsson soon became his master, and his heirs offered 
 the throne to Margaret, Queen of Denmark and Nor- 
 way. She sent an army into Sweden, which defeated 
 and captured and imprisoned Albert. As Albert's son 
 died in 1379 there was no one to contest Queen Mar- 
 garet's claim to the throne, and the designation of her 
 nephew Eric, Duke of Pomerania, to succeed to the 
 triple throne of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which 
 was secured by the treaty of Calmar, in 1398. 
 Sweden un- "^^^ Conditions upon which the union of the 
 der Queen three kingdoms was concluded were such as 
 argaret. gggmed to promise peace and many mutual 
 advantages. It promised to put an end to the feuds by 
 which the Scandinavian kingdoms had hitherto been 
 convulsed, and to give to each member of the confed- 
 eracy, while still retaining its separate laws and cus- 
 toms, a strength beyond its own to resist the encroach- 
 ments of more powerful states. It provided that the 
 election of the king should in future be made conjointly, 
 — the sons of the sovereign being preferred; each realm 
 was to be governed by its own laws; fugitives from 
 one country were not to be protected in another; all 
 were bound to take up arms for the common defence. 
 It is obvious to remark how great would have been 
 the advantages of such an arrangement if it could have 
 been faithfully maintained; but it is equally obvious to 
 conclude that such a union of rival states is scarcely 
 practicable in the most advanced stages of civilization, 
 and quite impossible at an era of violence and under 
 an undefined system of succession to the throne. Mar- 
 garet herself introduced, or rather set in motion, the 
 existing elements of discord by her partiality to her 
 Danish subjects, — to whom she committed the chief 
 posts and fortresses of Sweden, — by her new and heavy 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 3 
 
 imposts, her prodigality to the clergy, and her avowed 
 policy of humbling the nobles of the land. The in- 
 evitable result immediately ensued — hatred on the 
 part of the Swedes and devotion on the part of the 
 Danes. By a native historian of Sweden she is said to 
 have been regarded by the Danes as sanctam et canoni- 
 zatione dignam, and by the Swedes as profundissimo 
 dignam inferno. 
 
 Sweden un- "^^^ discontent of the Swedes broke out 
 der King into open rebellion after the death of Queen 
 Margaret and the accession of King Eric. 
 The king was not qualified either by his character or 
 his administrative ability to conciliate the esteem, or 
 to silence the dissatisfaction of his subjects. His cruel 
 treatment of his wife Phillippa of England, who by 
 her gentleness and intelligence won the hearts of the 
 Swedes, subjected him to deserved obloquy. In the 
 pursuit of objects in which Sweden had no interest— 
 the recovery of his dukedom of Pomerania and the 
 fruitless attempt to conquer Schleswig — he exhausted 
 the resources of the country and shed the blood of his 
 subjects in wars from which they could reap no bene- 
 fit. This continued drain of men and money from the 
 kingdom, and the oppression of the Danes and Ger- 
 mans, who filled all the offices and occupied all the 
 castles of the land, led to a civil war, which, checked 
 from time to time, still broke out afresh, and was to be 
 extinguished only after a hundred years of discord and 
 bloodshed by the disruption of the union between Den- 
 mark and Sweden. 
 
 Jiising of Englebert Englebertson, an intelligent, elo- 
 Englebertin quent and popular miner of Dalecarlia, who 
 DaUcarlia. j^^j passed his youth in the household of 
 great barons, and had there acquired a degree of 
 
4 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 knowledge and culture superior to that which was 
 usual in his class, vowed to avenge the injuries suf- 
 fered by the Dalecarlians in common with all their 
 countrymen. The government of that province was 
 in the hands of a Danish nobleman named Ericson. 
 His administration was marked by every species of 
 brutal cruelty and oppression. Englebert proceeded 
 to Denmark and laid before the king proofs of the 
 atrocious tyranny of Ericson. The king ordered an 
 inquiry to be made, and the charges were admitted 
 by the State Council to have been sustained. Armed 
 with their report, Englebert returned to Denmark and 
 laid it before the king and demanded the removal and 
 punishment of Ericson. But the king had changed his 
 mind, and ordered Englebert to be gone and never 
 again to appear in his presence. Eric replied — " Yet 
 once more I will return." 
 
 The report of this reception by the king was the 
 signal for revolt. The Dalesmen rose, elected Engle- 
 bert to be their leader, marched against Westeras in 
 the autumn of 1433, and though induced to retire by 
 some of the State Council who were there, by their 
 promise to urge reforms, yet they would not disperse 
 before taking an oath that they never again would pay 
 taxes to Ericson. An attempt on the part of Ericson 
 to collect the taxes led to a second insurrection; but 
 the State Council having persuaded Ericson to resign 
 his command, the Dalesmen were again appeased. 
 Ericson himself took refuge in the monastery of Wad- 
 stena, from which, two years after, he was dragged 
 out by the peasantry and put to death. 
 
 This was the first armed resistance to the Danish 
 dynasty, which continued from this period, 1433, at 
 intervals and with varying fortunes, and with several 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 5 
 
 revolutions, until at length, under Gustavus Vasa, and 
 by his agency, Sweden became, and has since contin- 
 ued independent of Denmark. 
 
 Accessianof ^^ ^^^ necessary to describe the circum- 
 Christian Stances under which Sweden became sub- 
 m'ark ^"* ject to the crown of Denmark, in order to 
 understand the history of Gustavus Vasa, 
 who both liberated Sweden from the sway of Denmark 
 and introduced and established Protestantism in his 
 kingdom. But it is not important, as preparatory to 
 a sketch of the Reformation in Sweden, to narrate the 
 civil history of the interval between the treaty of Cal- 
 mar and the accession of Christian II. A mere outline 
 of those events will answer for our present purpose. 
 Suffice it to say that Englebert was elected Regent 
 of the Kingdom, and held the position for three years; 
 that he was succeeded in that position by another pa- 
 triot, Karl Knutson, who was subsequently elected 
 king; that the dynasty of Denmark again came into 
 power in Sweden and held it nominally and sometimes 
 for a brief period actually, during the reign of Christian 
 I., 1448-81, and of Hans or John, 1481-1513, who was 
 succeeded by Christian II. in the latter year. From 
 this point the history of the Reformation in Sweden 
 properly begins. 
 
 Rei of '^^^ supremacy of the kings Christian I. and 
 Christian I. John in Sweden was rather nominal than 
 and John. ^.^^j jhe real power was exercised by pa- 
 triotic Swedes for the most part, who were repeatedly 
 at war with Denmark. Under a popular native noble- 
 man, Sten Sture, nephew of their former king, Karl 
 Knutson, as regent, Sweden enjoyed for some few 
 years comparative peace and prosperity. But in con- 
 sequence of evils which fell upon the kingdom, for 
 
6 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 which he was in no degree responsible — such as a 
 succession of bad crops, and the excommunication 
 pronounced against him, because in the interests of 
 the state he withheld the revenues claimed by the 
 Danish Queen dowager — Sture became unpopular with 
 the fickle and unreasoning people. The king availed 
 himself of this dissatisfaction, and the consequent de- 
 pression of the kingdom, to march an army into Sweden 
 with a view to establish his personal authority. The 
 expedition of King John was successful; and he was 
 crowned in Stockholm on the 25th of November, 1497. 
 Sture was deposed from the Regency, but became High 
 Chancellor, and was one of the four commissioners to 
 whom the administration of the kingdom was com- 
 mitted, by King John, on his return to Denmark. But 
 on account of the great dissatisfaction with King John's 
 administration, in 1501 Sture was again placed at the 
 head of the government with the name of Guardian 
 of the Kingdom. This position he held until his death, 
 December 15, 1503. He was succeeded in the same 
 office by his kinsman, Saunto Sture, whose administra- 
 tion of nine years was an incessant but successful series 
 of wars, in resistance of the efforts of King John to 
 regain supremacy in the kingdom. After his death in 
 1 5 12, his son, Steno Sture, was called by the popular 
 voice, rather than by any recognized authority, as his 
 successor. His election was subsequently forced upon 
 the council at Stockholm by the popular clamor. 
 Death of Christian H., justly known as " the tyrant," 
 King John succeeded King John, who died in 1513. He 
 of Chris- immediately opened negotiations with the 
 han II. Guardian and the Council with a view to 
 secure their recognition of his right to the throne of 
 Sweden. Failing in this attempt, he excited his partisan. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 7 
 
 Trolle, the Archbishop, to organize an armed rebellion 
 in his interest against the existing government. The 
 Archbishop was described as one "who never forgave 
 a past wrong, real or fancied." It in no degree dis- 
 armed his hostility that Sture, in order to bring about 
 a reconciliation, had secured his election to the Arch- 
 bishopric. He stirred up war therefore in the interest 
 of Christian II., who upon the invasion of Sweden, suf- 
 fered a complete defeat. This battle, as celebrated in 
 Swedish annals as that of Bannockburn in the history 
 of Scotland, was fought at Bren-Kirka, July 22, 1518. 
 It was in this battle that Gustavus Vasa first appeared 
 prominently, having occupied the honorable position 
 of standard bearer, and distinguished himself for valor 
 and ability in the field. As the history of the rise of 
 the Reformation in Sweden turns upon that of Gusta- 
 vus Vasa, and his history is inseparably implicated 
 with that of Christian II., it becomes necessary to give 
 a sketch of the life and character of each. 
 Christian Christian II. was the only son of King John 
 ^^- and his Queen, Christina of Saxony, and was 
 
 born in 148 1. It is an evidence of the simplicity of the 
 times, and of the country, that in order to provide for 
 their frequent absence from Copenhagen, the King and 
 Queen, instead of leaving him in the palace in the care 
 of their own attendants, placed him under the charge 
 of a book-binder of the City. It may be inferred also 
 that, discerning his imperious, cruel and crafty nature, 
 his parents felt that these evil traits would be more 
 likely to be restrained in a well regulated private home, 
 than in the palace, where his faults would be likely to 
 be flattered and inflamed, rather than restrained, by 
 subservient menials and courtiers. Hans Metzenheim, 
 the book-binder, was a burgomaster and a counsellor 
 
8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 of state, and having no children of their own, he and 
 his wife devoted themselves assiduously to the education 
 of the royal boy. His capacity was very great, and he 
 applied himself well, under constraint, to his studies, and 
 made rapid progress; but his tutor Hinze, a Canon of 
 the Cathedral, dared not trust the wayward boy out 
 of sight, and therefore, always took him to church 
 when on duty there. As the young Prince had a fine 
 voice and a good ear for music, he was made to sing 
 among the choristers at matins and vespers. But 
 when King John was told that the heir of three 
 Kingdoms was singing, and was much admired, in 
 all of the choirs of Copenhagen, he sharply rebuked 
 his tutor for placing his son in a position derogatory 
 to his royal dignity. The incident led to a change 
 of tutors. At the request of the King, Joachin of 
 Brandenburg sent him another tutor, Magister Con- 
 rad, a man of great learning and force of character, 
 who was able to control his pupil, and succeeded in 
 imbuing him with a love of learning. Christian made 
 great progress and is said at an early age and during 
 all his life "to have written and spoken Latin as well 
 as the most learned University professors of his time " 
 (Otto's Scandinavia, page 214). 
 
 But this ready mastery of learning seems in no de- 
 gree to have softened or refined his character. He was 
 accustomed, after he was domiciled in the palace, to 
 bribe the porter to allow him to go out in the night 
 and join in scenes of revelry and licentiousness. On 
 some occasions, when detected in these escapades, the 
 King personally applied a horse-whip to his shoulders. 
 But when he had reached the age of twenty, and this 
 sort of rigid discipline became no longer possible, the 
 King sent him as hi,s Viceroy to govern Norway. He 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 9 
 
 at once put himself in an attitude of hostility to the 
 nobility, and relentlessly crushed out every attempt 
 at resistance or rebellion. He seems from his early 
 boyhood to have hated the nobility, to have had a 
 dislike to their character, habits and manners, quite 
 irrespective of their feelings or relations towards him- 
 self His chosen associates were among the lower 
 classes. His enmity to the nobles was increased by 
 the restrictions which they imposed upon his authority 
 at his Coronation. 
 
 Gust av us Gustavus Vasa, or as he was called before 
 Vasa. iig became king, Gustavus Erickson, was de- 
 
 scended from an ancient and noble family. His grand- 
 father, Christopher Nilson, was appointed a councillor 
 by King Eric. His father was not distinguished in 
 the public service, and though called " a merry and 
 facetious lord," was arraigned before the council in 
 Stockholm for cruelty to his peasants, and made to 
 pledge himself "that he would not thereafter place 
 them in irons or treat them like senseless beasts," 
 'when accused of depredations upon his estates, but 
 "would allow them their rights in law." The date 
 of his birth has been fixed on good grounds, on As- 
 cension Day, 1496. Those presages of future* great- 
 ness which seldom fail to be subsequently recorded, 
 in the case of those who become renowned, were not 
 wanting at his birth. A crimson cross was marked 
 upon his breast, and the outline of a helmet was seen 
 upon his head. When he was only four years old. 
 King John, during one of his later visits to Sweden, 
 saw him playing the part of the king in the midst of 
 a group of children and, as the story goes, patted him 
 upon the head, saying "that if he lived he would be 
 a remarkable man." He kept the bright boy in his 
 
10 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 train while he was in Sweden, and wished to carry 
 him to Denmark. If he had done so the whole his- 
 tory of Northern Europe would have been changed, 
 the Reformation in Sweden perhaps never effected, 
 noV the liberation of Protestantism, mainly due to 
 the heroic Gustavus Adolphus, achieved. But Sten 
 Sture, suspecting that the king was more bent on se- 
 curing a hostage than a foster son, sent him to his 
 father, who was then Lord Feudatory of Aland. 
 
 Geijer remarks that "all accounts agree that young 
 Gustavus was placed in the Seminary of Upsala, in 
 1509." "It is known," he continues, "that he was 
 placed in the grammar school and was subjected to 
 personal chastisement while there by the Danish school- 
 master. The latter was informed that the young pupil 
 had upon some occasion said, 'See what I will do ! I 
 will go to Dalecarlia, get out the Dalesmen, and knock 
 the Danes on the head.' Gustavus suffered his school 
 flogging, then drawing his little sword, he thrust it 
 through the curtains with a malison never to return. 
 A hundred years afterwards the country people could 
 point out the places in the neighborhood of Upsala 
 which he had frequented with his playmates, and tell 
 how he had been at a wolf chase hunting merrily." As 
 an indication of the bent of his mind toward religious 
 subjects, it is stated that while he was at Upsala, his 
 chief studies, outside of the curiculum of the school, 
 were canon law and theology. He was also a gifted 
 musician, and while at school made several musical 
 instruments, which are still preserved in the palace 
 of Stockholm. 
 
 All accounts agree that he was received and em- 
 ployed in the Court of the Regent Sten Sture the 
 younger. He was then eighteen years of age, and was 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. ii 
 
 placed under the tuition of Hemming Gadd, who had 
 been mathematicus to Pope Alexander III., had written 
 a history of Sweden which was much prized, was a sworn 
 enemy of the Danes and an able politician. With him, 
 no doubt, the young patriot could freely resume his 
 boyish talk of his purpose to rouse up Dalesmen and 
 knock Danes upon the head — a seemingly wild and 
 empty boast which was subsequently so remarkably 
 fulfilled. The chroniclers of the time speak of him as 
 "a noble youth, comely, ready-witted and prompt in 
 action." He was particularly distinguished, even at 
 that early period, for the persuasive eloquence which 
 was one of the most potent means by which he subse- 
 quently acquired such a commanding influence over 
 his countrymen. Even to his extreme old age, when 
 Gustavus met any large body of his countrymen in 
 council, or in a crisis of affairs, they would clamor for 
 a speech from the old man eloquent, and receive it 
 with immense applause, and insist that there was no 
 orator like him. We shall see how at a momentous 
 crisis of his own fortunes and of those of the Reforma- 
 tion, he consolidated the former and saved the latter 
 by a single speech. 
 
 The battle ^"^ ^^^ after Gustavus had resided at the 
 of Brenn- court three years, that the rising of Arch- 
 ''^ ' bishop Trolle, in the interest of Christian H., 
 
 already alluded to, occurred. The Archbishop was 
 besieged in his castle of Stekborg and a Danish re- 
 inforcement was sent to his relief This force was 
 defeated by Gustavus. In the following year, in the 
 famous battle of Brenn-Kirk, between King Christian 
 and Sten Sture, in which the king was defeated, Gus- 
 tavus, as we have seen, bore the banner. But by the 
 treachery of the king, and the misplaced confidence in 
 
12 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 him of the Regent, this victory resulted in disaster and 
 loss rather than gain. The Danes attempted after the 
 defeat to retreat, but the fleet in which they embarked 
 their shattered forces was detained by contrary winds, 
 and sorely pressed by famine. The king, in order to 
 gain time, professed a desire to negotiate a peace which 
 should leave Sweden henceforth unmolested by the 
 Danes. The Regent, feeling that he had the king in 
 his power, and that he could force upon him terms 
 which would secure him and his kingdom in the future, 
 consented to treat with him; and during the negotia- 
 tions he generously furnished the famishing squadron 
 with beef and other provisions. The king invited him 
 to a personal conference on board his ship; and the 
 unsuspecting Regent would have fallen into the snare 
 thus prepared for him, had not the town council de- 
 clared that if he went on board they would soon have 
 another Regent, for they were sure he never would 
 return. 
 
 Foiled in this base design, the king devised another, 
 equally treacherous, which was completely successful. 
 He professed his willingness to come on shore, pro- 
 vided suitable hostages should be sent to the squadron. 
 Six nobles — including Gustavus and Hemming Gadd 
 — were chosen for this purpose. But the boat in which 
 they were embarked, had not accomplished half its 
 passage to the fleet, when a Danish ship with a hun- 
 dred men on board captured it, and carried the six 
 hostages to the fleet as prisoners. A favorable breeze 
 springing up took away all hope of rescue. The fleet 
 weighed anchor, the sails were filled, and they were 
 all soon landed on the coast of Denmark. Thus the 
 defeated king, by an act of gross treachery, evaded 
 the promised proposals of peace, provisioned his starv- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 13 
 
 ing fleet and army from his victorious enemy, and 
 carried into captivity six of the most eminent nobles 
 of the land. But it was a triumph which, by intensi- 
 fying the patriotic passion of the Swedes, led to an 
 ultimate defeat. 
 -7-1 r- j.t- Gustavus had the good fortune to be com- 
 
 Ihe Captw- • j i 
 
 ity 'and es- mitted to the care of a kinsman. Baron Eric 
 cape of Gus- Baner, Governor of the castle of Kallo, North 
 
 tavus. T 1 1 1 1 
 
 Jutland, where he spent upwards of a year 
 as a prisoner, and was treated with kindness and al- 
 lowed a liberty, not usually granted to prisoners of 
 state. But the whole country was ringing with rumors 
 of the great preparations which were in progress for 
 the conquest of Sweden. Christian had imposed new 
 taxes for the prosecution of the war and even extorted 
 from the Papal Legate the sums that had been amassed 
 by the sale of indulgences, which he appropriated on 
 the plea that it was a war in which the interests of 
 the Papacy were involved. Copenhagen was thronged 
 with French, Scotch and English mercenary officers 
 and troops. The young soldiers at the mess of the 
 castle of Kallo talked of the preparations for the con- 
 quest of Sweden with exasperating exultation. They 
 boasted that they would soon play with the Swedes 
 "S. Peter's game" — an allusion to the Papal interdict 
 which they hoped to secure, and jestingly and mock- 
 ingly parcelled out among themselves the wealth and 
 beauty of the nation. 
 
 How the ardent and patriotic heart of the young 
 Gustavus must have chafed in his captivity! "By 
 such contumelies was Lord Gustavus Ericson seized 
 with anguish beyond measure, so that neither meat 
 nor drink might savor pleasantly to him, even if he 
 had been furnished better than he was. His sleep was 
 
14 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 neither quiet nor delectable, for he co<ild think of noth- 
 ing else than how he might find opportunity to extri- 
 cate himself from the unjust captivity in which he was 
 held" (Geijer, page 98). 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that under such circum- 
 stances Gustavus should have persuaded himself that 
 he might without dishonor escape from his captivity. 
 He might well feel that he was called to do so by duty 
 to his country. He was not a prisoner captured in 
 war. He was stolen and consigned to captivity in 
 violation of Royal pledges and of the laws which reg- 
 ulated the warfare of civilized nations. Early in the 
 morning of February 19, he left the castle disguised, 
 according to some as a pilgrim, but according to others 
 as a drover, and traveled on the first day of his escape 
 forty-two English miles. He did not reach Lubeck 
 until the last day of September, when he threw him- 
 self on the protection of the Burgomaster and Council. 
 As soon as Eric Baner discovered the retreat of Gus- 
 tavus, he hastened to Lubeck, armed with a letter 
 of the King, and demanded back his prisoner. He 
 complained at the same time that Gustavus had es- 
 caped, contrary to his pledged word as a Knight and 
 a Kinsman. Gustavus spoke in his own defense. "I 
 was captured," he said, "contrary to all justice and 
 plighted faith. It is notorious that I went to the King's 
 fleet as a hostage. Let any one who can, point out 
 the place where I was made prisoner in battle, or de- 
 clare the crime for which I deserve chains. Call me 
 not then a prisoner, but a man seized, unjustly, over- 
 reached and betrayed. Am I not in a free city and 
 before a government renowned for justice and for be- 
 friending the persecuted.? Shall I be altogether de- 
 ceived in the confidence I have reposed in them .' Or 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 15 
 
 can breach of faith be reasonably objected to me by- 
 one who never kept oath or promise ? Or can it be 
 wondered at that I should free myself from a prison 
 which I deserved by no fault except that of trusting 
 to a King?" 
 
 Gustavus promised to repay to Baner the $6,000 by 
 which he was pledged to Christian for the security of 
 his prisoner. This promise he was not able at first to 
 fulfil, and subsequently he believed himself exonerated 
 from it by the wrongs which he had endured. He 
 denied also that he had given any pledge to remain 
 at Kallo, or that he was in the position of a prisoner 
 on his parole of honor. 
 
 However much or little the shrewd burgesses of 
 Lubeck may have felt the force of this argument, their 
 sympathies no doubt were enlisted on the side of a 
 fine, spirited young man, the dupe of a faithless tyrant. 
 Moreover, motives of policy happily coincided with 
 those of feeling. Christian, as the undisputed Lord 
 of the three Northern Kingdoms, would possess a 
 power which he might easily employ for the subjec- 
 tion of one of the smallest of the free Hanse towns, 
 which was protected rather by a tradition of its in- 
 violability than by any possession of military power. 
 The Burgomaster urged this view upon his colleagues. 
 "Who knows," said the council, "What Gustavus may 
 do when he gets back to Sweden.'" They evidently 
 hoped that he might be an instrument for checking 
 the progress of the King in his native land, and thus 
 prevent him from plotting against their liberties. With 
 this view they refused to deliver Gustavus to the Baron 
 Baner, and determined to send him back to Sweden. 
 
 His brief residence in Lubeck exercised a moment- 
 ous influence on the subsequent career of Gustavus. It 
 
i6 The Reformation in Sweden, 
 
 was there that he first heard and became interested 
 in the doctrines of the Reformation, and thus became 
 providentially prepared for his great mission — the de- 
 liverance of his country from the Papal despotism. 
 The Inter- During the captivity of Gustavus events of 
 diet. the utmost moment had occurred in Sweden. 
 
 The talk of the young soldiers over their cups in the 
 dinner hall of Kallo, which had so exasperated him 
 and led to his escape, was not all boyish gasconade. 
 The "Game of S. Peter" — the threatened interdict — 
 had been played, and Sweden was soon after success- 
 fully invaded by Christian. 
 
 The only ground on which the Pope could claim 
 that there was cause for his interference between 
 Christian and the Swedes, was that the latter were 
 in rebellion against their lawful lord; and that it was 
 his duty to coerce kings to perform their civil duties 
 by spiritual penalties. There was as yet no question 
 of religion involved in the strife. But the once terrible 
 instruments of interdict and excommunication had not 
 lost all their power, and the former was laid upon the 
 kingdom, and the latter was pronounced against the 
 Regent, and against all who had espoused his cause. 
 Pope Leo X. was equally ready to pronounce a bless- 
 ing or a curse which would replenish his treasury, and 
 enable him to indulge his luxurious tastes. No real 
 influence appears to have been exerted by these spirit- 
 ual weapons. That in which the sting of the Papal 
 Bull was contained was the fact that the execution of it 
 was committed to Christian. It was this unusual pro- 
 vision which constituted the plea for the horrible atroc- 
 ities which he committed when he acquired the pos- 
 session of the kingdom. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM THE INVASION OF CHRISTIAN II., 1520, TO THE 
 ACCESSION OF GUSTAVUS TO THE THRONE, 1523. 
 
 Christian's T^HE whole of the year 15 19 was spent 
 invasion of -I- in making preparations for the inva- 
 '^" "*■ sion. In the beginning of the year 1520 the 
 Danish army broke into Sweden under the General Otho 
 Krumpen. He caused the Papal Ban to be affixed to 
 all the churches on his march. The Regent met the 
 invaders on the ice of the lake of Ascunden in West 
 Gothland. But being wounded in the beginning of the 
 battle, he was carried out of the conflict and his army 
 was defeated. Learning that the victorious Danes were 
 marching upon Stockholm, he caused himself to be car- 
 ried to the Capital on a sledge, but died upon the ice of 
 lake Malar when near the city. Everything was thrown 
 into confusion by this disaster. A few magnates met 
 but did not feel authorized to appoint a successor to the 
 Regency. The country people assembled in various lo- 
 calities to resist the enemy; but without leaders and 
 organization, they were easily dispersed. The heroic 
 widow of the Regent, Christina Gillenstierna, still con- 
 tinued to defend Stockholm. She refused to accede to 
 the agreement which the Swedish barons in a diet had 
 made with Christian, that they would recognize him as 
 king, on condition that he should govern in accordance 
 with the laws of the kingdom and the treaty of Calmar. 
 
1 8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Gmtavus in It was while these disasters were occurring 
 Sweden. jn Sweden that Gustavus embarked in a 
 merchant vessel bound to Stockholm, with the purpose 
 of offering his services to the Regent's widow. Unable 
 to penetrate into the city, because it was so closely 
 invested, he steered for Calmar, which still held out 
 against the king. That fortress also was defended by 
 a woman, Ann Bielke, the widow of the former com- 
 mandant. But so dispirited did he find the burghers 
 of that city, that his appeals to them to make a gallant 
 defense, not only failed to rouse their courage, but led 
 to threats against his life. He fled from the city on the 
 day that it was surrendered. From Calmar he proceeded 
 to Smaland, among his father's tenants. But even 
 there he was not safe. The province of East Gothland 
 was so filled with Danes, that it was only by continual 
 changes of quarters and disguises that he escaped de- 
 tection. His appeals to his countrymen to rise and 
 shake off the yoke, were met by a stolid half-despair, 
 which seemed now to have taken possession of all ranks 
 in the kingdom. During the whole summer he glided 
 through by-ways from one place of danger to another, 
 sleeping one night in the woods, and another hidden 
 by brush wood in the open field, disguised and pursued 
 with a price upon his head. In September he appeared 
 without money and with only the tattered clothes which 
 he wore, in the house of his brother-in-law, J. Brahe. In 
 vain he urged Brahe to disobey the summons which he 
 had received to be present at the coronation of Chris- 
 tian at Stockholm, which had then surrendered. The 
 unhappy man, sharing the terror that everywhere pre- 
 vailed, feared that he would be marked if he should be 
 absent, and set out upon the journey which proved to 
 be, as Gustavus had predicted, his last. His son, in 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 19 
 
 his chronicle of these times, gives his answer to the 
 appeal of Gustavus: " I am specially cited to the coro- 
 nation," he said, " and if I should remain away what 
 would become of my wife and children ? Perhaps ill 
 might come of it to your parents as well as hers, and 
 others of our friends. For you the matter stands quite 
 otherwise, for not many know where you are. It can 
 go no worse with me than with all the Swedish lords 
 who are now gathered about the king." How fatally 
 it went with both him and them we soon shall see! 
 Proceedings "^^^ "^'^^ °f Swedish Barons held at Upsala 
 of Chris- had agreed to accept Christian as King, on 
 the explicit condition that he would govern 
 according to the treaty of Calmar and the laws of 
 Sweden. These engagements were personally con- 
 firmed by the king upon arriving with his fleet before 
 Stockholm. He added moreover that the measures 
 adopted against Archbishop Trolle," who was now re- 
 stored to his office, should be forgotten and forgiven. 
 These assurances were again renewed when Hemming 
 Gadd, who had spent his life in passionate opposition to 
 the Danish claims, now appeared in old age through 
 the depression caused by the seeming hopelessness of 
 further resistance, as their advocate. It was by the 
 weight of his character and the previously known hos- 
 tility to the Danes, that Christina Gillenstierna was 
 induced to surrender Stockholm, against the remon- 
 strances of the burghers. When the king returned in 
 autumn and was crowned in Stockholm, he once more 
 confirmed, by oath and the reception of the Sacrament, 
 the securities which he had given. And yet at that 
 very moment it is placed beyond all doubt that he had 
 resolved upon the murder of the chief nobles and high- 
 est citizens of Sweden. In the proclamation of the 
 
20 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 council of State, issued after Christian had been de- 
 throned, it is stated that at the coronation, and only 
 three days preceding the massacre of the nobles, he 
 had appeared, full of courtesy and friendliness, to his 
 unsuspecting victims. " He appeared," says that doc- 
 ument, "friendly to all and was very merry and pleas- 
 ant in his demeanor, caressing some with hypocritical 
 kisses, and others with embraces, clapping his hands, 
 and displaying on all hands tokens of affection." 
 
 It soon appeared how much had been meant by the 
 threat to play the game of S. Peter in Sweden, and by 
 leaving the execution of the Papal power in the hands 
 of the king. Notwithstanding the festivities and cour- 
 tesies connected with the coronation, some circum- 
 stances took place which excited the suspicions of the 
 Swedish nobles. There was a marked omission of all 
 Swedes from the honors which were distributed on that 
 occasion. Many of the Danish officers who had sig- 
 nalized themselves in the invasion of the kingdom, re- 
 ceived the honor of knighthood at the hands of the 
 king; but no Swede received any mark of favor beyond 
 empty and hypocritical courtesies and words. The 
 king excused himself for not extending the same hon- 
 or to the Swedes, on the ground that he had received 
 no aid from them in the recovery of the throne; but he 
 added that by their fidelity in the future, he would 
 be able to confer on them as much favor as he had 
 bestowed on the most distinguished of his Danish 
 officers. 
 
 In the midst of these festivities which lasted three 
 days the king held a cabinet council in which the ques- 
 tion was discussed as to the penalties which should be 
 inflicted upon" those who had resisted his authority by 
 armed rebellion. He observed that the Swedes were 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 21 
 
 exceedingly jealous of their freedom, and that unless 
 they were completely subdued, they would not long 
 endure a government which from its nature, in order to 
 be effective, must be strict. He proposed to root out, 
 as he had done in Norway, the distinguished and noble 
 families, and leave only the commonalty, which with- 
 out able leaders would soon be brought into submis- 
 sion. He demanded of his counsellors how this might 
 be accomplished with the greatest safety. 
 
 Some suggested that a quarrel should be got up 
 between the military and the town's people, and that 
 in the confusion which would ensue, they should take 
 off whom they pleased. But this was dismissed as a 
 hazardous and doubtful scheme. Others suggested that 
 gunpowder should be placed under the castle, and that 
 a charge of treason founded upon this fact should be 
 laid against the nobles. But the counsel of Didric 
 Slaghec (called after this by a slight change of pro- 
 nunciation Slag-hdch,or slaughter-hawli) was that which 
 was finally adopted. He was the king's confessor, a 
 Westphalian by birth, and had once been a barber's 
 assistant. He suggested — and it was believed, by a 
 previous understanding with the king — that the king 
 now wielded two swords, the temporal and the spirit- 
 ual: the temporal in his own right and the spiritual 
 upon the express designation of the Pope. The king 
 might forgive offenses against himself, but not against 
 the Holy See. His promise of oblivion was therefore to 
 be kept as far as he personally was concerned, but in 
 his capacity as representative of the Church it was not 
 binding. Let him then, bring the excommunication 
 into play, and deal with all who had taken part against 
 Archbishop TroUe as heretics. And yet the penalty 
 which the Pope, in whose name this atrocious advice 
 
22 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 was given, had already pronounced was only that the 
 demolished castle of the archbishop should be rebuilt, 
 and that compensation for damages should be given, 
 and a pecuniary fine should be levied. 
 "Tiie blood It was at an entertainment at the castle 
 bath." given by the king that the first act of this 
 
 awful tragedy, called the blood bath in the annals of 
 Sweden, was performed. The archbishop, by previous 
 concert with the king, came before the throne, and de- 
 manded that Steckborg should be rebuilt, and the au- 
 thors of his wrong should be punished. The accusation 
 being pointed against Sten Sture and his adherents, 
 Christina Gillenstierna, in justification of her husband, 
 produced the deed which solemnly deposed the arch- 
 bishop and decreed the destruction of his castle. This 
 was precisely what the king desired. He immediately 
 declared that he would treat all who had signed it as 
 heretics. They were asked separately whether they 
 acknowledged their signatures, and as they could not 
 deny them, they were all taken into custody, with the 
 exception of two bishops, who proved that they had 
 signed the document under compulsion. Thus, as sub- 
 sequently in the case of the marriage festivities of 
 Henry of Navarre, the hall of feasting was suddenly 
 converted into a tribunal for the trial of alleged here- 
 tics and rebels. 
 
 The prisoners were committed for the night to the 
 tower of the chapel and other parts of the castle. A 
 tribunal, consisting of the archbishop and several 
 bishops and nobles was appointed by the king to 
 decide specifically upon the crime of which they were 
 guilty and to assign their punishment. The tribunal 
 declared that the prisoners were manifest heretics, ac- 
 cording to the just law of the Holy Church,, of the 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 23 
 
 Emperor and of Sweden. The punishment of heresy- 
 was death. Resistance to an archbishop in arms 
 against the constituted authorities of the realm pro- 
 nounced to be heresy ! Nothing could be more ab- 
 surd ! But when a brutal tyrant like Christian is bent 
 on getting rid of enemies one plea is as good as an- 
 other. In this case no doubt Christian felt that it was 
 better to direct the obloquy which would follow this 
 wholesale murder, upon the church, rather than draw 
 it directly upon himself, by resting it upon the much 
 more plausible ground of treason. 
 
 The victims were immediately notified by their 
 appointed executioner of their coming doom. They 
 applied in vain for the last consolations of religion. 
 On the following morning the question was proposed 
 to them whether it was not heresy to confederate and 
 conspire against the most Holy See of Rome. They 
 were constrained to answer that it was, but contended 
 that the punishment of a rebellious archbishop, could 
 not be construed as conspiracy against the Pope. 
 But their admission was feigned to be a confession 
 of their guilt. 
 
 The execution of the nobles took place on Novem- 
 ber 8, just one week after the coronation. On the 
 morning of that day the inhabitants of Stockholm 
 were forbidden on pain of death to leave their houses, 
 before a signal to be given by sound of trumpet. The 
 cannons of the castle were loaded and others so placed 
 as to command the principal streets. A heavy fore- 
 boding oppressed the minds of the citizens. When 
 the clock struck twelve the trumpet sounded, and the 
 people were summoned to the great square of the city. 
 The castle gates were soon after opened, the draw- 
 bridge lowered, and the prisoners brought forth. There 
 
24 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 were Matthias, Bishop of Strengness.Vincentius, Bishop 
 of Skara, and twelve secular nobles, most of them mem- 
 bers of the State Council, including Eric Johnanson, 
 the father of Gustavus, Joachim Brahe, whom his broth- 
 er-in-law, Gustavus, had attempted to dissuade from 
 going to the coronation, the burgomaster and town 
 council of Stockholm, and many burgesses. A Danish 
 knight, Nicholas Lyke, addressed the people, telling 
 them not to be terrified at what they were about 
 to witness; that the archbishop had three times on 
 bended knees besought the king that the sentence of 
 death should be executed upon the culprits, and that 
 he had at length yielded to the request; but Bishop 
 Vincentius interrupted him by exclaiming that there 
 was not a word of truth in the statement; that the 
 king could do nothing without lying and treachery, 
 and he prayed God for vengeance on his tyranny. The 
 incident shows the purpose of the king that the oblo- 
 quy sure to follow this atrocious massacre should fall 
 upon the Archbishop and the church. 
 
 Christian, who beheld these scenes from an open 
 window of the old council house, now gave a sign that 
 the execution should begin. Bishop Matthias was the 
 first victim. He had taken with him to the coronation 
 his chancellor Olaus Petri and Laurentius Petri his 
 brother, who as the venerable bishop stood with his 
 hands raised up to heaven, awaiting the blow of the ex- 
 ecutioner, rushed forward to embrace him. Before they 
 could reach the spot his head rolled upon the ground. 
 The two brothers could not restrain their indignation, 
 and loudly proclaimed that it was an inhuman murder 
 of a venerable and blameless man. They were seized 
 and about to share the fate of their beloved bishop, 
 but were spared when a German who had studied with 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 25 
 
 them at Wittemberg declared that they were not 
 Swedes. These two intrepid brothers became the 
 chief agents of the Swedish Reformation. 
 
 Bishop Vincentius was next beheaded, then the lay 
 nobles, then the burgesses. Olaus Magnus, who was 
 unaccountably spared, says he saw ninety-four persons 
 beheaded, and expected at each execution to be sum- 
 moned next. When Eric Johnanson, the father of 
 Gustavus, was led out for execution, a messenger from 
 Christian came to him to offer him " pardon, grace and 
 honor;" but the stout old patriot, thinking perhaps 
 of his persecuted and fugitive son, refused to accept 
 life from the blood-stained tyrant and cried out — "No, 
 for God's sake let me die with these honest men, my 
 brethren," and laid his head upon the block. Many 
 were hanged or subjected to other horrible deaths. 
 A contemporary historian, Zeigler, states that Johan- 
 ness Magnus was crucified with circumstances of re- 
 volting cruelty. For three days, as new victims were 
 enticed out of their hiding-places, by promises of par- 
 don and security, the slaughter continued. Some were 
 put to death because they could not restrain their tears 
 at the loss of relatives and friends. No element of 
 horror was absent from this carnival of blood. The 
 retainers of the great nobles who had been executed 
 were dragged from their horses as they attempted to 
 escape from the city, and hanged in such numbers 
 that girths and stirrup leathers, were used as substi- 
 tutes for' halters. A violent rain mingling with blood 
 in the gutters of the streets, tinged everything with 
 the hue of murder. For three days the slaughtered 
 bodies remained in the market place; after which they 
 were carried out to the South suburb of the city and 
 burned. We must resort to the worst scenes of the 
 
26 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Reign of Terror in France, to find a parallel to this 
 brutal slaughter. 
 
 Nor were these executions confined to Stockholm. 
 They extended to Finland where Hemming Gadd suf- 
 fered the just penalty of his defection from the cause 
 to which he had given the best energies of his life, by 
 laying his head upon the block at the age of eighty. 
 The king's whole progress from Stockholm to Denmark 
 was marked by cruel executions. Gibbets were erected 
 in the market places and towns, previous to his arrival. 
 At a monastery where he had ascertained that the ab- 
 bot had hidden part of his stores in the woods, he 
 ordered him and five monks to be thrown into a stream 
 and drowned. And yet, even while the massacre was 
 in progress in Stockholm, Christian had sent out a pro- 
 clamation to the provinces, stating that " by the advice 
 of the bishops, prelates, and other wise men, he had 
 punished Sten Sturd's confederates as heretics under 
 the ban of the Church, but that he meant henceforth to 
 govern the country mildly and peaceably according to 
 the laws of S. Eric." More than six hundred of the 
 highest and best citizens of Sweden had been slaugh- 
 tered before the king left it in the beginning of the 
 year 1521. 
 
 From the " History of the Revolution in Sweden, oc- 
 casioned by the Change in Religion and the Alteration 
 of the Government in that Kingdom," by the Abbe 
 Vertot, and translated into English in 1729, I take the 
 following account of the massacre. It is that of a Ro- 
 man Catholic writer, but of one whose whole narrative 
 shows him to have been honest and dispassionate. 
 His book could scarcely have been satisfactory to the 
 Papists. 
 
 After describing the method by which the Bishop of 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 27 
 
 Linkoping escaped the massacre, he thus continues his 
 narrative: " Then they proceeded to the execution of 
 the lay senators, beginning with Eric, the father of Gus 
 tavus. The consuls and magistrates of Stockholm and 
 ninety-four lords who were arrested in the castle under- 
 went the same fate. Yet the king instead of being 
 satisfied with the death of so many illustrious persons, 
 was extremely vexed that some lords whom he had 
 particularly inserted in the black roll had escaped his 
 fury. He imagined that they lay concealed in the town, 
 and was so afraid that they would make their escape, 
 and so desirous to arrest Gustavus, who he thought 
 might be hid in some house in the city, that he gave 
 full scope to his vengeance; he resolved to confound 
 the innocent with the guilty, and to expose the town 
 to the fury of the soldiers. As soon as they received 
 those bloody orders, they fell upon the people who had 
 come to be witnesses of that bloody spectacle, and pro- 
 miscuously murdered all that had the misfortune to be 
 in their way. Afterward they broke into the principal 
 houses under the pretext of searching for Gustavus and 
 the other proscribed lords. The citizens were stabbed 
 in the arms of their shrieking wives, their houses were 
 plundered and the honor of their wives and daughters 
 was exposed to the brutish lust of the soldiers, who by 
 orders, after the example of their inhuman sovereign, 
 strove to out-do each other in the wildest and most 
 extravagant barbarity. 
 
 "A certain gentleman of the Swedish nation was so 
 sensibly touched by the moving sight of so many de- 
 plorable objects that he could not restrain the im- 
 petuosity of his grief, nor behold such scenes of horror 
 without bewailing the misery of his country. The 
 furious king was so enraged by these marks of com- 
 
28 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 passion, which his guilty conscience interpreted as 
 secret reproaches of his cruelty, that he commanded 
 the unfortunate mourner to be fastened to a gibbet, 
 his privy members were cut off, his belly ripped up, and 
 his heart plucked out, as if pity and compassion had 
 been the foulest of crimes. Afterward the king pre- 
 tending that the commiserator had rendered himself 
 unworthy of Christian burial, by incurring the sentence 
 of excommunication, ordered his body to be taken up 
 and exposed in the public place among the mangled 
 carcasses of his ancient friends. He issued an order 
 that no person should presume to bury any of these 
 bodies on pain of death; and would have suffered them 
 to lie in the open place, as a terrible monument of his 
 vengeance, if the stench and putrefaction had not ob- 
 liged him to command them to be taken away. But 
 before they were removed he could not forbear going 
 on purpose to take a view of the dismal trophies of his 
 fury. At last he ordered them to be carried out of the 
 city and be burned, that even death itself might not 
 •exempt them from a second punishment which he pre- 
 tended to inflict upon them as excommunicated per- 
 sons." (Hist. p. 1 1 1- 12.) 
 
 An historian of Sweden ends his record of these 
 tragic events in these words: "While these horrors 
 were being enacted, a noble youth wandering in the 
 forests of Dalecarlia, fleeing before the emissaries of 
 the tyrant, and hidden from his pursuers, sometimes 
 in a rick of straw and sometimes under fallen trees, or 
 in cellars and mines, was preserved by providence, 
 whose great soul was already meditating the salvation 
 of his country and eventually achieved it by the aid 
 of God and Sweden's commonalty." 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 29 
 
 Christian's Before the story of these wanderings is re- 
 Character sumed, I pause to Say a few words upon the 
 icy. character and policy of King Christian. It 
 is not necessary to say, with the above facts before us, 
 that he was one of the most base, crafty and cruel 
 tyrants of whom history makes mention. But he be- 
 longs to a small and peculiar class of tyrants. He 
 was one of those who entertained a deadly hatred of 
 the aristocracy, not only from political jealousy, be- 
 cause of their constant attempts to limit his power, 
 and to reach up to his level or to overtop him, but 
 from a coarseness of nature and of manners, though 
 born in the purple, which led him to choose his boon 
 companions, and indulge his licentious passions among 
 the lower classes. To this class belonged Ivan the 
 Terrible of Russia, and Peter the Great, and I think I 
 may add the first Napoleon. While, therefore, Chris- 
 tian showed himself fierce and cruel to the nobles and 
 the cultivated classes, he was complaisant in his gen- 
 ial moods, to the common people, and secured the 
 passage of many laws for their welfare and improve- 
 ment. For, like Peter the Great of Russia, coarse in 
 his tastes and endowed with great abilities, while he la- 
 bored on the one hand to depress the nobility, he ex- 
 erted himself on the other to develop the resources of his 
 kingdoms, and to lift the laboring classes to a higher 
 level of intelligence and prosperity. He caused good 
 laws to be passed in favor of the commercial and labor- 
 ing classes, and was the first king in northern Europe 
 who opened schools for the poor of his dominions. He 
 ordered the burghers of all the large cities in the 
 three Scandinavian kingdoms, under the penalty of 
 heavy fines, to compel their children to learn to read, 
 and write and cipher. He also caused better books 
 
30 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 than were then in use to be prepared and printed for 
 the public schools. He made the first attempt to es- 
 tablish a post in the country by forming a band of 
 post runners, who, both in winter and summer, passed 
 between Copenhagen and the chief towns of his do- 
 minions. Wayside inns were established at certain dis- 
 tances along the road, and the system was established, 
 which still prevails in Norway, by which the local pop- 
 ulation were obliged to keep the roads in order and 
 to supply relays of horses for travelers. He forbade 
 bishops to burn witches, and to claim the old strand 
 tax, or wreckage of stranded vessels. He put an end 
 to selling peasants with the land. And strange it 
 sounds to hear that the author of the blood bath of 
 Stockholm was very much interested in the cultiva- 
 tion of flowers and vegetables, and by the advice of his 
 queen sent for and employed Flemish gardeners. He 
 would have proved in all probability a successful ty- 
 rant but for that passion of cruelty which led him to 
 outrages too intolerable to remain unavenged, and that 
 elaborate craft which is always short-sighted and sure 
 ultimately to entrap its master in the toils which he 
 weaves for others. 
 
 ^ After visiting his brother-in-law Joachin 
 
 ings and Brahe and his sister Margaret, Gustavus 
 Dangers of repaired to his father's estate of Rjefness 
 
 Gustavus. 
 
 and there lived some time concealed. He 
 made himself known to the old Archbishop Jacob 
 Ulfson, and learned from him that the peasants in 
 Dalecarlia had risen against the government of Chris- 
 tian but had been defeated. The archbishop advised 
 him to submit to the king, and informed him that his 
 name was included in the amnesty which was pro- 
 claimed on the surrender of Stockholm. " Once, " says 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 31 
 
 Geijer, " after such a conversation, when Jacob Ulfson 
 had employed his eloquence in vain, it happened that 
 an old servant of Joachin Brahe presented himself at 
 the castle of Gripsholm, and rather by sighs and tears 
 than words imparted the first tidings of the massacre 
 at Stockholm." The terrible news was soon confirmed. 
 The archbishop was dumb from horror and Gustavus 
 prepared for flight. 
 
 He left Rsefness on horseback on the 26th of Novem- 
 ber, 1520, accompanied by a single servant who stole 
 off with the saddle-bags, which contained all his ef- 
 fects and money. He chased the servant and secured 
 the saddle-bags, but the thief escaped. When he 
 reached the frontier of Dalecarlia, he assumed the dress 
 of a peasant and served as he had opportunity as a farm 
 laborer. When thus employed with Anders Pehrson, 
 a rich miner at Rankhytta, a maid servant one day 
 caught sight of a gold-embroidered collar beneath his 
 jacket and informed her master of the fact. Looking 
 attentively in his face, Pehrson recognized him as an 
 old school fellow at Upsala; but while not disposed to 
 betray him, he was unwilling to harbor a refugee so 
 distinguished. The barn at which Gustavus threshed 
 at Rankhytta is preserved as a state monument.* After 
 breaking through the ice in passing over a ferry and 
 spending the night shivering in a peasant's hut, he pre- 
 sented himself the next day to Arendt Pehrson who 
 had served under him at Brankyrka, and did not scruple 
 to discover himself to his old companion in arms. But 
 
 * King Charles XI. visited this bam in 1684. It is now marked with a 
 monument of porphyry with this inscription: "Here worked as a thresher 
 Gustavus Ericson pursued by foes of the realm but selected by providence to 
 be the Saviour of the country. His descendant in the sixth generation, Gus- 
 tavus III., raised this memorial." 
 
32 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Pehrson's fear of Christian was stronger than his sense 
 of generosity and honor; and though he received Gus- 
 tavus with seeming cordiality, he resolved to deliver 
 him up to the king's heutenant in the neighborhood. 
 After Gustavus had retired for the night Pehrson left 
 the house and returned early in the morning with the 
 king's lieutenant and a body of thirty men to take him 
 prisoner. But Gustavus had escaped through the kind- 
 ness of Pehrson's wife. Suspecting the treachery of 
 her lord from his absence, she warned her guest of 
 his danger, provided him with a horse and sledge and 
 guide and sent him to the Swedsjo parsonage. For 
 this act she incurred the life-long enmity of her husband 
 and won an honored name in the annals of Sweden. 
 Gustavus remained about a week at the parsonage of 
 Swedsjo, and when the worthy pastor could no longer 
 protect him, he sent him secretly to Swen Elfson, a 
 royal forester of great courage and presence of mind, 
 living at Isala. Elfson's wife was no unworthy help- 
 mate of such a husband. Some of the lieutenant's band 
 came in search of her guest one day when she was 
 making bread, and Gustavus was warming himself at 
 the oven. His look indicated some disquiet and might 
 have betrayed him had she not given him a smart blow 
 with the ladle with which she was stirring the bread, 
 and asked him with an expression of impatience whether 
 he had never seen soldiers before, and sent him off to 
 his duties in the barn.* 
 
 When he was obliged to shift his quarters again — the 
 neighborhood being beset with Danish soldiers, and a 
 persistent search made for him — Elfson sent him away 
 hidden under some straw in a light wagon. Some 
 
 * This is the subject of one of the series of frescoes in the Cathedral of 
 Upsala, which commemorates the most stiking incidents in the life of Gustavus. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 33 
 
 Danish troopers coming up, in lieu of a more formal 
 search, thrust their spears into the straw and wounded 
 Gustavus. The blood began to trickle down on the 
 snow, and would certainly have discovered his hiding 
 place had not the quick-witted Elfson, by giving his 
 horse unobserved a gash in the leg thus diverted at- 
 tention from the point whence the blood issued. 
 
 Having thus eluded the troops by the dexterity of 
 his guide, Gustavus arrived safe at Marness. Here he 
 lay concealed under a large uprooted fir-tree, supplied 
 with food by the peasants. From thence he penetrated 
 farther into a forest and took up his abode upon a hill, 
 still called the king's hill, which was surrounded by a 
 morass, and again found a hiding-place under an old 
 overturned fir-tree. On the green before the Church 
 at Ratvic, his next retreat, he first publicly addressed 
 the Dalesmen. As this incident leads to his probable 
 reasons for leaving Dalecarlia, and points to the plan 
 which he had devised for rousing his countrymen to 
 resist the tyrant king, it may be well, before following 
 him farther on his perilous adventures, to dwell for a 
 few moments on the probable ground upon which he 
 rested the hope that he might then commence and or- 
 ganize a patriotic crusade, which would ultimately 
 drive the Danes from Sweden, 
 n , 7- Dalecarlia — the land of dales — is a beautiful 
 
 Dalecarlia _ . , ,, , 
 
 and the and fertile region of rich valleys, between 
 Dalesmen, j^j^j^ rugged mountains, beneath which lie 
 inexhaustible mines of copper, iron and silver. The 
 portion of it in the midst of which Upsala is situated 
 is for many leagues a fertile and lovely plain, produc- 
 ing abundant crops and sustaining immense herds of cat- 
 tle. The indefinite term Dalecarlia is applied also to 
 the rugged regions which stretch to the North and the 
 
34 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 West towards Norway, but historical Dalecarlia, and 
 as it appears in the record of Gustavus, includes the 
 two Lans or provinces of Westeras and Upsala, north 
 and west of the province of Stockholm. 
 
 It has been already stated that Gustavus was in- 
 duced to resort to Dalecarlia from his confidence in 
 the independent character of the Dalesmen. But be- 
 yond this general confidence in the character of the 
 people, there were histotical traditions and advantages 
 which would naturally lead him to hope that his ap- 
 peal to them to rise and throw off the hated yoke of 
 Christian would not be in vain. It was around Upsala 
 and its immediate neighborhood that all the heroic na- 
 tional traditions, pagan and christian, gathered. With- 
 in one Swedish mile of that city was the old Upsala, 
 the seat of the first god-king Odin, with his divine 
 Aste, his council of gods, with his successors Njord 
 and Freya, also gods; and there, descended from them, 
 and inheriting the honor due to a divine parentage, 
 reigned the first mortal king, Fiolner. There are the 
 three vast mounds under which the first three kings 
 Odin, Njord, and Freya, are believed to be buried, and 
 at the foot of which for many centuries the kings of 
 Sweden pronounced their oaths and received their con- 
 secration. It had been the right of the " upper" Swedes, 
 inherited from the days of paganism, to dispose of the 
 crown, a right which after the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity became the subject of many contests. It had 
 been the custom for the Upland to nominate the king; 
 and after his election and confirmation, the king set 
 out upon his ericksgeit, in which he visited all the pro- 
 vinces, and received a formal recognition of him as 
 their rightful lord. After the other provinces had vin- 
 dicated their right to join in the election, the justicia- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 35 
 
 ries, the authorized representatives of the provinces, 
 gathered on the meadow of Mora, under the shadow of 
 the mound of Odin. The mode of proceeding formally 
 by the authority of the provinces in the election of the 
 king, is thus described by Geijer: 
 
 " This assembly was called the Mora Thing. The 
 justiciaries of the provinces were to repair thither, 
 every one attended by twelve discreet and well-skilled 
 men, with the assent of all the resident inhabitants of 
 the circuit. The voices of these deputies and the law- 
 man (justiciary) constituted the vote of the province. 
 The justiciary of Upland voted first and then the rest 
 in their order. Thereupon the king swore to the peo- 
 ple on the book, with the holy relics in his hand, the 
 oath embodied in the law, and lifting up his hand prom- 
 ised to God and the people to keep what he had sworn 
 and by no means to break it, but rather to augment it 
 by every good work, and especially by his royal word. 
 In like manner the justiciaries and the people took 
 their oath to the king, and by this were bound both 
 young and old, the living and the yet unborn, the 
 friend and the unfriend, the absent as well as the pres- 
 ent. This was called to swear by or at the Mora stone; 
 and an old record states that immediately after his elec- 
 tion the king was raised upon the stone. It was then 
 incumbent upon the king to ride in the manner before 
 mentioned on his ericksgeit, or as it is called in the 
 land law, ' to ride round the realm with the sun.'" 
 
 It was therefore no doubt not only because of the 
 sturdy character of the Dalesmen that Gustavus be- 
 took himself to that region, but because he also felt 
 that all the associations, traditions and habits of the 
 people were such as would enable him to fire their 
 hearts with a patriotic passion and ambition to redeem 
 
36 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 their enslaved country. He could remind them that 
 it was the prerogative of Upland to cast the first vote 
 for the election of the king; and that Christian had 
 been imposed upon them without the formality of ap- 
 pealing to them for their consent. He could refer to 
 the long train of illustrious kings who had received 
 their consecration at the Mora stone; and this usurper 
 had entered into Stockholm by force of arms and the 
 slaughter of their countrymen, and sat there upon a 
 throne erected over a pool of the best and noblest 
 blood in Sweden. He might naturally have thought 
 that if he could receive their recognition as the cham- 
 pion whom they selected to commence the work of 
 the redemption of their country, such a designation 
 might wear something of the character, in the eyes of 
 his countrymen, of that old right of Upland to select 
 and elect a king, which the other provinces were merely 
 summoned to sanction, and which would lead to his 
 acceptance by the kingdom as its providentially and 
 historically designated leader and commander. That 
 such thoughts may have cheered and sustained the 
 hunted and heroic fugitive, appears in a high degree 
 probable from the fact that he determined to make his 
 first address to the Dalesmen in the Mora region and 
 near the Mora stone. 
 
 His Appeal '^^^ uprooted fir-tree which furnished his hid- 
 to the Dales- ing place was not far from the Mora meadow. 
 men. ^^ ^ moment when Ratvick seemed to be 
 
 free from the Danish troops who were tracking him, 
 Gustavus issued from his hiding-place and addressed 
 the people on the green before the church. He bade 
 the old to consider well, and the young to inform them- 
 selves, what a dreadful tyranny the Danes had intro- 
 duced into Sweden; and how much they themselves 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 37 
 
 had suffered and ventured for the, cause of their be- 
 loved country. He reminded them of the oppression 
 of Erickson, and of the heroic and successful resist- 
 ance to it of Englebert. And now all Sweden was 
 again under the heel of the tyrant of Denmark, and its 
 noblest blood had been shed by him. His own father 
 "had chosen rather with his associates, the honor-lov- 
 ing nobles, to die than to be spared and survive them." 
 " If they would now save their land from slavery, he 
 would put himself at their head, and fight with them 
 for the freedom of the realm." This appeal did not 
 produce the impression which he had hoped for. The 
 full story of Christian's massacre had not yet pene- 
 trated the Dales. The peasants of Ratvick did not 
 personally know Gustavus, and his family was not 
 immediately associated with their history. They ex- 
 pressed their sympathy with him, but declined to com- 
 mit themselves to any action until they should have 
 consulted other parishes. 
 
 Still less encouraging was the result where he ex- 
 pected it would be the greatest, when he addressed the 
 peasants on the Mora meadow. To a large assembly 
 gathered there he gave a vivid description of the mas- 
 sacre at Stockholm, spoke of his own share in the ca- 
 lamity, and offered himself to be their leader "to avenge 
 the blood that had been spilt, and to teach the tyrant 
 that Swedes must be ruled by law, not ground down by 
 cruelty." We can readily imagine the patriotic ardor, 
 with which he must have made such an appeal. But 
 only a few of the peasants were in favor of arming at 
 once; the majority of them advised him to go further 
 into the woods, and informed him that he was sought 
 and tracked by many bands of Danish soldiers. Ut- 
 terly discouraged by this reception, Gustavus again 
 
38 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 sought still more distant and lonely hiding-places, and 
 at the close of the year crossed the boundary which 
 separates the eastern and western dales, intending to 
 take refuge in Norway. But soon a reaction took place 
 in the minds of this simple-hearted peasantry. The 
 story of this reaction should be told in no other words 
 than those of Sweden's great historian, Geijer. There 
 is a great charm in the beautiful simplicity of the 
 narrative, and a romantic interest in the events, in 
 that humble and narrow sphere, which determined the 
 civil and religious history of Sweden for the ensuing 
 centuries. 
 
 " Shortly after Gustavus quitted Ratvick several 
 Swedish nobles of the Danish faction arrived there for 
 the purpose of securing his person. Some peasants 
 who saw them coming in with about a hundred horses 
 on the ice of lake Silian, hastened to the church and 
 rang the bells. The wind blew towards the upper 
 country; a great concourse of people assembled as was 
 their wont on occasions of common peril, and the stran- 
 gers who had sought refuge partly in the priest's house, 
 and partly in the tower, which long after showed marks 
 of the Dalesmen's arrows, could only ransom their lives 
 by the assurance that they would do no harm to Gus- 
 tavus. 
 
 "About the new year there arrived at Mora Lawrence 
 Olaverson, a captain of great experience in the service 
 of Sten Sture the younger; and shortly after a noble- 
 man of Upland named John Michelson. They drew 
 so lively a picture of the massacre of Stockholm that 
 the bystanders were affected to tears. The ericksgeit 
 of the king they said was at hand; his way would be 
 marked by the gallows and wheel; all the arms of the 
 Swedish peasants would be wrested from them and 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 39 
 
 consumed; and if their limbs were left to them un- 
 mutilated, a stick in the hand would be the only 
 weapon allowed them in the future; the imposition of 
 an additional tax for the maintenance of the new troops 
 was daily expected. The people murmured and com- 
 plained that they had allowed Gustavus Erickson to 
 depart. In this their new guests told them they did 
 wrong; such a noble leader they stood much in need 
 of. Many a worthy Swedish warrior was now wan- 
 dering like themselves, fugitives in the forest, who 
 would never submit to the dominion of the Danes, but 
 lead a free life so long as they might, until Sweden 
 should receive from God, a captain and a chief for 
 whom they would cheerfully put to hazard their life and 
 welfare. " The Dalecarlians now sent off runners on 
 snow skates to seek out Gustavus day and night and 
 bring him back. They found him in the hamlet of Seln 
 in the upper part of the parish of Lima, whence he in- 
 tended to seek a pathway across the mountains of 
 Norway. 
 
 He returned in their company to Mora, where the 
 principal and most influential yeomen of all the parishes 
 in the eastern and western dales elected him to be 
 " Lord and chieftain over them and the command of the 
 realm of Sweden." Some scholars who had arrived from 
 Westeras brought with them new accounts of the tyr- 
 anny of Christian. Gustavus placed these students in 
 the midst of a circle of the peasants to tell their story 
 and answer the questions of the crowd. Old men rep- 
 resented it as a comfortable sign for the people that as 
 often as Gustavus discoursed to them the north wind 
 always blew, which was an old token to them that God 
 would grant them a good ' success. Sixteen active 
 peasants were appointed to be his body guard; and 
 
40 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 two hundred young men were called his foot-goers. 
 The chronicles reckon his reign from this small begin- 
 ning; while the Danes and their abettors in Stockholm 
 long after continued to speak of him and his party as a 
 band of robbers in the woods. 
 
 It would be interesting, if our limits allowed, to 
 trace the gradual development of this band of peasants 
 into a well-organized army under the skillful hand of 
 Gustavus, and to follow the successive steps by which 
 he gained the confidence and the enthusiastic affection 
 and admiration of his countrymen, and reached a 
 position of commanding influence and power. He at 
 once displayed all the qualities of a great commander 
 and administrator. In the beginning of February, he 
 marched to the great copper mine, took its superin- 
 tendent prisoner, seized upon all the king's and the 
 Danish property in the place, and made his first ban- 
 ners from the silks that were captured. Soon after he 
 returned to that place with 1,500 men, and from that 
 time great and rapid accessions to his ranks took place. 
 The king's troops were sent out to meet him, but were 
 beaten and driven back. As Gustavus passed into 
 Westmanland, the people flocked to his standard; and 
 when on S. George's day, the 23rd of April, he orga- 
 nized and reviewed his army, it was found to be 15,000 
 strong. At this point of his progress, he issued a for- 
 mal proclamation of war against Christian. In it he 
 declared that Christian had not lawfully been elected 
 king; if he had been, he had forfeited his throne by his 
 atrocious tyranny and his violation of the laws of Sweden ; 
 and he proudly referred to the fact that he had never 
 sworn allegiance to him, and that he took up arms 
 against him without violating a plighted faith. This 
 last fact gave him a prodigious influence with his coun- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 41 
 
 trymen. They gathered about him under the influence 
 of patriotic passion and personal devotion which en- 
 abled him, after two years of varied successes and 
 reverses, to enter Stockholm in triumph on the 21st of 
 June, 1523. 
 
 The Exe- After the massacre of Stockholm and the 
 cution of departure of Christian to Denmark, the Bish- 
 "■^ "'' ops Slaghec and Beldnake were appointed 
 administrators of the kingdom in his absence. But 
 Slaghec soon left Sweden, having been advanced to the 
 Archbishopric of Lund, the primacy of the Danish 
 Church. But he did not long enjoy the honors of that 
 envied station — the highest to which a northern ec- 
 clesiastic could be raised. On the first news of the 
 massacre at Stockholm, Johannes Magnus, Canon of 
 Linkoping, and afterwards Archbishop of Upsala, had 
 hastened to Rome to demand vengeance against Chris- 
 tian. The execution of two Bishops so aggravated the 
 enormity of that crime in the eyes of the Pope that, 
 though unwilling to strike the king on account of the 
 emperor, he would not refuse inquiry. M. D. Potentia, 
 a Neapolitan monk was dispatched for the purpose with 
 secret orders to view the matter in a light as favorable 
 as possible for the king; while Christian, advised of 
 his danger and determined to save himself; resolved to 
 sacrifice Archbishop Slaghec, in order that he might be 
 personally exculpated. 
 
 Slaghec had been in the possession of his dignity 
 but two months when he was summoned to Copen- 
 hagen to answer to the charge of having been the in- 
 stigator of the massacre. The charge was readily 
 proved. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. 
 On the 22nd of June, 1522, the sentence was executed. 
 The king had left Copenhagen, and given orders that 
 
42 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 the execution should take place during his absence. 
 The scene of it was the old Market-place or Square of 
 the city. A gallows was erected and a pile of fagots 
 heaped up near the Council House, and here in his rich 
 robes, the guilty tool and victim of the guiltier king 
 was conducted. Inasmuch as his was the double crime 
 of treason against the State and of spiritual treason 
 against the Vicar of Christ, in executing two of his 
 spiritual servants, he was forced up towards the gal- 
 lows, as if to suffer upon it, and then led to the blaz- 
 ing pile, where, with no sympathy from the crowd, he 
 was burned. 
 
 Theproceed- While Gustavus was making progress in the 
 ingsandDe. North, Christian was pursuing those harsh 
 
 thronement , , i • i n , 
 
 of Chris- and cruel measures which were well calcu- 
 *i'^"- lated to hasten his overthrow. He had caused 
 
 the mothers and wives and children of the most distin- 
 guished Barons of Stockholm to be conveyed to Den- 
 mark. Among these were the mother and the two 
 sisters of Gustavus, whom Christian, in spite of the re- 
 monstrances and entreaties of his wife, threw into a 
 dungeon. Here they perished, and as it was believed 
 and charged by Gustavus, by violence. Christian also 
 issued an order to his generals and officials to put to 
 death all Swedes of distinction who should fall into 
 their hands. A massacre similar to that at Stockholm, 
 though not on so extensive a scale, only for want of 
 sufficient victims, was by his direction perpetrated at 
 Abo, the capital of Finland. 
 
 After leaving Sweden to be thus harried and op- 
 pressed. Christian made a visit with much splendor to 
 his brother-in-law, Charles V., in the Netherlands, to 
 secure the dowry of his Queen, and to solicit his aid 
 in a war against Duke Frederic of Holstein. The ob- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 43 
 
 ject which he had in view seemed definite, but the 
 means which he employed were various and contradic- 
 tory, and such as would inevitably bring about failure 
 and defeat. He aimed to depress the power of the no- 
 bility and clergy; to elevate and gratify and govern 
 through the burghers and peasants; to destroy the as- 
 cendency of the Hanse towns, and to annex Holstein, 
 and so utterly to crush and terrify Sweden as that it 
 should lie henceforth passive under his sway. But his 
 measures were fitful, incoherent and inconsistent. He 
 seemed mastered by a feverish restlessness, which led 
 him into projects and policies which crossed and nul- 
 lified each other and led to his ultimate ruin. He made 
 the Papal bull the pretext for his cruelty in Sweden, 
 and yet on his return to Denmark instituted measures 
 for the introduction of the Reformation into that king- 
 dom. He even opened a correspondence with Luther, 
 and invited Carlstadt to Copenhagen; and when in- 
 vestigation into the massacre of Stockholm was threat- 
 ened, made application to the Pope for the canoniza- 
 tion of Scandinavian saints. He raised the infamous 
 Slaghec to the Archbishopric of Lund, and afterward, 
 as we have seen, threw upon him the responsibility of 
 the massacre of Stockholm and consigned him to the 
 stake. 
 
 One year after the execution of Slaghec, when Chris- 
 tian was levying a new tax upon the kingdom for the 
 prosecution of the unpopular war against Holstein, the 
 dissatisfaction of the kingdom came to a head, and the 
 nobles in council at Viborg, on the 20th of January, 
 1523, drew up a deed of renunciation of his authority, 
 and declared that they had chosen Frederic, his uncle, 
 Duke of Holstein, to fill the vacant throne. This act 
 of renunciation enumerated his crimes and his atrocious 
 
44 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 tyranny, and declared that obedience to his intolerable 
 rule had ceased to be a duty. The craven and abject 
 spirit in which the king pleaded to be allowed a further 
 trial, and threw the blame of his maladministration 
 upon his advisers, and promised the most absolute 
 conformity thereafter to the will of the council, ex- 
 hibits that cowardly nature which so often leads to 
 cruelty. Although the powerful province of Sealand 
 and the nobles of Scania took an oath of fidelity to the 
 king, he did not. dare to trust them, or even to rely 
 upon his army. He collected twenty ships in which 
 he placed the public records, the treasures and the 
 crown jewels and his wife and child. The evil genius 
 of the king, Sigbert, the mother of one of his mistresses, 
 who had either prompted or approved of all his cruel- 
 ties, and exercised a most sinister influence over him, 
 was conveyed to a ship in a chest, that she might es- 
 cape the vengeance of the people, by whom she was 
 vehemently abhorred. Thus ended the dreadful reign 
 of Christian II. in Denmark and Sweden. 
 
 It may be well to follow the fortunes of Christian to 
 their wretched end. He first fled to Holland, and re- 
 mained there several years. In 1 531, he landed in Nor- 
 way with an army of Dutch and Germans, and was well 
 received by the inhabitants. But the treaty made by 
 Frederic with Sweden and Lubeck, enabled him to 
 overthrow the army of Christian and to take him pris- 
 oner. Contrary to the pledge of his uncle's commander, 
 who had promised him freedom. Christian was carried to 
 Sonderberg in the lonely island of Als, and thrown into 
 a dark dungeon below the tower. In that wretched 
 prison in which light and air could penetrate only 
 through a small grated window, which served at the 
 same time for the transmission of the scanty food fur- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 45 
 
 nished him, Christian spent seventeen years of his life, 
 with a half-witted and deformed Norwegian dwarf for 
 his attendant and sole companion. A striking mod- 
 ern picture of Christian and his companion in prison, 
 in the picture gallery of the palace at Copenhagen, 
 leaves an ineffaceable impression upon the mind of the 
 beholder. 
 
 On the death of Frederic I., his son. Christian III., 
 wished that he might be released, on the pledge that 
 he would retire to Germany and make no more efforts 
 to recover the throne. But the Danish nobles were 
 quite unwilling to rely upon his pledges, and all the 
 relief that Christian III. could obtain for him was a re- 
 moval to the Kallunberg castle, where he was permitted 
 to pass the last ten years of his life in comparative 
 comfort, and where he died in 1559, within a few months 
 of his namesake, Christian III. 
 
 Gustavusbe- ^^^^"^ 'he capture of Westeras and an un- 
 comes Re- Successful attack upon Upsala, a convoca- 
 ^24,'isi"f *'°" °^ *^^ partisans of Gustavus, which 
 claimed to represent the States of Sweden, 
 took place at Wadstena on the 24th of August, 1521. 
 There were present sixty nobles and many representa- 
 tives of the burghers and the clergy. It was here, at a 
 critical crisis of his life, that Gustavus made one of those 
 speeches which' turned the doubtful balance of events 
 decidedly in his favor. A brief summary of it has been 
 preserved, sufficient to suggest how stirring must have 
 been such an appeal, from one whose heroic resistance 
 to the tyrant, and whose romantic adventures and 
 splendid personality must have vividly impressed the 
 hearts and the imaginations of a people whom in- 
 dignation had rendered ready for self-sacrifice and suf- 
 fering. He told them that there were but two courses 
 
46 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 for them to pursue: " If they were content to be forever 
 slaves to the Dane, and to abandon their possessions 
 to the avarice of a greedy neighbor ; if they had hearts 
 to see the remaining flower of their nobility cut off, 
 and could endure that Sweden, which had not only 
 supported its own independence, but had given the 
 law to other lands, should degenerate into a Danish 
 province — then, indeed, they had only to sit down 
 quietly and watch the footsteps of the tyrant. But if 
 they loved freedom — if they would avenge the innocent 
 blood that had run so piteously in their streets — if their 
 houses and possessions were dear to them — if they 
 would prove themselves worthy sons of their renowned 
 fathers, then they would take the sword, and not let it 
 sleep until they had dethroned the tyrant and regained 
 the crown which he had wrested from their hands. 
 Circumstances were most favorable to their enterprise, 
 Christian was hated by his own people, and all his. at- 
 tention was required to secure himself in his hereditary 
 dominions. He — Gustavus — had already, with the help 
 of the Dalesmen, subdued a large portion of the realm, 
 and the chief fortresses were now so hard beset that 
 they could not offer a long resistance. The victory 
 would soon be complete if they would only combine 
 their councils and unite their strength." 
 
 The appeal was decisive. The estates immediately 
 offered the crown to Gustavus. " That was the only 
 way," they said, " to repay him for his services, and to 
 save the kingdom." But Gustavus had the prudence 
 and the foresight which made him see that his influence 
 at that stage of his progress would be greater if he de- 
 clined the crown and accepted a regency, which would 
 in effect be kingship in all but the name. He repHed 
 that "he had taken up arms from zeal and compassion 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 47 
 
 for the people. The name of king had already, from 
 the abuse of it, begun to have a hateful sound. They 
 should unite their strength, and first place themselves 
 in a condition to choose a native Swedish king. Then 
 whomsoever they should deem fit for the honor, to him 
 he would show all loyalty and obedience.'^ 
 
 _ From this period the military successes of 
 proclaimed Gustavus became more decided. After two 
 King, June years of siege, Stockholm surrendered. Just 
 previous to that event, June 7, 1523, a State 
 Council assembled at Strengness, when the newly 
 elected Archbishop, Knut, suggested that it was now 
 necessary to choose a king, since Christian had ceased 
 to be king even of Denmark. All the Council with 
 one voice declared for Gustavus. " He received their 
 congratulations with a grave countenance, thanked 
 his countrymen for their love and confidence, and said 
 that his services did not merit so great a reward, and 
 that he was weary of the burden and anxieties he had 
 already undergone. He begged them to choose one 
 of the old knights and nobles then present, and he 
 would give him his truth and allegiance." Tears and 
 exclamations and remonstrances interrupted his ad- 
 dress. It is a curious fact, in connection with the part 
 which he subsequently took and was then prepared to 
 take in the Reformation of Sweden, that he at last 
 consented to accept the crown upon the pressing 
 instances of the Papal Legate. 
 
 Frederic I. of Denmark wrote to the estates of 
 Sweden that in accordance with the stipulations of the 
 treaty of Calmar, he should be acknowledged King of 
 Sweden. They replied that they had already elected 
 Gustavus Erickson to be Sweden's king. Thus was 
 the union of the treaty of Calmar dissolved, after it 
 
48 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 had lasted 126 years. Previous to the surrender of 
 Stockholm, the armies of Gustavus had been success- 
 ful in expelling the Danes from the southern part of 
 Sweden. On midsummer eve, the 21st of June, Gus- 
 tavus made his entrance into Stockholm. Before the 
 end of the year, Finland was brought into obedience. 
 The country was thus freed from foreign enemies, 
 but it was full of the elements of discord and dissat- 
 isfaction. That, in the circumstances under which 
 Gustavus ascended the throne, he was able to main- 
 tain his position, to pacify the kingdom, and develop 
 its resources, and above all, that without any popular 
 movement towards the Reformation, he was able to 
 establish it by virtue of his overmastering character 
 and against immense obstacles, without and within 
 his kingdom, justly entitles him to the place which 
 has been assigned him, by all who have studied his 
 career, as one of the greatest men in the whole com- 
 pass of European history. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM THE ELECTION OF GUSTAVUS TO THE THRONE, 
 TO HIS COLLISION WITH THE CLERGY, 1526. 
 
 nPHE enthusiasm with which the Estates sanc- 
 -*- tioned the proposition of Canute, the Provost 
 of the Cathedral of Westeras, that Gustavus should 
 be elected king, might have animated him to accept 
 an office, the enormous difficulties of which he could 
 not but have foreseen, but which his patriotic love of 
 country would not allow him to evade. Even if he 
 had contemplated the task with passionate repug- 
 nance, he could not have found it in his heart to 
 decline a position which his own agency had made 
 it necessary that some one should fill, and which he 
 must have known could not have been filled so worth- 
 ily and efficiently by any one as by himself. It is not 
 often that a crown has been pressed upon any one 
 with such genuine and affectionate importunity. The 
 following is the account of this remarkable scene given 
 by Vertot: 
 
 " The speaker of the Estates (Provost Canute) rep- 
 resented to the Assembly the absolute necessity of 
 proceeding speedily to the election of a king. Then 
 he employed all his art in painting forth the qualities 
 of an excellent Prince, one that was vigilant, labori- 
 ous, full of courage, and endowed with a sufficient 
 stock of valor and prudence to oppose the unjust pre- 
 
50 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 tensions of the Danes to the Swedish crown: that in 
 this description they might see and take notice of the 
 picture of Gustavus. He concluded that after all the 
 services which the Administrator had done to the 
 State, and the illustrious proofs he had given of his 
 extraordinary endowments and virtues, they were 
 obliged, in gratitude to him, and in justice to the in- 
 terests of those they represented, to confer the royal 
 title and authority upon their benefactor. 
 
 "This discourse was received with an universal 
 applause. The nobility and commons, transported 
 with their zeal and affection, prevented the senators 
 and deputies. The whole assembly proclaimed with 
 a loud voice, ' Gustavus, King of Sweden ! ' It was 
 impossible to gather the votes, or to proceed accord- 
 ing to the usual forms observed in such cases. His 
 praises were echoed through the whole convention; 
 he was styled the savior and deliverer of his country. 
 The peasants and burghers, mingling confusedly with 
 the deputies, neglecting all marks of distinction, and 
 even forgetting the respect they owed to the senators 
 and other lords, struggled and crowded to approach 
 the king. The name of Gustavus was repeated by 
 every mouth; he was the object of every eye; and all 
 in general endeavored to express their joy at his elec- 
 tion, and to congratulate their own happiness in hav- 
 ing an opportunity to contribute to his advancement." 
 Difficulties '^^^ town of Strengness was itself a proof 
 ofthep.ng's of one of the enormous difficulties — the des- 
 olation of the country — which he was called 
 upon immediately to confront. It had become almost 
 a ruin through the ravages of civil war. This condi- 
 tion of the town, suggestive of that of the whole 
 country, had impressed the council with the convic- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 51 
 
 tion that there was no choice but between utter 
 national ruin, and the overthrow of the tyranny of 
 Christian. This conviction was deepened when Gus- 
 tavus made his pubHc entry into Stockholm. Half of 
 the houses were empty; and of the population of the 
 city on the accession of Christian only one fourth re- 
 mained. To fill up the gap the king invited the 
 citizens of other towns to settle there, and offered 
 them great inducements to do so. This invitation 
 he was compelled to renew twelve years after, " see- 
 ing," he said, " that Stockholm had not revived from 
 the days of King Christian." And these were speci- 
 mens of the condition of most of the towns and rural 
 estates of the lower and more populous portion of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 The power of the great lords was another obstacle 
 in the way of the speedy settlement of the kingdom. 
 One effect of the union of Sweden to Denmark had 
 been greatly to increase their influence. According 
 to the terms of the union, the Council, in the absence 
 of the king, governed the kingdom. As members of 
 the Council, the great nobles who composed it had con- 
 stant opportunities to increase their exclusive privi- 
 leges, to enlarge their estates, and to become more 
 independent of the supreme but distant authority of 
 the king. Many of the crown fiefs had been appropri- 
 ated by them to their own use, and were thus in the 
 inevitable process of passing into their permanent pos- 
 session. Many of the difficulties of the king arose from 
 this source. With characteristic foresight he saw that 
 this contest with the nobles for the recovery of the 
 crown and church lands would at once arise; and ac- 
 cordingly he availed himself of the first enthusiasm 
 created by his wonderful success to propose to the 
 
52 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Council " whether he might not freely dispose of the 
 crown fiefs, as the law book declares, without ill will?" 
 During the union, and especially during the long ab- 
 sence of King John, the kingdom seemed about to be 
 parceled out into principalities, under a few of the 
 great magnates who were most powerful in the Coun- 
 cil. This state of things it was impossible for the king 
 immediately to change. The General Council at Stock- 
 holm had constituted branches in the various provinces, 
 in which some mernbers of the Central Council sat 
 and exercised a predominant influence. Thus Gustavus 
 found himself at once confronted with an oligarchy 
 which had spread a net-work of influence and of organ- 
 ization over all the kingdom, and the members of which 
 had possessed themselves of a large portion of the 
 Royal domains. These it was necessary to recover 
 without exciting to revolt the powerful lords, whose 
 loyalty was the condition of continued possession of the 
 throne. It was an immense difficulty. How wisely, 
 by personal influence, by intimidation, and by the 
 stern exercise of power, where it was called for, he so 
 far overcame it as to recover most of the crown lands, 
 and to become, not the mere agent of the great lords, 
 but their master, we shall see in the progress of the 
 history. 
 
 The turbulent independence of the people caused the 
 king in the commencement of his reign frequent and 
 most vexatious difficulties. The circumstances in which 
 the people had been called to intervene in opposition 
 to the Danish kings, had made them exacting and tur- 
 bulent and difficult to satisfy. This was especially the 
 case with the Dalesmen. At the call of Englebert 
 they had expelled the tyrant Ericson, and made their 
 leader Regent of the kingdom. From that period. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 53 
 
 proud of their success, they had put forth many pre- 
 tensions. The native Regents, Englebert, and the 
 three successive Stures, and the one native king, 
 Charles Canutson, were compelled to profess to de- 
 pend wholly on their support. In order to protect 
 themselves from rival aspirants to their office, they 
 found it necessary to flatter and conciliate the people, 
 by acknowledging their dependence on them, and by 
 conformity to their democratic tastes and habits. The 
 threatened partition of the kingdom among the great 
 lords led to a counter-development and manifestation 
 of popular power. During the troubled times, when 
 the Danish government was powerless, the people in 
 the provinces often assumed self-government, took up 
 arms and formed alliances when they were dissatisfied 
 with the local lords or authorities placed over them by 
 the Regent. This was the case more frequently in 
 upper than in lower Sweden. Hence, in consequence 
 of the immense services which the Dalecarlians, and 
 Northern Sweden generally, had rendered to Gusta- 
 vus, he found them subsequently insubordinate,. clam- 
 orous for special privileges, and unwilling to bear 
 their proportionate burdens of taxation and of mili- 
 tary servicer 
 
 The injliience of the Church too was decidedly adverse 
 to the person and policy of the king. The Church was 
 in fact a foreign power established in the kingdom, 
 rather than a constituent part of it. Its great dignitaries 
 had generally been partisans of the Union; because they 
 received their appointments from the Pope, through 
 the influence or dictation of the Danish crown. The 
 lower clergy, dependent on their superiors, assumed 
 the same position. They had always been obnoxious 
 to the patriotic party. Englebert was violently hostile 
 
54 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 to the Bishops; and the three Regents Stur^ were con- 
 stantly involved in contests with them. The execrated 
 Archbishop Trolle opened the way for the tyrant Chris- 
 tian to the throne. In the war which ensued the ex- 
 asperation against the bishops, the clergy and the 
 monks found expression in many acts of violence. 
 Their great riches furnished a tempting resource to 
 Gustavus to supply the needs of his army; and the li- 
 centiousness of the priests and monks seemed to him 
 to condone reprisals for the outrages which the nation 
 had for centuries endured without redress. 
 
 But the most immediately pressing of all the diffi- 
 culties of the king were financial. He had been com- 
 pelled to borrow money and secure ships and men and 
 materials from Lubeck to carry on the war. That sharp 
 commercial town pressed him hard and over-promptly 
 for payment. On the very day of his election as king, 
 a deputation from Lubeck demanded an immediate 
 liquidation of his debt to the city.. He requested an 
 extension of the time. This was granted only on hard 
 conditions, for he had distinctly pledged himself for 
 the payment so soon as the government should be de- 
 finitely settled. He was compelled to agree that Sweden 
 should conclude no treaty with Christian or any other 
 power without the consent of Lubeck; that on the sur- 
 render of Stockholm and Calmar, all goods found in 
 them which the Lubeck and Dantzic merchants should 
 claim upon oath as theirs, because not paid for, should 
 be restored to them; and that the wares of the same 
 cities should be admitted free of duty; and that the 
 whole foreign trade of Sweden should be confined to 
 the Hanse towns. It was a most ungenerous advantage 
 taken of the embarrassing circumstances in which the 
 king was placed; and the demand that the government 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 55 
 
 should be made responsible — for that in effect it was 
 — for the unfulfilled obligations of private merchants, 
 was unprecedented and grossly unjust. But the king 
 was not in a position openly to resist these demands. 
 In an address and appeal to the people, Gustavus stated 
 the urgent necessities of his position, with a view no 
 doubt to prepare them for and to vindicate in advance 
 the radical measure which he was about to adopt. It 
 is an indication of his personal feeling towards the 
 Church, that he did not hesitate to lay his hands upon 
 that portion of her wealth which was regarded as most 
 sacred, and the appropriation of which to secular pur- 
 poses would be considered by the devout children of 
 the Church, not robbery only, but the grossest sacrilege. 
 The Church was in possession of two thirds of the landed 
 property of the kingdom; but as that could not be made 
 immediately available for his urgent needs, he resolved 
 to appropriate the sacred vessels used in the public 
 services, and the reliquaries, and the gold and gems, 
 the gifts of kings and nobles, in the treasuries of churches 
 and of convents. It is a striking proof of the realized 
 absolute necessity of his government to their national 
 existence, that such a measure could have been carried 
 out without a revolt upon the part of the people, who 
 had thus far shown no desire to throw off the Roman 
 yoke. It seems scarcely credible that in the then con- 
 dition of the public conscience, the following demands 
 could have been obeyed: "We therefore enjoin you," 
 says this document in the address to the clergy and 
 the commissions appointed to carry out the royal will, 
 "without delay to search in your churches and monas- 
 teries, both in towns and in the adjoining country, and 
 observe what can best be spared and select from the 
 valuables — to wit, the monstrances, the chalices, or what- 
 
56 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 ever else of the kind there may be, and also any coin 
 which may come to hand, and send them here by a sure 
 messenger, without delay or negligence. When we re- 
 ceive the same, and know the amount, we will give an 
 acknowledgment, so that the debt shall be duly paid 
 when the state shall be in better circumstances." But 
 all the devices of the king to raise revenue during the 
 early part of his reign did not suffice to meet the wants 
 of the Government. He was thwarted in many of his 
 plans and defeated in many efforts to bring his king- 
 dom into peace and order, for the want of money. 
 None but a man of commanding ability and fertile in 
 resources, and with a strong hold upon the affection 
 and confidence of his people, could have worked his 
 way through and over the enormous difficulties which 
 beset his path. 
 
 Last and not least of the diffitulties with which 
 Gustavus was called to struggle was the distrust ana 
 opposition of the priesthood. We have seen that the 
 priesthood, high and low, were partisans of the Danish 
 rule. This alone would have sufficed to have made 
 them the king's secret foes. But when he laid his hands 
 upon the sacred vessels and silver shrines and lamps, 
 the golden crucifixes and the gem-encrusted caskets of 
 holy relics, this distrust passed into thinly veiled and 
 holy horror. While it could have been scarcely possi- 
 ble that the growing alienation of the mind of the king 
 should have been wholly disguised, he yet abstained, 
 during the first two years of his reign, from any open 
 opposition to the doctrine or discipline of the Church; 
 although he did not altogether escape some personal 
 collisions with its administrators. It was, as we shall 
 see, one of the main problems which he was called to 
 solve, to prepare the way gradually for the abolition of 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 57 
 
 the Papacy and yet to do this so cautiously as not to 
 create a rebellion, which in the early part of his reign, 
 before his power was consolidated, he might have been 
 unable to overcome. His position in this respect was 
 not unlike that of Queen Elizabeth, and his cautious 
 policy was quite the counterpart of hers. But on her 
 side there were two great advantages which were want- 
 ing to Gustavus. She was the recognized lawful heir to 
 the throne, in a country where the principle of royal he- 
 reditary right was a religious dogma, and where the 
 Protestant principles which she aimed to introduce and 
 establish, were already fervently held by a large and 
 intelligent portion of the people. Gustavus on the 
 contrary was an elected king, and the principles of the 
 Reformation had made no progress and were scarcely 
 known to exist when he ascended the throne. 
 The Intro- The Lutheran doctrines had been introduced 
 ducticTi of secretly into Sweden by Olaus and Laurentius 
 ism into Petri a few years before Gustavus was pro- 
 Sweden. claimed king. They were native Swedes, 
 thf sons of a smith at Orebo, and they had studied 
 with great distinction under Luther and Melancthon, 
 and had been encouraged by them to return and labor 
 to evangelize their native land. They were learned 
 and intrepid men, who were animated with holy zeal, 
 tempered by discretion. In 1520 Olaus was made a 
 Canon of Strengness and in secret preached against in- 
 dulgences, vows of celibacy, the worship of saints and 
 images, prayers for the dead, auricular confession and 
 the power of the Pope. The shameless traffic in indul- 
 gences, which prevailed in Germany and Switzerland, 
 and which aroused the opposition of Luther and Zwingli, 
 also stimulated the zeal of the brothers Petri, to a more 
 open denunciation of the Papal claims. During the aw- 
 
58 The Reformattion in Sweden. 
 
 ful scenes which occurred while Christian II. had pos- 
 session of the kingdom, and the war which followed, 
 the preaching of the Petri attracted but little attention. 
 But while these events prevented a wide dissemination 
 of their doctrines, they at the same time allowed them 
 to labor unmolested. The king, who had corresponded 
 with Luther in 1524, advanced Olaus to the Rectorship 
 of the Church in Stockholm, and appointed his brother 
 Laurentius a professor in the University of Upsala. At 
 this time the king had become a firm but unavowed 
 believer in the doctrines of Luther. After the close of 
 the war the preaching of the two brothers, from the 
 vantage-ground of their high position, began to attract 
 much attention. As it now met with violent opposition 
 Gustavus appointed a discussion of the points in dispute 
 to be held in his presence. The result was, as the king 
 had foreseen, favorable to the Reformers. In conse- 
 quence of this discussion twelve questions were prepared 
 for examination in an assembly of divines to be ap- 
 pointed by the king. 
 
 These questions were examined in a cqn- 
 o/Tutheran fercHce held at Upsala at Christmas, 1524. 
 and Roman Qlaus Petri, in the presence of the king, 
 
 challenged the Canons of Upsala to defend 
 the doctrines of the Roman Church. At first the 
 Chapter declined to engage in the controversy, but 
 finally appointed Peter Galle as their champion. The 
 questions submitted involved the chief topics in con- 
 troversy between the Lutheran and the Roman Church. 
 They were as follows: "Whether God's Word is the 
 sole rule of faith; what are the limits of Church author- 
 ity; whether the supremacy of the Pope and his agents 
 be for Christ or against Him; whether man can be 
 saved by his own works and deservings or otherwise 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 59 
 
 than by God's grace and mercy; whether men have a 
 right to order the administration of the Lord's Supper 
 in a way different from Christ's institution; whether 
 there is any scriptural warrant for the doctrine of 
 purgatory; and lastly, whether the Saints are to be 
 worshiped and prayed to, and are our protectors, pa- 
 trons, mediators and intercessors before God." 
 
 A sharp discussion followed, in which Peter Galle 
 relied upon the Fathers, and Olaus on the Script- 
 ures alone. After it had continued some time, it was 
 stopped by the king at a point where it was becoming 
 violent, and would have been likely to have ended in 
 commotion and confusion. He requested the dispu- 
 tants to reduce their arguments to writing, that they 
 might be considered more fully in a larger conference or 
 synod of the clergy. These productions were printed 
 and circulated through the kingdom, and prepared the 
 way in the more remote portions of the country for 
 the reception of the Reformed faith. But the most 
 effective publication on the Protestant side was that 
 of the Bible translated into Swedish by Chancellor 
 Lars Anderson at the king's command. This was 
 issued in the following year. 
 
 The manifold complications of the king made it 
 impossible that he should yet appear as the apologist 
 or champion of the Reformation. It was evidence of 
 great moral force on his part, that he resolutely pro- 
 tected the Reformers, and refused to allow them to 
 be persecuted or silenced. The Bishop of Linkoping 
 urged the king not to shield those who promulgated 
 the new heresy, and to prohibit the sale of Luther's 
 writings. The king replied that he was bound to pro- 
 tect every one of his subjects until they should be 
 convicted of some crime or civil offense. Thus early 
 
6o The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 did he announce the noble principle, unfortunately not 
 adopted by all the Reformers, from which he never sub- 
 sequently swerved, that religious opinions when they 
 did not pass into, or were not made the plea for crimes 
 against the State or against the laws, should not be 
 punished by the government. To the demand which 
 was made that he should prohibit the sale of Luther's 
 books he gave the following firm and calm reply: " As 
 to the request that we should forbid the purchase of 
 Luther's books, we do not see how we can grant it 
 until we hear them condemned by impartial judges, 
 especially since books against Luther are brought 
 into the country. It seems, therefore, according to 
 our poor understanding that there should be an oppor- 
 tunity of reading the one as well as the other." Under 
 the circumstances in which he was placed it was 
 a brave and direct reply, when mere policy, uninflu- 
 enced by conscience, would have led to evasion or 
 equivocation. 
 
 For in addition to those general and perma- 
 Gustavus nent difficulties of which we have spoken, 
 against Sev- Qustavus was at that time engaged in a 
 
 enn Norby. , . „ • -nt i 
 
 struggle agamst beverm Norby, a partisan 
 of Christian, who had taken possession of the island of 
 Gothland in the name of the dethroned king, and ex- 
 ercised there a very independent sway. Norby was a 
 brilliant sailor and soldier of fortune, who combined 
 the characteristics of the old Vikings, of the Italian 
 condottieri oi the middle ages, and of those contempo- 
 rary knights in Germany, who, like Ulrich Von Hutten 
 and Sickengen, were accomplished scholars. The pow- 
 erful little capital of Gothland — Wisby — was one of the 
 rich Hanse towns of the middle ages, the rival and the 
 peer of prosperous Lubeck. It was surrounded by 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 6i 
 
 powerful walls, which were fortified by massive and 
 lofty towers, and within it was an abode of wealth and 
 a hive of industry. Its present dilapidated condition 
 still attests its former greatness; for its walls and towers 
 remain, and within the circuit of a mile are the ruins 
 of a dozen churches, some of them having almost the 
 solidity and size, and elaborate architecture of cathe- 
 drals, in which the merchants and citizens of various 
 nationalities and tongues were accustomed to worship. 
 But as its commercial prosperity declined and its pop- 
 ulation diminished, its large shipping and its impover- 
 ished citizens were often employed in piratical adven- 
 tures. This island with its fortified position and its 
 piratical reputation furnished an asylum and a base of 
 operations, precisely suited to the character and purposes 
 of Norby. At an early period it had been colonized by 
 Sweden, was converted to Christianity by S. Olaf, in 
 his own peculiar militant style of missionary zeal, and 
 had acknowledged allegiance and paid tribute to the 
 parent state. The Swedish historian Geijer traces the 
 rise of the Hanseatic League to this prosperous com- 
 mercial community; and it was not until after the middle 
 of the fourteenth century, 1361, that, in conflict with 
 the greatly superior power of Denmark, it received the 
 fatal blow from which it never rallied. 
 
 When therefore Norby took possession of the island 
 he was at once welcomed by its inhabitants as its lord. 
 He proceeded to enlarge those piratical enterprises to 
 which they looked for their prosperity; and he enriched 
 the impoverished city by unlading all the booty from 
 the ships which he captured; and then, sending them 
 away empty, he wished them a good voyage and a 
 happy return, with fresh and fuller cargoes. He even 
 issued coins, as an independent prince, with his own 
 
62 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 name on the one side, and the arms of Gothland — 
 most inappropriate to its then position — a lamb with a 
 standard on the other! The life of a sea rover at this 
 time in the Baltic, notwithstanding laws against it, 
 instead of covering those who practiced it with infamy, 
 seems to have invested them with a glamor of romantic . 
 adventure, something like that which invested the 
 Vikings of old, especially when, as in the case of 
 Norby, it was professedly adopted from loyalty to a 
 deposed and lawful sovereign. 
 
 Gustavus was made to feel that he could not have 
 secure possession of his throne so long as Norby and 
 his little kingdom furnished a rallying point and a 
 nucleus for all the remaining opposition to his reign. 
 Moreover there was good reason to believe that the 
 aspiring adventurer aimed at dispossessing Gustavus 
 and obtaining the, regency of the kingdom by a mar- 
 riage with the widow of the late administrator, Christina 
 Gyllenstierna. Her own conduct and language gave 
 countenance to this belief. When a rumor to that effect 
 was spread among the Dalesmen to excite them to 
 revolt, and when Gustavus, in order to defeat such a 
 scheme, proposed — what was equivalent to a command 
 — that she should be united to Jno. Tureson, the son 
 of the high steward, she gave an explanation of her 
 relation to Norby, which the king affected to accept. 
 " She was afraid," she said, " that Norby had given out 
 the year before that she was betrothed to him, and that 
 he held her written engagement. But he could not 
 prove that she had plighted her faith either to himself 
 or to any other man since the death of her husband. 
 She had written to him but once, and then told him 
 that she was not disposed again to marry; but if she 
 were inclined he would be the man of her choice. Now 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 63 
 
 she did not know whether he had so understood these 
 words, as though she had meant to take him for her 
 wedded lord; if he had, he was mistaken. True, she 
 had sent him a gold ring and tablet; but this was only 
 to testify the sense she entertained of the courteous 
 attention he had paid her when she was captive in 
 Denmark." Skillful words certainly, but not such as 
 could exonerate her from disloyalty to her own king, 
 in maintaining such close and friendly relations with 
 his avowed and open enemy! 
 
 It was with no little reluctance that Gustavus en- 
 tered upon the task of capturing Wisby and destroy- 
 ing the power of Norby. He no doubt felt that, even 
 if his throne was not endangered, his prestige would 
 be undermined, and his influence lessened, so long as 
 a powerful enemy could keep the field against him. 
 An expensive expedition which strained the resources 
 of the king, was sent to Gothland and took possession 
 of all the island except Wisby; and after his unsuccess- 
 ful siege, the capital was finally surrendered to the 
 Danish king. Gustavus was chagrined and dissatis- 
 fied with this result, and resolved never again to en- 
 gage in any enterprise outside of his own dominions; 
 but his last formidable and active enemy was now out 
 of his way, and he hoped to be able to give his undi- 
 vided attention to the welfare of Sweden, and to the 
 promotion of the Reformation.* 
 
 * The remainder of Norby's adventurous and tumultuous life was in keep- 
 ing with that which we have described above. He escaped with a remnant 
 of his fleet from Gothland, endeavored in vain to enlist Frederic of Denmark 
 in a war with Gustavus, proceeded to Russia to exasperate the Czar against 
 both Sweden and Denmark, and, failing in that effort, was imprisoned in 
 Moscow for three years. Liberated at the intercession of the Emperor, he 
 entered into his service, and was killed at the siege of Florence, in 1530. 
 That his piratical career enhanced rather than diminished his fame appears 
 
64 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Commotions Everywhere we see the Reformation at its 
 Caused by rise discredited and hindered by the ex- 
 Anabaptists. tj-avagances of the Anabaptists. It was so 
 in Germany and Bohemia. The same little group of 
 Anabaptist leaders appear in succession in Wittemberg 
 and in Stockholm. It was in the same year, 1 524, in 
 which the discussion took place before Gustavus that 
 Melchior Rink, a furrier, and Knipperdoling, both from 
 Munster, arrived in Stockholm. They soon met with 
 supporters, and obtained possession of the principal 
 churches, where they preached from the Book of Rev- 
 elation on the reign of the Saints in the Millennium, 
 which was soon to come. Their converts and parti- 
 sans, excited to a high pitch of enthusiasm, broke into 
 churches and convents, destroyed the images, organs 
 and ornaments, which they found there, and threw the 
 fragments into the streets and market-places. Olaus 
 Petri's ineffectual efforts to quell the disturbances did 
 not save him from the sharp rebukes of Gustavus. 
 Some of the author^ of these disturbances were impris- 
 oned, and some banished from the kingdom, and for- 
 bidden to return. But the affair gave great scandal, 
 and created fresh prejudices against the Lutheran doc- 
 trines. This was increased in some of the provinces by 
 the Antinomian doctrines and the loose lives of preachers 
 who had been infected with Anabaptist opinions. Gus- 
 tavus met this difficulty with his usual skill and firm- 
 
 from an eulogistic Latin poem to his memory by the former Vice-Chancellor 
 to Christian II., which ends thus: 
 
 "That life which Moscow's dungeons could not quell, 
 Nor Neptune quench amid his boundless swell, 
 In Latium sunk, the citadel of fame, 
 That through the world might spread so great a name ! " 
 
 (History of Gustavus Vasa. Jno. Murray, iSs^.) 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 65 
 
 ness. While making his Ericksgeit through the king- 
 dom, he often called the Evangelical clergy around 
 him and addressed them. He exhorted them to pro- 
 ceed cautiously in dealing with error and errorists, not 
 to dwell harshly on topics which might give offense, 
 not to carp at popes and bishops, for the ignorant peo- 
 ple were immediately offended and said that they 
 preached a new faith. The pure doctrine of the Gos- 
 pel he would certainly uphold and spread over the king- 
 dom; but he complained that they did not instruct the 
 people properly ; that some spoke scofifingly of the saints ; 
 that some condemned good works, not distinguishing 
 those of man's device from those which God Himself 
 had ordained; that some had put aside holy days to- 
 gether with the comfortable Gospels and Epistles ap- 
 pointed for them; and finally that many led lazy and 
 scandalous lives. In these informal condones ad clerum, 
 the king had reference to the errors and misdoings of 
 both Papists and extreme and fanatical Protestants, 
 and showed himself a sound theologian as well as a 
 skillful administrator. But it cannot be denied that, 
 pressed on many sides with the conflicting demands 
 of his position, the necessity imposed upon him to be 
 at the same time a conservative and a reformer, led 
 him sometimes into dissimulations difficult to be re- 
 conciled with godly simplicity and sincerity. 
 
 The king's strong conviction that the moral 
 Treatment and material welfare of the kingdom de- 
 ofthePriests pended upon taking from the clergy their 
 
 enormous privileges, and detaching their hold 
 upon the superstitious devotion of the people, through 
 a reformation of doctrine, led him to adopt a definite 
 and determined policy. In this determination he was 
 greatly encouraged and confirmed by his able Chan- 
 
66 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 cellor, Lars Anderson. Anderson had been an ec- 
 clesiastic; but from a secret rejection of the Romish 
 system rather than from a cordial adoption of Luther- 
 anism, he abandoned the clerical for the secular life; 
 and by his great knowledge and administrative ability 
 soon rose to the highest civil office in the kingdom, 
 and became the confidential counselor of the king. It 
 was from the standpoint of a statesman that he urged 
 the king to prepare the way for the establishment of 
 Lutheranism by depriving the clergy, first of many of 
 their prerogatives and immunities, and then of the 
 great possessions which these unjust advantages had 
 enabled them to accumulate. Very skillfully did he 
 begin to deprive them of those traditional or recog- 
 nized rights which weighed most heavily upon the 
 people, in order that they might be won to approve 
 and sanction his proceedings. His measures in this 
 direction and to this end are thus described by Vertot 
 (p. 21 1): "The Swedish curates had assumed a right 
 to impose a kind of tax upon certain public sins, and 
 with a great deal of vigor exacted considerable fines 
 from those who took the diversion of hunting or fishing 
 in time of divine service, and those who abused women 
 to whom they were contracted before the solemn cele- 
 bration of the sacrament of Marriage. This privilege 
 was abrogated by one of the king's proclamations, and 
 the priests were prohibited to exact such impositions 
 for the future. By another declaration they were for- 
 bidden to use ecclesiastical censures against their 
 private enemies or creditors. The bishops and their 
 officials had extended the jurisdiction of the Church 
 so far beyond its ordinary limits that they claimed a 
 divine right to take cognizance of all sorts of affairs 
 that had the least relation to religion. An oath made 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 6^ 
 
 in a bargain, the interposition of a clergyman which 
 was frequently begged for that purpose, or the least 
 dispute which arose about a contract of marriage were 
 reckoned sufficient grounds to remove a cause from 
 the ordinary courts of justice. But Gustavus abro- 
 gated their jurisdiction entirely, insinuating at the 
 same time that the hearing and determination of suits 
 were inconsistent with the function and duty of clergy- 
 men. And by the same declaration it was ordained 
 that the clergy should be obliged to refer their differ- 
 ences to secular judges, who were authorized to take 
 cognizance of all the affairs in the kingdom." 
 
 These were sweeping innovations. But Gus- 
 itatianofthe tavus proceeded farther. He forbade bish- 
 Priviieges of ops, on any pretense of right or of specific 
 
 bequest, to take the property of deceased 
 clergymen to the prejudice of their lawful heirs. As 
 he saw that the Lutheranism which he secretly fos- 
 tered progressed in the kingdom, he continued to 
 issue injunctions which limited more and more the 
 privileges of the bishops and the clergy. 
 
 Having thus prepared the way, the king was reso- 
 lute in carrying out the policy which he had determined 
 to adopt in reference to the ecclesiastical estates. It 
 was estimated by him that the clergy were in posses- 
 sion of two thirds of the entire wealth of the kingdom; 
 and he insisted that it was but just that they should 
 bear a proportionate part of the burdens of the State, 
 and not allow them to be borne only by the poorer 
 classes, upon whom they had always pressed heavily, 
 and in the present exigency would fall with crushing 
 weight. As early as 1522 he had demanded aid from 
 the clergy; and again in 1523 another requisition in the 
 form of a loan was made; and in the three years sue- 
 
68 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 ceeding the same demands continued to be enforced. 
 When these continued exactions were followed by a 
 dearth of food so severe as almost to amount to a 
 famine in 1527 and 1528, the clergy did not fail to rep- 
 resent it as a visitation of God upon the kingdom for 
 the oppression of the Church and the favor shown to 
 the new heresy of Luther. These charges Gustavus 
 met by the statement that it was but just that the 
 clergy should contribute to the expenses of the State; 
 that they were not taxed in larger proportion to their 
 wealth than other classes; and that much of the prop- 
 erty which he demanded of them was lying idle, and 
 should be rendered available for the uses of the State. 
 He declared that when he compelled them to bear 
 their portion of the public burdens, and endeavored to 
 protect the people from their exactions, they at once 
 raised the clamor that all these measures were adopted 
 with a view to introduce the Lutheran heresy and 
 overthrow the Church. In replying to this charge, 
 Gustavus insisted that in this proceeding he acted 
 wholly in the character of a just ruler, and not as a 
 Reformer. Without denying that he had protected 
 Reformers, he declared that his protection of his sub- 
 jects from unjust exactions and the arbitrary will of 
 the priesthood should not be laid to the charge of in- 
 novating and reforming religious zeal. 
 
 His language upon the subject is very emphatic. He 
 does not allow the bishops and priests to escape his spe- 
 cific charges by hiding them under the counter charge 
 of Lutheran heresy and schism. " Certain monks and 
 priests," he writes in 1526 to the people of Helsingfors, 
 " have brought us into scandal, chiefly for that we blame 
 their irregularities." Among these the king reckons 
 that if a man owe anything, they refuse him the Sac- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 69 
 
 rament, instead of pursuing their demand by law; if a 
 poor man on a holy day kills a bird, or draws a fish 
 from a stream, he is forthwith obliged to pay a fine to 
 the bishop and the provost for Sabbath-breaking; that 
 the laymen have not the same rights against the priests 
 as the priests have against them; that the priests took 
 the inheritance of priests dying intestate, passing over 
 their heirs; that the clergy fraudulently possess them- 
 selves of much of crown property, and embezzle the 
 king's proportion of judicial fines ; when they perceive 
 that we look to the interest of the crown, which is in- 
 cumbent on us by reason of our kingly dignity, they 
 straightway declare that we wish to bring in a new faith 
 and Luther's doctrine; whereas the matter is not other- 
 wise than ye have now heard, that we will not permit 
 them to give loose to their avarice, contrary to law." 
 While it is evident that no devout Romanist could 
 have used this language, and adopted these energetic 
 measures, it is equally clear that they might have been 
 employed by a just and decided king, who had no ten- 
 dency to Lutheranism, nor even any religious convic- 
 tions. They betray a rejection of Romanism, but not 
 an adoption of Lutheranism. 
 T . ■ It was but a few months after his election 
 
 intrigues 
 
 against the that there were plots on foot to dethrone 
 ■**"'f' him, and to restore the house of Sture to 
 
 the head of the government. It seemed to be a cir- 
 cumstance favorable to the stability of his throne, that 
 on his accession all the bishoprics, with the exception 
 of two, were vacant. It might have fairly been ex- 
 pected that those whom he appointed would be loyal 
 to him. But they all, sooner or later, became his 
 enemies. Peter Jacobson, called Sunanvader, who 
 had been chancellor of Steno Sture the Younger, was 
 
70 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 choson Bishop of Westeras by the Dalesmen, and 
 confirmed by the king. But in less than a year he was 
 detected in a conspiracy to overthrow Gustavus, and 
 reinstate the house of Sture. He was deprived of his 
 office, as was also the newly elected Bishop Canute, who 
 appeared in his defense. The deposed bishops pro- 
 ceeded to the Dales, and there fanned the conspiracy 
 which they had before kindled. Their intrigues with 
 the Dalesmen led the latter to adopt a high tone 
 towards Gustavus, as if, being a king of their making, 
 they could direct him or depose him. But it was not 
 long before they found that they had in him a master 
 who was just and generous to the loyal, but who could 
 be stern and terrible to the rebellious. This they had 
 not learned as yet, and hence they assumed to address 
 him in the tone of those who felt that he would be 
 compelled to yield. Under the dictation of the two 
 bishops they wrote to him that they would not permit 
 him to impose one tax after another upon the churches, 
 and convents, and priests, and monks, and people. 
 They renounced their allegiance to him unless he 
 procured for them cheaper markets, and drove for- 
 eigners from his service, and cleared himself from the 
 charge of having imprisoned Christina Gillenstierna, 
 and poisoned or banished her son. They .reminded 
 the king of his obligation to them "when he was a 
 ftiendless wanderer in the woods," and how ill he had 
 performed the promises which he made to them. 
 
 These intrigues were implicated with others which 
 rendered the position of the king for a time perilous 
 and doubtful. So far from having imprisoned Christina, 
 Gustavus had just secured her release from a Danish 
 prison, when this charge was made. She proceeded to 
 Calmar and there met her eldest son, Nicholas, who 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 71 
 
 was then twelve years of age, and whom the bishops 
 wished to elevate to the throne. It was at this time 
 that Norby, at the instigation of the bishops, attempted 
 to secure the hand of Christina, with a view to elevate 
 her son to the throne, of which they might be the joint 
 guardians. While Gustavus suspected Christina as se- 
 cretly favoring this arrangement, he professed to regard 
 it as the mere gossip of the disaffected, and took the 
 young Sture to his court for a time, and then sent him 
 to his mother, who had repaired to Upsala. His death 
 soon after removed the nucleus around which these in- 
 trigues and treasons gathered. For it was the double 
 object of many of these conspirators to elevate the house 
 of Sture and restore King Christian. We learh that 
 this was the design of one party from a written promise 
 of the fugitive king, that if Lord Severin should marry 
 the Lady Christina, and thereby come into the govern- 
 ment of Sweden, he might hold the kingdom absolutely 
 as the king's Lieutenant, for a yearly tribute. He even 
 issued a public letter to the effect that he had trans- 
 ferred his power to Norby until he should himself return 
 to his dominions. Norby in the spring of 1525 made a 
 descent upon Scania, and all the province except Malmo 
 again did homage to Christian. And at the same time 
 that this treason was working in the south of the king- 
 dom, the rebel bishops were endeavoring to stir up the 
 dissatisfied Dalesmen to open opposition. But in this 
 they met with so little success, — the Dalesmen much 
 preferring to reprove Gustavus than to fight with him, 
 —that ultimately they were compelled to flee to Norby. 
 The Atti ^^ ^^^ under these complicated and harass- 
 tude of the ing difficulties that Gustavus exhibited at 
 King. Qj^^g ^jjg enormous energy and resources of 
 
 his genius, and that stern side of his character which 
 
72 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 sometimes passed into cruelty, which overawed at 
 length all but the boldest and most desperate of his 
 enemies. His firm attitude at the period, and his de- 
 termination to put down the priesthood which so con- 
 stantly employed its spiritual power to further temporal 
 interests, appears in his spirited reply to the Dean of 
 Upsala, who had pointed out to him what he regarded 
 as the chief cause of popular discontent. " You write," 
 replies the king, " that the people were angry that the 
 Bishop of Westeras has not a sufficient number of re- 
 tainers. We should rather expect them to be angry if 
 they came with a multitude, burdening first one and 
 then another; hut fou and many others, perhaps, may 
 take offense thereat; you who cannot, or will not, think 
 otherwise that that to the office of a bishop is attached 
 some great worldly dignity, notwithstanding that the 
 Scriptures hold them to be servants of all, and that 
 they can fulfill this duty far better with few retainers 
 than with many. 
 
 " You write further that it is highly desirable that 
 nothing be violently or unjustly taken from the churches 
 and monasteries. Would to God that our forefathers 
 had been as careful that nothing had been filched from 
 the crown and nobles by fraud and imposture, as folks 
 nowadays take care to keep what they have obtained, 
 whether by right or by wrong. We do not know whether 
 we have taken anything violently from churches and 
 monasteries as you write; but we know that we have 
 restored them what their enemies had sliced away, and 
 preserved what was threatened to be sliced away in 
 like manner. 
 
 " Another person is now bestirring himself— -I mean 
 King Christian — making much ado to regain the King- 
 dom of Sweden— which God forbid ! You will find, 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 73 
 
 should he succeed, that he will filch more from you 
 and from others than what we have either done or wish 
 to do; and if you and the Chapter had well considered, 
 you would have been quite as well advised had you de- 
 fended our proceedings, instead of aggravating the case, 
 whenever the priests who were under you had taken 
 them ill or misunderstood them. If you yourself had 
 given the matter due consideration, you, Master John, 
 had no good grounds to fall in so readily with those 
 who batter at our shield; and though you write that 
 you do so with the best intentions, we can well per- 
 ceive from your style to which side you incline. Now 
 you are the man in whom of all in Upsala we have 
 placed the most confidence — you are he whom we have 
 highly exalted — ^you are he whom we have most de- 
 lighted to know. See that you prove yourself sensi- 
 ble of this." 
 
 We cannot wonder that the treason of bishops of 
 his own appointment, and the selfish greed and the 
 thinly veiled disloyalty of friends in whom he trusted, 
 should have awakened this feeling of scorn and indig- 
 nation in the heart of the king; but it is only a brave 
 man that, in the critical circumstances in which he 
 was placed, would have ventured to give them such 
 free expression. It is evident that he felt that the time 
 had come for the inevitable conflict with the Papal 
 and priestly power. He no longer disguised his con- 
 viction that the Church was not only an oppressive 
 domination, fatal to the advancement and prosperity 
 of the kingdom, the robber of the rights and posses- 
 sions of citizens and of the State, in the name of reli- 
 gion, but that it was essentially anti-Christian in its 
 dogmas and its spirit. He saw that the time for peace- 
 ful preparation for the Reformation had passed, and 
 
74 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 that it must either be established or destroyed by 
 open conflict, by a decided victory or defeat. He did 
 not hesitate to meet the crisis, not only with his us- 
 ual magnificent intrepidity, but also with no little of 
 passion and of polemic zeal. He put off his civic robes 
 and threw down his diplomatic pen, and donned his 
 armor and took in his mailed hand the sword that had 
 won so many and such wondrous triumphs. The time 
 was propitious. Christian was a fugitive. Frederic 
 of Denmark was from policy friendly. Norby was out 
 of the way. The Pope was in conflict with Charles V., 
 and the Emperor's resources were too absorbed in that 
 struggle, and in his large imperial schemes in Italy, the 
 Netherlands and France, to allow him to intervene in 
 the affairs of Sweden. His proceedings from this pe- 
 riod plainly showed his purpose to grapple with and 
 overthrow the Papal domination or to perish in the 
 attempt. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE OF GUSTAVUS WITH THE 
 SPIRITUAL POWER, 1526-27. 
 
 THE resolution of the king to destroy the Papal 
 power in Sweden soon found expression in meas- 
 ures which brought on an open conflict. 
 The Arrest Prompt Steps were taken by the king to 
 and Execu. insure his authority over the people before 
 two Bish- he entered upon the decisive measure of 
 'P- securing the arrest and trial and punishment 
 
 of the two rebel bishops. The States were assembled 
 early in May, 1526, at Westeras. The king presented 
 to them the two great evils which afflicted the country 
 — the treason of the bishops, and the intrigues of Norby. 
 He offered to resign his crown if his government was 
 unsatisfactory to the States and people. But he was 
 eagerly assured by them of their attachment to his per- 
 son, of their loyal support to his government, and their 
 co-operation in the punishment of traitors. Having 
 thus received a fresh sanction to his authority, Gustavus 
 proceeded to the Dales and summoned the people to 
 meet him at Tuna-Kyrka, and held a conference with 
 them, surrounding them by a considerable body of well- 
 armed troops. Convinced by arguments and subdued 
 by his commanding presence, and experiencing prob- 
 ably a renewal of their old affection and admiration, 
 and perhaps overawed by the military display, which 
 
•jS The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 was too large for a mere escort, and yet not so over- 
 whelming as to mortify them by the proof that they 
 were to be forced into submission, they acknowledged 
 that they had been misled, and promised not again to 
 be seduced from their allegiance. 
 
 Then he proceeded at once to secure the two rebel 
 bishops. They had fled to Norway and had found a 
 refuge with the Archbishop of Drontheim. The king 
 demanded them from the Norwegian Council by virtue 
 of an article of the treaty of Malmo, by' which it was 
 agreed that the rebels of one country should not find 
 protection in the other. The Council consented to de- 
 liver up the refugees, but demanded a safe conduct for 
 them. Gustavus sent it in these terms: They should 
 experience no evil in coming to Sweden, but there they 
 should stand their trial before their proper judges, and 
 undergo what justice demanded and decreed. The 
 archbishop suggested that their proper judges were 
 prelates of the Church. But Gustavus would not listen 
 to this plea. He asserted justly that those who were 
 traitors to the State, should be tried by the civil power; 
 and not shelter their treason under a plea of religion. 
 It was evident that the safety of his throne depended 
 on the maintenance of this principle. He determined 
 to assert it in this case in a way so startling as to prove 
 to all that he was not to be deterred by any remaining 
 reverence for the Roman priesthood from punishing the 
 treason of ecclesiastics, with even more of rigor and 
 more accompaniments of disgrace, than those of civil- 
 ians. Sunanvader, who was ill, had been detained in 
 prison at Stockholm. When the archbishop was near 
 the city Sunanvader was carried out to meet him; and 
 a mock triumphal entry of the two took place. The 
 two bishops were seated, riding backwards, on half- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. -jj 
 
 starved horses and in tattered Episcopal robes. On 
 the head of one was a miter of bark; the other wore a 
 crown of straw and a wooden half-broken sword. How- 
 ever much or little of significant symbolism might have 
 been intended by this travesty of power and office, it 
 was plain enough that there was in it an evident ex- 
 pression of defiance and contempt of the priesthood. 
 A few years earlier such an exhibition from whatever 
 cause would have created a revolt. But in this a great 
 crowd followed with demonstrations of approval, and a 
 group of masked men surrounded and followed them, 
 shouting, Here comes the new king, the Lord Peter 
 Sunanvader ! 
 
 Sunanvader was sent to Upsala for trial. In addition 
 to the judges in the case of the archbishop, there were 
 added two bishops and the chief persons in the Chapter 
 of Upsala. The lay judges condemned the accused, 
 and the spiritual protested against their jurisdiction. 
 Petitions for mercy, strongly urged, were wholly un- 
 heeded by the king. The sentence was carried out at 
 Upsala upon the Bishop of Westeras in February, 1527, 
 and a few days after upon the archbishop at Stockholm. 
 Characterof Gustavus has been severely censured, even 
 this proceed- by Protestant historians, for this proceeding. 
 *"^' But it was evident that he could hold his 
 
 own, only by striking terror into the Papal party, and 
 by a distinct and sharp-cut issue, at this period, be- 
 tween the Reformation and the Papacy. It was no 
 more than justice towards the traitors, who used their 
 spiritual power for the overthrow of the government 
 as well as for the supremacy of the priesthood; and it 
 was as evidently good policy on the part of the king, 
 whose conscience was now enlisted in behalf of the 
 Reformation, and who both as a Christian and a patriot 
 
78 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 was ready to stake his throne on the failure or success 
 of his efforts to destroy the Papal and the priestly power. 
 
 The character of the policy of Gustavus from the 
 first — the skillful use of conciliation where it was ex- 
 pedient, and of force and severity where it was neces- 
 sary, is well described by Geijer in commenting on 
 these proceedings. I quote part of the passage as af- 
 fording a true key to the proceeding of the king dur- 
 ing all his reign, in the midst of difficulties, which only 
 a master mind could have overcome. He was a com- 
 bination of Bismarck without his brutality, and of a 
 Napoleon III. without his inertness. 
 
 " Men now began to be aware with whom they had 
 to do; but they scarcely yet comprehended the full 
 measure of that intrepidity which in Gustavus was us- 
 ually evolved stroke by stroke as the resistance offered, 
 and the circumstances of the case demanded, from a be- 
 ginning that was tranquil and even apparently com- 
 pliant. For such always was his commencement, un- 
 less urgent necessity prescribed a different line, and he 
 ever went greater lengths than even his opponents 
 expected. Signs like these announce to us a soul 
 which teemed with a future yet unrevealed. Those 
 who wish to study his character in this phase, from its 
 earliest disclosure, may be referred to his correspond- 
 ence with Bishop Brask, as one of the main sources of 
 the history of the first year of his reign. This prelate 
 was beyond camparison the most influential as well as 
 the most sagacious and well-informed of his day in 
 Sweden, and in his way an upright friend of his coun- 
 try. He treated the young king from the beginning 
 with a kind of fatherly superiority, styling him ' dear 
 Gustavus,' and accepting in return the title of ' gra- 
 cious Lord.' Shortly after the election he obtained a 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 79 
 
 confirmation of all the privileges of his Church and bish- 
 opric. But he was soon forced to feel the signiiicance 
 of the king's saying to the last Catholic archbishop, 
 Johannes Magnus: 'Thy grace and our grace have not 
 room beneath one roof.' With the aggressions of Gus- 
 tavus on the clergy began the prelate's opposition; and 
 with every impediment thrown in his way the king 
 went one step further, as if he were more bent on re- 
 ducing his most powerful adversary to extremities, so 
 that the latter determined at length after the example 
 of Johannes Magnus to quit the kingdom. But he was 
 first to see the hierarchy of Sweden completely over- 
 thrown." 
 
 Deposition A short time before these events Johannes 
 and Banish- Magnus had incurred the king's displeasure, 
 IkamtesMag- both by his hostility to the Reformed doc- 
 nus. trines, and his luxurious and extravagant 
 
 mode of life. He maintained a state and pomp which 
 surpassed that of the king's court. He made his Episco- 
 pal visitations with a cortege of two hundred persons; 
 and, like Cardinal Wolsey, he had among the pages 
 of his household the sons of some of the chief nobles 
 of the land. The king had in vain remonstrated with 
 him on his unseemly ostentation and luxury. On the 
 fair day of S. Eric he took the archbishop with him to 
 the old Upsala, and there on the summit of one of the 
 mounds, seated on horseback, with the people around 
 him, much to the disgust of the archbishop, he en- 
 deavored to convince them that there were too many 
 monks in the country, and that they were no better 
 than a race of vermin devouring the face of the earth; 
 and that it was an unreasonable thing to pray in Latin, 
 which they did not understand. The sturdy but su- 
 perstitious peasantry called out that they would not 
 
8o The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 allow their monks to be driven out, but would them- 
 selves feed and sustain them. This meeting took place 
 in May, 1526, and on their return to Upsala the king 
 accepted an invitation of the archbishop to a feast. 
 On that occasion the archbishop occupied a raised 
 seat on a level of that of the king, contrary to the us- 
 ual custom on such occasions, and said while pledging 
 him " Our Grace drinks to your Grace." The king an- 
 swered, " For our Grace and your Grace there is not 
 room in the same house." He rose from the table 
 much offended, and departed amid the smiles of the 
 courtiers, and the consternation of the ecclesiastics. 
 His dissatisfaction with the archbishop was much in- 
 creased when at a conference with the Canons of Up- 
 sala he inquired of them on what they grounded their 
 right to their large possessions; and found that the 
 archbishop was determined to hold fast to the extent 
 of his ability to all the possessions and the old immun- 
 ities of the Church. Peter Galld answered him that 
 these possessions were granted by nobles and others, 
 and confirmed by kings and princes. "But," asked 
 Gustavus, " what if they have been obtained by fraud 
 — by preaching of purgatory or such-like cozenage of 
 priests and friars .' " The archbishop and the other 
 members of the Chapter, with the exception of George 
 Tureson, the dean, made no reply. He boldly declared 
 that the gifts made by kings and emperors cannot be 
 filched away without God's curse and eternal damnation^ 
 Upon suspicion of treasonable practices the arch- 
 bishop was imprisoned for a time in a monastery; but, 
 without being tried, he was allowed to proceed to 
 Poland on the pretense of a mission to negotiate a 
 marriage between the king and the daughter of Sig- 
 ismund. But he furnished the archbishop with no 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 8i 
 
 money; and it was evident that it was a device of the 
 king to get him out of the kingdom. As soon as he 
 was able to obtain means from his clergy, the arch- 
 bishop proceeded at once to Dantzic, and thence to 
 Rome, where he died in great poverty in the hospital 
 of San Spirito, in 1537, and was buried in the Vatican. 
 Anti- Papal It was in the midst of increasing opposition 
 and ArH. and obstacles that the king himself took or 
 
 trary Meas- . , . , , 
 
 tires of the sanctioned m others more and more decided 
 J^^ng- measures against the devotions and practices 
 
 and property of the Church. Olaus Petri took a wife 
 in Stockholm in 1525. His example was soon fol- 
 lowed by many other priests. Gustavus would not 
 allow them to be deposed or to lose their position 
 and emoluments. On the contrary, he wrote Bishop 
 Brask that Olaus Petri would vindicate that proceed- 
 ing by the Word of God. It was in this year also 
 that the New Testament, translated at his request by 
 the Chancellor, Lars Anderson, was published. In 
 order to divert the- interest and the ambition of the 
 nobility away from the Church and towards the State, 
 Gustavus conferred on them titles, and put them in 
 possession of Church lands, which had been alienated 
 from the estates of their ancestors, as he avowed, 
 through the preaching of purgatory and other priestly 
 cozenage. 
 
 We have seen that up to this period, 1525, Gus- 
 tavus had insisted that the clergy should bear their 
 proportionate part of the burdens of the State. But 
 in that year, on account of the revolt of the Dalesmen 
 and the attempts of Christian to recover the throne, 
 and the diminution of the revenues, he went still fur- 
 ther in his demand upon the revenues of the Church. 
 At the meeting of the States in January, 1525, it was 
 
82 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 agreed that the tithes, with the exception of so much 
 as should be necessary for wax-lights and the service 
 of the altar, should be appropriated to the pay of the 
 troops, and that the cavalry should be quartered upon 
 the monasteries. It was on this occasion that Bishop 
 Brask admonished the king not to appropriate tithes 
 to secular uses nor to encroach upon the privileges of 
 the convents. He declared " that as they were not 
 endowed from crown lands but by private property, 
 the king had not the smallest right to meddle with 
 them, neither had any previous monarch ventured to 
 do so." Gustavus answered in effect that he was com- 
 pelled to this course by the necessity which knew no 
 law, and whether it were law or no, his course was 
 right in itself, and absolutely necessary in the emer- 
 gency in which he was placed. After this, in 1 526-27, 
 he took the ground distinctly that all Church prop- 
 erty was the State's, and to be employed by it for the 
 best civil and religious welfare of the people. It was 
 inevitable that these sweeping claims, and the high- 
 handed enforcement of them which followed, would 
 lead to a decisive struggle of the old and new. To 
 enter fully into all the details of this struggle, in which 
 the interests of the Reformation were indeed involved, 
 but which were for the most part civil and military, 
 would be to lose sight for a time almost entirely of 
 the religious questions. This constitutes the special 
 difficulty of presenting the Reformation history — the 
 religious history of Sweden. It is to be discerned 
 through — lying under as it were — its civil history. In 
 some other countries the reverse of this is true, as in 
 Bohemia, and in England during the reigns of Henry 
 VIII., of Edward VI., and Elizabeth. There the civil 
 history is best seen under the religious history by 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 83 
 
 which it was shaped. But in Sweden, Gustavus was 
 involved in his civil administration in difficulties aris- 
 ing from the "exorbitant power of the clergy and the 
 magnates and the turbulence of the people — difficul- 
 ties which would have existed if no religious Reforma- 
 tion had been undertaken, but which were aggravated 
 by this underlying, and, in the beginning, partially 
 hidden purpose to dethrone the Papal power and in- 
 troduce Lutheran Protestantism in its place. 
 Continued After the decisive action of the States in 
 Appropria- Stockholm, in January, 1525, by which it 
 CAKr^A was decreed that tithes should be appro- 
 Property. priated to the payment of the troops, and 
 the troops quartered upon the monasteries, the king 
 more openly than before laid his hand upon the property 
 of the Church. At a meeting of the States at Wad- 
 stena in the following year, on the same plea of State 
 necessity, it was enacted that the beneficed clergy 
 should bear the same burden in furnishing men at arms 
 as the laymen of the same incomes. Gustavus also at 
 this meeting confirmed the old privileges of the nobles 
 and permitted them to redeem that portion of their 
 patrimony which had passed into the hands of the 
 Church since Charles Canutson's reign. It was a meas- 
 ure well calculated to enlist the lords on the side of 
 the Reformation. Gustavus immediately availed him- 
 self of this provision to lay claim to the convent of 
 Gripsholm. " You see," said Bishop Brask to his brother 
 bishops on this occasion, " the fruit of your remissness. 
 Our ruin is at hand, and you yourself have helped it 
 on. The king, without a single remonstrance from you, 
 has taken one step after another in overthrowing our 
 religion. He has Lutheran priests in his palace preach- 
 ing daily that our fall is near. He has attacked our 
 
84 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 monasteries and you have consented to his deeds. 
 He has allowed priests to marry; he has in your very 
 presence subjected our faith to examination. Now he 
 snatches away our revenues, and you look on dismayed." 
 "And," says one of the historians of Gustavus, "well 
 might they do so! For against them was State neces- 
 sity and a determined will and an almost absolute power; 
 and they themselves were not so strong in truth and 
 righteousness as not to blench before the formidable 
 array." 
 
 The monks of Gripsholm hastened to lay the convent 
 at the feet of Gustavus, not only without remonstrance 
 but with abject expressions of satisfaction at the sur- 
 render. They close the document of transfer with these 
 words: " If through misunderstanding of the affair any 
 evil report should rise against his Grace in consequence 
 of this proceeding, we pledge our honor and Christian 
 faith that we will repel it and defend his Grace as we 
 honestly may, well knowing that his Grace has good 
 right to recover the inheritance which was taken by 
 force from his father." 
 
 Injustice of '^^^^ f^"" the king had secured the sanction 
 the Kin^s of the States for his proceedings. But he 
 tZ'sfJhe seemed now to feel that he had become 
 Church of strong enough, through their support and 
 sanction hitherto, to act without it, and of 
 his own will to lay his hands on Church property, and 
 arbitrarily to intervene in the management of Church 
 affairs. He allowed dissatisfied monks on application 
 to him to leave their monasteries. He wrote to the 
 Bishop of Abo that the Chapter should have con- 
 sulted him before they chose a dean, and prescribed 
 to them as a sort of penance for their presumption that 
 they should send 200 marks a year for the maintenance 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 85 
 
 of a good man — «. e., one of his guard in the palace. 
 And what was more extraordinary, he ordered the 
 dean and chapter of the same See to change the late 
 dean's will. His missive on this occasion is certainly 
 a remarkable document, and is appended in order to 
 show the thoroughly arbitrary methods upon which 
 he had entered, and which led, not only to murmurs 
 and discontent, but ultimately to a new rebellion. 
 
 " We, Gustavus, hereby testify that it has been 
 made known to us how the good man, Jacob, Dean 
 of Abo, has left a large sum of money which he be- 
 queathed in his will according to his pleasure; but it 
 is evident to any one who will duly consider the mat- 
 ter, that the said money could have been much better 
 disposed of; that is to say, that the greatest part of it 
 might have been applied to the public benefit, con- 
 sidering the burdens now lying on the country, through 
 the heavy debt occasioned by the war, which has been 
 now a long time waged against King Christian. We 
 therefore enjoin the Bishop and Chapter of Abo to 
 modify the said will according to our ideas, which we 
 have already partly explained to his executors, so that 
 while his heirs, relations and the poor get the share 
 that is given them, the rest may be applied, as far as 
 it will go, to the payment of the debt; when that 
 is done we acquit his executors of all other claim 
 from those interested in said will, whosoever they 
 may be." 
 
 It was impossible that such arbitrary proceed- 
 ings should not excite murmurs and dissatisfaction. 
 Coupled as they were with the famine that followed, 
 and the increased heavy taxation, they led to a new 
 rebellion in Dalecarlia. 
 
86 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Rebellion in The prevailing disaffection, which ripened 
 Daiecariia. jnto revolt in Dalecarlia, gathered about a 
 young impostor who professed to be the son of Sten 
 Sture. The youth whom he personated had been sent 
 to Dantzic in 1520, and had returned to Calmar at the 
 same time that Gustavus procured the liberation of 
 Christina. He was at the time that this pretender 
 appeared, 1527, at the court of Gustavus, who was 
 falsely accused of having taken his life. It was this 
 false rumor, propagated by the partisans of Christian 
 and Norby, which gave rise to this attempt. The pre- 
 tender declared that Gustavus had ordered that he 
 should be killed, but that he escaped from the court 
 of the heretic tyrant who had sought his life. A sol- 
 dier of the late Regent, Peter Grym, assisted him in 
 his deception and taught him how to play his part. 
 He was an illegitimate child of an unknown father, 
 and had acquired in the service of a nobleman the arts 
 and manners which gave plausibility among the simple 
 Dalesmen to his claim. He is described as handsome, 
 eloquent, and full of assurance and assumption. When- 
 ever he spoke of his pretended father it was with so 
 much seeming feeling that the Dalesmen could not 
 refrain from weeping with him. He thanked them for 
 their love to his father, and bade them to pray for his 
 soul. He proceeded to Norway, where he was taken 
 up by the archbishop, and through his influence be- 
 trothed to a lady of large fortune and high family. 
 Returning to the Dales with the aid he derived from 
 Norway, he rallied some supporters, although opinion 
 with regard to him was much divided, and he deter- 
 mined to resist the forces of the king. Christina Gyl- 
 lenstierna, at the king's request, wrote to the Dales- 
 men disowning her pretended son. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 87 
 
 Covipiaints ^fter some skirmishing with the king's troops, 
 of the Dales, the Dalesmen came to a parley with the com- 
 '^' missioners whom the king had sent to confer 
 
 with them in reference to their alleged grievances. 
 The complaints transmitted by the commission were 
 answered by Gustavus with the patience which he could 
 always display upon occasion, and which the critical 
 circumstances in which he was now placed made expe- 
 dient. They complained that there was but little coin 
 in circulation, of heavy taxes, of dearness of provisions, 
 and of the profanation of monasteries. One of the most 
 curious of their grievances, and one which shows the 
 simplicity of the times, and the freedom with which 
 they addressed their kings, was their objection to the 
 new-fashioned slashed doublets "that were worn at court. 
 They objected to the Lutheranism which prevailed at 
 Stockholm, and the psalms and hymns that were sung 
 in public worship. These and similar grievances, in 
 which the gravest and most trivial matters were ab- 
 surdly mixed, were answered fully and in their order by 
 the king. New coin should soon be struck. The heavy 
 taxes were unavoidable after the war, but would be di- 
 minished as soon as peace was assured and Christian 
 disabled from doing further mischief. The dearness of 
 provisions was due to famine, which was God's visitation 
 and should be borne with pious patience. He quite 
 agreed with them about slashed doublets — he did not 
 like them^ — but what could he do with giddy young 
 courtiers who would adopt every foreign folly that was 
 imported .' And what concern was it of theirs how he 
 and the courtiers dressed .? As to Lutheranism and the 
 Swedish hymns, he answered — not very ingenuously — 
 that he knew little about Lutheranism; but that he was 
 determined to put a stop to priestly impositions and 
 
88 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 secure the pure preaching of the Word of God; and that 
 it was certainly more sensible to sing hymns in Swedish 
 which they understood than in Latin of which they 
 were wholly ignorant. He expressed surprise thit they 
 should meddle with questions such as these, which were 
 quite beyond their capacity, and not leave them to be 
 settled by the State Council and learned clerks and 
 prelates. 
 
 The result of these conferences and communications 
 of the king was that the Dalesmen agreed to lay down 
 their arms and abandon the pretender; and on the part 
 of Gustavus there was an assurance of complete oblivion 
 of all that had been done or attempted in his favor. It 
 was furthermore decided that a meeting of the States 
 should take place at Westeras in which all the questions 
 at issue between the king, the Dalesmen, and the clergy, 
 should be discussed and settled. 
 
 Meeting of '^'^^^ meeting of the States in Westeras, as 
 the States in it was most important in view of the crisis 
 as. ^j. ^]^jj,jj j^ ^g^g summoned and most mem- 
 orable for its results, was also remarkable for the un- 
 usual numbers for that age by which it was attended. 
 There were present, 4 Bishops, 4 Deans, 15 State Coun- 
 cillors, 120 Nobles, 32 Burghers (exclusive of the Town 
 Council of Stockholm, who were present and had a con- 
 siderable influence upon their proceedings), 14 Miners, 
 representative of that important interest, and 105 peas- 
 ants from all parts of the kingdom, except the Dales, 
 who felt that the question between them and the king 
 was one of the most important which was to be settled. 
 The nobles at the king's request came armed. He 
 reckoned on their support in striking the decisive blow 
 against the bishops and the clergy, upon which he was 
 resolved. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 89 
 
 Gustavus opened the session on the Sunday before 
 the midsummer's day by a magnificent banquet in which 
 he conspicuously displayed his purpose to bring down 
 the hierarchy. The indignities offered to Knut and 
 Sunanvader might seem to have been prompted solely 
 by their repeated treasons; the insults heape4 upon 
 Johannes Magnus to have been the due reward of his 
 vanity and folly; but the king now determined to take 
 a step which could not be mistaken. The whole hier- 
 archy was now to be humbled. They had always been 
 assigned the highest places in all public proceedings, 
 and especially in feasts — the bishops taking position 
 above even the regents of the kingdom. But on this 
 occasion the place assigned them was below the State 
 Council and the higher nobles. 
 
 This was no light matter in itself, and it was alarm- 
 ingly significant as an indication of the intended policy 
 of the king towards the prelates and the Church. The 
 bishops met, with closed doors, in the church of S. 
 Egedius, to consider the situation. Their leader. Bish- 
 op Brask, declared that the purpose of the king was 
 patent. He no doubt intended to take away their rev- 
 enues and castles and prelatical prerogatives, and de- 
 grade them to the level of mere parish priests. But to 
 this, if they were wise, they never would consent. They 
 could not indeed resist force; but they could wield a 
 force greater far than that of kings' — even that of in- 
 terdict and excommunication. Mightier monarchs than 
 Gustavus had been prostrated by the thunders of the 
 Church. Let them remain true to the Pope and their 
 order and they might retain or recover their position; 
 but if they yielded they would be held no better than 
 serfs or cowards. 
 
 At Brask's suggestion the assembled dignitaries 
 
90 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 signed a paper, in which they pledged themselves to 
 protect the Church's rights, to be true to the Pope, 
 never to adopt the Lutheran heresy, and to await with 
 patience the change of government. They hid this 
 document under the floor of the church, where fifteen 
 years after it was discovered. 
 
 The King's The king, through his chancellor, thanked 
 Address. the Diet for having assembled at his call, 
 in the present emergency, in such large numbers. He 
 reminded them that at Wadstena he had offered to re- 
 sign the regency. In consequence of the state of the 
 kingdom at that time he had been obliged to seek aid 
 in Lubeck and other towns, and hence the large in- 
 debtedness and heavy taxes of the kingdom. After 
 the surrender of Stockholm the nobles had chosen him 
 king, and his election had been confirmed by alt the 
 orders of the State. He had then reluctantly accepted 
 the office, and had since often repented having done 
 so. " For," and here he dropped his apologetic and 
 explanatory style, " who could rule with any comfort 
 such a people .' Who especially would desire to rule 
 the Dalesmen, who were ever on the look-out for some- 
 thing to find fault with, ever ready to break into open 
 revolt, if the king did not submit to their capricious 
 and unreasonable demands } They were ever boasting 
 that they had placed him upon the throne. But after 
 the victory at Westeras, when the liberation was by 
 no means fully assured, most of them went home again." 
 Passing from this outburst of rebuke, the chancellor pro- 
 ceeded to vindicate the proceedings of Gustavus, in 
 reference to the monasteries, the taxing of the clergy, 
 the limitation of the powers of the bishops, and the 
 introduction of the pure preaching of the Gospel. 
 The king, he said, was more than ready to resign 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. gi 
 
 the throne if the people were dissatisfied and wished 
 him to do so; but as long as he occupied it he was 
 fixed in his purpose of pursuing the policy which un- 
 der a deep sense of duty to his country he had hitherto 
 adopted. 
 
 It was a bold but probably a politic proceeding on 
 the part of the king. It was one of those decisive oc- 
 casions on which a great man, driven at bay, and los- 
 ing his temper and self-control, and regardless of con- 
 sequences, assumes a defiant attitude which ultimately 
 stands him in better stead than his usual more restrained 
 and politic methods of proceeding. It was evident that 
 he now stood at the turning point of his career, where 
 he was either to be unseated or to be more firmly fixed 
 in his position upon the throne. It was also clear that 
 he had become so harassed that he had lost his usual 
 patience and forbearance, and was really indifferent to 
 the result. He did not desire to be king unless he 
 could have the ample power necessary to discharge the 
 office at an era so disturbed and among a people so in- 
 dependent in spirit, so prone to complain and to adopt 
 a tone of dictation to their rulers. If he had attempted 
 to wheedle or conciliate them we can scarcely doubt 
 that he would have failed. By taking a high tone of 
 indignation, which, unlike some of the first Napoleon's 
 outbursts of feigned passion for evil ends, was genuine, 
 and by the expression of more than willingness to re- 
 sign his office, which was evidently real, the admira- 
 tion of some of his opponents might be awakened, and 
 others become alarmed at the view of the anarchy 
 which would probably result from his abdication. 
 Whether or no this result was in his thought, it was 
 immediately brought about by the strong reaction 
 which ensued. 
 
92 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 opposition The ruling spirit of the opposition, Bishop 
 to the King. Brask, who could no longer doubt that the 
 existence of the Romish Church in Sweden and the 
 prerogatives of his own order depended on the result 
 of this Diet — had arranged the method of proceeding, 
 which he hoped would lead to the persistent refusal 
 of Gustavus to wear a crown so lined with irritating 
 cares, and the acceptance of his resignation by the 
 States. He had induced Thure Johnson, the senior 
 member of the king's council, and therefore next to 
 the king in position in the kingdom, to approve his 
 views and second his efforts. Accordingly, when the 
 address had been read and the king demanded an 
 answer of the nobles and bishops, Thure Johnson 
 requested that Bishop Brask might give his opinion. 
 Gustavus could not but have perceived that this pro- 
 ceeding had been pre-arranged, and this knowledge 
 was by no means calculated to calm his excitement. 
 The bishop replied to the appeal that he was well 
 aware of the allegiance which he owed to the king; 
 but he and all his order were equally bound to obey 
 the Pope in things spiritual, and that without his 
 concurrence he could not consent to any change of 
 doctrine, nor to any diminution of the Church's rights 
 and possessions. If, indeed, unscrupulous priests had 
 sought to enrich themselves by working upon the su- 
 perstitions of the laity-— a course which the heads of 
 the Church themselves condemned — let such cases 
 be proved and punished. 
 
 The King's The king asked the nobles and the State 
 indignant Councillors if this reply seemed to them suf- 
 resignation ficient. Thure Johnson said that he could 
 ofihethrone. jjgt but think that the Bishop's answer was 
 in the main right, though not a complete reply to all 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 93 
 
 that the king had brought forward. Gustavus was 
 too indignant to measure his words, or even to re- 
 strain himself within the bounds of his royal dignity. 
 " Then," said he, "we have no will longer to be your 
 king. From you we had expected another answer; 
 but now we cannot wonder that the common people 
 should give us all manner of disobedience and mislik- 
 ing, when they have such ringleaders. Get they not 
 rain, the fault is ours; if sunshine fail them, it is the 
 same cry; if bad years, hunger, and pest come, so must 
 we bear the blame. All ye will be our masters. 
 Monks and priests and creatures of the Pope ye set 
 over our heads; and for all our toil for your welfare 
 we have no other reward to expect than that ye 
 would gladly see the axe at our neck; and there are 
 none of you but gladly grasp its handle. Who would 
 be your king on such terms ? Not the worst fiend in 
 hell, much less a man ! Therefore look ye to it that 
 ye release me fairly of the government, and restore 
 to me that which I have disbursed of my own stock 
 for the general weal. Then will I depart and never 
 see again my ungrateful fatherland." The king, at these 
 words, burst into tears, and hastily quitted the hall. 
 
 It is not often that such momentous results have hung 
 upon one short speech. The Reformation in Sweden, 
 the heroic services of Gustavus Adolphus in behalf of 
 periled Protestantism in Europe, the prevention, it is 
 not too much to say, of the crushing out of Protestant- 
 ism in Germany — all these great issues hung suspended 
 on the result of that short, impassioned speech. 
 TheConster- When Gustavus disappeared a deep silence 
 nation of the fell upon the assembly. At length the chan- 
 ^"^' cellor came forward, and invited them in the 
 
 great difficulty in which they were involved to offer 
 
94 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 up their united prayers to God for guidance. "We 
 have only the alternative to choose, either to follow 
 the king, as he has proposed, and entreat him to carry 
 on the government, or to pay him what he has ex- 
 pended for the State, and to choose another king." 
 They were, however, too much confounded by the 
 scene which they had witnessed to determine any- 
 thing that day. Thurd Johnson put on an appearance 
 of resolution and bluster, and marched to his lodgings 
 preceded by a drum, as if to announce a victory, and 
 to express his joy at the result. He exclaimed, as he 
 marched on, that " he defied any man to make him a 
 Lutheran or a heathen." But when in the meeting on 
 the next day the lords and clergy did not come to 
 any decision, the peasants grew impatient, and said 
 if all things were well considered Gustavus had done 
 them no injury, and that unless the nobles soon set- 
 tled something, they would take the matter into their 
 own hands. The merchants and shop-keepers sup- 
 ported the peasants, and the burghers of Stockholm 
 declared that they would hold that city for the king. 
 Magnus Sommer, Bishop of Strengness, declared that 
 the bishops did not wish to be so protected as to 
 leave the kingdom a prey to its worst enemies. The 
 declaration was received with great applause. Many 
 declared that they would have no other king but Gus- 
 tavus. They desired to hear a discussion upon the 
 differences of the Catholic and the Protestant doc- 
 trines. Accordingly, Olaus Petri and Peter Galle 
 argued the question until late in the day. The 
 peasants compelled Gall^, who commenced the dis- 
 cussion in Latin, to speak in Swedish. The im- 
 pression left by this discussion was favorable to the 
 Reformation. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 95 
 
 The mng While these events were in progress in the 
 induced to Diet, Gustavus held his court at the castle 
 
 withdraw 
 
 his Resisna- Surrounded by his military staff, and passed 
 tion. tiig time with them in various diversions. 
 
 His whole bearing was that of a man who had been 
 relieved of a heavy burden. But on the third day the 
 burghers and the peasants said to the nobles that if 
 they chose to be the ruin of the king and kingdom, they 
 with the aid of the king would ruin them; and that they 
 had already sent a message to the king to that effect. 
 Thereupon several of the nobles entreated Thure Johnson 
 to cease his opposition to the king, He sullenly agreed 
 to do so, on condition that the king would agree not 
 to lead the people into any heresy. The Diet accepted 
 his consent, and took no notice of the condition which 
 he attached to it. 
 
 Thereupon Lars Anderson and Olaus Petri were sent 
 to Gustavus to entreat him still to hold the throne. 
 They were met with a short and sharp refusal. On their 
 return they prayed that if any further communications 
 were to be made to the king, it might be by other mes- 
 sengers. Knut Anderson and the Bishop of Strengness 
 undertook the task; but they also came back unsuc- 
 cessful. The anxiety now became intense. The future 
 before the Diet now seemed to be a civil war, and the 
 re-appearance and perhaps the reinstatement of King 
 Christian. The prospect was too dreadful to be con- 
 templated with composure. All opposition vanished, 
 and the Diet became an importunate supplicant. The 
 last committee that was sent to the king fell on their 
 knees and wept. The king at length relented, and con- 
 sented to meet the States on the following day. His 
 long resistance to these appeals can as well be recon- 
 ciled — perhaps better — with the theory that he was 
 
96 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 sincere in his purpose to abdicate the throne, as to that 
 which would regard the whole proceeding as a skillful 
 scheme to bring the Diet to his feet, and to secure their 
 pledges of unconditional surrender and obedience. For 
 if he were sincere and desirous to withdraw from a con- 
 viction that he could not succeed in his government, 
 unless the lords and people became more loyal to him, 
 and more ready to aid him in putting down the priestly 
 party, he certainly would refuse to revoke that decision, 
 and persist in his refusal until he should be convinced 
 that such a change had been wrought in the feelings 
 of his opponents as would seem to furnish a guaranty 
 that hereafter he might rely upon their hearty co- 
 operation and support. 
 
 On his appearance in the Diet, attended by his State 
 Council and a splendid life-guard, he was received with 
 hearty demonstrations of applause. Now the three es- 
 tates, the nobles, burghers, and peasants, with one voice 
 sanctioned his demands. 
 
 Gustavus had triumphed. His foes were, for the time 
 at least, silenced, if not reconciled. Thus far the Ref- 
 ormation has been seen struggling for life and recogni- 
 tion. Hereafter we shall see it established, indeed, but 
 violently opposed, and still compelled to unceasing 
 warfare with foes who postponed its complete ascend- 
 ency, and hindered its full development. During all the 
 remainder of the reign of Gustavus, his history at the 
 same time is or involves the history of the Reformation. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT AND CONTINUED STRUGGLES 
 OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 T^ROM the Diet of Westeras may be dated the es- 
 ■*- tablishment of the Reformation in Sweden. But 
 its progress during the reign of Gustavus was slow, and 
 in that of Eric it was arrested and temporarily paralyzed. 
 Decrees of "^^^ demands or propositions of the king, 
 the Diet of according to the custom of the Swedish 
 esteras. £)iets, were not voted upon by a body as 
 a whole, but were answered by each class for itself. 
 Accordingly there was not the same cordial acquies- 
 cence in all the answers that were rendered ; and the king 
 could judge by the tone of the reply how far he could 
 rely upon the loyalty and support of the class by which 
 it was given. The bishops gave a forced submission 
 to the decrees, but after this period they were no longer 
 summoned to the Diet. The decree of the Diet con- 
 tained, I. A mutual engagement to resist all attempts 
 at rebellion. 2. A grant of power to the king to take 
 in his own hands the castles and strongholds of the 
 Bishops; to fix their revenues and those of the canons 
 and prebends; to levy fines and to regulate monasteries. 
 3. Authority was given to the nobles to resume the 
 lands which had been conveyed to churches and 
 monasteries since the inquest of Charles Canutson, if 
 
98 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 they could substantiate their claims before a court, and 
 by a verdict of a jury. 4. Liberty was assured to the 
 preachers " to proclaim the pure Word of God," " but 
 not," the barons added, " uncertain miracles, human 
 inventions and fables." 
 
 We can see in the answer of the burghers and peasants 
 concerning the faith their lingering misgiving and in- 
 disposition to give to it an emphatic assent. They 
 declare that inquiry should be made into it, but that 
 the matter passed their understanding. The bishops 
 declared " that they were content, however rich or 
 poor his grace would have them to be." In the supple- 
 ment of the statute called " The Ordinance of Westeras " 
 the bishops are authorized to fill up the vacant bene- 
 fices, but if they should appoint murderers, drunkards, 
 or such as should be unable to preach God's Word, that 
 they might be displaced and others of the king's ap- 
 pointment substituted. It was provided that fines for 
 fornication should be paid to the king and not to the 
 bishops. No fines shall be inflicted for working on 
 saints' days. The bishops were to render to the king 
 an account of the revenues, that he might settle what 
 portion they would be permitted to retain. The clergy 
 should be amenable, in secular affairs, to the civil juris- 
 diction. The property of the deceased clergy should 
 fall to their lawful heirs, and not to the bishops. Men- 
 dicant friars' should be permitted to leave their convents 
 to beg only for five weeks in the summer, and five in 
 the winter. The sick should not be forced by the priests 
 to make a will. The clergy should not withhold the 
 Sacrament at Easter, or any other time, for the debts 
 due to themselves. And, finally, the Gospel should be 
 taught to the children in all the schools. 
 
 It is clear that if Gustavus had not just won a victory 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 99 
 
 over his foes, and been tacitly admitted, even by them, 
 as necessary to preserve the State from anarchy and 
 intestine war, he could not have acquired such mastery 
 over the Diet as that which induced them or forced them 
 to pass this sweeping and radical decree. The partic- 
 ulars enumerated in the decree exhibit at once the 
 degraded condition of the clergy, the enormous power 
 and possessions of the bishops, and their rapacious 
 robbery of the rights and possessions of the people. 
 They lived in fortified castles as feudal lords. They 
 rode forth from them on episcopal progresses and vis- 
 itations, attended by hundreds of military body-guards. 
 Under the control of the Bishop of Linkoping there 
 were more than six hundred benefices and estates; under 
 the Bishop of Abo more than four hundred, and under 
 the Archbishop almost as many as both of them com- 
 bined. Never was a poor and small kingdom so op- 
 pressed and impoverished by a grasping and lordly 
 hierarchy. That, while the great body of the people 
 had not yet accepted the reformed faith, nor emancipated 
 their minds from absolute and abject submission to the 
 clergy, Gustavus should have been a:ble to pass and 
 enforce these decrees, without exciting a revolution, 
 demonstrates the imperial ascendency of his character, 
 by the blended skill and courage with which he over- 
 came the manifold difficulties of his position. 
 
 When all these provisions had been con- 
 Treatmfnt firmed, the king immediately turned to the 
 of the Bisk- bishops and demanded first from the Bishop 
 
 of Strengness the Castle of Tilnelso, which 
 the latter declared himself ready to surrender. The 
 same answer was returned by the Bishop of Skara to 
 the demand of the Castle of Lecko. But when the 
 king came to Bishop Brask and demanded his castle. 
 
loo The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 "silence and sighs," says Geijer, "were the only reply." 
 Thure Johnson begged for his old friend that the castle 
 might be spared him during his lifetime, but the king 
 answered shortly, " No." Eight lords of the council 
 were obliged on the spot to become sureties for the 
 bishop's obedience. Forty men of his body-guard were 
 taken from him, and enrolled in the king's army. At the 
 same time the king sent commissioners to the principal 
 churches and monasteries of Sweden to take account 
 of their endowments, revenues and possessions. Bishop 
 Brask succeeded, by a seeming submission, in freeing 
 himself from the securities which he was obliged to 
 give; and on the pretense of going on a sort of mission- 
 ary expedition to the island of Gothland, he escaped 
 to Poland, and made his way to Rome, where he died. 
 He was the most eminent man, next to Gustav\is, of 
 that generation in Sweden; and it is by no means 
 certain that the king did not know and rejoice in his 
 intended expatriation. Whether the indignation which 
 he expressed at the bishop's escape was feigned or 
 real, it gave him an opportunity to say to him some 
 things which were all the more cutting because they 
 were true. He wrote to him "that formerly good 
 men were reluctant to take the Episcopal office, but 
 when once they had entered on it they would willingly 
 die for it, and would not be separated from their sheep 
 until driven from them. It is not so with you, but you 
 have done quite the contrary. You pressed into the 
 office, and without necessity or compulsion have fled from 
 it. As long as the case was such that you could milk, 
 shear and slay the flock, you were right at hand; but 
 when the Word of God came and said that you should 
 feed the flock of Christ, and not shear and slay them, 
 then you fled." (Anjou: Reform in Sweden, p. 242.) 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. ioi 
 
 Fall of the 'I'here was an article in the Ordinance of 
 Monastic Westeras which provided for the mainte- 
 ysiem. nance of the existing members of the relig- 
 ious houses " that they might praise and serve God." 
 In the mood of mind of Gustavus towards all the pa- 
 pal clergy, and especially towards the monks, it was 
 scarcely to be expected that this provision should be 
 very strictly observed. The States assembled at Up- 
 sala in 1528 complained of the king that, instead of 
 observing that article, he had induced monks and nuns 
 to leave their convents and to marry, and had expelled 
 others whose conduct was reprehensible, instead of 
 leaving them to the chastisement of their ecclesiastical 
 superiors. No doubt pressure was brought to bear 
 upon the monasteries by Gustavus to induce them to 
 make an early surrender. When the whole matter in 
 general terms was put in the hands of the king, it is not 
 surprising, in view of the gross vices that prevailed 
 in many of these institutions, that a man of so decided 
 character as Gustavus should not allow himself to be 
 arrested in his work by technicalities. He was em- 
 powered to break them up; the sooner they were de- 
 stroyed the better would the interests of morality and 
 the welfare of the kingdom be subserved. This was 
 the summary logic which satisfied his mind. No doubt 
 the great good that was accomplished was accompanied 
 with instances of individual suffering; but if reformations 
 waited until no one could suffer from them, they would 
 never come. 
 „, „^. It is to be observed that adherence to the 
 
 The Episco- . . 
 
 pal Succes- Papal Church was not, as m England, for- 
 """• bidden and punished with fines and penal- 
 
 ties. The bishops were not dispossessed of their sees. 
 They were deprived, indeed, of a large part of their 
 
I02 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 emoluments, and exhorted to preach the pure Word 
 of God, and were not permitted to punish heretics 
 or to brand Protestantism as heresy; and they were 
 stripped of many of their old prerogatives and privi- 
 leges. There was no fanatical war, as in Scotland, 
 against the Episcopal order as such, but only against 
 its overgrown immunities and privileges and its enor- 
 mous power. On the contrary, it was the effort of 
 the Government to bring over the bishops to the ac- 
 ceptance of the new faith by influence, and by com- 
 pensations for the losses to which they were subjected. 
 They were not at once to be deprived, but to hold 
 their sees with diminished revenues and with increased 
 amenability to the Government and the civil law; but 
 in the mean time they were exhorted and encouraged 
 to come into harmony with the new system, and to 
 carry it out in their dioceses; and by this means it 
 was hoped that some of them would from conviction 
 adopt the system upon which the Reformation was 
 founded. The policy was not unlike that by which 
 James II. sought to bring back the bishops of the 
 Church of England to the Church of Rome. 
 
 The question of the Episcopal succession, to which 
 so much importance has been attached in modern 
 controversy, seems to have been scarcely mooted. 
 The native historians do not allude to it as a vital 
 question. The old sees, with vastly diminished rev- 
 enues and privileges, were retained, and it seems to have 
 been by a natural and unforced train of circumstances, 
 rather than by a careful design and arrangement, that 
 the Episcopal succession was preserved. It is evident 
 from the subsequent proceedings of Gustavus, as we 
 shall see, that he attached no special importance to 
 the preservation of the unbroken Episcopal succession, 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 103 
 
 and that he would have been satisfied that the Epis- 
 copal sees, as in Denmark, should have been filled by 
 those who had only the ordination of presbyters; and 
 who, while they bore the name of bishops, should in 
 fact have no higher functions and jurisdiction than the 
 superintendents of the Lutheran Church in Germany. 
 It is only in a brief foot-note that the great national 
 historian, Geijer, mentions the method in which the suc- 
 cession was secured. ~ In enumerating the four bishops 
 that were in the Diet of Westeras, he names them thus: 
 "There were present four Bishops, viz.: Brask, of Lin- 
 koping; Magnus Harolson, of Skara; Magnus Sommer, 
 of Strengness, and Peter Magnusen, of Westeras, — the 
 latter being the only one besides Brask who had re- 
 ceived his consecration, which was performed at Rome. 
 At the king's special request, after Peter Sunanvader 
 had been deposed, this Peter Magnusen afterwards 
 consecrated the bishops appointed by the king!' It was 
 by the consecration of this single bishop that the suc- 
 cession has been preserved in Sweden. 
 
 If, therefore, one deems the unbroken Episcopal suc- 
 cession necessary to the existence of a valid ministry, 
 and to the intercommunion of the Episcopal Church 
 with other churches, he will undoubtedly find that it 
 has been preserved in the Church of Sweden. This has 
 been conclusively proved by Dr. A. Nicholson, of Leam- 
 ington, for several years English Consular Chaplain at 
 Gothenburg. He recently returned to Sweden, and in- 
 vestigated the question anew, and has produced proofs 
 which are indisputable, that the succession has been 
 preserved in the Church of Sweden. He concludes his 
 documentary and complete evidence in these words: 
 " Those who doubt the Apostolic succession of the 
 bishops of the Church of Sweden ignore facts, and con- 
 
I04 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 found that Church with the Danish and Norwegian 
 bodies. Hence arise their prejudices upon the subject, 
 which are not more reasonable than the Roman sus- 
 picion that Barlow and Parker were English laymen, 
 and are not less fanciful, let me add, than the corre- 
 sponding prejudice existing to-day in the mind of the 
 Swedish High Churchman against the English, as one 
 of those sects which owe their rise to the accidents of 
 the Reformation, and their doctrines on the Holy Sac- 
 raments and on Grace to Zwinglius and Calvin" (p. 
 57). Thus Dr. Nicholson, while graciously admitting 
 that the Swedish Church possesses the succession, and 
 may therefore be acknowledged by the Anglican 
 Church, receives in return from Swedish Churchmen 
 the contemptuous statement that his own Church is a 
 mere sect, the creature of an accident, and unsound in 
 the faith on fundamental points! 
 r, ^. The coronation of Gustavus took place at 
 
 Coronation ^ 
 
 of Gustavus Upsala, in February, 1529. It was observed 
 Tmtion ^of °" ^^^^ occasion that contrary to the usuil 
 the Pre- custom no one bore the crown. It stood 
 tender. upon the high altar, and Gustavus was be 
 
 lieved to intimate thereby that he received it direct 
 from heaven. As the Dalesmen continued refractory, 
 and kept up correspondence with the pretended Sture 
 in Norway, Gustavus marched an army of 14,000 men 
 into the Dale district, and assembled a large number 
 of the people at what was called the Assize of Tuna, and 
 demanded that the chief supporters of the Daleyunker, 
 as the Pretender was called, and especially those who 
 constituted his council, should be surrendered to him. 
 Resistance was impossible, and a large number of those 
 most active in the support of the Yunker were, after a 
 short trial, executed. The surrender of the false Sture 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 105 
 
 was demanded from the Archbishop of Drontheim, but 
 evaded by sending him disguised to Rostock; but he 
 was discovered in that city by the agents of the king, 
 and tried and executed for treason. It was a severe 
 proceeding, but probably not more so than the emer- 
 gency demanded. 
 
 Lutheran- '^^^ time was now ripe for an open acknowl- 
 ism in the edgment and support of the Protestant faith 
 sc ant. ^y. j.jjg king. The most powerful supporters 
 of the old system had abandoned the field. Most of the 
 clergy avowed their acquiescence in the Protestant 
 faith, and retained their parishes. The king declared 
 himself a Lutheran. He appointed Olaus Petri Pastor 
 of the Church at Stockholm, and his brother Laurentius 
 Petri was subsequently, 1531, elected Archbishop of 
 Upsala. The flight of Bishop Magnus and Bishop Brask 
 greatly forwarded the progress of the Reformation. 
 The consecration of three new Bishops by Bishop Mag- 
 nus enabled him to be consecrated by them without 
 taking the old form of the oath to protect the holy 
 Church. At that coronation it was observed also, as 
 a significant sign, that he did not, according to the old 
 formula, receive the crown from the hand of the arch- 
 bishop, but left it lying upon the altar, in token of his 
 acceptance of it directly from God. And the sermon 
 of Olaus Petri on that occasion was plainly and em- 
 phatically Protestant. From that time the indefat- 
 igable Olaus Petri, the polemic and the doctrinal leader 
 of the Reformation, published within a year no less 
 than nine treatises on the points at issue between Lu- 
 theranism and Romanism. They covered the whole 
 ground of the reformed theology. In this work he was 
 powerfully aided by Lars Anderson, Archdeacon of Up- 
 sala, whose shaping and systematizing mind brought 
 
io6 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 the new doctrines into a coherent order. They were 
 the Luther and Melancthon of the Swedish Reforma- 
 tion, and the coming Diet of Orebo was their Diet of 
 Augsburg, and its Decrees their Confession. 
 ,^ , ,. But although the king and his two principal 
 
 Moderation . . , ., , , . ^, t, 
 
 of the Re- spiritual aids and advisers were thoroughly 
 formers. 'Protestant Reformers, they were not icon- 
 oclasts and radicals. While they established a doc- 
 trinal reform and rejected the false and deadly dogmas 
 of the Papacy, and swept away with a strong hand the 
 practical corruptions and superstitions of the Church of 
 Rome, they prudently allowed some points of ritual 
 and ceremonial to remain, especially in the cathedral 
 churches, in order that there might be less shocks to 
 the minds of the weaker Reformers, and of the com- 
 mon people. We find, for instance, that in the cathe- 
 dral of Linkoping " six prelates and canons should re- 
 main in the cathedral with the best prebends, and keep 
 ten priests to bear crosses, the bishop two, the provost 
 two, the archdeacons two, the four canons each one. 
 In the cathedral of Wexio arrangements were made 
 that there should be four canons with the best prebends 
 and six cross-bearing priests and a school." (Anjou, 
 p. 230.) These were specimens of what was still al- 
 lowed to remain of the great staff of ecclesiastics and 
 officials that had before thronged the cathedrals. More- 
 over the principal festivals commemorative "of the life 
 and death of the Saviour were retained, and rich vest- 
 ments were worn in the administration of the Lord's 
 Supper, and the cross was still borne in processionals, 
 and in some cases the crucifix was not removed from 
 the Holy Table.* 
 
 * It is a curious anomaly in a church which exalts so highly the doctrine 
 of the Lord's Supper, and clothes its priests in gorgeous garments in its admin- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 107 
 
 It is another notable evidence of the moderation of 
 the Swedish Reformation that it not only did not pro- 
 scribe and disfranchise the Roman Church, and subject its 
 priests as such to penalties and punishments, but that it 
 endeavored to bring over the bishops and priests to an 
 acceptance of the new faith by a system of instruction 
 and influence and rewards. The bishops were not at 
 once to be dispossessed, but to hold their sees with di- 
 minished revenues and privileges, and with increased 
 amenability to the government and civil law; but in the 
 meantime they were exhorted to come into harmony 
 with the new system and to work it out in their dioceses; 
 and by this means it was hoped that some of them 
 would ultimately from conviction adopt the principles 
 upon which the Reformation was founded. The policy 
 was not unlike that by which James II. sought to bring 
 back the prelates of the Church of England to the Church 
 of Rome. The policy of Gustavus succeeded partially 
 among the lower clergy, but failed almost wholly to 
 bring over the dignitaries of the Church. 
 
 Although the monasteries became the property of 
 the crown, and the king immediately dissolved most 
 of them, yet even here there was the same moderation 
 displayed as in the matter of ritual and ceremonial. 
 They were not all at once swept out of existence, in 
 
 istration, that it leaves its chancels or sanctuaries unadorned, and in some cases 
 in a condition of shameful untidiness and neglect. The author observed 
 this to be the case in all the churches— not many it is true — which he saw in a 
 recent tour through Sweden. He was amazed to find that the great Cathe- 
 dral of Upsala, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the greatest in the kingdom, 
 contained a very small chancel, constructed of plain pine wood, much worn, 
 with appointments which were absolutely shabby, and the whole wearmg 
 an aspect of great neglect. I venture to say that there is not in all the churches 
 .which I have seen in the city of Philadelphia, one chancel that is not superior 
 in its appointments, and more reverently cared for, than that of the grand 
 Cathedral of Upsala. 
 
io8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 cruel disregard of helpless and blameless inmates. 
 Some few cloisters remained after the death of Gusta- 
 vus. That of Sko was standing in 1556, and those of 
 Wadstena and Nadendal in 1595. Many of them were 
 converted into hospitals and some into schools for the 
 education of youths. 
 
 The Synod The Synod of Orebo was opened on the 2d 
 ifOrebo. of February, 1529. As the Archiepiscopal 
 See of Upsala was not yet filled, it was represented by 
 Lars Anderson, who was appointed President. The 
 assembly was thus constituted as a National Synod. 
 Besides the three bishops — neither of whom was cor- 
 dially in favor of the Reformation — there were nineteen 
 canons, eleven rectors of the larger churches, eight 
 monks and many of the parochial clergy. No record 
 of the preceedings and debates of the council, with the 
 exception of the decree which it passed, remains. If 
 its members were not overawed by the knowledge that 
 the eye of the king was on them, the debates in an as- 
 sembly so composed must have been earnest, if not 
 stormy. But, whatever might have been the secret 
 opinions of some of its members, the decree included 
 but little that was not distinctly Protestant. It may be 
 divided into three heads, (i) preaching, (2) discipline, 
 (3) church usages and ceremonies. The principal pro- 
 visions, were these: Better provision shall be made for 
 the preaching of the Gospel over the realm. The bish- 
 ops were enjoined to preach, and to secure well instructed 
 preachers, under the penalty of losing their benefices. 
 One lesson at least from the Scriptures, with a good and 
 sound exposition was ordered to be read daily in the ca- 
 thedrals and public schools. The lectures of the schools 
 should be so arranged that the choristers should have 
 an opportunity of attending them. Learned preachers 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 109 
 
 were to be appointed in towns, to whom all rural preachers 
 might resort for instruction. Afternoon lectures were 
 to be delivered in the monasteries. Sermons were to 
 be begun and ended with prayer. At every preaching, 
 the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ave Maria (which 
 it was not thought prudent yet to set aside) were to be 
 repeated; the ten commandments also were to be read 
 twice a month. 
 
 In the matter of discipline the Penitentiaries were 
 strictly enjoined to use more sharpness with manslay- 
 ers and other criminals. As the frequent Holy Days 
 gave much occasion to rioting and sin, it was ordered 
 that our Lord's own festivals, the Virgin's, the Apos- 
 tles' and those of the national patron saints should be 
 retained, and the rest abolished. Scholars were for- 
 bidden to go from parish to parish to collect alms, as 
 the custom gave rise to many abuses. Marriage of the 
 priests was allowed. The Penitentiaries of the cathe- 
 drals were empowered to use such severity in their 
 dealings with murderers as they should see fit, and 
 this exceptional power to inflict civil penalties for 
 crimes was placed on the singular ground that "the 
 worldly sword appears to be idle, and has not the 
 force that it ought to have." Each bishop may limit 
 the number of saints' days as he shall judge to be 
 most for edification. 
 
 In the explanation of church ceremonies, there is 
 an effort made to show their true and salutary use and 
 meaning as distinguished from the superstitions which 
 had gathered about them in the public mind. Consecra- 
 ted water cannot take away sin, for that is effected only 
 by the blood of Christ. Images are not for worship, but 
 only for bringing Christ and the saints into remem- 
 brance. Candlemas lights have no enlightening power 
 
no The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 for the mind, but are only symbols of the true light of 
 the world, Christ Jesus. Chrism does not convey, but 
 is only a sign of the Holy Ghost. The ringing of bells 
 has no power over evil spirits, but is of use only in 
 calling the people to Church. "Church structures are 
 kept up, not for any peculiar sanctity in themselves, > > > > > 
 for the worship of God, but that men may meet to- 
 gether there and learn God's Word." " Fast days are 
 kept, not as special worship done to God, but to tame 
 our lustful bodies." Explanations similar to these con- 
 cerning saints' days and pilgrimages follow. Such was 
 the system on which the Reformation was established 
 in Sweden, and such substantially it continued under 
 manifold difficulties, which hindered its complete as- 
 cendency, during the whole reign of King Gustavus. 
 J c ^^ "^^^ inevitable that such great changes, 
 
 tions and however skillfully prepared for and gradu- 
 Commotions. ^jj^ introduced, would awaken opposition 
 and lead to popular commotions and revolts. A large 
 part of the reign of Gustavus was occupied in struggling 
 against insurrections. They were caused partly by dis- 
 satisfaction with the king's ecclesiastical reforms, and 
 partly by the heavy taxation which he was compelled 
 to impose. An insurrection was attempted to be or- 
 ganized by the High Steward, Thure Johnson. He 
 gathered a number of the leading men of West Goth- 
 land, and urged them to depose the king who had 
 forsaken the Christian religion, persecuted the Church, 
 and usurped the throne which belonged of right to 
 the house of Sture. But the appeal was unsuccessful. 
 Johnson was compelled to flee, after having committed 
 some overt acts of rebellion, by which his life would 
 have been forfeited. Gustavus issued a decree of ob- 
 livion for all who had been implicated in this attempt 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. in 
 
 — except two prominent and leading lords. He thus, 
 according to his usual policy, so blended mercy with 
 severity that the dissatisfied might be intimidated, and 
 the forgiven be led by gratitude or fear to become loyal 
 or quiet in the future. 
 
 Dlgf gjr At the Diet which was summoned in conse- 
 Sirmgness. quence of this insurrection Gustavus repelled 
 the charges which were made by Johnson the pretext 
 for rebellion. To the charge of fostering heresy he 
 answered that it was not he but the Lord who had 
 commanded the pure preaching of the Gospel. As to 
 other points of doctrine he was content that learned 
 men should meet and adjust them. He denied that 
 he had broken his oath to preserve the privileges of 
 the Church, for it had been decided at Westeras what 
 those privileges were, and those, thus authoritatively 
 defined, he had preserved. The old oath of subjection 
 to the Pope and his agents he had indeed declined to 
 take; and when he pledged himself to protect the 
 Church he understood, and none better than Thure 
 Johnson knew that he understood, that he took upon 
 himself the obligation, "to protect and uphold the 
 Church and Churchmen, that is to say his Christian 
 subjects, since the Holy Church is no other than the 
 congregation of Christian men and women. Did any 
 one interpret his oath as confined to bishops, prelates 
 and priests.' then let him remember that the diminu- 
 tion of their power was affected by the council and 
 estates of the kingdom." The appropriation of con- 
 vents to the establishment of hospitals and schools 
 and to the urgent necessities of the Government, had 
 proved an equal advantage to both the Church and 
 State. It is true that he had taken many valuables 
 from the convents when they became empty, but he 
 
112 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 had used them partly for the aid of the Government, 
 and partly to maintain students in theology, that there 
 might be a supply of persons qualified to teach and to 
 preach throughout the kingdom. The Swedish Mass 
 he had not forbidden, and the Latin Mass he had al- 
 lowed to be used only in part with the Swedish; be- 
 cause it was more edifying for the people to hear and 
 use language which they understood than to hear and 
 repeat by rote an unknown tongue. 
 
 We get an insight into the deplorable previous con- 
 dition of Sweden, and the overshadowing and blighting 
 influence of the Church, from the further explanations 
 of Gustavus in reference to the decrees of Westeras, 
 which had been adduced as one of the great moving 
 causes of the rebellion. The king explained fully the 
 reasons which had led to their enactment. They had 
 found that the worldly engagements of the bishops in- 
 terfered with their duty as preachers of God's Word; 
 their power and their strongholds with the king's rights, 
 and the administration of justice; and were besides in- 
 consistent with our Saviour's commands that His min- 
 isters should not be temporal princes. They had found 
 that the estates and tenants of the convents were grossly 
 neglected; that the monks in each had diminished from 
 forty or fifty or sixty, to five or six; and that owing to 
 their ample provision they were leading luxurious lives. 
 Moreover they believed that God would be better wor- 
 shiped by more preaching and less singing and reading; 
 and that monasteries and cathedrals with a large staff 
 of clergy were not necessary to the right performance 
 of divine service. It also appeared from the old registers 
 that where there had formerly been a hundred nobles, 
 there were now only three or four; the nobles had been 
 induced through superstition, or when hard pressed for 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 113 
 
 money, to mortgage their estates to monasteries; and 
 hence their descendants became peasants, and almost 
 all the revenues of the country were in the hands of the 
 clergy, who gave no personal service to the crown; and 
 the kingdom was deprived of those men of high birth 
 and large wealth who constituted the ornament and 
 support of the throne. 
 
 THrd Re. "^^^ third and last revolt of the Dalesmen 
 volt of the was brought about by a cause which touched 
 a esmen. ^^ sentiments and feelings no less than the 
 pockets of the sturdy and pugnacious malcontents. It 
 seems that up to the year 1529 the debt due to Lubeck 
 had not been paid, although imposts had been laid for 
 the specific purpose of discharging it. In that year it 
 became no longer possible to evade the payment. The 
 Lubeckers threatened to detain Swedish ships as se- 
 curity for the debt. Accordingly at Orebo, in 1 531, it 
 was agreed that, in addition to the appropriation for a 
 time of the tithes for that purpose, the superfluous bells 
 of the town and country parishes should be given up or 
 redeemed. 
 
 These decrees produced everywhere, and especially 
 in the Dales, the most intense dissatisfaction. The 
 removal of the most valuable bells in a chime changed 
 old familiar melodies into a painful jangle, and broke 
 up many sacred associations which were dearer to the 
 people than they knew before they were destroyed. 
 The Swedes always have been and still are very fond 
 of church bells; and in many small villages in Sweden 
 the tourist will often be surprised at the fine tone and 
 sweet chimes of bells in poor and plain churches. The 
 bells, moreover, had acquired something of a sacred 
 character by having been christened and anointed. 
 The removal of them caused another revolt in Dale- 
 
114 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 carlia, which was put down with no little difficulty. 
 The futile attempts to adjust this difficulty need not 
 be described. The process of calling a conference, and 
 surrounding it with soldiers, of arresting and executing 
 the leaders of the revolt, and the renewal of pledges 
 of obedience, were all again repeated. This was the 
 last commotion which had any connection with ecclesi- 
 astical affairs for a number of years succeeding. The 
 Dalesmen learned at length that they had to do with 
 a king who would not surrender his prerogatives; who 
 would deal sternly and even unjustly with his subjects 
 when the safety of the State or of his throne was in 
 question; whose prudence defeated all their schemes, 
 and whose severity punished every outrage. 
 Provision The most important portion of the decree 
 for Preach- of Orebo was that which enjoined that pro- 
 ChurchSer- vision should be made by the bishops for 
 mces. the preaching of the Gospel. But Gustavus 
 
 did not leave the execution of the decree to those who 
 he well knew would not cordially enforce it. He sent 
 one or two learned and able preachers to each diocese, 
 to preach in the cathedrals, and to establish cathedral 
 schools for the training of a preaching ministry. The 
 indefatigable Olaus Petri prepared postils — correspond- 
 ing to the English book of homilies — for the people, 
 to be read by those priests who were incompetent to 
 prepare suitable sermons of their own. He also pro- 
 vided a church manual in the Swedish tongue. This 
 was not published by the authority of any church 
 synod, but it came into general use. In this there 
 were offices for the sick, for baptism, marriage and 
 burial, as well as for the performance of the public 
 services. Two years later, when the introduction of 
 the Mass in the Swedish tongue was complained of by 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 115 
 
 the Dalesmen, Olaus published a work in which he 
 showed the propriety of this arrangement; and at the 
 same time the office for the Swedish Mass, as it is still 
 used in Sweden, was prepared by him. It has been 
 noticed that no direction for preaching is given, and 
 no place assigned for it, in the first four editions of this 
 book. But the use of the book soon extended through 
 the kingdom, and the point in the service where the 
 preaching should take place was designated in 1548. 
 The necessity for this movement and its gradual in- 
 fluence are thus described by the Swedish historian, 
 Anjou: 
 
 " Of the success of a work so important to the Ref- 
 ormation, by acquainting the people with the Gospel 
 and its meaning, by introducing true evangelical free- 
 dom through a true faith in the Son, who makes us 
 truly free, we cannot expect to procure information 
 from times yet unable to prepare workmen to culti- 
 vate the field of the church. The preaching of God's 
 Word, the purifying of divine service from superstitions 
 and strange practices, and from a language not under- 
 stood, together with the reclaiming of the ecclesiastical 
 constitution from being a hindrance to being a means 
 of furthering the kingdom of God, were important steps, 
 and the commencement of a holy progress to a holy 
 end." 
 
 The Metropolitan See of Upsala had been 
 
 LauTentius /• , t^i . . • - nyi 
 
 Petri Elect- vacant for ten years. 1 his omission to nil 
 edArchHsh- the most important see in Sweden probably 
 ''^' arose, partly from the fact that the king 
 
 could draw from it while vacant a large revenue, and 
 partly from his manifestly increasing indifference, if, 
 not repugnance, to the Episcopal constitution of the 
 Church. Lars Anderson, his chancellor, often remon- 
 
ii6 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 strated with Gustavus at this delay; and this was the 
 beginning and the cause of the alienation between 
 them. But so great had the dissatisfaction of the 
 country become, in consequence of this long delay, 
 and the evils which it involved, that the king was 
 compelled to take measures in 1530 for filling the see. 
 The Bishop of Abo, Jno Skyette, was elected, but 
 declined. Bishop Sven, of Skara, was elected by the 
 Chapter of Upsala, and he also declined. In the spring 
 of 1531 the king summoned an assembly of the bishops 
 and the chief clergy of the kingdom to Stockholm; to 
 elect an archbishop. Laurentius Petri was elected 
 by a large majority. It is mentioned as an indica- 
 tion of the predominant Protestant sentiment of the 
 body, that one hundred and fifty votes out of one hun- 
 dred and seventy-one were cast for the well-known 
 uncompromising champion of the Reformation, while 
 only seven of the remaining twenty-one votes were 
 cast for candidates who were regarded as lukewarm 
 towards the new or secretly devoted to the old system. 
 The new archbishop was but thirty-two years of age. 
 For forty years he administered the see with wisdom 
 and gentleness, and with an unswerving adherence to 
 his Protestant principles in the midst of difficulties 
 which arose on the one hand from the encroachments 
 of the king on his prerogatives, and on the other from 
 the pressure of those who desired to push the Refor- 
 mation further forward. 
 
 Changes in "^^^er the flight of Bishop Brask the See of 
 the other Linkoping was committed to Bishop Jons. 
 After Bishop Magnus, of Skara, had aban- 
 doned his diocese it was placed under the care of its 
 provost-master, Sven, who was subsequently elected 
 bishop of the see. These proceedings were a practical 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 117 
 
 proclamation of independence of the Pope, who, as 
 Bishops Brask and Magnus had not resigned their sees, 
 still regarded them as their rightful incumbents. In 
 1530 Jons Bethius, Canon of Wexio, became its Bishop, 
 on the death of Bishop Ingemar. Magnus Sommer, of 
 Strengness, and Petrus Magni, of Westeras, were all 
 that were now left of the bishops who had approved or 
 acquiesced in the decrees of Westeras. But when they 
 were led to hope that, by the aid of Charles V., Chris- 
 tian II. might recover his three thrones, they circulated 
 treasonable appeals to the people from the exiled Arch- 
 bishop TroUe and Bishop Magnus, of Skara. The king 
 had summoned the three bishops elect to appear at 
 Stockholm for their consecration and his own nuptials. 
 He had also summoned the Bishops of Strengness and 
 Westeras to officiate at the consecration of the arch- 
 bishop and the three bishops elect. Their canduct on 
 this occasion shows that they were not the stuff of 
 which martyrs are made. Just before their journey 
 to Stockholm they prepared a protestation, in which 
 they declared their abhorrence of the soul-destroying 
 heresy of Luther, and of the consecration of the intruded 
 bishops and archbishop, which they were compelled 
 unwillingly to perform " under the influence of appre- 
 hensions and fears which may well arise even in firm 
 minds." This cowardly document was not to be made 
 public unless a change of dynasty should make it nec- 
 essary as a matter of self-defense. Whether the king 
 knew of its existence is doubtful; but he was quite well 
 aware of the secret disloyalty of both these prelates. 
 Bishop Petrus retained his office until his death in 1534, 
 and was succeeded the year after by Herrick Johannes, 
 who became an ardent Reformer. Bishop Sommer was 
 imprisoned by the king in 1536, was released after eight 
 
ii8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 months, but not again restored to his see. He ended 
 his days in the cloister of Krokek as an avowed member 
 of the Church of Rome, and in the undisturbed enjoy- 
 ment of its faith, in the year 1543. Thus as early as 
 1 53 1 the Swedish Church was completely established, 
 in independence of the Church of Rome. All of its 
 bishops professed, and all but two sincerely embraced, 
 and earnestly propagated, the Protestant faith. But 
 as yet its rules of discipline were uncertain, and the 
 power of the king in ecclesiastical questions was prac- 
 tically supreme. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE CHURCH TO THE CLOSE OF THE 
 REIGN OF KING GUSTAVUS. 
 
 . TAURING the five years between 1531 and 
 
 against the ^~^ 1536 Gustavus seems to have consoH- 
 ^/e of the dated his power, and to have had some pros- 
 pect of the peaceful reign for which he longed, 
 and which he was never to enjoy. He had foiled the 
 Lubeckers in their attempt to reinstate Christian. That 
 tyrant was defeated and imprisoned, and no more danger 
 was to be feared from him. The turbulent Dalesmen were 
 thoroughly humbled and subdued, and would hence- 
 forth give him no further trouble. An heir was born 
 to him, and thus the power to agitate the country with 
 intrigues for the succession was much diminished. But 
 in that moment of the seeming greatest security he was 
 in fact in the greatest peril, A plot against his life, 
 concocted by demagogues in Lubeck, in connection with 
 some German burghers of Stockholm, which had re- 
 mained passive while the result of the war was uncertain, 
 was after its conclusion revived and ripened. The con- 
 spirators prepared a number of schemes for the murder 
 of the king, to be employed in turn if it should prove to 
 be necessary. First, a barrel of gunpowder furnished 
 with a fuse, capable of burning three hours, was to be 
 placed under his seat in the high church, and to be 
 
120 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 exploded during the divine service. Should this fail, 
 Anders Hanson, the king's master of the mint, who 
 had married a sister of Bishop Brask, was to stab him 
 in the Treasury of Stockholm Castle. If this scheme 
 should fail, he was to be taken off by poison. The 
 loyal inhabitants of Stockholm were then to be mur- 
 dered, and the city to be included in the Hanseatic 
 League. On the day before that appointed for the 
 execution of the plot, a drunken sailor, made desperate 
 by need, was engaged to fire the train. Returning 
 home intoxicated from a carouse with those by whom 
 he was employed, he revealed to a neighbor and his 
 wife what was to take place on the following day. The 
 latter immediately sent word to the commandant of 
 Stockholm, and before morning all the conspirators 
 were secured and most of them executed. 
 The Atti- It is evident that Gustavus came very little 
 tudeofGus- under the influence of the clergy, and that 
 wards the he regarded them generally with dislike, and 
 Clergy. ^^.s inclined to treat them with severity when 
 
 they exhibited a grasping spirit or intrigued against 
 him. Yet he did not fail to do justice and to render 
 honor to those who were faithful and godly men; and 
 he himself was beyond doubt, from full conviction a 
 sincere believer. We can scarcely wonder that such 
 should have been his feeling, especially towards the 
 bishops and the higher clergy, to whom all the evils 
 and burdens of the country were due, and by whom all 
 the rebellions that had arisen either originated or had 
 been fostered, and from many of whom he had received 
 only gross treachery and ingratitude in return for the 
 favors he had heaped upon them. We can plainly trace 
 this feeling in several incidents which occurred after 
 the supremacy of the Reformation had become assured. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 121 
 
 We see it in his treatment of Bishop Sommer, and 
 of his successor, Bishop Bothvid. During the festivities 
 connected with the king's second marriage, Bishop 
 Sommer declared that he could no longer sanction and 
 support the Lutheran religion. At an earlier period 
 of his reign the king would undoubtedly have allowed 
 him to retain his see, and would have restricted him 
 only from the practice of those abuses and extortions 
 by which the Roman clergy had heretofore oppressed 
 their flocks. But upon this declaration of the bishop, 
 made incidentally under a sudden impulse, and not 
 intended as a formal announcement of his purpose, 
 Gustavus immediately, without invoking the interven- 
 tion or advice of his clergy, deposed him. His successor, 
 an Evangelical Canon of Linkoping, named Bothvid, 
 being asked by the king, who had cast a longing eye 
 on his Episcopal palace, "In what chapter of the Bible 
 is it written that the bishops of Strengness should live 
 in palaces of stone.'" replied, "In the same chapter 
 that gives the kings of Sweden Church-tithes!" The 
 repartee was bright but indiscreet, and is said well 
 nigh to have provoked the fate of his predecessor. 
 The Trial ^^^ Strength of this feeling, of hostility to 
 and Con- the clergy on the part of Gustavus is pain- 
 ifTafs^lZ f"'^y apparent from his treatment of his two 
 derson and nearest and most trusted friends, Anderson 
 oiaus Petri. ^^^ pg^j.j ^j^gjj. ^j.j^i ^^^ condemnation to 
 
 death four years after the conspiracy, upon charges 
 which, if proved, would not have been high treason, 
 and the alleged proof of which was most vague and un- 
 satisfactory, lead to the inevitable inference that it was 
 passion and prejudice which drove the king to the com- 
 mission of a great crime, which was aggravated by its 
 gross ingratitude. These were the two friends who 
 
122 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 more than any and all others most thoroughly entered 
 into his convictions and plans for the Reformation. 
 The causes of his alienation from them arose from 
 changes in himself, rather than from any deviation on 
 their part, from the policy and proceedings which he 
 had formerly approved. The chancellor sometimes 
 acted with less direct reference to the king in the de- 
 cisions which came within his jurisdiction than the 
 latter, more and more bent on absorbing all power, 
 temporal and spiritual, approved. Olaus, full of en- 
 thusiasm and zeal, sometimes uttered from the pulpit 
 sharp reproofs, which touched Gustavus nearly, and 
 which he could not but see were directed against him. 
 But these were surely pardonable faults on the part of 
 those to whom he and Sweden owed such immense 
 obligations. The two charges upon which they were 
 convicted by the commission appointed for their trial, 
 were that they had been cognizant of the conspiracy 
 which was discovered four years since and had not di- 
 vulged it, because it was made known to them under 
 the seal of the confessional, and that Olaus in the Swed- 
 ish Chronicles, which were published ten years before, 
 had made severe reflections which the king believed, 
 but without probability or proof, were directed against 
 him. 
 
 The first charge seems upon the face of it most im- 
 probable. Lars Anderson had earnestly promoted the 
 Reformation and at an early period, at the command 
 of the king, had translated the New Testament into 
 Swedish, and had with great reputation filled the office 
 of High Chancellor of the Kingdom. Olaus Petri, by 
 his preaching and publications and the composition of 
 the Church Manual-, had vindicated the Reformation 
 and given shape and organization to the Church. He 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 123 
 
 had also succeeded Anderson in the office of High 
 Chancellor. And, although a qualified confessional 
 was retained in the early period of the Reformed 
 Swedish Church, it is yet incredible that one whom 
 Gustavus felt to be rather too much than too little of a 
 Reformer and one so near and dear and devoted to the 
 king, from conscientious scruples which only bigoted 
 Romanists could entertain, had kept a secret on which 
 not only the life of one whom he so much honored, but 
 also the welfare of the kingdom and the success of the 
 Reformation, depended. That Gustavus, who had so 
 often exhibited indifference to abuse and retained his 
 dignity in the midst of gross misrepresentations, should 
 have been so stung by seeming reflections against him, 
 which were published ten years before, and the appli- 
 cation of which to himself seems doubtful, shows that 
 a great change must have come over him, the causes 
 of which will presently appear. It was a most painful 
 incident in this mysterious trial that the Archbishop 
 Laurentius Petri was compelled to preside and sit in 
 judgment on his brother. The lives of both of the ac- ■ 
 cused were spared, as it was probably the purpose of 
 Gustavus that they should be. But the position of Olaus 
 in the popular regard appears from the fact that his life 
 was ransomeid by a large sum of money advanced for 
 him by the burghers of Stockholm. His vindication 
 also seems to have been pronounced by the people, 
 and virtually acquiesced in by Gustavus himself, by his 
 restoration three years after to the Rectorship of the 
 Church in Stockholm. Anderson ransomed his life at 
 the price of the surrender of all that he possessed. He 
 remained under the royal displeasure and died in pov- 
 erty and obscurity. 
 
 It was a cruel proceeding — this condemnation of 
 
124 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 those whose services to the king and the Reformation 
 had been so great, and whose offense, even if it had 
 been proved, which it was not, was not worthy of death. 
 It has left an ineffaceable stain upon the else luminous 
 and glorious record of the Great King's history. The 
 just and right-minded son of Gustavus, Charles IX., 
 was so convinced upon examination of the innocence 
 of these victims of his father's injustice "that he would 
 not allow the charges against them to remain in the 
 history of his father." 
 
 Causes of The growing feeling of alienation from the 
 the Change clergy was greatly increased by the advent 
 and Policy of two foreigners into the kingdom, through 
 of the King, whose influence a new policy in ecclesiastical 
 affairs was introduced. Gustavus was led by them into 
 the adoption in theory and in practice of the most high- 
 handed Erastianism. His dislike of the Episcopate, 
 which was the greatest obstacle to the power of the 
 king in spirituals, was also inflamed into positive hos- 
 tility by the same agency. It was Conrad Peutinger, 
 who came into Sweden from Germany in 1538, and be- 
 came Cantor of the Cathedral of Upsala, who poisoned 
 the mind of Gustavus against Olaus Petri and Lars An- 
 derson, and secretly put in motion the proceedings 
 which led to their trial and condemnation. In his pro- 
 ject for bringing the Church of Sweden into conformity 
 to the Lutheran churches of Germany he found an ef- 
 ficient co-worker in an ordained Pomeranian noble, 
 George Norman, who had studied at Wittenberg, and 
 who also arrived in Sweden in 1538, as the tutor 
 of Prince Eric, heir to the Swedish throne. They dwelt 
 in their conversations with the king upon the differences 
 between the Church in Sweden and all the Lutheran 
 churches of Europe, and aggravated the restrictions to 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 125 
 
 which he was subjected. " The king in Sweden ought 
 to have the same power over the Church as was exer- 
 cised by all the German princes. Henry VIII. of Eng- 
 land had made himself head of the Church in his king- 
 dom. In the constitution of the Church, bishops might 
 well be dispensed with, or at least limited in the exer- 
 cise of their powers. Neither Luther nor Melancthon 
 were bishops." These representations fell on willing 
 ears. " The king was now transformed into a Protes- 
 tant in the strictest sense of the term, after the pattern 
 of German Lutheranism." 
 
 Depression -^ft^r the condemnation of Olaus Petri and 
 of the Epis- Anderson, these two foreigners enjoyed the 
 copate. £-^jjj confidence of the king, and directed the 
 
 ecclesiastical affairs of the kingdom. Gustavus himself 
 adopted a harsh and angry tone towards the clergy. 
 He reproached them for what he called their injudicious 
 alterations of harmless old usages, which were dear to 
 the people, and whose removal excited their anger. 
 He signified to them that he perceived, that like the 
 old priesthood, they aimed to become his master. Peu- 
 tinger was advanced to the chancellorship of the king- 
 dom, and Norman was invested with a superintendency 
 whose power extended to all the clergy, and made in 
 effect the archbishop to be under his authority and in 
 a sense subject to his jurisdiction. If it were not, as 
 there is reason to suppose that it was, the design of 
 this arrangement ultimately to abolish Episcopacy, it 
 cannot be denied that such was its tendency, and that 
 its immediate effect was to depress and rob it of its old 
 traditional dignity and power. The king, apparently 
 in imitation of Henry VIII., and employing almost 
 identical phraseology, announced himself as " the su- 
 preme defender of the Christian faith over the whole 
 
126 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 realm; " and in a letter to all his bishops, prelates and 
 other spiritual pastors and preachers, appointed George 
 Norman as his ordinary and superintendent. Norman, 
 with the consent of a council and assistant, was em- 
 powered to exercise the king's jurisdiction over bish- 
 ops, prelates and all other spiritual persons. He was 
 to see that all preachers should set an example of godly 
 living to the subjects of the king. All spiritual persons 
 were to be inducted into office by him, and his visita- 
 tions were to be made at the times and places desig- 
 nated by the king. A board of elders who were lay- 
 men were to follow the superintendent and see that 
 the regulations which he had prescribed were carried 
 into effect. One of the prerogatives of the office of su- 
 perintendent, the execution of which caused much 
 clamor, was the authority to abstract from the churches 
 as much of their ornaments and the old appliances for 
 worship, with their gold and silver and jewels, as he 
 should judge needful for the king's service. This new 
 office reduced the archbishops and the bishops to in- 
 significance and inaction. From the year 1544 the king 
 ceased to give the Episcopal title to any of the bishops 
 except the Archbishop of Upsala. The other bishops 
 were called "ordinaries;" and as all jurisdiction was 
 practically taken from them by the Superintendent and 
 his assistants, nothing remained to them but the power 
 of preaching and ordaining. To diminish still further 
 their importance and their power, the sees of Upsala 
 and of Linkoping were divided into three dioceses, and 
 those of Westeras and Strengness each into two. This 
 continued to be the condition and constitution of the 
 Church in Sweden from the year 154410 the close of his 
 reign in 1 560. From this period to the end of his reign 
 Gustavus openly claimed absolute authority in Church 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 127 
 
 and State. In a letter to the peasantry in the affair 
 of Dieting, he thus wrote: 
 
 " Ye would wish to be far better scholars than we 
 and many good men beside, and hold much more fast 
 by the traitorous abuses of the old bishops and papists 
 than by the Word and Gospel of the living God. Far 
 be this thought from you! Tend your households, fields 
 and meadows, wives and children, kine and sheep, dui 
 set to us no bounds in government and religion. Since 
 it behooveth us a Christian monarch, for God's sake and 
 for righteousness, conformably to all natural reason to 
 appoint ordinances and rules for you, so that if ye would 
 not look to have wrath and chastisement from us, ye 
 should be obedient to our royal commandment as well 
 in religion as in temporals." 
 
 Conditionof -A.S the Church was settled in the form of the 
 the Church superintendency of a presbyter over bishops, 
 new ar- the Archbishop of Upsala alone receiving the 
 rangement. j-jtie of bishop, all Others of that order being 
 called ordinaries — so did it continue during the remain- 
 der of the reign of Gustavus. The absolutism which 
 the king had established over the Church — the open and 
 peremptory Erastianism which he had persuaded him- 
 self was the only method of preserving the Church from 
 falling back into the power of the papacy — continued 
 undiminished. In the midst of the difficulties in which 
 Gustavus was involved, and the amazing activity which 
 he displayed, in bringing his kingdom into an orderly 
 administration, and in developing its resources, we can 
 trace but few notices of the condition of the Church. 
 Here and there we hear of an appropriation of Church 
 or monastic property by the king, which causes loud 
 complaints; of the efforts of the king to secure a better 
 educated clergy; of his heavy hand laid upon the nobles; 
 
128 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 who abused the power of reclaiming estates given to the 
 Church since the inquest of Charles Canutson, and of the 
 gradual decrease of the partisans of the old Church and 
 the corresponding increase of the adherents to the new. 
 The characteristics of the Church thus settled, most of 
 which have continued to the present day, may thus be 
 briefly indicated. 
 
 1. In consequence of the toleration of the Church 
 of Rome, and of the efforts of Gustavus, while he re- 
 moved its abuses, to avoid as far as possible to irritate 
 the people by too sudden a change in the externals of 
 worship which did not immediately involve and express 
 superstition and error, there were retained in the Church 
 services more of paraphernalia and ceremonialism than 
 was usual in the Lutheran churches in countries where the 
 Roman worship was suppressed, and Episcopacy did not 
 obtain. The cross and crucifixes and candles and gor- 
 geous garments in the administration of the Lord's Sup- 
 per and an elaborate ritual were still maintained. 
 
 2. Another characteristic which honorably distin- 
 guishes this Church and is especially to be commended 
 in Gustavus to whom it is due, in view of the exasper- 
 ating and traitorous opposition which he endured from 
 the partisans of the Papal Church, was the absence of 
 persecution and the toleration of the Church which so 
 constantly labored to overthrow both Protestantism 
 and the king. There were no fines, punishments, im- 
 prisonments or executions for holding and openly pro- 
 fessing the faith and practicing the ceremonies of the 
 Roman Church. There was indeed a cutting off of its 
 civil privileges and supremacy, a protection of the citi- 
 zens and of the members of the Church itself from the 
 extortions of the priesthood, a resumption of Church and 
 monastic property for the uses of the State, a reduction 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 129 
 
 of the livings of the high ecclesiastics to a very narrow 
 allowance compared with that of former times, and a 
 swift and sharp punishment of treason, with no regard 
 to rank or priestly sanctity, when it sheltered itself under 
 the plea of religion, and of supreme obligation to the See 
 of Rome. All this would indeed be called persecution 
 by those whose privileges were abridged; but there 
 were no cruelties exercised against peaceable and loyal 
 members of the Church of Rome, merely because of their 
 adherence to the old faith. We cannot say so much of 
 the Lutheran Churches of Germany in their relation to 
 the members of the Roman and Reformed Churches, or 
 of the Church of England in relation to Romanists and 
 Puritans. Later indeed in the history of Sweden, after 
 prolonged and reiterated proofs of the essentially trai- 
 torous and rebellious character of Romanism, this toler- 
 ant policy ceased, and the public profession of Roman- 
 ism was not allowed. 
 
 TheCimiAd. "^^^ secular historian of the last sixteen 
 ministration years of the reign of Gustavus would find 
 o/Gustavus. jjj j^ abundant proofs of his great adminis- 
 trative ability, his wonderful activity, his successful ef- 
 forts to stimulate the industry of the people, and de- 
 velop the resources of the kingdom, and the steady 
 increase of veneration and admiration for hini, notwith- 
 standing much vexatious opposition to which he was 
 exposed from his pugnacious subjects. He would also 
 be compelled to admit that Gustavus became greedy 
 of appropriating to himself, sometimes with little or no 
 claim, a large share of the forfeited property of the 
 churches and the monasteries; and that he accumulated 
 in his palace a large treasure, subsequently squandered 
 by his half-crazy son and successor, which might have 
 been well employed in promoting the material and 
 
I30 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 moral welfare of the people. During the remainder of 
 his life there were no serious internal revolts; and but 
 one brief war with Russia in reference to the boundary 
 of Finland. In view of the enormous difficulties which 
 he encountered, the reign of Gustavus is one of the most 
 remarkable in the history of Europe, and entitles him 
 to a place only second to that of the few greatest mon- 
 archs — such as Alfred and Charlemagne and William 
 the Conqueror — who were pre-eminent in their time, 
 and have left the impress of their genius on all subse- 
 quent generations. 
 
 Secular and Inasmuch as we have thus far dealt chiefly 
 Religious with the class that have the highest educa- 
 fndtklcZ cation— the clergy— and as something has 
 dition of the been Said of the efforts of the king for the 
 '^^' secular and religious education of the peo- 
 
 ple, a higher idea of the civilization of Sweden at this 
 period may be inferred than the facts will warrant. 
 When one narrates the public events of a country poor 
 and but partially civilized, or but little advanced in the 
 refinements of life, in the same phraseology with which 
 he speaks of kingdoms that are rich and cultivated, he 
 may convey a wrong impression without misstating 
 facts. It is natural to describe the public events of 
 Sweden and France, for instance, secular and religious, 
 in the same phraseology; and yet in the one case it is 
 the history of a comparatively poor people in whose 
 higher classes there was great simplicity of life and no 
 little remaining rudeness of manners, in the other it is 
 a history of a people whose aristocracy were highly 
 cultivated and luxurious, and surrounded with all the 
 appliances of a refined civilization. Hence it is impor- 
 tant to present a sketch of the condition of education 
 in the kingdom, with the remark that if it does not ex- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 131 
 
 hibit a bright picture of the national life, it still should 
 be remembered that it shows a great advance over the 
 state of things which prevailed previous to the reign 
 of Gustavus. 
 
 The Schools ^^^ °^ *^^ native historians of the kingdom 
 the Clergy, gives this account of it, as it appeared to- 
 andthePeo- wards the close of the reign of Gustavus. 
 "The older seminaries of instruction had 
 been too closely connected with the ancient church not 
 to be involved in its downfall. Hvitfeld and Messenius 
 indeed state that Gustavus in 1540 revived the Univer- 
 sity of Upsala, founded twenty years before; and two 
 years previously we find him complaining that circum- 
 stances did not permit him to complete this work which 
 it was his desire to accomplish. In the archives of his 
 reign no trace of its actual performance is to be found, 
 although they supply many proofs of the king's foster- 
 ing care for the schools, which nevertheless do not ap- 
 pear in all respects to have answered their object if we 
 may judge by the trenchant reproof addressed by him 
 to the bishops in the year preceding his death, relative 
 to the character of the persons who were supplied to him 
 by the schools for the service of the State. A learned 
 Swede who resided abroad draws at the same time a dark 
 picture of the condition of his country in this respect, 
 and concludes that the large hoard of gold and silver, 
 the military stores, the ships, the arms and the fortifi- 
 cations were rather detrimental than profitable; inas- 
 much as out of all the bands which the king every- 
 where maintained, not without great cost and to the 
 sore molestation of the subject, not ten men were to 
 be found whose counsel he might employ in the affairs 
 of his kingdom; and the same held true of the nobles, 
 of the heads of the church, and of the priests. Lieuten- 
 
132 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 ants and persons in authority kept each of them a sec- 
 retary to read and answer the king's letters, as they 
 were themselves unable to do so. Of the rudeness and 
 ignorance of the clergy many proofs remain. Their 
 manner of embracing the principles of the Reforma- 
 tion often consisted only in marrying their house- 
 keepers, in order thereby to legitimate the offspring 
 which they had borne them. The evangelical minis- 
 ters themselves did not always set an edifying exam- 
 ple. The abolition of the old church discipline before 
 the new order of things was matured, was generally 
 productive of injurious effects on domestic morals. The 
 king, whose own life was pure, and deportment blame- 
 less, often denounces the prevailing corruption of man- 
 ners. To what extent this reached where other cir- 
 cumstances favored the lawlessness of the ill-disposed, 
 as on the frontiers, is best shown by his letter to the 
 inhabitants of the prefecture of Kronoberg in 1554. In 
 this, referring probably to the visitation of 1550, he re- 
 proves tliose who, living on the borders, and moving 
 hither and thither, now into Denmark and now into 
 Sweden, are regardless of their marriage vow, and take 
 to wife one woman after another, as they would change 
 their horses. He commanded the prefects to watch 
 narrowly the proceedings of these loose companions. 
 At the same time the severity of the temporal penal- 
 ties was increased till at length adultery was punished 
 with death. 
 
 The latter '^^^ latter days of Gustavus were darkened 
 DaysofGus- by great domestic sorrows. His eldest son 
 Eric, the heir to the throne, a prince of great 
 ability, but vicious and eccentric, and excitable to a 
 degree little short of derangement, caused him great 
 trouble, and filled him with anxiety for the future of 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 133 
 
 himself and of his kingdom. The king had assigned 
 to him the province of Calmar; and there he had ex- 
 ercised his authority with reckless cruelty, and sur- 
 rounded himself with a gay and licentious court and 
 plunged into revelry and excess. And that which 
 broke the heart of the king, and sent him soon after 
 to the grave, was the misconduct of his favorite beau- 
 tiful and gifted daughter Cecelia. " The court poets," 
 says the historian Freyxell, " praise her as lovelier 
 than Venus; they could not sufficiently extol her 
 white skin, her golden hair, and her sparkling eyes; 
 and they protested that her soul was adorned with 
 equal virtues. But she soon exhibited an incorri- 
 gible levity and vanity which led her to a guilty in- 
 trigue with Count Edgard of Friesland; and to an 
 after-life of frequent adulteries, and of intemperance, 
 which ended in a dishonored and disowned old age. 
 Eric caused his father much anxiety, and great ex- 
 pense, in his Quixotic efforts to secure the hand of the 
 Princess Elizabeth, afterward queen, of England. 
 Without the slightest encouragement, and indeed in 
 the face of emphatic dissuasives from the princess, 
 he continued to urge his wild suit, and to send ex- 
 pensive embassies to England. All these domestic 
 troubles, and especially the dishonor of his favorite 
 daughter, broke the spirits of the old king, and 
 brought on a decline of health and an enfeeblement 
 of his powers of body and of mind. The loss of his 
 beloved wife Margaret, and of many of his contempo- 
 raries, his co-workers in the task of emancipating 
 Sweden, was not compensated by his union with a 
 third wife, young and beautiful and excellent, Cathe- 
 rine Leyohnhufwud. That indeed brought with it 
 also a new element of annoyance, from the fact that 
 
134 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Catherine was a niece of the late queen of Gustavus, 
 and that his nearest friend, Archbishop Laurentius 
 Petri, and many other ecclesiastics, denounced the 
 marriage as incestuous and unlawful. With failing 
 powers and with frequent deep depression, the old king, 
 feeling that his end was near, summoned a general 
 meeting of all the States in order to receive from them 
 the confirmation of his last will and testament, in 
 which he appointed Eric his successor and indicated 
 the disposition to be made of the great wealth and 
 the numerous estates all over the kingdom which he 
 had acquired. The scene of that last audience of the 
 king with his States was very impressive. 
 The King's The meeting took place in the hall of audi- 
 lastspcechto ence in the palace of Stockholm on the 2i;th 
 
 the States: . - ,,,, ■, r^ , , , 
 
 and his of June. When the States were assembled 
 Death. tjjg Yvci^ entered, leaning upon the arms of 
 
 his two eldest sons. His sons Duke Eric, Duke John 
 and Duke Magnus stood at his left hand in the order 
 of their age; and his young son Duke Charles, still a 
 child, stood by his knee. The king having saluted 
 the States, they listened for the last time to the elo- 
 quence which they liked so well, that when in the 
 Diet Gustavus deputed some one else to speak for him 
 they were wont to cry out that they wanted to hear 
 their father-king. Then the king spoke as follows: — 
 "I venerate the power of God who in me has ele- 
 vated to the old throne of Sweden the old race of 
 Sweden's kings from Magnus Ladulas and Karl Ca- 
 nutson. Those amongst you who have attained to 
 many years have doubtless learned how our dear Fa- 
 therland was for many centuries before in great misery 
 and oppression, under foreign rulers and kings, espe- 
 cially under the harsh tyrant King Christian, and how 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 135 
 
 it has pleased God through me to deliver us from 
 this tyranny. Therefore ought we, high and low, lord 
 and master, old and young, never to forget the same 
 Almighty aid. For what man was I to expel so 
 mighty a lord, who not only ruled over three king- 
 doms, but was allied and nearly connected with the 
 Emperor and the most powerful princes. I could not 
 imagine so great a glory would be mine when in forests 
 and among the rocks of the desert, I was obliged to 
 conceal myself from the sword of the blood-thirsty 
 enemy. But God impelled the work and made me his 
 instrument by whom his Omnipotence should be re- 
 vealed; and I may well compare myself to David, 
 whom the Lord took from being a poor shepherd to 
 be a king over all his people — " and here the tears 
 burst from his eyes. 
 
 " I thank you, faithful subjects, that you have been 
 pleased to elevate me to the royal dignity and make 
 me the ancestor of your royal house. Nor less do I 
 thank you for the fidelity and aid you have given me 
 in my government. That during this time God has 
 permitted his pure and precious Word to enter in 
 among us, that also in temporal concerns he has 
 prospered and endowed the kingdom with all manner 
 of blessing as we see before our eyes; for this we 
 ought, good men and subjects, with the greatest hu- 
 mility and gratitude, to give God the glory. 
 
 " It is well known to me, that I, in the estimation of 
 many, have been a stern king; but the time will come 
 when the children of Sweden would wish to tear me 
 from my grave if they could do it. But I must not 
 blush to acknowledge human weaknesses and failings, 
 for none is perfect and without fault. Therefore I beg 
 you, that you, as faithful subjects, will for Christ's sake 
 
136 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 forgive and overlook what errors there may have been 
 in my government. My intentions have always been 
 for the weal of this kingdom and its inhabitants. My 
 gray hairs, my wrinkled brow, bear sufficient witness 
 to the many dangers, adversities and cares, which I in 
 the forty years of my reign have had to undergo. 
 
 " I know well that the Swedes are swift to promise, 
 slow to execute. I can clearly see that many spirits 
 of delusion will arise in the future; I therefore pray 
 and exhort you to hold fast to God's Word; and reject 
 what does not agree with it. Be obedient to your 
 rulers and united among yourselves. My time is soon 
 out. I neither require stars nor any other sign to 
 prophecy that to me. I feel in my own body the 
 tokens that I shall soon go hence, and at the foot of 
 the King of king's lay down my account for the glo- 
 rious but perishable crown of the kingdom of Sweden. 
 Follow me therefore with your faithful prayers, and 
 when I have laid my eyes together let my ashes rest 
 in peace." 
 
 " With that," writes Freyxell, " he stretched out his 
 hand for the last time blessing his people. His gray 
 hair, his fallen, but still majestic appearance, the tears 
 which sometime came into his eyes, his voice ever 
 pleasant, but now tremulous with age and emotion, 
 and finally the thought that they were about to lose 
 him for ever — him, their father, teacher and benefactor 
 — all combined to awaken the deepest emotions in the 
 whole assembly. Tears streamed from every eye, and 
 they could scarcely prevent their sobs from drowning 
 the sound of the beloved voice. Gustavus arose and 
 supporting himself on his two eldest sons, he left the 
 hall, turning his head now and then, by looks and 
 tearful eyes, to take yet a last farewell. The assem- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 137 
 
 bly followed closely on his traces; those who could 
 not in person followed by their looks his gray head, 
 with tears imploring a thousand blessings on it." 
 
 Gustavus died on the 29th of September and was 
 buried in the cathedral of Upsala. 
 Description Instead of the attempt to delineate the 
 of Gustavus. character of Gustavus, I will give almost all 
 the chapter in which the native historian Freyxell 
 draws a graphic picture of one of the noblest and most 
 interesting characters in the history of modern Europe. 
 In a work the title of which is the Reformation in 
 Sweden, I have done little else than describe the 
 personal career of Gustavus. Inasmuch therefore 
 as the history of the king cannot be separated from 
 that of the Reformation, we may with propriety 
 — indeed we must from necessity — give a fuller ac- 
 count of the character of him by whom, in an exclu- 
 sive sense which does not apply to any other monarch 
 the Reformation in his country was accomplished. 
 There is a great charm in the narrative which is here 
 quoted — in the characteristic national simplicity of the 
 picture and the essentially Swedish atmosphere which 
 invests it. We see in it a true kingliness, not devoid, 
 in its essential characteristics, of all the august accom- 
 paniments which belong to the regal state; and yet 
 connected with a simplicity of life and manners which 
 is usually associated only with republican institutions. 
 "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, deli- 
 cate legs, small and beautiful hands and feet. His 
 hair of a bright yellow, combed down and cut straight 
 across from his eyebrows; forehead of a middle height 
 with two perpendicular lines between the eyes which 
 
138 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 were blue and piercing; his nose straight and not long, 
 red lips and roses on his cheek even in his old age. 
 His beard, in his 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 which he wore 
 became him. Fortune favored him in everything which 
 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 Gustavus endowed 
 with noble qualities. His memory was so strong that 
 having seen a person once, after the lapse of ten or 
 twelve years he recognized him again at first sight. 
 The road he had once traveled he could never mistake 
 again; he knew the names of the villages; nay even the 
 names of the persons who lived there during his youth- 
 ful excursions. As was his memory such was also his 
 understanding. When he saw a painting, sculpture, or 
 architecture, he could immediately and acutely judge 
 its merits and defects, though he had never himself 
 received any instruction in those arts. 
 
 " When there was a crowd of people at the palace 
 he spoke with each and on the subjects which those he 
 addressed best understood. 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 de- 
 cree which he enacted, and the kingdom was not a 
 loser by it. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 139 
 
 "Firmness and perseverance in what he undertook 
 were striking features of his character. Example suf- 
 ficient 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 by violence. Gustavus let time and 
 reflection work for him; though slowly he went ever for- 
 ward. 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 
 knew how to preserve his dignity. It was not advisable 
 for any, whether high or low, to encroach upon it; in 
 such circumstances he rebuked peasants, bishops or 
 kings with equal severity. He was just but severe with 
 the men whom he had placed in civil charges; on which 
 account many abandoned him. When any one labored 
 to show off his talents and capabilities in the hope of 
 ingratiating himself or others, or commenced to extol 
 such an one, the sharp-sighted king would answer: ' He 
 is but a dabbler with all his pound from our Lord.' 
 
 "Gustavus was careful of money; for he said it costs 
 the sweat and labor of his 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 butter were sent 
 from the country for the supper of the princes in Upsala; 
 the queen herself sewed their shirts, and it was con- 
 sidered a great present if one of the princesses got a 
 blank Ricks thaler. Gustavus's love of money seduced 
 him into several injustices, which however in those 
 days were not so striking as they would be now. He 
 sometimes permitted parishes to remain without rec- 
 tors, having them administered by vicars, and appro- 
 
I40 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 priated their returns to himself. He forbade the export 
 of cattle to his subjects in general, buying them at a 
 low price from the peasants, and selling them abroad 
 at a great profit. This last circumstance was one of 
 the chief causes of the Dacke or peasants' revolt. 
 Several things of this kind which are not creditable to 
 him are related; but the people overlooked them for 
 the sake of his many virtues. They knew also that 
 this money was not uselessly squandered. Herr Eskills 
 Hall and the other vaulted chambers of the treasury 
 were full of good silver bullion 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 splendor, 
 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 catechism than the ijiost 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 scarce his equal in spiritual and 
 temporal measure. He is so experienced in Scripture 
 that he can rectify his priests, and none understands 
 the government of the kingdom like himself During 
 the Dacke revolt Gustavus wrote to the rebels: ' Ye can 
 threaten us much as ye will; ye can drive us from our 
 royal throne; rob us of estate, wife, and children; aye, 
 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 warm.' 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 141 
 
 " 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 mar- 
 ried for the first time. His marriage vows he kept in- 
 violate. 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 tem- 
 per, when business was done, he kept a gay and lively 
 court, though in all 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 
 should 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 was open for the young 
 nobles; tournaments were afterwards introduced, at 
 which the victors received their rewards at the hands 
 of the fairest of the ladies. They often entertained 
 themselves with music, with 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 favorite. 
 There was never an evening when he was alone that 
 he did not occupy some hours with it. 
 
 "He often traveled 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 housekeeping, agri- 
 culture, cattle-breeding, anid so on. The peasants soon 
 learned that the king's advice was good and listened 
 to him wilhngly; also on account of his extraordinary 
 
142 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 eloquence. His voice was strong, clear, and expressive 
 in sound. No king of Sweden ever was, or deserved to 
 be, more beloved by the common people, than he was. 
 Any peasants 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 unquiet years which followed 
 the people ever used 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 re- 
 ceived a careful education; so that they were among 
 the most learned of their day. Like his children were 
 the whole Wasa dynasty as far as Christina; 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 only in Sweden 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 ex- 
 hortations on many points. It was a royal school in 
 its teacher, discipline, and doctrines. ' Be steady in 
 your faith and united among yourselves,' said he, ' If 
 you fail in the first you anger your Maker; if you neg- 
 lect the second you will fall a prey to man. Make war 
 by compulsion — peace without compulsion — but should 
 your neighbor 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 gray 
 in armor. Believe me, seek peace with all!' Many 
 other and salutary counsels follow — but enough are 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 143 
 
 here given to show his character and his sagacity. I 
 think it will be difficult to find anywhere a nobler pic- 
 ture of a true father-king; or one in which we can 
 point to so few deficiencies and faults." 
 
 A complete idea of the work of Gustavus in 
 andCustoms Sweden cannot well be conceived, without a 
 "f^' ^"""^ sketch of the manners and customs of the 
 
 of Gustavus. . . 1 . , 1 1. , rr,, • 
 
 time m which he lived. This also is taken 
 unchanged from the same historian, Freyxell. 
 
 " Frugality and simplicity in everyday life; pomp, 
 often both tasteless and ridiculous, on solemn occa- 
 sions — 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 hundred of years longer. Carpets, very coarse 
 for the poor, embroidered with gold and silk for the 
 rich, covered the coarsely timbered walls. Thick 
 benches were attached to them around the room, 
 oaken in the houses of the rich. Before them stood 
 long heavy tables, and small stools moved about the 
 room. Plates were scarce and were never changed, if 
 the dishes were never so many and so various. Every 
 guest had to bring his knife, fork, and spoon with him. 
 Clocks were so rare that when the Grand Duke of Mus- 
 covy received one as a present from the king of Den- 
 mark, he thought it must be an enchanted animal sent 
 for the ruin of himself and his kingdom, wherefore he 
 returned it with the utmost dispatch 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 woolen; linen 
 was rarely used next the skin. HoHday dresses were 
 
144 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 costly but substantial; the same petticoat often served 
 in succession mother, daughter, and grand-daughter, on 
 festal occasions. The women had their hair combed 
 back and long tight-fitting gowns with stiff high ruffles. 
 The men wore the Spanish dress. Their hair was in 
 the beginning long and their beard shaved; but this 
 was soon changed, so that the clergy alone retained 
 the long hair and the smooth skin; the others adopted 
 short hair and long beard. Wax lights were used only 
 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 intro- 
 duced until the reign of John III. Most journeys took 
 place on horseback, and when it rained the princes 
 were wrapped in wax-cloth cloaks. High titles were 
 not in use. The king was called His Grace; the princes 
 Yunker Young Lord, the princesses jFroken, young 
 ladies. The nobles did not use their family but their 
 fathers' name. There was much of savage wildness and 
 disorder yet among the people, partly on account of 
 the times and 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 armor; 
 but, like the knights of. old, they were generally igno- 
 rant in the highest degree, especially the elder among 
 them. Many of King Gustavus's officers and governors 
 were unable 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 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 145 
 
 many of its superstitions remained, and that not alone 
 
 among the people, but even the great ones of the land 
 
 believed in witchcraft, fairies, elves, brownies, etc. 
 
 The art of medicine consisted chiefly in prayers and 
 
 exorcisms." 
 
 Gustavusre- There is a singular resemblance in the per- 
 
 peats the gonal character of Gustavus and Charle- 
 
 Mistake of t ■ i 
 
 Charie- magne. It IS by no means certain that if 
 magne. ^j^g former had occupied as wide a sphere 
 
 as the latter he would not have exhibited as great gifts 
 of organization and administration. And, in the case 
 of both, it seems remarkable that men so sagacious and 
 experienced should have committed the fatal mistake 
 of assigning the government of large principalities to 
 their younger sons which rendered them in combination 
 more powerful, though with less lofty titles, than the 
 heir who succeeded to the throne and name of king. 
 In both cases this mistaken policy was the cause of 
 subsequent civil wars and convulsions, which arrested 
 the kingdoms in which it was adopted in the path of 
 improvement, upon which they were rapidly advancing. 
 We shall find in this proceeding an explanation of the 
 fact that during the reign of Eric there is scarcely any- 
 thing that can be called Church History; although the 
 events of that troubled era led to that Counter-Refor- 
 mation which, with vague and vacillating policy, was 
 introduced by king John, the successor of Eric, and 
 counteracted by his successor, king Charles. In order, 
 therefore, to comprehend the events for which his reign 
 prepared the way, we must trace an outline of Eric's 
 stormy and guilty and tragic life. I leave, for a time, 
 almost entirely. Church History; and give myself to 
 the narration of events which verified the saying of the 
 old king, that although he had been regarded as a stern 
 
146 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 ruler, the time would come when the children of Sweden 
 would wish to tear him from his grave. But although 
 the narrative is not Church History it is that without 
 which the Church History which followed could not be 
 understood. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 KING ERIC AND HIS BROTHERS. 
 
 A BRIEF mention has already been made of the 
 dark side of Eric's character. But that mere 
 allusion furnishes a very imperfect idea of his character 
 as a whole. In his boyhood he gave the promise of an 
 exceptionally gifted and brilliant manhood. He inher- 
 ited from his stalwart father a handsome and vigorous 
 physique. As a youth he was equaled by few of his 
 companions in racing, swimming, and dancing, in tour- 
 naments, and in all feats of agility. " It was a pleasure," 
 says his biographer, " but a fearful one, to see him ca- 
 reering on horseback." 
 
 His mental gifts, his literary accomplishments, and his 
 solid learning, were quite beyond those of his companions 
 of the nobility, and not often surpassed by professional 
 scholars. He wrote and spoke Latin correctly and 
 readily; he was skilled in astronomy and mathematics; 
 and — unfortunately for his peace of mind — in astrology. 
 He was, like his father, a lover and composer of music; 
 and his poetry in Swedish was counted the best of hi? 
 day. In view of his subsequent career and his crimes 
 it seems singular to learn that two of his hymns and 
 two of his penitential psalms are included in the Swed- 
 ish Psalm book. His first tutor was Geo. Normann, who 
 was sent to Sweden by Luther. He subsequently had 
 
148 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 for his tutors two men who exercised a very deleterious 
 influence upon his excitable and impressible character. 
 Burraeus, a Frenchman, first put into his mind the 
 ambition to marry Elizabeth of England; and Goran 
 Persson was his evil genius, stimulating his suspicious 
 temper, and prompting him to deeds of cruelty through- 
 out all his unhappy reign. 
 
 All the eminent gifts and advantages with which 
 Eric was endowed were neutralized by his unhappy 
 temperament. He was passionate, suspicious, capri- 
 cious, and devoted to pleasure with a mad eagerness that 
 seemed almost insanity. These high excitements were 
 often followed by deep and moody melancholy. His 
 suspicion and dislike was, at an early period, excited 
 against his brother John by the evident, and indeed the 
 inevitable, preference of Gustavus for him, as the son of 
 his beloved Margaret, and one in whose purity, steadi- 
 ness, and force of character he placed more confidence 
 than his subsequent history showed him to have deserved. 
 „ , . . The partiality of Gustavus for his son John 
 assigned to led him to make over to him, at the close 
 the Sons of of the succcssful War with Russia, the prov- 
 
 Gttstavus. , - y-,. , , , . ^ 
 
 ince of b mland as his permanent patrimony. 
 He was induced to take this step no doubt in part by 
 his knowledge of the violent character of Eric, and his 
 conviction that his sons would receive hard measure 
 from him, if they were not placed in positions of inde- 
 pendence. Finland was altogether the largest and 
 most important province of the kingdom. As a treaty 
 was set on foot for the marriage of John with a Polish 
 princess, Eric not unnaturally suspected that his father 
 was preparing to set hifti aside and to place his brother 
 upon the throne. He therefore demanded that to him 
 also a province of the kingdom should be assigned. The 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 149 
 
 king's want of confidence in him was shown by the fact 
 that he demanded that he should take a solemn oath 
 not to engage in any enterprise against him. That the 
 king was led into this fatal policy of creating his sons 
 dukes of such extensive provinces of his kingdom, as 
 to leave but a mutilated and enfeebled state for the 
 government of the king, through his partiality for John 
 and his distrust of Eric, can scarcely be doubted. For 
 when he had taken the one injudicious step of giving 
 to John so large a patrimony, it was evident that he 
 could withhold a similar gift from his other sons only at 
 the risk of their rebellion and civil war. Moreover the 
 same reason which induced him to take this step in the 
 case of John operated with equal force in the case of his 
 other sons. He therefore appointed Eric to be Duke 
 of Calmar; Magnus to be Duke of East Gothland; and 
 Charles, yet a youth, to be Duke of Suthermanland. 
 But the conduct of Eric in his government of Calmar 
 gave the king great uneasiness. He was surrounded 
 with those selfish flatterers who always gather about 
 and foster the vices of an heir to a throne with a view 
 to their own subsequent advancement. They excited 
 in his mind suspicions of the designs of his father and 
 jealousy of his brother John. Eric set spies about his 
 father, and the old king's lamentations over the irreg- 
 ularities of his son, and the painful misgivings which 
 he expressed as to the future of the kingdom, were 
 reported and exaggerated to Eric, and led to angry 
 and mutual reproaches. Indeed, so distressed was Gus- 
 tavus with the unfilial conduct, and the suspicious meas- 
 ures, and the extravagant and dissipated life of Eric, 
 that he seriously meditated committing him to prison 
 and declaring Duke John heir to the throne. But after 
 much hesitation he finally, in his will, assigned the 
 
ISO The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 throne to Eric, and the three provinces already men- 
 tioned to his three younger sons. 
 
 It was inevitable that such an arrangement 
 bekvemEric ^^ that of Gustavus's should lead to differences 
 and the and dissensions. They were all the more 
 
 certain to take place, that there were no 
 definitions of the power of the king on the one hand, 
 and the privileges of the dukes on the other. With Mag- 
 nus and Charles these collisions were less likely to occur; 
 because Charles was yet a minor, and not in possession 
 of his dukedom; and Magnus, though violent in temper, 
 was so weak in mind as to be readily controlled by Eric. 
 But immediately on the death of Gustavus John wrote 
 to his brother regarding the fulfillment of the provisions 
 of their father's will. " It had been sufficiently known," 
 he wrote, "how assiduous and industrious their departed 
 father had been in gathering substance for his children; 
 yet was there in his last will nothing determined, either 
 in respect to the wealth he had left in cash or mov- 
 ables, or his many desirable estates, which now were 
 their rightful heritage, though the deceased king had 
 allowed these estates to flow into the treasury of the 
 realm; he hoped that all this would now turn out to 
 their common advantage." 
 
 Eric evaded a reply to these suggestions, and pre- 
 pared to bring Duke John and his patrimony under his 
 direct control. No sooner was Gustavus dead than 
 Eric dispatched a messenger to Finland, to secure its 
 pledge of allegiance to his authority. The messenger 
 was secretly dispatched; but the knowledge of it was 
 almost immediately conveyed to Duke John. He 
 therefore immediately dispatched another messenger 
 who was to ride night and day with peremptory orders 
 to the governor of Abo not to allow the messenger 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 151 
 
 of Eric to fulfill his errand. The Duke was successful in 
 baffling the king on this occasion; but it was not long 
 before the latter accomplished his object much more 
 thoroughly than he could have done by his mere per- 
 sonal command. In the Diet of Arboga in 1561 the 
 Estates, at the suggestion of Eric, passed a decree which 
 precisely defined the rights of the king over the dukes, 
 and designated the limitations of their authority. The 
 dukes were compelled to submit to the conditions thus 
 imposed, though they protested that many of the pro- 
 visions of the act covered traps and snares of which the 
 king might at any time take advantage for their de- 
 struction. 
 
 Those conditions are stated in full in Puffendorf 's His- 
 tory of Sweden ; and they are such as placed the brothers 
 in absolute subjection to the king. If either of them 
 should plot against the king's government or life he 
 should forfeit his right of succession to the throne. If 
 any of the subjects of the principalities should offend 
 the king, his officers could seize upon them and they 
 should be tried by the king's courts. Neither of the 
 princes should come to the court with more than one 
 hundred men. They should not engage in war without 
 his consent; nor coin money; nor establish bishoprics. 
 These were the main provisions established by the diet; 
 but there were many minor ones which must have been 
 offensive to the sense of dignity and personal honor on 
 the part of the princes. Their real and intended pur- 
 port was to defeat the purposes for which Gustavus 
 had bestowed upon them the government of the princi- 
 palities. 
 
 No less successful was Eric in his plan to deprive 
 his brothers of a share in the possessions of their father. 
 The dukes were limited to those possessions which 
 
152 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 had been bestowed upon them by their father previous 
 to his death. When the estates were to be divided 
 the king declared "that his father had unjustly regarded 
 the land taken back from churches and convents as 
 private property. They had been given away by former 
 kings; therefore when restored at the perquisition were 
 to be considered as belonging to the crown and not to 
 the king; for which reason the royal children could 
 have no right to them by inheritance. He therefore 
 appropriated these estates to himself as belonging to 
 the crown." 
 
 Thus early did the king inflame the animosity of his 
 brothers by completely baffling their hopes, depriving 
 them of their rights, and inflicting upon them grievous 
 wrongs. 
 
 Coronation "^^^ Coronation of Eric was performed with 
 and Policy a Splendor hitherto unknown in Sweden. He 
 ofKingEnc. expended large sums from the great treasure 
 left by Gustavus in securing from Holland a royal par- 
 aphernalia equal in magnificence and expense to that 
 of the greatest monarchs in Europe. Feeling that his 
 supremacy and superiority as king was not a little 
 diminished by the fact that the dukes, his brothers, in 
 their respective governments, occupied an independent 
 position, and seemed rather his rivals than his lieges, 
 Eric determined to create a small body of higher 
 nobility who should approach to the dukes in rank and 
 honor; and thus by diminishing the relative superiority 
 of the dukes to all his other subjects, would place him- 
 self in a position conspicuously pre-eminent above them 
 all. This new order of nobility he called counts. Only 
 three members of the oldest and most famous nobility 
 received this title. The object of Eric was apparent, 
 and evidently intended to be so, from the method in 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 153 
 
 which this new honor was conferred. As Eric placed 
 the coronets upon the heads of the new counts the 
 proclamation of the herald contained these sentences: 
 ' ' Let it be known to all that there is one king in the king- 
 dom of Sweden and Gothland, whom God has given us 
 and whom we see before our eyes; the most high and 
 puissant prince and lord, Eric XIV.; and though several 
 crowns glitter before your eyes, let none take it as if 
 there were more than one royal crown; for, according 
 to royal custom, royal majesty has permitted each rank, 
 counts and barons as well as dukes, to be honored by 
 their marks of distinction. But the king of Sweden, 
 of the Goths and Vandals, is one and no more." The 
 meaning of all this is evident enough. The king re- 
 minds the dukes that they, equally with counts and 
 barons, depend upon him, notwithstanding the assign- 
 ment of their patrimonies by Gustavus, for their lord- 
 ships and honors. It involves the claim that they hold 
 their positions by his tacit renewal of their father's gift; 
 and that they are to govern their states in subordina- 
 tion to him. 
 
 The creation of this new order of nobility. 
 Measures to and Other measures adopted to strengthen 
 strengthen the crown, prove that if Eric had possessed 
 
 steadiness and uprightness of character, his 
 political ability and skill would have enabled him to 
 have made his reign prosperous and renowned. His 
 sagacity was exhibited by the establishment of a su- 
 preme court — a court of appeals from the courts of the 
 several provinces; which was also a court of supreme 
 original jurisdiction in every part of the kingdom. We 
 have seen that when Sweden was subject to Denmark 
 the effect of the non-residence of the king, and the ap- 
 pointment of governors for the provinces, was to give 
 
154 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 great power to those governors, and to break up the 
 kingdom into several almost independent principalities. 
 Under these circumstances a real, organic unity was 
 impossible. No measure could have been better de- 
 vised to give a practical unity to the kingdom, and to 
 secure the centralization of authority in the crown, 
 than the institution of this supreme court. 
 
 Other salutary enactments signalize the outset of 
 the reign of Eric. A regulation has prevailed in Sweden 
 from the time of Gustavus to the present, that the 
 farmers and residents upon the roads were to furnish 
 horses and entertainment for travelers at prices fixed by 
 government. This regulation bore hard upon the rural 
 population and the little villages of Sweden; and one 
 of the earliest regulations of Eric was that there should 
 be taverns or guest houses established along the post- 
 roads to relieve the people from the obligation to en- 
 tertain travelers. He also abolished several fast days, 
 and some superstitious ceremonies still observed in the 
 celebration of the Lord's Supper. He also proclaimed 
 that he threw open his kingdom to all oppressed and 
 persecuted Protestants. This brought many Calvinists 
 into his kingdom; and Eric himself was known to prefer 
 the Reformed to the Lutheran Church. 
 
 . , Eric was just about to set off for England 
 vanousMat- and WOO Elizabeth in person when his father 
 ri mania I died. In 1561 he wrote to his envoy in Lon- 
 don that he had again resolved to make the 
 journey to England. Since his first proposals he had 
 become a king and she queen of England, but the prob- 
 ability of her accepting him now was less even than it 
 was before. Most extravagant were the preparations 
 which he made for the journey. For his own display 
 on his arrival in England he had sent on a company "of 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 155 
 
 pearl broiderers, tailors and others." As a present to 
 the queen he had forwarded eighteen piebald horses and 
 several chests of uncoined gold and silver. He embarked 
 in a fleet from Effsborg; but was compelled to put back 
 by a violent storm and did not again resume the jour- 
 ney. But while his envoy was prosecuting his hopeless 
 suit with Elizabeth he also sent a secret agent tp Scot- 
 land, with an offer of his hand to Mary Queen of Scots. 
 While these two suits were urged at the same time, he 
 became so enraged with the Earl of Leicester, on hear- 
 ing that he was the favorite lover of the queen, that 
 he directed his envoy to bribe the English Council 
 with money, and to secure the assassination of the 
 earl. At the same time he makes an offer to Renata 
 of Lorraine and to Christina, daughter of the Landgrave 
 of Hesse. With six strings to his bow, and all of them 
 golden, it seemed as if he might soon secure a bride. 
 But, notwithstanding his lavish expenditure, there seems 
 to have been under the elaborate courtesies with which 
 his proposals were received and considered, a misgiv- 
 ing and indisposition to yield consent, which may per- 
 haps have arisen from rumors of his extravagant, capri- 
 cious, and cruel character. 
 
 The Mar '^^^ marriage of Duke John with a Polish 
 riage of princess became the cause or the occasion 
 Duke John, ^f ^j^g^^ anti-reformation which was under- 
 taken by him when he became king, and which was 
 resisted and at length put down by his brother Charles. 
 Eric had obtained a foothold in Livonia, on the south- 
 ern shore of the Gulf of Finland; and as it was likely 
 to be contested by Poland, he was at first reluctant to 
 sanction Duke John's appHcation for the hand of Cath- 
 erine Jagellonica, sister of Sigismund, King of Poland. 
 He was however at length persuaded to give his con- 
 
156 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 sent. But the project was embarrassed and almost 
 broken up by the vascillation of both the kings, Sigis- 
 mund and Eric. King Sigismund insisted that as his 
 sister Anna was the older she should be the bride ; b.ut the 
 duke much preferred Catherine, and Catherine was sin- 
 cerely attached to the duke. King Eric after he had 
 given his consent revoked it and recalled his brother. 
 The duke hesitated and prepared to return, but finally 
 concluded to disobey the king. The wedding was 
 celebrated in secret and Duke John and his bride re- 
 ceived, on their journey to Abo, ominous intimations 
 of the displeasure of the king. Immediately on his 
 arrival he sent to invite the king to his wedding fes- 
 tivities. " But," says an historian of these events, " an- 
 other feast was waiting him." 
 
 , , The suspicion and enmity of Eric against 
 
 Quarrel 6e- , . , ^ , . , , , , 
 
 iween King his brother John was greatly aggravated by 
 ^k rT"^ ^^^ marriage with the Polish priricess. His 
 astrological studies had led him to the con- 
 clusion that a light-haired man would deprive him of 
 his throne; and this he thought pointed to his brother. 
 His pernicious counselor Goran Persson persuaded him 
 that this marriage was the seal of a compact between 
 Duke John against himself; and for the establishment of 
 John and Sigismund upon the throne, and the introduc- 
 tion of the Roman religion into Sweden. The duke be- 
 cameexasperatedbytheevident enmity of the king; and, 
 throwing aside all prudence and reserve, he denounced 
 his brother at a meeting of the States of Finland, with 
 a violence which could have no other result than open 
 war, and which seemed to countenance the report that 
 he had determined upon a struggle with his brother 
 for the throne. He accused Eric of being angry be- 
 cause Catherine had rejected his suit and accepted 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 157 
 
 himself. Eric he said had no right to Livonia — which 
 belonged to the King of Polaiid. He despised the old 
 and wise senators to whom his father was wont to re- 
 sort for counsel, and was now under the sway of low 
 and cunning adventurers, who were bringing ruin upon 
 the kingdom. He had made so many enemies that 
 he could neither defend his own dominions nor protect 
 Finland from the threatened inroads of the Russians. 
 He therefore appealed to the Fins to aid him against 
 Eric; and declared that he had made a marriage with 
 a sister of the king of Poland in order that by his aid 
 he might help his unhappy country. This certainly 
 looked like a purpose of revolt, and led to the inevi- 
 table inference that John sought to supplant his 
 brother upon the throne. 
 
 Trial, Con- The king did not delay to take measures 
 demnation to defeat his brother's schemes. Witnesses 
 of Duke against John were everywhere sought for; 
 John. a.nd his servants were examined by torture. 
 
 One of them, under the agony which he suffered, tes- 
 tified that "John's intention was to remove Eric from 
 the throne." This was claimed to be perfectly satis- 
 factory testimony. The States were summoned, the 
 duke tried and condemned to death, as guilty of high 
 treason. The same sentence was passed on his par- 
 tisans. Those of them who could then be secured 
 were beheaded. The sentence of the States was dis- 
 patched to Abo by Hogenskild Bijelke, who was ac- 
 companied with a considerable military force. The 
 offer was made to John, in the king's name, that if he 
 would surrender without resistance his life should be 
 spared, though he would be kept in perpetual impris- 
 onment. The duke preferred to defend himself, and 
 stood a siege for two months, in the hope that he 
 
158 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 would be relieved by Poland. After their capture the 
 duke and duchess were embarked upon Eric's fleet 
 and carried to Sweden. At Waxholm, Persson went 
 into the vessel which conveyed the duke, and made a 
 long speech to him concerning his guilt and the proofs 
 upon which his condemnation was pronounced. He 
 then presented himself to the duchess, and announced 
 to her that she would be permitted, if she desired, to 
 live at one of the king's castles, with her ladies and a 
 suitable maintenance; or that if she wished to accom- 
 pany the duke to prison she would be permitted to do 
 so, but would be allowed to take but two of her maids 
 with her. The duchess, who proved herself at this time, 
 and subsequently, to be a woman of noble character, 
 drew off from her finger the ring of her betrothal, and 
 held it up to Persson, saying, "Read what stands there!" 
 The motto of the ring was Nemo nisi mors. " I will 
 abide by it," exclaimed the duchess, and she did so. 
 The Duke's "^^^ duke was conveyed to the castle of 
 Imprison. Gripsholm not far from Stockholm. More 
 "'"^'' than a hundred of his dependents and par- 
 
 tisans were beheaded. Their bodies were exposed, 
 some nailed to gibbets, and some left upon the rocks 
 to be devoured by animals and birds. The old horrors 
 of the days of the tyrant Christian seemed about to be 
 renewed. What was to be the fate of John was yet 
 undetermined. Eric had promised that his life should 
 be saved if he would surrender; but the condition 
 seemed to imply that it would be forfeited if he should 
 resist. The king had kept himself at a distance, on the 
 Danish frontier, where he was making preparations for 
 war, while these frightful scenes were in progress. The 
 brothers and sisters and all the relatives of the duke 
 pleaded with Eric for his life, but received no hope from 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 159 
 
 his answers. And yet he had not fully made up his 
 mind. On fhe one hand Persson advised the duke's 
 death, and on the other hand it was represented to 
 him that such a proceeding would make enemies of 
 all his kin and awaken sympathy and indignation 
 among the people. After much vascillation the king 
 decided that his life should be spared, but that he 
 should suffer perpetual imprisonment. He was treated 
 in prison with mildness and respect. The castle in 
 which they were confined had a beautiful outlook upon 
 the fine bay of Gripsholm and the surrounding country; 
 and the prisoners were allowed books and writing 
 materials and musical instruments; and the duchess 
 was allowed with an escort to walk in the gardens of 
 the castle. 
 
 The Insan- ^ ^opy the account of the causes and mani- 
 ity of Duke festations of the insanity of Duke Magnus 
 agnus. from the picturesque pages of the historian 
 Freyxell. "When the death-warrant of Duke John 
 had been made out the signature of Duke Magnus 
 was necessary for its completion; and though weak 
 and wavering of character it proved a most arduous 
 undertaking to persuade him. Goran Persson, Bijekle 
 and Beurreus traveled to and fro on this commission; 
 they flattered and caressed the weak prince; Eric at 
 the Diet caused the order of succession to be removed 
 from John to Magnus; he appointed a rich and mag- 
 nificent court for him; and flattered him with the hope 
 of the lovely Mary Stuart, to whom several embassies 
 were sent on this account. Thus seduced and stormed 
 on every side Magnus at length gave way; but from 
 that day forward he never enjoyed a happy hour. He was 
 consumed by continual remorse and looked upon him- 
 self as a fratricide. His mind was unequal to these 
 
i6o The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 tortures and they made him at last insane. During 
 this time he lived in Kongsbro in East Gothland, where 
 the Motala River runs into Lake Roxen. There he often 
 fancied that he saw a fair water nymph raise herself 
 from the waves, and begin a song so sweet that he is 
 said to have thrown himself from the lofty turret into 
 the midst of the lake. He was fortunately uninjured 
 and the guardians got him up again. This incident 
 has given rise to a song which has been sung all over 
 Sweden; its version, however, says that the water- 
 nymph had frenzied Magnus by her sorcery, as a pun- 
 ishment for his not choosing to dwell with her. An- 
 other reason was given by the Jesuit Possevinus, who 
 was in Sweden at a later period. He affirmed that 
 Magnus had been struck with madness because he 
 attempted to drive out the nuns from the convent 
 of Wadstena. The unfortunate prince remained in 
 this lamentable condition the rest of his life, or forty- 
 two years more. He was buried in the Church of 
 Wadstena." 
 
 , During the period of three years and more 
 
 ministration which foUow the imprisonment of John the 
 of the King- faults of Eric were more and more developed, 
 and the condition of the kingdom became 
 constantly more deplorable. His government was that 
 of a suspicious and cruel tyrant who offered large re- 
 wards to informers. A court, called the Royal Court, 
 was established, in which the doctrine of constructive 
 or inferential treason, deduced from the most trivial 
 incidents and expressions, led to the condemnation 
 and death of many innocent persons. A war with 
 Denmark and one with Norway, carried on with alter- 
 nate disaster and success during these years, but with 
 no solid ultimate advantages, exhausted the resources 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. i6i 
 
 of the State, and led to merciless conscriptions. When 
 his measures were resisted or appealed from, in any 
 portion of the country, the king visited those who 
 presumed to remonstrate and object with a ferocity 
 of revenge which it is scarce an exaggeration to des- 
 ignate as fiendish. In the few years that had elapsed 
 since the death of Gustavus it seemed as if all that he 
 had accomplished, with so much labor through many 
 years, for the liberty and prosperity of Sweden had 
 been undone; and that the unhappy country was suf- 
 fering again all the evils which it experienced under 
 Christian, with the aggravation that they were inflicted 
 by a native king, and that king the son of the honored 
 liberator and father of their country. 
 
 But while the king's general policy was ruin- 
 ment of the ing the Country and could not have been 
 If able Fam- tolerated many years, it was his insane treat- 
 ment of the Stures and other great families 
 that was the immediate occasion of the measures which 
 led to his overthrow. The Stures were the most emi- 
 nent and worthy and beloved of all the great houses in 
 Sweden. The head of the family, bearing the old his- 
 toric name of Swante Sture, associated with the heroic 
 period of Sweden's struggle for emancipation from 
 Denmark, was a venerable and honorable old man, 
 the father of a group of sons whose character sus- 
 tained the well-won reputation of the house. Nils or 
 Nicholas, the eldest son, was distinguished for his 
 beauty and learning and accomplishments, and greatly 
 beloved for his manliness and amiability. Because of 
 his high reputation, connected with the fact that he 
 had light hair, so light as to be almost white, Eric con- 
 ceived a hatred and dread of him which it was impossible 
 for him to conceal. The prophecy of the stars was ever 
 
i62 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 haunting him. " That white head," he said, "will bring 
 me mischief in the end." Nils left the court in conse- 
 quence of this evident hatred and suspicion, and joined 
 the army. But even there he was surrounded by spies, 
 and subjected falsely to the charge of having so languidly 
 conducted a military siege as to prove that he had an 
 understanding with the enemy. He was recalled to 
 the court and received by the king with feigned kind- 
 ness; but after three days' residence in the capital he 
 was arrested by Persson and proclaimed a traitor by 
 heralds riding through the streets. He was then 
 offered the alternative of a trial by the criminal court 
 with closed doors, or of being led through the streets 
 mounted on a cart-horse and with a crown of straw, to 
 symbolize his alleged aspirations to the throne. He 
 chose to be tried, and was condemned to death and to 
 the confiscation of his property, unless the king should 
 extend to him his pardon. Eric's so-called clemency 
 commuted his punishment to a degrading procession. 
 It was carried out with every aggravation of insult and 
 humiliation which the malice of Persson could invent. 
 
 But the effect of this cruel indignity on the army 
 and the people was such as to warn the king to retrace 
 his steps, if he would not himself be the instrument of 
 advancing his supposed rival to the throne. Scarcely 
 a week had elapsed when the king sent a messenger 
 to Nils desiring him to proceed to Lotringen as em- 
 bassador for the hand of the Princess Renata. He 
 answered "that it was his duty to obey the king's 
 command, but he thought that such a disgraced and 
 dishonored man was little fitted to be a suitor in the 
 king's name." Eric replied that "the procession had 
 taken place by the influence of evil men, and that he 
 would now become a gracious master to him." No 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 163 
 
 doubt Nils Sture was glad to escape from the kingdom; 
 and he accepted the commission. He wrote to his 
 parents: " I drank a draught at Stockholm which has 
 crushed sense, joy, and all my welfare in this world; 
 but I hope one day to be able to defend myself with 
 other than letter and seal. " 
 
 An alleged Nothing Certainly could have been more cal- 
 CoHspiracy culated to bring about a conspiracy than 
 againstEric. ^-^^ infatuated proceedings of the king. But 
 the historians of Sweden deny that there was any 
 organized conspiracy. Dissatisfaction, murmurs and 
 threats of revenge were no doubt heard in the house- 
 holds of Eric's victims. And those victims multiplied 
 every day. He felt that the outrage upon the Stures 
 never could be forgiven. He lived in constant fever 
 of alarm', augmented his body-guard, and multiplied 
 his spies. Reports of examinations by torture and of 
 executions by night spread terror among the people. 
 The most trivial and innocent acts were construed by 
 his distempered fancy into evidences of a design to 
 murder him. The whole force and activity of the 
 government was employed and absorbed in the search 
 for proofs of treason. A meeting of the States was 
 called at Swartsoe where the king was then sojourning. 
 The nobles who were his intended victims, unconscious 
 of their coming doom, were summoned to the Diet. A 
 few of those who were to be accused, who were the 
 most eminent men in the kingdom, were arrested, as 
 also the mother of the Stures. When Swante Sture, 
 coming late to the council, heard of their arrest, he took 
 the sacrament at a small church near Swartsoe, and 
 prepared his mind for the worst. Upon the arrest 
 of the nobles the king announced that the Diet would 
 be transferred to Upsala, and its numbers increased, 
 
i64 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 in order that there might be a trial of the accused 
 suited to their rank and dignity. The detestation and 
 horror with which Eric was regarded appears from the 
 fact that when he reached the wharf, and proceeded to 
 the castle at Upsala, he was deserted by all his ser- 
 vants and arrived alone and on foot and was welcomed 
 only by the archbishop, Lawrence Peterson, and the 
 chancellor, Nicholas Gillenstierna. 
 
 The Diet was held on the 19th of May, 1567. Eric 
 had been drinking excessively on the preceding day 
 and the speech which he had prepared could not be 
 found, and had been abstracted, as is supposed, by Pers- 
 son, in the hope that in the excitement of an extem- 
 porary discourse, with shattered nerves, he would speak 
 with more violence than he would from a carefully writ- 
 ten address. They were not disappointed. In a ve- 
 hement harangue he ran into invectives against Nils 
 Stur6, and accused him of accumulating large treasure 
 with a view to a revolutionary movement. The speech 
 was received with loud murmurs of dissent, which be- 
 came so alarming that the Diet was adjourned. Eric 
 did not again personally appear in it. But the prose- 
 cution of the accused lords was pushed forward by 
 Persson. 
 
 The proofs adduced to convict the accused of a con- 
 spiracy to dethrone the king were vague and scanty. 
 They were inferences from expressions of indignation 
 against the treatment of Nils Sturd and from prophe- 
 cies that the king would suffer for his cruelty. Only 
 four witnesses came forward with these statements, and 
 two of these, after the trial, mutually accused each other 
 of having borne false witness. Never were valuable 
 lives sacrificed upon such flimsy testimony. It is a 
 strong evidence of the state of feeling among the peo- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 165 
 
 pie, that so little and such worthless testimony only 
 could be procured. Tyrants can generally secure any 
 needful amount of perjured testimony. But it is also 
 as strong an evidence of the subservience of diets and 
 legislatures in countries where all honors depend upon 
 a king, that this testimony was received and admitted 
 to be true and sufficient by all the states, or orders, ex- 
 cept that of the clergy under the lead of their intrepid 
 archbishop, Laurentius Petri. 
 
 The Murder The events which followed would have fur- 
 ofthe Sture's. nished materials for tragic scenes, in the 
 hands of Shakespeare, equal in horror to those de- 
 picted in Macbeth. On the 24th of May Eric pro- 
 ceeded to the prison where the lords were confined 
 and entering the cell first of Sten Lejonhufwud and af- 
 terwards of Swante Sture he fell upon his knees be- 
 fore them begging their forgiveness and promising them 
 . their freedom. It is impossible to know whether this 
 was mere hypocritical acting or remorse, or a mixture 
 of both; but the two lords were not slow to express 
 their full forgiveness. Eric went so far, in his humilia- 
 tion, as to request of Swante Sture his daughter's hand 
 in marriage. The old lord replied that all he had be- 
 longed to the king. At that moment the king was 
 advised that a person desired to deliver to him a mes- 
 sage; and on going without, and conversing with Peter 
 Carlson, the Bishop of Calmar, he was seen to return 
 with high excitement and so much . rapidity that his 
 guards could not keep pace with him, to the castle. 
 The news had just arrived that Duke John had escaped 
 from prison, and that the revolt had begun. Whether 
 the conveyance of this news to the king was timed at 
 this crisis by Persson in order to renew the king's hate 
 and terror of the imprisoned lords cannot be known; 
 
i66 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 but it is of a piece with all Persson's infernal manage- 
 ment of the king; and the effect which Persson desired 
 was produced. The infuriated king rushed with drawn 
 dagger to the castle and entered the cell of Nils Sture. 
 Lejonhufwud's room was next to that of Nils Sture and 
 divided by so thin a partition that all that was done or 
 said in one room was heard in the other. Lejonhufwud 
 (who was saved) afterwards related that shortly before 
 the king's arrival Nils had sung a psalm, and had then 
 thrown himself on his bed and read aloud from his 
 Prayer Book. While he was thus lying, the king en- 
 tered the cell with a drawn dagger in his hand, ex- 
 claiming, "Art thou still here, thou traitor.'" Herr 
 Nils sprang from his bed, threw himself on his knees, 
 and said, " Most gracious king, I am not a traitor; but 
 I have faithfully served and risked my life for your ma- 
 jesty ! " But the king answered him by striking him 
 with his dagger through the arm. Nils drew it out, 
 wiped off the blood, kissed the handle, and returned it 
 to the king, saying, "Good my lord, spare me; I have 
 not deserved displeasure." The king cried, " Hear how 
 that villain can supplicate for himself." One of the 
 king's guards, seeing what was the desire of the king, 
 completed the murder by seven wounds through his 
 body. 
 
 But no sooner was this done than Eric was seized 
 with remorse or the terror which in such a heart apes 
 remorse. He rushed to Swante Sture's prison and threw 
 himself on his knees, and said: " Dear friend, for God's 
 sake be pleased to forgive us the evil which we have 
 done towards you " ! The old lord wept bitterly, and 
 said: "Most gracious king, if my son has not suffered 
 damage to his life, I will forgive your majesty with all 
 my heart; but if his blood has been shed you must 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 167 
 
 answer to me for it before God." " Ah," said Eric leap- 
 ing up, "you will never forgive us; therefore you shall 
 share their fate." Thereupon he rushed out, ordered 
 the watch to have especial care of the prisoners, and 
 hurried out of the castle followed only by a few of his 
 guard. He was beside himself, and no longer appeared 
 to know what he was doing. 
 
 Persson and his party now felt that the murder of 
 Nils Sture would convince the king that no other course 
 remained but the execution of the imprisoned nobles. 
 But this design was opposed by Buerreus, the old tutor 
 of the king. Horrified at the bloody purpose of Pers- 
 son, and hoping that he might exert some influence 
 with a pupil who had continued to show him favor 
 and regard, he hastened out into the country to seek 
 the king. He found him warwiering wildly in a field, 
 and begged him to remember his royal dignity and 
 return to the castle. Eric refused. Buerreus also on his 
 knees implored him that he would not in haste order 
 the nobles in the castle to be killed. Instead of an 
 answer Eric struck at him with a sword; but Buerreus 
 avoided the blow. "Lame that rogue for me," cried 
 Eric to his guard. Buerreus then turned and fled for 
 his life; but the same guardsman that had dispatched 
 Nils Sture, Per Williamjson, sprung after him, over- 
 took him, cut off a calf of his leg and dispatched him 
 with his halberd. A fit fate for one of the evil advisers 
 of the pupil who had now become his murderer. After 
 this murder the king sent an order to the castle, whether 
 or no prompted by others cannot be known, that all 
 the prisoners should be executed with the exception 
 of Herr Stenbock. And then escaping from his guards 
 he went deeper into the woods and wildernesses, and 
 no one knew what had become of him. 
 
i68 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 When the order for the execution came the Provost 
 could not tell which Lord Stenbock — for there were two 
 of that name — was intended to be excepted by the king. 
 He went to consult Persson, whom he found at a gam- 
 bling table, and who told him carelessly, without paus- 
 ing in his game, that he must judge for himself. The 
 Provost, in his doubt, saved the life of both the lords; 
 but Swante St'ur^, his second son Eric, his kinsmen 
 Abraham Stenbock and Ivar Ivarson, were executed. 
 Thus closes this chapter amid scenes of horror. A frantic 
 king wandering in the woods, and four of the best and 
 nighest nobles in the land lying murdered in the court 
 of his castle. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 KING eric's madness, IMPRISONMENT AND DEATH. 
 — DUKE JOHN BECOMES KING OF SWEDEN, AND 
 HIS SON SIGISMUND KING OF POLAND. 
 
 The Mad- T^WO days elapsed before King Eric could 
 nessofKing J- be found. He was discovered at last 
 "'' in the parish of Odensala in peasant's clothes, 
 
 and apparently quite out of his mind. When he was 
 addressed as king he exclaimed, "Nils Sture is admin- 
 istrator of Sweden " ! He had not eaten or slept for 
 several days and could not be persuaded to take any 
 thing from the fear of poison, until his mistress, Karin 
 Mansdotter, prepared and administered it with her own 
 hands. When he awoke after a brief sleep he was over- 
 whelmed with remorse for his crime and terror for its 
 consequences. Or rather it would be more correct to 
 say-, in view of his subsequent position, that his terror 
 put on the seeming of remorse. In the confusion which 
 ensued, and the breaking up of the Diet, the government 
 was administered by the council. At this time Eric 
 was unable to discharge his kingly duties, and volun- 
 teered abject confessions of his guilt — and a declaration 
 of the innocence of the murdered lords. He also dis- 
 tributed great sums of money to their relatives, and 
 presents to the members of his estates. The king 
 himself called this afterwards the period of his infirmity. 
 
I70 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 How far his madness was real — whether it was as- 
 sumed to serve as a screen for his guilt — or how much 
 method there was in his madness, if he were really- 
 mad, it is impossible- to say. It seems certain from 
 his subsequent defiant mood, in which he vindicated 
 and gloried in this deed as a fine stroke of kingcraft, 
 that it left no wound in his conscience. On the one 
 hand, it cannot be doubted that either by a taint in his 
 nature, or by giving himself constantly to violent ex- 
 citement — to the indulgence of excessive passions of 
 mind and body — he often acted like a madman. But, 
 on the other hand, he often exhibited, as is common 
 in all stages of insanity, a degree of cunning which 
 seemed to prove that it was only the moral nature that 
 was deranged, and that the intellect was rather sharp- 
 ened than blunted by the loss of the moral sense. An 
 eye-witness who belonged to his train, whose testimony 
 is quoted by Geijer, says: " He would not renounce the 
 government, feigning as if he had not reason until he 
 could first appease the nearest kinsmen of the deceased 
 lords." 
 
 Liberation "^^^ story of Duke John's escape from prison 
 of Duke had no foundation. It was no doubt invented 
 ^° "' to counteract the king's sudden access of re- 
 
 morse in which he promised to liberate the Stures and 
 besought their forgiveness. But the friends of John 
 now availed themselves of his real or affected mood of 
 penitence to urge hb liberation. Eric was readily in- 
 duced to give his consent. The duke promised the 
 faithful allegiance of a subject to his king and pledged 
 himself to recognize the sons of Karin Mansdotter, the 
 mistress whom the king was now about to marry, as the 
 heirs to the throne. The 8th of October was appointed 
 for the meeting of the brothers. John, with his wife and 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 171 
 
 family, came by water to Swartsjo; and Eric and his 
 suite met them in the gateway. Eric threw himself 
 on his knees before John calling him his lord and sov- 
 ereign. John also knelt, replying that Eric was king; 
 but himself a poor prisoner who implored his royal 
 mercy. They continued thus upon their knees op- 
 posite to each other until their stepmother, Katrina 
 Stenlvock, came up and begged them to rise and not 
 make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of all present. 
 The brothers obeyed and proceeded together to the 
 castle. But there was awkwardness and constraint in 
 their bearing towards each other. Eric especially 
 seemed anxious and melancholy and maudlin, re- 
 peatedly imploring the duchess and his little nephew 
 Sigismund to forgive him for their imprisonment, and 
 in so doing he again fell upon his knees. The duchess 
 raised him and sought by words and caresses to calm 
 him — but quite in vain. He left the room in a state 
 of high excitement. John wisely feared lest this real 
 or feigned remorse might pass again into real or feigned 
 fury, and thought it advisable to retire soon to Went- 
 holm. The reconciliation was completed by correspon- 
 dence, and in it Eric offered to resign the government 
 to John. After this John resided chiefly at Arboga and 
 Eric at Stockholm; and thus ended the year 1567. In 
 his diary the king had written over this date these 
 words: " The most unfortunate year for King Eric." But 
 he was destined to pass many other years still more 
 unfortunate. 
 
 „ , For some time after this reconciliation with 
 
 proceedings Duke John the mind of Eric exhibited fre- 
 ofJCmgEnc. qygjjj- confusion — feigned or real. He some- 
 times wrote and spoke as if he considered John as king 
 and himself as a prisoner. But gradually he reached 
 
172 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 the mental position he had occupied previous to his sup- 
 posed discovery of the conspiracy of the Stures. He now 
 announced his purpose to marry Karin Mansdotter, and 
 to have her crowned, as she subsequently was, queen of 
 Sweden. The war with Denmark having been prose- 
 cuted languidly, and to the great loss of the reputation 
 of the Swedish armies, Eric determined to carry it on in 
 person. The method he pursued showed the essential 
 frivolity of his character, and his love of extravagance 
 and display. He was extremely devoted to all warlike 
 ceremonialism and was as rigid and thorough a martinet 
 in discipline and drill, as he was incompetent as a leader. 
 His mind was absorbed at this time in getting from the 
 capital a large supply of red-colored goose feathers, 
 and squirrel and fox tails, for the new uniforms which 
 he devised, as well as wines and spices and raisins and 
 all the luxuries of his life in the palace of Stockholm. 
 But with characteristic caprice he soon returned to 
 the capital and celebrated his marriage with Karin 
 Mansdotter with great splendor. But so distasteful 
 was this proceeding to his subjects, that those who 
 were selected to be knighted on that occasion could with 
 difficulty be persuaded to accept the doubtful honor. 
 Persson, on whom the sentence of death had been pro- 
 nounced in the Council Chamber of Stockholm, when 
 the king was in his mood of penitence, and to whom 
 had been brought home the charge of having directly 
 intervened for the execution of more than a hundred 
 and twenty citizens and nobles, but whom the king had 
 forgiven and restored to power, resumed his old influ- 
 ence, and was still the evil genius of the king and the 
 horror and bane of the kingdom. He persuaded the 
 king to demand from those on whom, in his hour of 
 madness, he had lavished excessive gifts, that they 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 173 
 
 should be returned. At the same time he put forth a 
 proclamation in reference to the aberration of his mind 
 and his proceedings under its influence in the preced- 
 ing year, in which he made his servants responsible for 
 the crimes which he had himself urged on against the 
 remonstrances of at least one of his most honored coun- 
 selors, Buerreus, who suffered the penalty of his rash 
 advice by the brutal murder to which he was subjected 
 by the order of the king. He alleged that in fear of 
 an outbreak of revolt he had put to death Nicholas 
 Sture, who was rightly condemned for his proved trea- 
 son; but his servants on that occasion, against his own 
 will, had cut off the innocent as well as the guilty. He 
 himself had fled to the wilds (and this aberration is 
 represented as if it were the consequence of the guilt 
 of his servants and not of his own), deserted by all, 
 reckoning himself at last a deposed captive, and de- 
 spairing in this condition, not only of his throne, but 
 even of his eternal salvation. Meantime the govern- 
 ment had been neglected and the kingdom ruined; but 
 now God had restored him to his health and faculties, 
 and the exercise of regal authority; and he therefore 
 ordained an universal thanksgiving over the whole of 
 Sweden. He had the effrontery to exhort the nobles 
 to set to the people the example of an honorable and 
 useful life; for, said this human devil turned preacher, 
 " Ye were not raised to the class of nobles in intent 
 and act merely that ye should lead merry days and do 
 no good in return to the realm of Sweden." 
 E'ventswhich ^he fatal events of the previous year, and 
 led to a Re- the marriage of the king to a mistress of the 
 ^ class of peasants, could not fail to produce 
 
 profound discontent throughout the kingdom. But 
 other events occurred and were made known, which 
 
174 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 rendered it quite impossible that so depraved and vile 
 a monarch could long remain upon the throne in a 
 nation that retained the least of that spirit of independ- 
 ence and self-assertion which had been exhibited even 
 in exaggerated forms in the earlier portion of the reign 
 of the great Gustavus. 
 
 I. Ivan the Terrible of Russia. It was certainly a 
 most disastrous circumstance for nothern and eastern 
 Europe that two such monarchs as Eric and Ivan the 
 Terrible of Russia should have reigned contemporane- 
 ously. There was no little resemblance between these 
 two crowned monsters. They were both subject to 
 fits of frenzy. Those of Ivan were more awful in their 
 results than those of Eric, because they were longer in 
 their duration, and because his power was more abso- 
 lute and the reach of his tyranny more extensive, and 
 because his wildest and most cruel decrees were implicitly 
 carried into execution. It is not essential to the events 
 which I am about to describe, in which Ivan and Eric 
 were concerned, that I should present this companioil 
 picture of another mad tyrant, whose atrocities seem 
 colossal by the side of those of the king of Sweden; but 
 the description will better enable us to realize the hor- 
 rors of that wild time, and to appreciate the guilt of 
 Eric in entering into a nefarious compact with one whose 
 frantic crimes it would seem might have appalled even 
 him. I quote from Kelly's Compendium of Karamsin, 
 a native Russian author. 
 
 " In his first fit of rage several great boyars of the 
 family of Ruric (the old royal line) were put to death 
 by beheading, poisoning, or impaling; their wives and 
 children were driven naked into the forests, where they 
 expired under the scourge. In a second paroxysm he 
 marched as a conqueror against the subjugated Novo- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 175 
 
 gorod ; and imagining that he imitated or perhaps sur- 
 passed the victory of his grandfather, he butchered 
 with his own hand a throng of the unfortunate inhabi- 
 tants whom he had heaped together in a vast inclosure, 
 and when at last his strength failed to second his fury, 
 he gave up the remainder to his select guards, to his 
 slaves, to his dogs, and to the opened ice of the Bolkof 
 in which, for more than a month, these hapless beings 
 were daily ingulfed by hundreds. Then declaring 
 that his justice was satisfied he retired; seriously re- 
 commending him to the prayers of the survivors; who 
 took especial care not to neglect the orders of their 
 terrestrial deity. 
 
 " Tver and Pskof also experienced his presence; Mos- 
 cow at length saw him again and on the same day the 
 public square was covered with red-hot brasiers, enor- 
 mous cauldrons of brass, and eighty gibbets. Five 
 hundred of the most illustrious nobles, already torn by 
 tortures, were dragged thither; some were massacred 
 amid the joyful acclamations of his savage satellites; 
 but the major part expired under the protracted agony 
 of being slashed with knives by the courtiers of the 
 Muscovite monster. 
 
 " Nor were women spared any more than men; Ivan 
 ordered them to be hanged at their own doors; and he 
 prohibited their husbands from going out and in with- 
 out passing under the corpses of their companions till 
 they rotted and dropped to pieces on them. Elsewhere 
 husbands or children were fastened dead at the places 
 which they had occupied at the domestic table, and 
 their wives or mothers were compelled to sit opposite 
 to their dear and lifeless remains. 
 
 "To the dogs and bears which this raging madman 
 delighted to let loose upon the people, was left the 
 
1/6 The Reformation in Sweden, 
 
 task of clearing the public square from the mutilated 
 bodies which encumbered it. According to the annals 
 of Pskof there were 60,000 victims at Novogorod alone. 
 Every day Ivan invented new modes of punishment 
 which his tyrrany, jaded by so many excesses, still 
 looked upon as insufficient. Very soon he required 
 fratricides and parricides! Basmanof was compelled 
 to kill his father; Prozoroosky his brother. The mon- 
 ster next drowned eight hundred women; and rummag- 
 ing with atrocious cupidity the abodes of his victims he, 
 by dint of shocking tortures, compelled the remaining 
 relations to point out the places in which their wealth 
 was hidden. These confiscations, joined to monopo- 
 lies, taxes and conquests, accumulated in his palace 
 the riches of the empire and the Tartars. 
 
 "Setting himself above all laws this lustful being mar- 
 ried seven wives. Even his daughter-in-law was forced 
 to fly from his death-bed, terrified by his lascivious- 
 ness. He was eager to procure an eighth wife from the 
 court of his friend Elizabeth of England; and the daugh- 
 ter of the earl of Huntington was offered to the inspec- 
 tion of the Russian embassador, at her own desire and 
 the queen's. The daughter of Henry VHI. was not 
 shocked to hear, at the same time, of the czar's wish to 
 be married, and of the birth of a prince born to him by 
 his seventh living wife; but before the English match 
 was concluded Mary Hastings took fright, and begged 
 Elizabeth to spare her the perilous honor. To com- 
 plete Ivan's usurpation he assumed the manner of one 
 who was inspired; and by all those external signs which 
 our bounded imagination attribute to the Divinity, he 
 made himself God in the minds of his people. All that 
 came from his hands, blows, wounds, even the most 
 degrading treatment, was received with resignation, 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 177 
 
 nay adoration. In the blind and servile submission of 
 the Russian people God and czar were identified; their 
 proverbial sayings bear witness to this. This was 
 the national formula of speech in reference to anything 
 future: ' If God and the czar wills it.' If there is in 
 history the record of a more horrible royal monster, 
 and of one who exercised such atrocious and wanton 
 and widespread cruelty and desolation among his own 
 subjects, I know not where to find it." 
 
 2. Relation of Eric to Ivan. When the proposal 
 of Duke John for the hand of the Polish princess, 
 Catherine, was made, it was found that Ivan was also 
 her suitor. But the czar and Sigismund not being 
 able to agree upon the terms of the marriage con- 
 tract, the suit of the czar was rejected. The Poles, 
 who had been at war with the Russians for hundreds 
 of years, intensely hated them; and to show their con- 
 tempt for Ivan sent him instead of Catherine a female 
 figure, a large doll,'~in a splendid wedding dress. The 
 czar was furious, and invaded and cruelly ravaged Po- 
 land. But this did not satisfy him. He was deter- 
 mined to get possession of Catherine, notwithstanding 
 her marriage to Duke John. 
 
 When King Eric was married to Karin Mansdotter, 
 John and his brothers returned thanks for the invitation 
 to the wedding; but did not dare to go. Duke John 
 had learned that Eric had secretly promised in 1556 to 
 deliver his wife into the hands of Ivan, on condition 
 that the czar would desist from his claims on Eastland 
 and assist him against the Poles. It is a striking evi- 
 dence of the degradation to which the tyrrany of Eric 
 had brought his subservient officials that the eminent 
 chancellor Nicholas Gillenstierna, in February, 1567, 
 actually subscribed at Moscow a convention by which 
 
178 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Eric engaged to give up his sister-in-law to the czar 
 on the conditions named above. After John and his 
 wife were Hberated it was no longer in Eric's power to 
 fulfill this promise. But a Russian embassy to Stock- 
 holm demanded its fulfillment, and a letter from Eric to 
 Ivan, in April, 1568, shows that the negotiations were 
 not yet ended. These facts coming to the knowledge 
 of John seemed to absolve him from all further loyalty 
 to his brother. The marriage of Eric and the growing 
 weariness and detestation of the people for his cruel 
 and capricious rule gave the opportunity, and the last 
 contemplated outrage upon himself and wife furnished 
 the motive and vindication of his rebellion. 
 Rebellion of Only four days after Eric's wedding he learned 
 the Dukes, of the revolt of the brothers, John and Charles. 
 They took possession of Wadstena on the Lake Wetter, 
 a central and populous part of the country; and were 
 soon joined by many adherents. The brothers met for 
 their first conference on this matter under an oak in 
 Wormland; and when they gathered their followers at 
 Wadstena, oak-leaves in their hats and caps were 
 adopted to commemorate the event, and to designate 
 their party. The proclamation which they issued must 
 have been convincing and acceptable to the realm. The 
 principal charges made against Eric were — " that he 
 had often violated his faith to God and man; that he had 
 kept his brother Duke John, with his wife and children, 
 five years in prison, without having been convicted of 
 any crime; that he had murdered several innocent lords 
 at Upsala; that he had designed to assassinate several 
 others, together with his two brothers, at his marriage; 
 that to the great scandal of the royal family, he had 
 made his concubine, a person of peasant origin, queen 
 of Sweden. To this they added that he would have 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 179 
 
 given up the Duke John's wife to Ivan of Russia; that 
 contrary to his pledges he had restored the infamous 
 Persson to place, and his old influence; and, in fine, that 
 he had committed many vile and infamous actions un- 
 worthy the majesty of a king " (Puffendorf, 246). I pass 
 over the rapid successive steps which ended in the cap- 
 ture of Eric in the early part of 1569. Brought to trial 
 he conducted his own defense. When at one point 
 Duke John interrupted him with the exclamation that 
 he was out of his senses, he answered: " Once only was 
 I out of my senses — when I let thee slip from prison." 
 His condemnation and imprisonment were foregone 
 conclusions. His harsh treatment was not honorable to 
 John, whose imprisonment had been made so light by 
 Eric. Several unsuccessful plots for his release were 
 made. These were so numerous and alarming that 
 Duke John gave directions that in certain emergencies 
 he should be poisoned. This took place the 2Sth of 
 February, 1577, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and 
 the ninth of his imprisonment. It was the fit end of an 
 awful life. 
 
 Very little that can properly be called Church 
 ligion dur- History is to be found during the wild and 
 ing this troubled reign of Eric. When he was, as he 
 
 supposed, about to proceed to England for 
 the hand of Queen Elizabeth, he put forth a decree to 
 abolish some of the ceremonies of the Lutheran Church, 
 and to bring it into nearer conformity to the doctrine 
 and discipline of the Reformed. This was done under 
 the influence of his former tutor, Buerreus, a Frenchman, 
 and under the impression probably that such a pro- 
 ceeding would commend him and the proposed match 
 to the favorable regard of Elizabeth. But the arch- 
 bishop and the people were too devoted to the Lutheran 
 
i8o The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 system to be at all influenced by this decree. It re- 
 mained wholly inoperative. 
 
 At the same time a Nuncio from the Pope, John 
 Francis, came to Sweden in order to bring back the 
 king and the country to the Papal obedience. The 
 name of the Nuncio suggests his probable English or- 
 igin and the connection of the embassy with the design 
 of securing the return of Queen Elizabeth to the Papal 
 obedience, and of influencing her in that direction by 
 gaining over Eric, who it was generally believed was 
 an accepted suitor of the queen. That this secret 
 Nuncio labored to pave the way for that Catholic 
 reaction which was subsequently attempted by King 
 John is a matter of course. But the kingdom had been 
 brought by Gustavus into such a firm hold upon Lu- 
 theranism, consecrated in the memory of the people 
 by all the glorious struggles and triumphs of his now 
 lamented reign, that neither the Reformed nor the 
 Roman Church could make any progress in the way of 
 winning proselytes. 
 
 Duke foHn ^^^ *-^° dukes had labored in concert for 
 proclaimed the overthrow of Eric. During the progress 
 ^'^^' of the revolt, an equal homage and acknowl- 
 
 edgment of obedience, on the part of the people, was 
 rendered to both brothers. It was at first arranged 
 that they were to reign together. There is evidence 
 that such was originally declared to be the arrange- 
 ment agreed upon by the brothers, and assented to by 
 their partisajis. Puffendorf declares that it was con- 
 firmed by an oath on the part of John; and that the first 
 money that was coined bore the names and effigies of 
 both the princes. But this arrangement was manifestly 
 impracticable. Yet it was well for the success of 
 their enterprise that such should be, or should be be- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. i8i 
 
 lieved to be, the design, in order that there might be 
 unity of counsel and of action. When the brothers 
 succeeded in their enterprise the seniority of John 
 and his government of Stockholm were immediately 
 and treacherously taken advantage of by him to se- 
 cure the acknowledgment of him as king. The Coun- 
 cil accepted him as such on his arrival, and the 
 Estates confirmed the recognition. Charles did not 
 disguise his dissatisfaction, and could not, or did 
 not drop the tone of an equal in all his transac- 
 tions with his brother. Endowed with far more force 
 of mind and power of will than John, he did not fail to 
 exercise a controlling voice in the government, and 
 to dominate over his less gifted and energetic brother. 
 He was the only one of the sons of Gustavus who in- 
 herited his father's great intellectual and administrative 
 capacity, his decision of character, and his thoroughly 
 conscientious and pronounced Protestantism. But 
 while in these respects he resembled his father, he was 
 wanting in that geniality and friendliness, and charm 
 of manner and adaptation to all classes which won for 
 Gustavus such enthusiastic affection and regard. But 
 while Charles represented his father in his higher char- 
 acteristics, his weaker brother represented him in his 
 more popular traits; and was thus enabled to hold his 
 place upon the throne notwithstanding proceedings 
 on his part which were repugnant to the national 
 will and conscience. 
 
 The first care of King John was to strengthen 
 bestowed up. himself by renewing the old privileges of the 
 on the No- nobility and bestowing upon them new im- 
 
 munities. He reversed the attainder pro- 
 nounced upon the great families whose chiefs were 
 destroyed by Eric. He restored to the nobles the 
 
1 82 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 right of collecting the taxes due from their dependents 
 to the king. The supreme court established by Eric, 
 whose effect was to centralize the powers of the king- 
 dom in the government at Stockholm, and to limit 
 the independence of the lords, was abolished. Ac- 
 cused nobles were not to be incarcerated until after 
 conviction. The policy of Gustavus was to increase 
 the powers and resources of the nobility in order that, 
 bound to the king by benefits received and hoped for, 
 they might add both strength and eclat to the throne. 
 The effect of the policy of John, which it cost King 
 Charles many efforts and long years to undo, was to 
 add to the prerogatives of the nobles; and at the 
 same time to weaken the ties which bound them to 
 the throne. 
 
 Sigismund '^^^ election of Sigismund, son of King John, 
 elected King to the throne of Poland is the event which, 
 of Poland, fostered by the vascillating policy and the 
 uncertain position of his father, led to the counter- 
 Reformation. It will be necessary to refer to some of 
 the circumstances which preceded this event. 
 
 I. The Condition of Poland. Poland was unlike, in 
 many respects, any other kingdom in Europe. Its 
 development was not, like that of Germany and France, 
 from a feudal system, in which a limited number of great 
 lords towered high above all the other classes of the pop- 
 ulation. During the Jagallon dynasty, 1384 to 1572, 
 which reigned nearly two centuries, the throne had been 
 hereditary, but its power had been extremely limited 
 by their diets. These diets were in theory, and at first 
 largely in fact, composed of the army, which consisted 
 of only those called nobles. There were but two classes 
 of the Polish population, the nobles who composed the 
 army, and the serfs and agricultural laborers. The 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 183 
 
 trading and mechanic classes consisted chiefly of Jews, 
 and the professions were filled by Germans. Of these 
 nobles some few were large proprietors; but the greater 
 number were poor, and could not break through the 
 traditions which their nobility imposed upon them, and 
 enter, in the intervals of warfare, into lucrative profes- 
 sions. It was a state of society, a form of polity, quite 
 unique — one which of necessity led to many wars, and 
 was not calculated to promote domestic quiet. 
 
 2. The Diets. Up to the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century the diets had been general assemblies of all the 
 nobles; — that is, in fact, of the army. But the growing 
 inconvenience of holding meetings of more than 100,000 
 horsemen on an open plain, and of securing intelligible 
 and well considered laws and regulations from such an 
 assembly, obliged the Poles at length to adopt a system 
 of representation. Minor diets or colloquia had long 
 been held by each of the Palatines in their palatinates 
 for the administration of justice, and these now began 
 to appoint deputies to the national diet. In the course 
 of time each of these districts adopted this system; 
 and about 1468 the custom had become nearly universal 
 of sending from each palatinate two deputies to the 
 general diet. The development of this system was 
 very gradual, and it was never universally adopted. 
 Some of the old nobles, tenacious of their traditional 
 rights, refused to transfer them to a deputy. The dep- 
 uties -were bound to act precisely according to the 
 directions of their constituents. At this period also 
 the towns secured the elective franchise; and were per- 
 mitted to send deputies to the diet of the palatinate, 
 and all of them in combination, within one of these 
 districts, could also send their two deputies to the 
 general diet. It was a singular system. An heredi- 
 
1 84 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 tary monarchy of very limited powers, controlled by an 
 army calling itself a nobility, which was at the same 
 time the only national legislature; and at this period 
 both the king and nobility, for the maintenance or 
 increase of their prerogatives, seeking the aid of the new 
 power, the representatives of the towns and cities. The 
 only prerogative which gave power and dignity to the 
 crown was that of appointment to all offices in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 3. Literary Culture of the Nobility. Though a 
 large portion of the nobility were poor, they were, as 
 a class, unusually cultivated and learned. Their en- 
 forced exclusion from all professions, except that of 
 war, drove large numbers of them into the pursuit and 
 enjoyment of learning. The Latin language was very 
 generally understood, and, as spoken and written, was 
 almost as widely used among the better classes of 
 Germans and Jews, as well as among the Poles, as the 
 vernacular. When, after the death of the last king of 
 the hereditary dynasty of Jagallon, 1572, the mon- 
 archy became elective, Henry, Duke of Anjon, son 
 of Catherine de Medici, and brother of Charles IX., 
 was elected king. An embassy was sent to Paris to 
 announce the decision; and the description given 
 of this Polish deputation, by an eye witness of its 
 reception, confirms the statement which I have made 
 of the relative superiority in culture of the Poles, at 
 this period, to persons of the same class in other coun- 
 tries. The account is taken from the great French 
 historian, De Thou. 
 
 " It is impossible to express the general astonish- 
 ment when we saw these embassadors in long robes, 
 fur caps, sabres, arrows and quivers; but our admira- 
 tion was excessive when we saw the sumptuousness 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 185 
 
 of their equipages, the scabbards of their swords 
 adorned with jewels, their bridles, saddles, and horse 
 cloths decked in the same way, and the air of conse- 
 quence and dignity by which they were distinguished. 
 One of the most remarkable circumstances was their 
 facility in expressing themselves in Latin, French, 
 German, and Italian. These four languages were as 
 familiar to them as their vernacular tongue. There 
 were only two men in court who could answer them 
 in Latin, the Baron of Millau and the Marquis of 
 Castlenau. They had been commissioned expressly 
 to support the honor of the French nation; but they 
 had reason to blush at their comparative ignorance 
 in this point. The embassadors spoke our language 
 with so much purity, that one would have taken them 
 rather for men educated upon the banks of the Seine, 
 than for the inhabitants of the countries which were 
 watered by the Vistula and the Dnieper, which put 
 our courtiers to the blush, who knew nothing, but 
 were open enemies of all science; so that when their 
 guests questioned them they answered only with signs 
 or blushes." 
 
 4.- Religious Toleration in Poland. It is another 
 remarkable characteristic of the condition of Poland 
 that under the Jagallon dynasty, while Catholicism 
 was the religion of the state, a free toleration to all 
 other systems was allowed. It is a striking spectacle 
 in the midst of the stormy and intolerant sixteenth 
 century, when the Papacy and the Reformation every- 
 where else studied to exclude each other: — that of 
 full and free toleration and kindly feeling, among all 
 churches and all forms of faith. I quote a description 
 of this state of things from Fletcher's " History of 
 Poland." 
 
1 86 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 " There were perhaps more printing-presses at this 
 time — i. e., in the sixteenth century — in Poland than 
 there have ever been since, or than there were in 
 any other country of Europe at the time. There 
 were eighty-three towns where they printed books; 
 and in Cracow alone there were fifty presses. The 
 chief circumstances which supported so many printing- 
 houses in Poland at this time was the liberty of the 
 press; which allowed the publication of the writings 
 of all the contending sects, which were not permitted 
 to be printed elsewhere. 
 
 " Nor were the Poles less advanced in that most 
 enlightened feeling of civilization, — religious tolera- 
 tion. When almost all the rest of Europe was del- 
 uged with the blood of contending sectaries; while 
 the Lutherans were perishing in Germany; while the 
 blood of a hundred thousand Protestants, the victims 
 of the war of persecution, and the horrid massacre of 
 St. Bartholomew, was crying from the ground of France 
 against the infamous Triumvirate and the hypocritical 
 Catherine de Medici; while Mary made England a fiery 
 ordeal of persecution; and even the heart of the virgin 
 queen was not entirely cleansed of the foul stuff of 
 bigotry, but dictated the burning of the Arians — Po- 
 land opened an asylum for all religions and allowed 
 every man to worship God in his own way. 'Mosques,' 
 says Rulhiere, ' were raised among churches and syna- 
 gogues. Leopol has always been the seat of three 
 bishops, Greek, Armenian and Latin; and it was never 
 inquired which of the three cathedrals any man who 
 consented to submit to the regulations of government 
 went to receive the communion. Lastly, when the 
 Reformation was rending so many states into inimi- 
 cal factions, Poland, without proscribing her ancient 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 187 
 
 religion, received into her bosom the two new sects.' 
 All parties were allowed a perfect liberty of the 
 press. The Catholics printed their books at Cracow, 
 Posen, Lubin, etc., whilfe the followers of the Confes- 
 sion of Augsburg published theirs in Paniowicka, 
 Dombrow, etc.; the Reformers at Pinczow, Brzese, 
 Neiswiez; the Arians in Racow and Baslaw; and the 
 Greek sectarians in Lithuania, at Ostrow and Wilna." 
 
 Such was the state of the kingdom when Sigismund 
 II., the last of the kings of the house of Jagallon, died 
 in 1572. 
 
 5. Catholic Reaction in Poland. On the death of 
 Sigismund II., and the extinction of the Jagallon 
 dynasty, Poland seemed about to be delivered up 
 to hopeless anarchy. The crown was formally made 
 over to his subjects by the dying king. Poland be- 
 came henceforward an elective monarchy. After a 
 decorous interval, in which the kingdom was' adminis- 
 tered by the council of state, the archbishop, Gnesne, 
 convoked a diet for considering the steps proper to 
 be taken for the election of a new king. The partisans 
 and lovers of the old method of assembling all the 
 nobles at the national diets prevailed in securing the 
 decision that all the nobles should have a voice in 
 the election of the king. It was resolved that all the 
 nobles of the kingdom should meet in a large plain 
 near Warsaw. Such a spectacle was never elsewhere 
 seen — thousands of nobles on horseback, in military 
 costume, assembled to elect a king. In this so-called 
 diet the coronation oath, or pactU conventa, was re- 
 vised. Its provisions remained unaltered until the 
 dismemberment of Poland by Prussia and Russia. It 
 stripped the monarch of all power except that of ex- 
 ecuting the laws framed by the diet, with the single. 
 
1 88 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 but important, exception of appointments to all the 
 offices in the kingdom. It made the crown elective 
 and provided for the regular convocation of the diet 
 every two years. It bound the king and the kingdom 
 to perfect toleration of all religions. The Roman 
 Catholic however remained the state religion, and the 
 kings were bound to be of that profession of faith. 
 
 The nobles accordingly assembled on the plain 
 near Warsaw; and most picturesque and brilliant, and 
 certainly unique, was the scene and the proceedings. 
 Several candidates were nominated, among whom 
 were King John of Sweden; Ernest, son of the em- 
 peror Maximilian of Austria; and Henry, Duke of 
 Anjou, son of Catherine de Medici and brother of 
 Charles IX., then king of France. The latter was 
 elected; that is, he was accepted, not by a counted 
 and ascertained majority, but by a louder acclaim and 
 clash of arms than greeted the announcement of any 
 other name. No sooner however had he reluctantly 
 reached Poland, than he was informed of the death 
 of Charles, which left him the rightful heir of the 
 throne of France. Knowing that the Poles would 
 not allow him to violate the oath which bound him 
 to reside in Poland, he resolved to leave, and did 
 leave, the kingdom by stealth. He was overtaken a 
 few leagues from Cracow by a Polish nobleman, but 
 resolutely refused to return. 
 
 The next person elected was Stephen Batory, Duke 
 of Transylvania, the husband of Anne, the sister of the 
 late king Sigismund. He was a prince of rare virtues 
 and eminent talent. In his wars with Russia he gained 
 great renown, no less for his signal victories, than for 
 the contrast of his just and elevated spirit with the 
 barbarous and vindictive character of his Russian foes. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 189 
 
 It was under this wise and just king that the Ro- 
 manists acquired a great increase of influence and 
 power. They did not succeed in changing the laws 
 which enforced toleration, but they put themselves, 
 through the mistaken policy of the king, at the 
 sources of religious influence, which greatly extended 
 the power of the Papacy and threatened to bring the 
 kingdom again into absolute obedience to the Pope. 
 The peace between Poland and Russia was brought 
 about through the agency of Possevin, the Jesuit, and 
 Legate of the Pope. This led to the introduction of 
 the Jesuits into Poland. That order was of high repu- 
 tation for its learning; and the king, ignorant of their 
 history and principles, imagined that he was promot- 
 ing the welfare of his kingdom when he intrusted to 
 them the care of the University of Wilna, which he 
 had just founded. But there, as everywhere in Europe, 
 they soon showed themselves in a different character 
 from that of peaceful teachers, which it was their 
 policy, when they wished to get possession of a king- 
 dom, to assume. 
 
 The successive steps by which this influence was 
 acquired are stated by Ranke with his usual clearness: 
 
 "An opinion has been expressed that the Protes- 
 tants, who for a time certainly had as we have seen 
 the decided supremacy in Poland, would also have been 
 in a condition to raise a king of their own faith to the 
 throne, but that even they themselves came at length 
 to consider a Catholic more advantageous, because in 
 the person of the Pope he had still a higher power and 
 judge placed over him. 
 
 " If this were so they brought a very heavy punish- 
 ment upon themselves for a. decision so adverse to 
 Protestantism. 
 
iQO The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 " For it was precisely by the agency of a Catholic 
 king that the Pope was able to make war on them. 
 " Of all the foreign embassadors to Poland the Papal 
 Nuncios alone possessed the right of demanding audi- 
 ence of the king without the presence of a senator. 
 We know what these men were. They had prudence 
 and address enough to cultivate and profit by the con- 
 fidential intercourse thus placed within their reach. 
 
 " In the beginning of the eightieth year of the six- 
 teenth century Cardinal Bolognetto was the Nuncio in 
 Poland. He complained of the severity of the climate; 
 of the cold to which as an Italian he was doubly sus- 
 ceptible; of the close, suffocating air in the small heated 
 rooms; and of the whole mode of life which was utterly 
 uncongenial to his habits and predilections. He nev- 
 ertheless accompanied King Stephen from Warsaw to 
 Cracow, from Wilna to Lubin — throughout the king- 
 dom in short; at times in rather a melancholy mood, 
 but none the less indefatigable. During the campaign 
 he kept up his intercourse with the king at least by 
 letter and maintained an uninterrupted connection be- 
 tween the interests of Rome and the royal personage. 
 
 "We have a circumstantial relation of his official 
 proceedings and from this we learn the character of 
 his undertakings and how far he prospered in them. 
 
 " Above all things he exhorted the king to appoint 
 only Catholics to government offices; to permit no 
 other worship than that of the Catholic Church in 
 the royal towns; and to re-establish the tithes- 
 measures which were adopted about the same time 
 in other countries and which promoted or indicated 
 the renovation of Catholicism. 
 
 " But the Nuncio was not wholly successful in the 
 first instance. King Stephen thought he could not go 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 191 
 
 so far; he declared that he was not sufficiently power- 
 ful to venture it. Yet this prince was not only imbued 
 with Catholic convictions he had besides an innate 
 zeal for the interests of the Church, and in many par- 
 ticulars his decisions were regulated by the represen- 
 tations of the Nuncio. 
 
 "It was under the immediate patronage of royalty 
 that the Jesuit colleges in Cracow, Gradno, and 
 Puttusk were established. The new calendar was 
 introduced without difficulty and the ordinances of 
 the Council of Trent were for the most part carried 
 into full effect. But the most important circum- 
 stance was the king's determination that the bishop- 
 rics should for the future be bestowed on Catholics 
 only. Protestants had previously made their way even 
 to these ecclesiastical dignities; but the Nuncio was 
 now authorized to summon them before his tribunal 
 and to depose them; a fact of all the more importance 
 inasmuch as that a seat and vote in the senate were 
 attached to the episcopal office. It was this. political 
 efficacy of the spiritual institutions that the Nuncio 
 most especially sought to turn to account. Above all 
 he exhorted the bishops to be unanimous as regarded 
 the measures to be adopted at the Diet, and these 
 measures were prescribed by himself With the most 
 powerful of the Polish ecclesiastics, the Archbishop 
 Gnesne, the Archbishop of Cracow, Bolognetto had 
 formed a close personal intimacy which was of infinite 
 utility for the promotion of his views. Thus he suc- 
 ceeded not only in awakening new zeal among the 
 clergy, but also in at once obtaining extensive influ- 
 ence over temporal affairs. The English were making 
 proposals for a commercial treaty with Poland which 
 promised to be very advantageous, more particularly 
 
192 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 for Dantzic. It was by the Nuncio alone that this 
 purpose was defeated, and principally because the 
 English required a distinct promise that they should 
 be allowed to trade and live in peace without being 
 persecuted on account of their religion. 
 
 "These things suffice to show that, however moder- 
 ate King Stephen might be, it was yet under him that 
 Catholicism acquired an essential reinstation in Poland." 
 
 It was under these circumstances that Sigismund 
 III., son of King John of Sweden, was elected King of 
 Poland. His mother, Catherine Jagellonica, had borne 
 him in prison, and so carefully trained him in the 
 Catholic faith that he remained immovably fixed in 
 it, notwithstanding that his boyhood and youth were 
 passed in the midst of the Lutheranism of Sweden. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE REIGN OF KING JOHN FROM 1 568 TO 1583. 
 
 T N the last chapter, after a description of the events 
 -■- which resulted in the accession of Duke John to 
 the throne of Sweden, and an account of his general 
 political policy in the administration of the kingdom, 
 there followed a sketch of the condition of Poland up 
 to the period of the election of Sigismund, the son of 
 King John, to the throne of that country. It may seem 
 that it would have been a more natural course to have 
 proceeded with the narrative of events in Sweden up 
 to the period of the election of Sigismund; and then to 
 have given that sketch of the affairs of Poland to the 
 time when they became implicated with those of Swe- 
 den. It seemed, however, that in proceeding with the 
 story of John's reign, a more definite impression of it 
 would be conveyed if the narrative were not inter- 
 rupted by a description of the condition of Poland 
 previous to the election of Sigismund; and if we were 
 so far in possession of its history as to follow intelli- 
 gently the proceedings in which the two kingdoms 
 were subsequently involved. 
 
 During the whole period in which those ec- 
 
 Condition clesiastical events occurred King John was 
 
 from isb8 constantly engaged in war with Denmark 
 
 " ^^ ^' or with Russia. The war with Denmark he 
 
 had inherited on his accession, 1568, from Efic. A dis- 
 
194 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 graceful truce for six months, to be consummated by 
 a more disgraceful peace, which had been entered into 
 by Eric, was disavowed by the States under King John. 
 War was resumed to the advantage of Sweden ; and the 
 Congress of Stettin, under the mediation of the Em- 
 peror of Austria, the King of France, and the Elector 
 of Saxony, concluded a peace in 1570 which was ad- 
 vantageous and honorable to Sweden. But the war 
 with Russia, in which the possession of Livonia was 
 contested, and which led to successful Swedish inva- 
 sions and great victories in Russia, and to horrible bar- 
 barities on the part of Ivan the Terrible in Finland, 
 was not closed until 1582. 
 
 Immediately after his coronation at Upsala 
 
 First Meas- t , /- , , ■ i , ^, , 
 
 urefor Res- Kmg J ohn Confirmed his brother Charles m 
 toration of ^jje government of Sudermania, Nericia and 
 Wormland, which had been assigned to him 
 in the last will of Gustavus. This he did, not only to 
 give him some satisfaction for depriving him of an equal 
 position in the government of the kingdom, but also to 
 remove him from Stockholm, that he might not be able 
 to counteract the measures which the king had deter- 
 mined upon for the restoration of Romanism. His pol- 
 icy was not to attempt at once and violently to restore 
 it; but gradually to prepare the way for its introduc- 
 tion, by so modifying the liturgy and increasing the 
 splendor of the ceremonies, as to create a taste and 
 habit which would not ultimately be satisfied with any- 
 thing less than the full restoration of the Romish sys- 
 tem. Soon after his coronation he proposed to the 
 clergy some articles relating to the vestments to be 
 used in the public worship and the garments to be or- 
 dinarily worn by the clergy, which would present them 
 to the people in a garb closely resembling that of the 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 195 
 
 Romish ecclesiastics. Other regulations concerning 
 discipline and dependence upon the bishops were pro- 
 posed which had the same design. But these articles 
 were at once rejected by the clergy. The movement 
 of the king was premature, abrupt and unskillful. It 
 produced just that conviction of his intention to re- 
 store Romanism which he wished to disguise. 
 
 . After concluding a peace with Denmark, 1 570, 
 cius'Summa- King John again, and in a more skillful man- 
 ry of Luther- ner, resumed his settled purpose to bring back 
 
 an Doctrine. ... , , t- ■, -r, ix 
 
 the kmgdom to obedience to the Pope. Hav- 
 ing heard that the Archbishop Nericius, of Stockholm, 
 had composed a work which was intended as a sum- 
 mary of the Christian doctrine as held by the Swedish 
 Church, he requested the archbishop to allow him to 
 see it before it should be published. Having read it 
 over he persuaded the archbishop to leave out some 
 of the most pronounced statements of the Lutheran 
 doctrine; and to state some points in controversy be- 
 tween the Lutheran and Catholic Church in vague and 
 general phraseology. The archbishop not only con- 
 sented to these modifications but also to the statement 
 at the close of the book, "that there were several 
 things wanting to render it complete, which he recom- 
 mended his successor to supply." The king also suc- 
 ceeded in having it sanctioned by synodical authority; 
 which gave it the same position in the Swedish Church 
 as the Apology of Jewel and that of Melancthon oc- 
 cupied in the Churches of England and Germany. But 
 the book was not allowed to pass unquestioned. Some 
 of the clergy exposed its unsound or unsatisfactory 
 statements; but, as usual in such cases, a party arose 
 in the kingdom favorable, not as yet to the rein- 
 statement of the Papal power, but to an advanced 
 
196 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 doctrinal system, approaching that of Rome, and to 
 the introduction of a higher and more showy ritual. 
 The device of the king seemed, as a first step, to be 
 successful. 
 
 Policy of the So strongly, however, did the majority of the 
 J^''"S- clergy adhere to the Augsburg Confession, 
 
 that the king found it necessary to declare that his design 
 was the same as that of some of the Lutheran divines in 
 Germany, who labored to bring Romanists and Luther- 
 ans to unite upon the basis of the doctrine and discipline 
 of the undivided Church of the first six centuries. Such 
 had been the policy of Ferdinand I. of Austria in his 
 later days — a policy which he attempted to accomplish 
 through the agency of Cassander, a Lutheran divine, 
 and of two of his Roman theologians, StaphyluS and 
 Wizel. This, however, was not the real object of the 
 king. The avowed design of Cassander was his real 
 one; whereas King John hypocritically professed to 
 adopt it only with the view to pass onward from it to 
 full union with the Church of Rome. This scheme had 
 proved to be quite impracticable in Germany, as John 
 well knew; but it might serve to deceive those who 
 were alarmed at the innovations which seemed to look 
 Romeward. " And to compass his design the better," 
 says Puffendorf, " he called a convocation of the bishops 
 and ministers of every diocese at Stockholm, to consult 
 about the choice of a new archbishop; to whom he rep- 
 resented how many heresies daily grew up in Europe; 
 and how great troubles and disorders they had occa- 
 sioned in the Low Countries, France and Germany; 
 whence he inferred that it was best to adhere to the 
 doctrine of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. To 
 which he added, that when their predecessors had gone 
 about to destroy the ancient errors they had also at the 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 197 
 
 same time abolished several good and decent ordi- 
 nances, to the great prejudice of piety." 
 A iiew Lit. The king gradually induced his clergy to 
 "''^- accept a Liturgy which was, in large part, 
 
 his own work, and which was a near approach to the 
 offices of the Roman Church. The service for the ad- 
 ministration of the eucharist, which was called a mass, 
 and bore a great resemblance to the Roman office, was 
 the first changed form that was accepted by the clergy. 
 John made its acceptance the condition of filling the 
 long vacant sees of Linkoping and of Westeras. But, 
 even after their election, the king would not consent to 
 confirm them in their temporalities until they had 
 signed some Articles in which they pledged their con- 
 sent to further alterations in the Liturgy. The king 
 then summoned a synod at Stockholm for the revision 
 of all the forms and offices of the Church, with the pro- 
 fessed view of bringing them into conformity with those 
 of the Church of the first six centuries. Under the 
 pressure of the king and of the newly consecrated 
 bishops the synod consented to the proposed changes. 
 They introduced several ceremonies of the Romish 
 Church, such especially as related to the sacraments 
 and the consecration of priests and bishops. This form- 
 ulary was called " The Liturgy of the Church of Sweden, 
 according to the Catholic and Orthodox Church" and 
 was published in Latin and Swedish, that at first they 
 might make use of both languages; and that when the 
 people should become accustomed to it they might 
 drop the use of the Swedish altogether. 
 
 ,,, It is not to be supposed that the Pope would 
 
 Agency of the . . '■'■,, '■ 
 
 Pope in these remam Ignorant or an mactive spectator of 
 Movetnents. tjjgse proceedings. The character of John 
 was such as to lay him open to flatteries and intrigues 
 
198 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 of subtle Papists and to the influence of his noble and 
 gifted wife. He was a man of large learning, — speak- 
 ing and writing readily and well German, French, Ital- 
 ian, and English; and able to make long Latin speeches 
 without premeditation. Theology was the science of 
 the age and during his long imprisonment he devoted 
 himself to it; and at first seemed really to have adopted 
 the views of Cassander, which he subsequently brought 
 forward as a blind to his purpose of introducing Ro- 
 manism. But, says Geijer, " We should do him too 
 much honor if we should suppose that he had pene- 
 trated to the core of the question. He loved hie- 
 rarchic like all other pomp, and devised ceremonies 
 for divine worship, as he did arms for the provinces, 
 decorations for his buildings, and additions to his 
 titles." 
 
 On such a nature it was easy for the Pope to work. 
 The queen's zeal was stimulated by the praises which 
 she received from Rome. Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius 
 wrote to her that she was extolled to heaven on ac- 
 count of her care for the eternal salvation of her hus- 
 band. "He had already," the letter continued, "in- 
 timated his wish that some learned and pious Jesuits 
 should be sent to him. 'Hereof the whole city con- 
 verses." In another letter the cardinal reproaches her 
 " for suffering herself to be persuaded by the king to 
 take the Holy Supper under both forms of bread and 
 wine, instructing her how to answer the objections of 
 her husband, and at the same time bring him back 
 gradually to the bosom of the Church! She must ex- 
 hort him first to restore priests to office, and to resume 
 the celebration of the mass. If that were done, then 
 the Church, as a tender mother, might even permit the 
 use of the cup to the laity. This was written in 1572. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 199 
 
 Two years later the same promise is repeated, with the 
 condition, however, that some token of return to the use 
 of the mass must be given before negotiations can be 
 opened for the restoration of the cup. In a letter to 
 the king in 1576 the cardinal expresses his gratification 
 that the return to the ceremonies was being gradually 
 effected; and in another letter, of October, 1577, he 
 thanks God for the king's conversion. When the two 
 Jesuits, Florentius Fayt and Laurentius Novegus, came 
 to Stockholm they gave themselves out as evangelical " 
 preachers. From the tabors of the latter the cardinal 
 expected great results, because as a Norwegian he 
 could make himself easily understood by the people. 
 " Seek above all," he wrote to John Herbst, the queen's 
 court chaplain, " that he may obtain a church wherein 
 to preach. Let him avoid offense. Let him extol 
 faith to heaven, and depreciate works without faith, 
 preaching Christ as the only Mediator and His cross as 
 the only means of salvation; thereupon let him show 
 that nothing else has been preached in the Papacy." 
 That Rome regarded all measures against Protestants 
 as lawful, appears not only from this incident, but from 
 anotJier which occurred just previous to the same pe- 
 riod. When Henry of Valois^ in 1 573, was elected king 
 of Poland, the cardinal advises that the Protestants 
 there abiding should be fed with hopes until after the 
 coronation; but if the king had even promised them on 
 oath, the freedom of their religion, he was not bound 
 to its observance. 
 
 Condition of The deplorable condition into which the 
 the Church church had fallen during the reign of Eric, 
 "of "kThs greatly favored the designs of John. He 
 John. made it to appear that he was laboring for 
 
 a restoration, rather than for the overthrow, of the old 
 
200 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 church order. In the Articles concerning the clergy, 
 issued in 1569 and 1574, complaints are made that ig- 
 norant students were called to the priesthood; that 
 homicides, topers, and adulterers, exercised it with im- 
 punity; that many clergymen neglected their calling for 
 trade and other secular business; that they gave no 
 thought to their sermon, before they came into the 
 church, and then read out of the Book of Homilies 
 what came to hand, whether or not it might suit the 
 gospel of the day; that they went to the altar in torn 
 or unclean vestments, and dispensed the sacraments 
 with foul hands. Many churches had fallen into decay 
 and ruin. The church plate had disappeared so en- 
 tirely that clay vessels were used in the dispensation 
 of the sacraments, notwithstanding, as the king com- 
 plained, the clergy had silver cups in their own houses. 
 The nobility and possessors of the tithes held not only 
 the crown's two-thirds of the tithes, but also often that 
 portion of them which was intended for the mainte- 
 nance of the church and clergy. The king issued re- 
 peated prohibitions against this abuse, and expended 
 large sums on the erection and improvement of the 
 churches, and on the provision of proper vessels and 
 suitable decorations for the orderly and reverent ad- 
 ministration of the ordinances of divine worship. He 
 would even provide for the reclothing of ragged priests 
 who came in his way. All these measures tended to rec- 
 oncile the clergy and the people to his innovations in 
 the public service, so long as they could regard them 
 as evidences of his mere harmless eccentricity, or his 
 high ritualistic tastes. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 201 
 
 The Kirk's The aged and faithful archbishop, a decided 
 Ordinance Protestant, endeavored to counteract the de- 
 
 of A bp. . r ' , . 
 
 Laurentitts Sign of the king, and at the same time to 
 Petri. reform the deplorable evils of the church. 
 
 He drew up in 1571 the Kirk's Ordinance, which was 
 sanctioned by a synod. Some of its regulations were 
 new, called out by the evils of the time, and others 
 were a republication of regulations which had fallen 
 into disuse or neglect. A new regulation, in the Prot- 
 estant direction, provided that a call or an assent of 
 the congregation should be obtained before a priest 
 should be instituted. To the bishop was given the 
 power of refusing ordination to candidates whom he 
 judged to be incompetent or unworthy. The candi- 
 date for ordination was required to be at least " toler- 
 ably conversant with the Holy Scriptures." He was 
 bound to understand the Latin language and to be 
 able to speak it. If he wished to acquire Greek or He- 
 brew he must provide masters for himself The bishop 
 was to take care that the people should be instructed 
 in the catechism; and no one was admitted to full 
 membership with the church who did not know the 
 Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. 
 The minister was allowed to take his sermon from the 
 Book of Homilies. A singular regulation provided 
 that a person who had been excluded from commun- 
 ion for notorious transgressions might remain in the 
 church during the sermon, but must afterwards with- 
 draw; if he resisted, and would not go out, divine ser- 
 vice was to close. The old and the severest church 
 penalty was retained, which compelled great offenders, 
 and those especially who were guilty of fornication and 
 adultery, to stand naked before the church door. The 
 seven cathedrals of the kingdom were to be provided 
 
202 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 with a modest staff of officials— the bishop, his com- 
 missary or chancellor, an assistant minister, the acting 
 rector of the church, a schoolmaster, a teacher of the- 
 ology, a penitentiary, and a church warden. The 
 bishop was to be elected by the clergy, and a selected 
 number of the laity. The episcopal title was again 
 generally assumed under the reign of John, though not 
 enforced by canon. 
 
 We can see in these regulations the effort of the 
 bishop and the clergy to resist the innovations of the 
 king and to retain, and even to increase, the simplicity 
 in the performance of the services which prevailed 
 under Gustavus. But, as we shall see' these efforts 
 were of little avail. An opposite policy was adopted 
 by the successor of the archbishop. The venerable 
 friend of King Gustavus died two years after these reg- 
 ulations were made — regulations which seem not to 
 have been enforced, beyond the bounds of his own im- 
 mediate jurisdiction. 
 
 , ,. After the death of the archbishop, 1572, which 
 
 PetriGothus removed the greatest obstacle to his reaction- 
 made Abp. ary poHcy, King John more openly proclaimed 
 and prosecuted his designs. He caused his own son-in- 
 law, Laurentius Petri Gothus, to be chosen archbishop. 
 The new primate was a man of compliant temper, and 
 by a devotion to the works of the Fathers, upon which 
 he held prelections in Upsala, had persuaded himself 
 that a system midway between Romanism and Prot- 
 estantism was that which had prevailed in the primi- 
 tive church, and should be adopted in Sweden. He 
 drew up and subscribed, and induced some of the clergy 
 to subscribe — for they were not enforced by synodical 
 action — seventeen articles in which the restoration of 
 convents, veneratien of the saints, prayers for the dead, 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 203 
 
 and most of the ceremonies of the old church, were ap- 
 proved. He was consecrated with full hierarchical pomp 
 in 1575. There was used on that occasion for the first 
 time the episcopal mantle, miter, and crosier, which the 
 Swedish bishops afterwards retained, although at that 
 time they were much opposed by the clergy. By the 
 king's express command the ceremony of anointing the 
 bishop was also performed. It was in the following year 
 that the Jesuits of whom I have spoken came to Stock- 
 holm. They were received without suspicion as good 
 Lutherans. As they were highly esteemed for their 
 learning, and the mass of the clergy were but little edu- 
 cated, the king required all of them that were in Stock- 
 holm to attend their lectures. The king caused them to 
 hold public disputations in which he himself took part, 
 and inveighed vehemently against the Pope, but allowed 
 himself to be. easily confuted. Numerous secret con- 
 versions were effected. The scheme of the king seemed 
 about to succeed. But the Pope, Gregory XIII., began 
 to be impatient of these slow and secret proceedings, 
 and at the degree in which the king assumed to guide 
 and control the affairs of the church. When the king 
 proposed to the Pope that the priests should for the 
 present read inaudibly the invocations to saints, and 
 the prayers for the dead, the latter demanded that 
 such methods should be abandoned, and exhorted 
 the king, if he were earnest and conscientious in the 
 matter, to make a public profession of the Catholic 
 faith. 
 
 The Liturgy which, as we have seen, was 
 I^^uiZS^- constructed according to the views of the 
 sally ac. king, under the 'direction of Peter Herbst, 
 '^^" ' his queen's chaplain, and the Jesuit Norvegus, 
 
 was published by the authority of the archbishop, who 
 
204 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 assumed its authorship; and was also sanctioned by 
 Erasmus, Bishop of Westeras. But it was not univer- 
 sally approved and adopted. The Duke Charles, when 
 earnestly requested by the king to introduce it in the 
 regions under his jurisdiction, peremptorily refused; 
 and reminded him that according to their father's will 
 they were bound not to make or allow any alteration 
 in the established religion of the kingdom. The court- 
 iers declared that the bishops and clergy were bound 
 to obey the archbishop as their spiritual father, who, 
 by the very nature of his office, was invested with pa- 
 triarchal authority. The king issued a decree that 
 henceforth the election of a bishop should not rest 
 with the clergy of the diocese alone; but that the 
 Archbishop and Archchapter of Upsala, should be 
 co-electors. All ecclesiastical promotions were con- 
 ditioned upon the acceptance of the Liturgy. The 
 king required the ministers of Stockholm to send to 
 him their opinion of it in writing. They replied, 
 through Mr. Abraham, Rector of their High School, 
 that it seemed to them that it must be the design, 
 as it certainly was the tendency, of the introduction 
 of the Liturgy, to restore Romanism. This stout an- 
 swer brought down upon them the wrath of the king, 
 and their dismissal from office, and the imprisonment 
 of some of them. They replied that although they had 
 subscribed the Liturgy in its first form, various addi- 
 tions had since been made to it, which they could not, 
 with a good conscience, sanction. They expressed a 
 willingness to appeal to and abide by the decisions 
 of a free Synod called to consider the subject. 
 
 Accordingly a Synod was held at Stockholm in 
 which all the clergy of Sweden, with the exception 
 of those under the government of Duke Charles, were 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 205 
 
 represented. The power of the king and the influence 
 of the archbishop secured a majority in favor of the 
 Liturgy. An article was adopted which prepared the 
 way for the reception of the full Romish doctrine of a 
 propitiatory sacrifice of Christ in the mass, by the as- 
 sertion of an unbloody sacrifice. Mr. Abraham, and 
 the clergy of Stockholm and the professors of Upsala, 
 vigorously and boldly contested this position, and re- 
 sisted the introduction of the Liturgy. They were 
 immediately deposed and put in prison. The king' 
 found little difficulty in bringing the National Diet 
 to sign the Liturgy and to pass a decree that who- 
 soever should oppose the decisions of the Synod and 
 refuse to accept it should be accounted enemies of the 
 State. And with all this influence and these penalties 
 in support of the action of the Synod and the Diet the 
 king required three other eminent professors of Upsala, 
 who were not present at the Synod, to give him their 
 opinion concerning these measures in writing, and felt 
 assured that they would be intimidated from giving 
 an adverse answer. But they absolutely rejected the 
 Liturgy, and the doctrinal decrees of the Synod; and 
 argued at length against them on the authority of 
 Luther and other eminent divines. They also appealed 
 to the great Universities of Germany — Wittemberg, 
 Leipsic, Helmstadt and Frankford — for their judg- 
 ment in the matter. These all and earnestly con- 
 demned the Liturgy, and denounced it as a palpable 
 device to reinstate the Church of Rome in its old su- 
 premacy in Sweden. These emphatic Protestant tes- 
 timonies and demonstrations very considerably checked 
 the progress of the Romeward movement. 
 
2o6 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 The Kin 'j ^" ^^ autumn preceding this Synod the 
 Embassy to king had sent Pontus de la Gardie and Peter 
 the Pope. Fechten on ah embassy to the Pope. They 
 were shipwrecked in the Baltic, and Fechten perished; 
 but his colleague proceeded on his mission. John re- 
 quested the Pope to enjoin the Catholic churches 
 throughout the world to offer prayers for the restor- 
 ation of the Catholic religion in the north of Europe, 
 but not to specify Sweden by name. He begged that 
 the cup should be given to the laity; that the bishops 
 should be judged by the king in capital cases and 
 accusations of treason; that no claims should be made 
 on church estates that had been confiscated; that the 
 college erected in Stockholm, where already secret 
 instructions in Catholic doctrines were given, might 
 receive the Papal confirmation, and the teachers be 
 exempted for the present from wearing the monkish 
 garb; that King Gustavus and King Eric and all the 
 nobility who had died out of the communion of the 
 church, should not be disturbed in their graves; that 
 priests' marriages should be allowed, while celibacy 
 should be encouraged and lauded as the better life; 
 that the king might without sin join in the worship 
 of the heretics, until the Catholic rites and services 
 should be established. John assured the Pope that 
 the way was prepared for the reinstatement of the 
 Catholic worship by the restored dignity and splendor 
 of the services, by the renewal of several abolished 
 holy days, by the introduction of fast days and con- 
 fession, by the restoration of convents, which had al- 
 ready begun, and by the education of several noble 
 Swedish youths in Rome, Vienna, and other Catholic 
 cities. 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 207 
 
 Mission of The Suggestions of King John were by no 
 the Jesuit means satisfactory to the Pope. They al- 
 
 Cardmal, , ,. , .,.., 
 
 Anthony lowed far too much power m ecclesiastical 
 Possevm. affairs to be exercised by the king, to be 
 compatible with the Pope's claim to absolute, univer- 
 sal, unquestioned and unquestionable authority. Mean- 
 while, disguising his dissatisfaction, he dispatched Car- 
 dinal Possevin to Stockholm to work on the king's mind 
 and bring him into full subjection to the Papal policy. 
 In order to avoid a clamor among the people, the car- ' 
 dinal came not as a Nuncio — ^which he was in fact — 
 from the Pope, but as the representative of the em- 
 peror. At Wadstena, in 1578, King John was secretly 
 reconciled and brought into full communion with the 
 Catholic Church, in the presence of the cardinal. From 
 that period the proceedings of the king in favor of the 
 Catholic Church, and against that which was estab- 
 lished, become more open. No doubt could longer 
 remain in the minds of the Protestants that the king 
 was resolutely bent on the full restoration not only 
 of the Catholic worship, but of the Papal power. The 
 Bishop of Linkoping, Martin Olaveson, was stripped 
 of his Episcopal robes publicly before the altar of his 
 own cathedral, for having called the Pope Antichrist. 
 His see was bestowed on the infamous Peter Carlson, 
 Ordinary of Calmar, a parasite of Eric, who was pop- 
 ularly believed to have instigated the murder of the 
 Stures. All passages against the Pope were expelled 
 from the Canticles. Luther's Catechism was banished 
 from the schools. New silver shrines were provided 
 for the relics of saints, which were brought out from 
 the midst of the lumber to which they had been con- 
 signed for the last fifty years. An abridgement of 
 Canon Law was drawn up for the guidance of the 
 
2o8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Swedish Church. When the chair of the archbishop 
 became vacant, in 1579, it was allowed to remain un- 
 occupied for four years, in the hope that a Romanist 
 might be appointed. Jesuits under manifold disguises 
 entered the kingdom. John designed to employ them 
 in the University, which he caused to be removed from 
 Upsala to Stockholm, because of the stout resistance 
 which its professors continued to offer to his designs. 
 Many Swedish youths were sent out of the country to 
 be educated in Jesuit schools. 
 
 Such was the rapid course of events and proceed- 
 ings which seemed to make the restoration of Roman- 
 ism probable, or a deadly struggle in the kingdom 
 inevitable, when an event occurred which led to a 
 reaction in the mind of the king, and to a pause in 
 the aggressive measures which he had begun. The 
 queen, Catherine Jagellonica, whose eminent virtues 
 were admitted by all classes and parties in Sweden, 
 died in 1583. From that time the advancing wave 
 of Romish influence, which seemed about to overflow 
 the whole land, had reached its highest point and 
 began to recede. We should call it one of the insolu- 
 ble mysteries of His government who is head over all 
 things to His Church, that the orthodox faith of the 
 Christian world under Constantine, and the Protestant 
 faith of a kingdom under King John should be, or 
 seem to be, dependent upon the fickle minds of two 
 unworthy monarchs, did we not remember that neither 
 does God govern the world, nor Christ the Church, by 
 the annihilation of the freedom of the human will. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE REIGN OF KING JOHN FROM 1 583, TO HIS 
 BEATH, 1592. 
 
 ReacH«» in W^^^ *^^ archbishop was fully con- 
 theMindof * ' vinccd that it was the design of the 
 the Abp. j^jjjg ^.Q restore the Papal power in Sweden, 
 he repented of his agency in sanctioning and assuming 
 the authorship of the Liturgy. Nor did he fail to ex- 
 press to the king his regret at his reactionary meas- 
 ures, which had led to a system which was neither 
 Protestantism nor Romanism, but which would inevi- 
 tably end in the latter. Perceiving, however, that he 
 exerted no influence with the king, and feeling that he 
 had been used as a tool to further an object which 
 he abhorred, and seeing that the cardinal, Possevin, 
 had acquired absolute ascendency over the mind of the 
 fickle king, he was brought, through jealousy of the car- 
 dinal and disapproval of the ends aimed at by the king, 
 into a hostile attitude of mind, the blended result of 
 mortification, indignation, and penitence. He now 
 openly opposed the policy which he had been the 
 chief agent to establish. He wrote, and published 
 anonymously, a little book in which he unsparingly 
 exposed the intrigues and denounced the errors of the 
 Church of Rome. As he was a man of compliant, ra- 
 ther than an evil, nature, he bitterly bewailed his ac- 
 quiescence in measures, whose real object he did not 
 
2IO The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 discern, which threatened to bring back the spiritual 
 and temporal servitude from which Sweden had been 
 emancipated by the heroic efforts of Gustavus. He 
 died in the course of the following year under the 
 frowns of the king, the hatred of the people, and the 
 reproaches of his conscience. 
 
 Notwithstanding the opposition of many of 
 ofTho'^who the most eminent men in the kingdom to 
 opposed the thg Liturgy and to measures which looked 
 I urgy. ^^ ^^^ restoration of the Papacy, the king 
 obstinately 'persisted in his policy. That opposition 
 had appeared in an official form of so grave a charac- 
 ter that it would seem calculated to make one even as 
 conceited and obstinate as John to pause. When a 
 diet was summoned to consider the question of a league 
 between Poland and Sweden to resist the progress of 
 the Russians in Livonia and Esthonia, that body de- 
 voted more attention to the religious condition of the 
 country than to the object for which they were sum- 
 moned. They represented to the king that as he had 
 introduced many innovations in the religion of the 
 country, it was commonly believed that he intended to 
 restore Catholicism; and they therefore entreated him 
 to declare in the presence of the States that the doc- 
 trine of the Church of Sweden was agreeable to that 
 of the primitive Church; to take measures for banish- 
 ing the Popish books that had been introduced into the 
 kingdom; and to educate the prince Sigismund in the 
 Protestant religion, in order that he might be more ac- 
 ceptable to the people, and that they might not fear 
 that, on his accession, he would force them to become 
 members of the Church of Rome. But King John had 
 passed quite beyond any influence from remonstrances 
 like these. It was at a period when he was most com- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 211 
 
 pletely in subjection to Possevin, and most earnest in 
 his purpose to restore the Papacy. The opposition to 
 the Liturgy had found more or less emphatic expres- 
 sion from 1576 to the death of the queen, and every- 
 where it had been met with persecution, and in some 
 cases with the penalty of death. The king complains 
 in 1576 that in the diocese of Skara, Master Maurice 
 of Bone had endeavored to raise a great tumult against 
 it among councilors and nobles. The priest was ex- 
 amined by torture, and put to death with several of 
 his followers. In 1580 an order was given that the 
 revenues of those clergymen who did not observe the 
 Liturgy should be withheld; in 1582 it was enforced 
 under heavier penalties. Priests who refused obedi- 
 ence were deposed and imprisoned or driven into 
 exile. Nothing so irritated the king as the rejec- 
 tion of his Liturgy. He even inflicted personal vio- 
 lence on a clergyman of Stockholm, named Scheffer, 
 and so trampled upon him that the poor man's health 
 was broken for the remainder of his life. 
 Reaction in •^f"^^'' ^^^ death of the queen it was observed 
 the Mind of that the zeal of the king for the restoration 
 the King. Qf ^jjg Papacy began to cool. The with-' 
 drawal of her influence on that behalf was not the 
 only, nor perhaps the most powerful, cause of this 
 change of feeling. Political resentments contributed 
 to the same result. He Had solicited, and through the 
 mediation of the Pope he had hoped to obtain, the Ne- 
 apolitan dukedoms of Bari and Rossini, on which his 
 wife had claims from her mother, Bona Sforzia. Nei- 
 ther had this expectation been fulfilled, nor had the 
 promise of the Pope to labor for the interests of Sweden 
 in the peace between Poland and Russia been kept. 
 On the contrary, the treaty negotiated under the me- 
 
212 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 diation of Possevin confirmed the Polish claims to the 
 Swedish possessions in Livonia. Not long after these 
 events we find John so exasperated against the Pope 
 that he actually began to persecute the Catholics. 
 Laurence Forss, a minister of Stockholm who had be- 
 come a Catholic, was deposed with the same degrading 
 ceremonies which had been employed in the case of 
 the Bishop of Linkoping for having called the Pope 
 Antichrist. The Jesuits were banished from the realm, 
 their new college in Stockholm abolished, and the in- 
 struction of its students assigned to Lutheran profes- 
 sors. By a proclamation all converts to the Catholic 
 Church were threatened with exile, if they did not 
 speedily recant. While the king was in this mood he 
 turned his attention for a time to the Greek Church, 
 and believed that by connecting himself with it he 
 might still retain and enforce his beloved Liturgy. 
 But when he found that the Greek Church wa^ even 
 less flexible in its forms than the Latin, and that no 
 departures from her ritual would be allowed, he settled 
 down on his original purpose of enforcing his own 
 mongrel forms. His position was such as made it quite 
 impossible for any large number of persons who had 
 been either Protestants or Romanists to accept his sys- 
 tem ex animo, although many would seemingly acqui- 
 esce in it, in order to escape punishment or acquire 
 promotion. 
 
 Podtionand J!',^ y°""& P""<^^ Sigismund had been care- 
 Characterof fuHy tramed by his mother in the Catholic 
 
 hmJnd.^'^' ^^^^'^- ^" ^^"^ ^^^^^ ^^^ she solemnly ex- 
 horted him to be faithful to his creed and to 
 turn a deaf ear to all persuasions to apostatize. The 
 prince, who had far more steadiness of character than 
 his father, though with much less intellectual force, 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 213 
 
 had accepted Catholicism with full conviction, and 
 held it in the tight grasp with which narrow minds 
 hold exclusive systems, and threw into it a fervor of 
 zeal which became almost fanaticism. It was in vain 
 that the senators and nobles of the kingdom endeavored 
 to induce him to accept the Protestant faith. They 
 made no impression upon him. The change in his 
 father's policy after his mother's death seemed to 
 render her principles and her character all the more 
 sacred to him. When the nobles who attempted to 
 influence him stated that by adhering to the Roman 
 Church he would forfeit his right of succession to the 
 crown, he answered that he preferred the kingdom of 
 heaven to all the kingdoms of the earth. Dark indeed 
 seemed the prospects of Protestantism in Sweden. A 
 vascillating and arbitrary king, rooting out now the 
 Romanism which he had fostered and repressing the 
 Protestantism which was its only effective antagonist, 
 in the vain attempt to establish a visionary via media of 
 his own invention which was equally repugnant to both 
 parties — such was the situation! Between two sharply 
 defined systems, which differ from their foundation all the 
 way up to their ultimate development, there can be no 
 standing place, but only a gulf of separation. Via media 
 in such a case is via perditionis . Add to this deplorable 
 present, the prospect of a bigoted young Catholic king 
 as the successor to the throne, and we may well be- 
 lieve that the hearts of all true Protestants must have 
 had forebodings of new scenes of blood and soj-row. 
 The only point of hope on which their eyes could rest 
 was Duke Charles, whose decisive character and great 
 abilities and determined resistance of the Papal pro- 
 pagandism in his provinces, seemed to furnish a pledge 
 that when the inevitable battle between the two sys- 
 
214 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 tems should commence, Protestantism would have in 
 him a champion and leader not unworthy of his heroic 
 parentage. 
 
 Hostile At- InReference to Temporal Interests. We have 
 titude of seen how treacherously King John violated 
 ^n! S the compact by which he and Duke Charles 
 Charles. were to exercise an equal sovereignty. The 
 anomalous relation of the two brothers, and the conflict 
 of jurisdiction between the crown which claimed author- 
 ity over all the kingdom, and the duke who asserted his 
 independent sovereignty over the provinces assigned to 
 him, led to many bitter conflicts and mutual recrimina- 
 tions. War would certainly have ensued between the 
 brothers had not John been conscious that he would be 
 supported by no partisans within the jurisdiction of 
 Charles; and that Charles had some avowed and many 
 more secret and earnest friends, who would rally at once 
 around a banner on which the venerable name of Gustavus 
 and the word Protestantism should be inscribed. That 
 the claim of Charles was in conformity to the settlement 
 made by Gustavus and sanctioned by the States, is clear. 
 His independent jurisdiction was not to be interfered 
 with, and when the emergencies of national politics 
 called for the united action of all Sweden, this was to 
 be obtained, not by the authority of the king over the 
 domain of Charles, but by a general diet of the States 
 gathered from every part of the kingdom. It was a 
 system indeed which could not work without constant 
 friction; but whether wise or unwise it was the su- 
 preme law of the land. The will of the king declared 
 indeed on the one side that the princes should have 
 no right to sever themselves or their fiefs from the 
 crown of Sweden; that they were bound to be true 
 to the king, and obliged to assist him in conflicts with 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 215 
 
 foreign powers with the largest force which they could 
 raise; but, on the other side, the king says that "the 
 principalities are delivered up to them with all their 
 appurtenances and advantages as we have possessed 
 the same on behalf of the crown without exception!^ He 
 adds: " Our dear sons, as well he who comes into the 
 throne and government, as the others with their heirs, 
 shall in relation to those affairs on which the general 
 welfare of the realm depends, undertake, transact, or 
 conclude, nothing, be it peace or war or compacts or 
 alliances, important to the State unless it be done with 
 the counsel and assent of all the estates and divers of 
 the chief men of the realm." It would be difficult to 
 express a conjoint reign more distinctly, especially as 
 each of the brothers is even allowed, in cases where 
 manifest advantages can be gained for Sweden, and 
 time does not allow a common deliberation, to follow 
 his own resolution. In short, Charles was not the 
 king's viceroy, but a sovereign prince with a more inde- 
 pendent and looser relation to the sovereign power than 
 that now held by the separate German kingdoms to 
 the emperor of Germany. 
 
 In Reference to Religion. Even if differences between 
 the brothers in reference to secular interests could have 
 been adjusted, it was impossible that Charles could be 
 at cordial peace with John, so long as the latter per- 
 sisted in demanding that he should accept and enforce 
 his Liturgy. Charles constantly replied that he would 
 not depart by a hair's breadth from the doctrine and 
 polity and ritual which had been laid down, after God's 
 Word, by his father, and which he had solemnly enjoined 
 his sons to observe and defend. All negotiations on 
 this subject were entirely fruitless. When the king 
 ordered the use of his Liturgy throughout the kingdom, 
 
2i6 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Charles forbade it within his principality, and adhered 
 to the Kirk's Ordinances of 1571. He was sustained in 
 this position by his clergy and people; and he protected 
 and favored those who were persecuted by the king, 
 and fled to him; " because," he writes to the king, " we 
 profess ourselves of the religion by which they hold." 
 The Bishop of Linkoping, whom John had deprived, 
 was nominated by Charles pastor of Nykoping. The 
 theological professors of Upsala, five of whom at differ- 
 ent times had been deprived and imprisoned on ac- 
 count of the Liturgy, enjoyed his protection; and one of 
 them, Peter Jonson, was raised to the Bishopric of Streng- 
 ness. The preachers of Stockholm who rejected the 
 Liturgy also fled to him and were favorably received. 
 Many retracted the assent to the new service which 
 they had given under pressure and threats, after they 
 had become convinced that John intended, or that his 
 measures would lead to, the restoration of Romanism. 
 Reports were circulated through all the kingdom that 
 the late archbishop had died in agonies of conscience. 
 In the year 1587 so numerous had the refugees into 
 Charles' principality become that the king threatened 
 war, unless his Liturgy were adopted, and these fugi- 
 tives sent back. Charles calmly replied that he would 
 leave the question of the acceptance of the Liturgy to 
 the clergy; and he made no promise of the restoration 
 of the refugees. The Liturgy was condemned, as 
 Charles was sure it would be, at a synod held at Streng- 
 ness. The king vented his wrath upon them in a violent 
 letter, in which he called the clergy unlearned smatter- 
 ers, ass-heads, Satanists, and declared that they should 
 be treated as outlaws throughout his dominions. 
 
 The Red Book of John, as his Liturgy was called, was 
 thus the cause of the most perilous misunderstanding 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 217 
 
 between the brothers; and so violent was the strain, that 
 war ever seemed upon the point of breaking out. Men 
 saw in Charles the faithful son and representative of 
 Gustavus, whose name was more and more venerated as 
 time, and the contrast with his successors, manifested 
 his greatness. They accepted him also as a champion 
 of the reformation, not only from political and patriotic 
 motives, but also from profound religious convictions. 
 It was in fact the same struggle of principles, though 
 under somewhat different forms and watchwords, which 
 was convulsing Bohemia and Austria; and seemed about 
 to culminate in the restoration of the Papacy over all 
 the countries of Europe, except England and Scotland. 
 When we look forward a few years and see how on the 
 labors of that great hero, Gustavus Adolphus, — the 
 noble knight, the consummate general, the pure and 
 earnest Christian, — the salvation of periled Protestant- 
 ism in Europe depended, and how by his victories the 
 thirty years' war resulted in securing the rights of Prot- 
 estant States, and remember that it was the fidelity of 
 Charles which made it possible for Adolphus to succeed 
 to a Protestant throne and kingdom, we perceive that 
 we are not dealing with an insignificant struggle in a 
 small and distant kingdom, whose issue would not af- 
 fect the great interests of Europe and the world; but 
 we recognize that we are spectators of an arena where 
 champions for the truth are in the process of training 
 for a victorious struggle which will entitle them to the 
 gratitude and admiration of all succeeding time. 
 John's sec- 1^1 less than a year after the death of the 
 ond Mar- queen, King John married Gunilla Bielke, 
 its" 'Conse- a maiden of but sixteen years of age, daugh- 
 quences. tgr of a counselor of state, John Bielke. 
 The marriage was celebrated with great pomp, in Feb- 
 
2i8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 ruary, 1585, at the castle of Westeras. The young wife 
 favored, as far as she could without incurring the wrath 
 of the king, the opponents of the Liturgy. But not 
 even her great influence could deter the king from per- 
 sisting in pressing it upon the kingdom. It had be- 
 come a question in which he felt that his royal prero- 
 gative and kingly dignity were involved. But inasmuch 
 as their marriage had offended all his kindred, and in- 
 creased the alienation of Charles, the king became 
 seriously alarmed lest his enemies might by the aid 
 of his brother overthrow him; and was thus led to 
 court and to bestow new favors upon the nobility in 
 order that he might rely upon their support. The 
 policy was, in good measure, successful; for the court- 
 iers and nobility were well aware that they could hope 
 for no favoritism, or increase of their privileges, from 
 the stern and austere Charles, if he should ascend the 
 throne. And yet, notwithstanding this new rally of 
 the favored nobility to his support, the apprehensions 
 of John, in consequence of the vehement disapproval 
 of his marriage by all his kindred, were rather in- 
 creased than diminished. His children by his former 
 marriage, Sigismund and Ann, saw with no pleasant 
 feeling one of the waiting maids of their mother ad- 
 vanced to the position of their queen and step-mother. 
 The sisters of John wrote bitter letters to him on the 
 subject; and received from him and the spirited young 
 queen defiant and bitter letters in reply. Charles had 
 endeavored to dissuade the king from this marriage, 
 and refused to be present at its celebration. And so 
 the alienation of the brothers was constantly on the 
 increase. John was so nervously anxious about the 
 designs of his brother that when, in 1585, he passed 
 through a portion of his principality, he hastened 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 219 
 
 through it under the apprehension that he might be 
 captured; and refused to allow Sigismund to engage 
 in hunting lest Charles might lay an ambush for him. 
 Charles showed the same distrust of his brother by re- 
 fusing to attend the Diet of Wadstena without a safe- 
 conduct. It was given, and Charles attended the Diet; 
 but the new influence of the king with the nobility en- 
 abled him to impose some restrictions upon the au- 
 thority of Charles, to which he was either obliged or 
 felt it policy to succumb. But upon the subject of the 
 Liturgy he refused to yield, according to the language 
 which he had formerly used to his brother, by a single 
 hair's breadth. 
 
 Election at first declined. On the death of 
 Si^fsmund Stephen, King of Poland, his widow Anne, 
 toiheThrone the aunt of Sigismund, at once labored for 
 "/ an . j^.^ election. She was aided in this effort 
 by delegates sent by King John to second the scheme 
 — Eric Sparre and Eric Brahe. The Estates of Sweden 
 were not consulted in the matter. While the negotia- 
 tion was in progress Duke Charles gave, as he was 
 asked to do, renewed pledges that he would remain 
 true to Sigismund as heir to the Swedish throne; and 
 only made the reservation that Esthonia should not 
 be ceded to Poland, but should be reserved for himself. 
 There was no difficulty in the matter of religion; for 
 Poland required that their king should be a Catholic, 
 and Sigismund would be nothing else. But other con- 
 ditions to the acceptance of the throne were displeasing 
 to John and to his son. These were — that Esthonia 
 should revert to Poland; that Sigismund, after his 
 father's death, should be king of Sweden, and trans- 
 mit it to his male heir; that in cases of alleged neces- 
 sity he might go to Sweden, if Poland gave her consent; 
 
220 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 that he should keep a fleet, at his own charge, in 
 Sweden (when he became king) which he should lend 
 to the Poles when they were at war with Russia — that 
 he might bring foreign troops to his aid in war only 
 on condition that he should himself pay them. He 
 should not make use of Swedish counselors in Poland 
 and should have only Poles and Lithuanians for his 
 guards, and give fiefs and offices in the kingdom to 
 them alone. These high demands, coupled with the 
 fact that, while they were yet under consideration, the 
 Archduke Maxmilian of Austria was elected by a mi- 
 nority party of Poles which it became necessary to re- 
 press by force of arms, and the fear of committing his 
 only son and heir to so turbulent a kingdom, induced 
 King John, with the glad assent of Sigismund, to re- 
 ject the proffered crown. But his unscrupulous agent, 
 Sparre, secured his consent by disguising from him, 
 and even denying, that the surrender of Esthonia was 
 one of the conditions of the election. 
 
 The Statutes ofCalmar. The evils of the subservi- 
 ency of John to the nobles, which he had shown in 
 order to fortify himself against Charles, and of the re- 
 newal of their privileges, which had so often nullified 
 the power of the throne, and which it was the life-work 
 of Gustavus to destroy, now became apparent. A new 
 code of statutes, drawn up by the accomplished and 
 subtle Sparrd, is introduced by exaggerated exaltation 
 of the position and privileges of the nobility. It is 
 declared that to the nobility of Sweden belong high 
 reverence and honor, since they have ever held the 
 chief rank after kings, from whom many of them are 
 descended and some of whom have been elected to 
 the throne. It is therefore to be understood that 
 hereafter there are certain kinds of court service which 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 221 
 
 they shall not be called upon or expected to render, 
 and not allowed to render even if they profess a will- 
 ingness or a desire to do so. They are not to be em- 
 ployed as guards and lackeys and servitors in the royal 
 palace. Thus it is seen that, in order to secure a de- 
 fense against Charles, King John had come into bond- 
 age to a proud and overbearing nobility. 
 
 Purport of the Calmar Statutes. After this omi- 
 nous introduction the statutes proceed to declare the 
 objects to be accomplished through their enactment. 
 The number and minuteness of the conditions and 
 regulations on the part of both kingdoms, with a view 
 to the maintenance respectively of their rights and 
 privileges, show distinctly the consciousness of both 
 parties of the extreme difficulty on the part of a con- 
 scientious or bigoted Catholic king of one country to 
 govern satisfactorily another kingdom which was de- 
 cidedly and resolutely Protestant. Their arrangements 
 and conditions proved that it was regarded as extremely 
 difficult; and the event showed, as it has often else- 
 where been shown, that it was impossible. 
 
 The council of Sweden prevailed upon John to in- 
 sist upon certain conditions to be observed by Sigis- 
 mund, when he should become king, which it is evi- 
 dent that the latter, as a faithful Catholic, could not 
 intend to perform. When Sigismund, as king, should 
 come into Sweden he should not bring with him any 
 Romish priests; and he should grant the Romish priest- 
 hood in the kingdom no greater privileges than they 
 already enjoyed. In Poland he should not oppress any 
 Protestant officers in his service on account of their re- 
 ligion; in Sweden he should not advance any of the 
 Poles to offices and dignities. He should not allow any 
 innovations to be made in the doctrines and ceremonies 
 
222 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 of the Church of Sweden. The hospitals established 
 by his father on Protestant foundations should not be 
 changed. The extreme condition was exacted, that no 
 worship, public or private, but the established Protest- 
 ant worship, should be allowed. On his return to Po- 
 land he should take with him the priests that were in 
 his train; and while they were in Sweden they should 
 not be allowed to engage in any instruction or service 
 or affairs, outside the palace. The Pope should not be 
 permitted to install any bishops or establish any bish- 
 oprics in Sweden; and that his coronation should take 
 place at Upsala and be performed by the archbishop. 
 These ecclesiastical conditions were followed by those 
 that were political and secular. They were drawn up 
 with equal care and minuteness, with a view to main- 
 tain the independence and the liberties of Sweden. 
 
 The Commencement of the Reign of Sigismund in 
 Poland. The collisions and misunderstandings which 
 were inevitable, in a settlement which contained so 
 many expedients to reconcile opposing interests, im- 
 mediately occurred. The Poles insisted upon the sur- 
 render of Esthonia and a part of Livonia, which had 
 been assigned to them by the commissioners Sparre 
 and Brahe, and the knowledge of which had been kept 
 from King John and Sigismund. The new king, after 
 most unpromising dissensions with his subjects, at 
 length yielded the point only under a protest, which 
 contemplated a future revision of the treaty. The 
 commissioners feared to return to Sweden and in- 
 cur the loudly-vented wrath of John at the decep- 
 tion which had been passed upon him. King Sigis- 
 mund made a humble excuse to his father for having 
 consented to this article; but assured him that it was 
 only a temporary concession which he would soon find 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 223 
 
 means to revoke. The poor young king was so dis- 
 gusted with the turbulent character of his subjects, and 
 of what he called their insupportable pride, that he 
 conveyed to his father, through the messenger that car- 
 ried his letter, his resolution to give his sister Anne in 
 marriage to the Archduke Ernest of Austria, and to 
 yield to him the kingdom, and return to Sweden. 
 Thi Liturgy ^'"& John persisted in pressing his Liturgy 
 enforced upon the kingdom, with a violence in which 
 anew. there was blended the wounded pride of an 
 
 author, with the arrogance of a despot. When the 
 clergy in the principality of Charles formally and 
 unanimously condemned it, he prepared a proclama- 
 tion, which he ordered to be posted conspicuously 
 throughout the kingdom, in which he accused these 
 ecclesiastics of rebellion, heresy, and treason. His 
 temper had become ungovernable, and he laid upon it 
 no restraint in his private or public proceedings. He 
 called the clergy who had condemned his Liturgy, dis- 
 ciples of the devil, and burned all the books which Mr. 
 Abraham had published against the Liturgy. The 
 clergy appealed to Duke Charles, and he assured them 
 of his approbation and of his purpose to support them 
 to the full extent of his power. The clergy replied 
 with spirit to these denunciations of the king; and re- 
 ferred to the Scriptures, the Augsburg Confession, and 
 Luther's Catechism, in proof of their orthodoxy. They 
 also wrote a dignified exposition of their views, and an 
 appeal to all the clergy and nobility to aid them in 
 sustaining the faith and order of the Church, as they 
 were settled by the great Gustavus. This proceeding 
 so alarmed and exasperated the king that he deter- 
 mined to bring back Sigismund from Poland to as- 
 sist him in resisting the rising spirit of dissatisfaction 
 
224 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 throughout the kingdom. But if that purpose had 
 been accomplished, it would have served rather to in- 
 crease than to quell the opposition which his arbitrary 
 measures now encountered. In his anger and alarm 
 he required all the clergy of Sweden — and he was gen- 
 erally obeyed, except in the domains of Charles — to 
 bind themselves to him by an oath that they would be 
 faithful to him and not in any way assist Charles, if he 
 should revolt. This writing was signed by all the 
 clergy of Stockholm except one, and he was deprived, 
 and treated with great indignity and violence. 
 Conference The disposition of the king to rule alone, 
 ^".''^"'" uncontrolled and even uninfluenced by his 
 and sigis- Counselors and estates, constantly increased. 
 mund. When his council remonstrated with him on 
 
 the extravagance and disorder of his household, at a 
 time when the resources of the kingdom were strained 
 to the utmost by the war with Russia, which had con- 
 tinued during all his reign, the king was much offended, 
 and would take no steps at reformation which should 
 seem to be in obedience to their suggestions. Dis- 
 gusted with his position, and alarmed at the attitude 
 of the subjects of Charles, and longing for a sight of 
 his son Sigismund, the king determined to meet and 
 confer with him at Reval. The impatience of John 
 was such that he would not wait for his military es- 
 cort, and against the remonstrances of his counselors, 
 who earnestly endeavored to dissuade him from the 
 journey, he embarked early in July with his queen 
 and a newborn son, and reached Reval two weeks 
 before Sigismund arrived. It was rumored and be- 
 lieved by the council that John intended to bring back 
 Sigismund to Sweden, and not allow him again to 
 return to Poland. The kings spent a month together 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 225 
 
 at Reval. There bitter dissensions and frequent bloody- 
 conflicts broke out between the Swedes and Poles who 
 were in the trains of the two kings. An irruption of 
 Tartars into Poland furnished occasion to the coun- ^ 
 selors of Sigismund for an imperative demand that he 
 should immediately return to his kingdom and his 
 duties. On the other hand the Swedish council sought 
 to lay before John the remonstrances determined upon 
 at Upsala against bringing Sigismund into Sweden. 
 John refused to see the lords who came to lay this 
 protest before him. Their remonstrance painted in 
 vivid colors the dreadful condition of the country, 
 the result of an almost" continuous war of twenty- 
 eight years with Russia, and of the reckless extrava- 
 gance of the king and court. Famine prevailed in 
 various sections of the country. Peace was the first 
 necessity of the kingdom; and Russia was now dis- 
 posed to enter into negotiations. If Sigismund should 
 abandon Poland and return to Sweden, as did Henry of 
 Valois to France, then would irritated Poland unite with 
 Russia against Sweden, and she would be ruined and 
 conquered and divided. This paper was signed by 
 sixty-one names of the most eminent men in the 
 kingdom. When the soldiers who were at Stockholm 
 heard how John had refused to listen to the remon- 
 strances of the council, they assembled in high excite- 
 ment before the royal palace, and threw down their 
 colors, and declared with loud oaths that they would 
 no longer serve his majesty, if he should bring back 
 King Sigismund into Sweden. The crisis was too 
 alarming to allow the king to carry out his design. 
 But it was a bitter disappointment, which left rankling 
 hatred in his heart against the principal counselors 
 who had signed the memorial, and especially against 
 
226 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 those lords who had attempted to present it to him 
 at Reval. The two kings reluctantly parted and never 
 saw each other again. John now began to find that 
 the power which he had given to the nobles to be 
 used for his defense against Charles, could as readily 
 be directed against himself 
 
 The now critical relation of John with his 
 n'econciHa- Counselors and the nobility made it neces- 
 tion with g^ry for him to be reconciled to Charles. It 
 
 became all the more imperative from the fact 
 that the nobles and all Sweden observed that while all 
 was confusion and waste in the court and administra- 
 tion of the king, the principality of Charles was com- 
 paratively prosperous, and all its affairs conducted 
 with system and economy. Hence Charles was rein- 
 stated in all the privileges and rights connected with 
 his principality, which at the suggestion of the king 
 had been curtailed by the nobility at the Diet of 
 Wadstena. He resided for the most at Stockholm; 
 and in fact became the real administrator of the 
 kingdom. John acknowledged that more was now 
 accomplished in three days than formerly in as many 
 months. Chafing under a sense of his comparative in- 
 significance, and baffled in his attempts at an un- 
 checked arbitrary rule, and exasperated with the lords 
 who had so peremptorily and effectively protested 
 against the return of Sigismund to Sweden, King 
 John did little else than study how he might have 
 his revenge on those lords and counselors who had 
 defeated his cherished plan, and had treated him with 
 scant respect. Selecting the names of six of the most 
 obnoxious of the lords, for what he termed " the re- 
 volt in Reval," he issued his commands that their fiefs 
 should be sequestered, that none of them should be 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 227 
 
 admitted to any of the royal castles, and that they 
 should repair to Stockholm to answer for their trea- 
 son. The Estates were convoked, and the six lords 
 arraigned. On making certain acknowledgments they 
 were permitted to retain their estates; but they signed 
 a secret document in which they protested that they 
 had committed no crime, but had only exercised the 
 privileges and the duties of faithful counselors of the 
 king and kingdom. But the vindictive king still con- 
 tinued to urge against them his charge of disloyalty 
 and treason. They were imprisoned for two years; 
 and during all that period were subjected to repeated 
 examinations. In urging on this charge, to which he 
 had added still another, to the effect that they were 
 engaged in a conspiracy with many others to exclude 
 Sigismund from the throne of Sweden, King John 
 made the most exorbitant claims to absolute author- 
 ity. It was in vain that the wives of these accused 
 lords, and Sigismund himself, pleaded for them with 
 the king. The appeal of Sigismund was both politic 
 and just. "Even if they were not altogether guilt- 
 less," he wrote, "yet should his majesty let grace 
 stand for law, and ponder how grievously it would 
 fall out for his son to come into a government where 
 widows and orphans, in part not distantly related to 
 the royal hou'se, would cry vengeance upon him as 
 the author of their woes." All appeals were in vain. 
 The implacable king would have his revenge. The 
 lords, and many of their alleged accomplices, were 
 imprisoned and subjected to heavy penalties. 
 Death of The king died in the castle of Stockholm on 
 King John, the 17th of November, 1592, in the fifty-fifth 
 year of his age. During the last year of his life he suf- 
 fered the penalty that falls on tyrants, of a dread and 
 
228 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 suspicion of all around him. There is nothing in his 
 character to admire. He was learned, indeed, and pos- 
 sessed of more talent than ordinarily belongs to kings; 
 but he was mean, suspicious, jealous, cruel, negligent, 
 indolent, and profuse. Honest History must write 
 over his grave the simple epitaph: "A mean man and a 
 bad king" 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CHARLES AND SIGISMUND. 
 
 WE no sooner enter upon the story of what is 
 called the reign of King Sigismund in Swe- 
 den, than we are at once ushered into a scene of 
 conflict which arose from the struggle of the two 
 systems of Romanism and Protestantism for suprem- 
 acy. As mutual toleration was at that time impos- 
 sible, perpetual collision was inevitable between a 
 king whose conscience constrained him to force Ro- 
 manism upon his subjects, and a Protestant people 
 equally resolute and conscientious in their resistance 
 to such an attempt. If John was able to weaken the 
 foundation of the institutions of Sweden based on 
 the Reformation, much more aggressive and destruc- 
 tive measures might be anticipated from a king so 
 devoted to the Papacy and the Jesuits, that even 
 John, in his own temporary surrender to Rome, felt 
 that his son went too far, and advised him to be 
 aware of those Fathers who were accustomed to keep 
 one foot in the pulpit and the other in the council 
 room. 
 „ . . , Charles had in fact conducted the govern- 
 
 PoSltlon of r r^ ■> r 1 t 
 
 Charles in ment of Sweden for the last two years of 
 Sweden. King John's reign. As the king had made 
 no definite arrangements for the administration of the 
 
230 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 kingdom after his death, it was natural that it should 
 renmain with Charles. The duke advised King Sigis- 
 mund of his father's death, and consulted him upon 
 the measures to be taken for carrying on the war with 
 Russia. The six counselors deprived and imprisoned 
 by John, were pardoned and recalled — a measure that ■ 
 was agreeable to the king. He also set at liberty all 
 persons who were confined on account of the Liturgy, 
 or for political causes. A letter soon came from the 
 king confirming Charles in the government, until he 
 should be able to visit Sweden. 
 
 So far, on the surface, all was well. But the politic 
 and able duke was aware that already intrigues were 
 going on in Finland and elsewhere in behalf of the 
 Papacy. He therefore entered into a compact with 
 the council that they should obey him in everything 
 which the interests of religion and the independence 
 of the kingdom demanded — but without prejudice to 
 their fealty to the king. Both Charles and his council 
 could consistently make this reservation of fealty to 
 the king because they did not hold that this fealty 
 required them to acquiesce in the overthrow of the 
 legally established Protestantism and independence 
 of the country. King Sigismund of course saw what 
 was the animus and meaning of this language, and 
 was accustomed to call it Charles's bird-net. The 
 duke assured the council that he would engage in no 
 important affairs without their advice and consent. 
 That this pledge of obedience, saving the preroga- 
 tives of the king, might sometimes carry the council 
 further than they desired to go, soon appeared. The 
 clergy of Stockholm pressed for the calling of a synod, 
 promised by King John in 1590, for the adjustment of 
 religious disputes. The council thought that the mat- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 231 
 
 ter should be adjusted by a joint commission of their 
 own body and of the clergy. But Charles well knew 
 that in so small a body reactionary influences would 
 be more likely to prevail than in a large assembly. 
 He therefore demanded that there should be a general 
 Diet of the kingdom; and he carried his point. King 
 Gustavus had secured Protestantism and freedom for 
 Sweden, and these must at all hazards and sacrifices 
 be preserved. He declared — and the statement must 
 have been most offensive to Sigismund — that he only 
 could be regarded as the true hereditary king of 
 Sweden who preserved them unimpaired. They had 
 now a king whose conscience was directed by the 
 Pope; they should therefore renew their loyalty to 
 and declare in unmistakable words and acts their pur- 
 pose to defend and secure, the hard-won, but inestim- 
 able blessings, obtained and transmitted to them by 
 the great Gustavus. It was under the influence of 
 this bold and animating manifesto that the Diet met 
 in Upsala, on the 2Sth of February, 1593. 
 The Diet of Deputies from every part of Sweden except 
 Upsala. Finland come to the Diet. Finland was 
 under the government of a partisan of Sigismund. It was 
 for Sweden an unusually large assembly. There were 
 present the duke with his council, four bishops, above 
 three hundred clergy, many of the nobles and repre- 
 sentatives of the burgesses and peasants. A very 
 enthusiastic and resolute spirit prevailed. Nicholaus 
 Bothniensis, Professor of Theology at Upsala, although 
 a young man, was elected speaker. This was a mani- 
 festation of homage to the steadfastness with which 
 the Upsala professors had resisted the Liturgy; and it 
 was a plain sign of the spirit that animated the Diet. 
 They decreed that the Scriptures were the sole rule of 
 
232 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 faith; and they considered and sanctioned all the arti- 
 cles of the unmutilated Augsburg Confession. There- 
 upon Peter Jonson, recently consecrated Bishop of 
 Strengness, rose and inquired whether all present 
 assented to and would defend these articles of faith, 
 and abide by them even if called upon to suffer for it. 
 All replied that they pledged all they had in this 
 world, goods and life, in their defense. Then the 
 speaker exclaimed, " Then is Sweden become one man, 
 and all of us have one God." In view of the persecu- 
 tions which they had suffered under John, and those 
 much more severe which Sigismund, if he should obtain 
 ascendency, would inflict, the spectacle of this repre- 
 sentation of a nation, and not of an ecclesiastical synod 
 alone, entering into such a religious compact, is a truly 
 noble one. The event proved that, on the part of the 
 great majority of its members, it was a compact sin- 
 cerely entered into, and faithfully maintained. 
 
 The changes in church ceremonies and doctrines 
 which had been introduced under the former reign 
 were abolished. Luther's Catechism was adopted as 
 the groundwork of religious instruction and Laurence 
 Peterson's manual the_ formulary of divine service. 
 The bishops who had supported the Liturgy were 
 now the first and most earnest to renounce it. They 
 requested of the Council of State the return of their 
 written engagements to support the Liturgy. Some of 
 the council promised it; but Charles, well knowing 
 Episcopal pliancy, took care that they should be pre- 
 served in the archives of the Chancery. Several of the 
 lords addressed earnest exhortations to the clergy to 
 stand firm hereafter on their privileges, and to be faith- 
 ful to their pledges. They complained that John had 
 forced into the ministry as his pliant agents in support 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 233 
 
 of his Liturgy, not only unlearned men, but often mar- 
 riage breakers, thieves, perjurers, homicides, tipplers, 
 and leaders of vicious lives; and that only those who 
 supported the Liturgy were advanced to high benefices 
 in the Church, and that such men had been thrust into 
 the Episcopate by the arbitrary will of the king, with- 
 out a canonical election by the clergy. They declared 
 therefore that if the Liturgy were not abolished before 
 the arrival of King Sigismund, the kingdom would be 
 in the condition of one who should attempt to carry a 
 light in a violent storm. All these proceedings leave 
 an impression that the nobility and commons had been 
 more faithful, and were now more in earnest in main- 
 taining the Protestant faith than the clergy, 
 n .,. , Charles took no part in the deliberations of 
 
 Position of ^ n 
 
 Charles in the diet. But, of course, his influence in it 
 the Diet. niust have been great. There seems to have 
 been no less moderation than firmness in their proceed- 
 ings. No one was proscribed for having acquiesced 
 in the Liturgy. Only one minister, John Paulson of 
 Stockholm, was deprived. He had been so factious 
 and violent that King John himself had suspended 
 him. Charles subscribed the decrees of the Diet, and 
 did not disguise his disgust at the council for not 
 having declared themselves long before. He was in- 
 deed inclined to, although there is no proof that he 
 had as yet adopted, the tenets of the Reformed Church. 
 His first wife was a sister of the Elector Palatine; and 
 Charles was devoted to her and very friendly with all 
 her family. And now the bishops who had subscribed 
 to and enforced the Liturgy, in their new-born zeal 
 for pure Lutheranism, and probably with a view to re- 
 buke the rumored sacramentarian views of Charles, were 
 very earnest to secure decrees against Zwinglians and 
 
234 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Calvinists as heretics. The speaker, no doubt discern- 
 ing the object of the bishops, refused to put the mo- 
 tion. But they persisted and carried it, and secured the 
 assent of Charles which was given in phrases more ener- 
 getic than choice. Charles was very angry at what he re- 
 garded as a personal rebuke. In a coniidential letter to 
 the archbishop and professors of Upsala, he afterwards 
 declared: "We are now defamed by the clergy as if 
 we countenanced the doctrine of Calvin and Zwingle. 
 But we will profess ourselves bound to no man's per- 
 son, Christ excepted, neither Luther, Calvin, or Zwin- 
 gle, but to God's Word alone." His fault, so it would 
 be regarded by the more intolerant clergy, was, not 
 that he manifested any opposition to, or any want of 
 reverence for, Luther, but that he did not sufficiently 
 hate Calvin and Zwingle. 
 
 Importance ^^^ proceedings of the Diet of Upsala were 
 of the Diet not only most memorable in the history of 
 of upsala. Sweden, but of immense moment to the cause 
 of Protestantism in Europe. The Church of Sweden cel- 
 ebrates the anniversary of this diet every century with 
 the same enthusiasm with which Germany celebrates 
 the birthday of Luther. It secured, after further strug- 
 gles, the Reformation in Sweden, and, through Gusta- 
 vus Adolphus, rescued it from extinction in Germany 
 and other countries. For many years a sermon was 
 preached in all the churches in commemoration- of the 
 Sunday after the 19th of February, 1592, on which day 
 Sigismund was compelled to acknowledge the Acts of 
 the Diet of Upsala. All the sermons were preached 
 from the same text — a text which reminded the peo- 
 ple of the fact that they had been, and could continue 
 to be, prosperous and blessed only as they were faith- 
 ful to God and to his truth. The text of these sermons 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 235 
 
 was the Second of Chronicles xv. i, 2: "And the Spirit 
 of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he 
 went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, 
 Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with 
 you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will 
 be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will for- 
 sake you." 
 
 Proceedings The proceedings of the Polish Diet on the 
 m Poland, question of King Sigismund's visit and rela- 
 tion to Sweden, was marked by even more than the 
 usual violence of Polish assemblies. At length it was 
 agreed that Sigismund should be provided with means 
 to visit his kingdom of Sweden, on the condition that 
 he should make a satisfactory arrangement of the dis- 
 pute between the two kingdoms in reference to Estho- 
 nia. Olaf Swerkerson, an intermediary between Charles 
 and Sigismund, assured the former that the king would 
 uphold the laws, liberties, and rights of his native land; 
 and that he would show neither affection nor hatred to 
 any man on account of his religion; but that he could 
 not and would not sanction the decrees of Upsala passed 
 during his absence. 
 
 But these general assurances were not satisfactory 
 to the Swedes. They desired from Sigismund before 
 he should leave Poland more explicit and favorable 
 declarations, confirmed by guarantee, upon which they 
 could rely. Accordingly, Thure Bielke, a man per- 
 sonally agreeable to Sigismund, was sent to Poland 
 with a warrant in which the demands and expectations 
 of Sweden were detailed, together with a copy of the 
 Acts of the Diet of Upsala. These documents were 
 ordered to be read in all the churches of the kingdom, 
 in order to keep the heart of the people up to their 
 duty in the crisis that was impending. Two eminent ■ 
 
236 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 nobles, Nicholas Bielke and Eric Sparre, were sent with 
 a fleet to Dantzic to meet the king and escort him into 
 Sweden. 
 
 But sinister rumors reached Sweden before the ar- 
 rival of the king. It was reported that a Papal Legate 
 had arrived at Warsaw, with a command from the Pope 
 that he should restore the Church in his hereditary do- 
 minions, and that he had brought a subsidy in money 
 for the undertaking; that the imperial envoy used the 
 same language; and that the Legate was to follow Sig- 
 ismund to Sweden and crown him there, in violation 
 of the compact between the two kingdoms; that Sigis- 
 mund, in the course of his journey, had laid an inter- 
 dict on the Evangelical Churches of Thorn and Elbing; 
 and that a fear of a similar proceeding at Dantzic had 
 led to popular tumults in that city. These rumors cre- 
 ated much apprejiension in the kingdom. Added to 
 these causes of disquiet was the attitude of the resolute 
 and turbulent governor of the important province of 
 Finland, Clas Fleming. The duke wrote to him that 
 he should admit no man into the castle of Abo without 
 an order from him and the Council of State. Fleming 
 replied that he had but one master in his government, 
 and that was King Sigismund. In a letter to Poland 
 he subscribed his name with additions, in which he 
 boldly announced his defiance of Charles and his de- 
 termined loyalty to the king: "Clas Fleming, free 
 baron of Wilk, Marshal, High Admiral, and General, 
 who has now too many rulers, though he guides him- 
 self by only one, who is called King Sigismund. Come, 
 my mates, to command me too, and see if I do not 
 knock them on the head." 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 237 
 
 Arrival f Notwithstanding the unsatisfactory nature of 
 Sigismund the preliminary proceedings between Charles 
 in Sweden. ^^^ ^^^ Yv!\^, the latter embarked on the 
 fleet sent from Finland to Dantzic and landed in Stock- 
 holm on the 30th of September, 1593. Charles took 
 his stand on the castle bridge to receive the king. 
 The newly-elected archbishop, Abraham Angerman, 
 who had been persecuted by John because of his de- 
 termined opposition to the Liturgy, was appointed to 
 welcome the king. This arrangement, significant of 
 Charles's resolute purpose to keep Protestantism in the 
 foreground, was very offensive to Sigismund and to the 
 Legate, Malaspina. The king wrote complaining of it 
 to Charles: " It is singular that Master Abraham, who 
 had fallen into disgrace with our late father, should 
 now be the person to receive us in the name of all the 
 clergy." After an outburst of indignation against Clas 
 Fleming, addressed to the king, and with a stern and 
 independent bearing towards him, which clearly inti- 
 mated his distrust, and gave warning that he was not 
 to be intimidated or won, Charles retired to his princi- 
 pality and committed to the council the business of 
 negotiation with the king. 
 
 Immediately collisions and disagreements occurred. 
 Sigismund would not confirm the Acts of the Synod of 
 Upsala, nor would he accept the new archbishop. The 
 Jesuits and the clergy of Stockholm began to preach 
 against each other. The king demanded the transfer 
 of a church in a former monastery of Franciscans to 
 theCatholics, and enforced a burial there with theCatho- 
 lic ritual. This occasioned a conflict, and the shedding 
 of blood in the church itself. The king sullenly kept 
 aloof from the Swedish counselors, and surrounded 
 himself with Roman partisans, and refused to receive 
 
238 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 a deputation of the Protestant clergy. In reply to the 
 council, who pressed upon him certain pledges previous 
 to his coronation, he haughtily expressed his surprise 
 at their presumption, and reminded them of the differ- 
 ence between an hereditary and an elective monarchy. 
 As he succeeded to a kingdom the prevailing religion 
 of which was different from his own, he would leave 
 those who professed it unmolested; but he would insist 
 that those subjects which were of his faith should have 
 equal privileges with the majority. 
 Second Diet It was in this spirit of mutual exasperation 
 of upsala. that both parties repaired to Upsala, where 
 the States were assembled to celebrate at once the en- 
 tombment of John and the coronation of Sigismund. 
 The obsequies of John were celebrated with great pomp; 
 but the Papal Legate was turned out of the procession, 
 and the Jesuits forbidden to enter the church on the 
 penalty of death. Charles took no part in the solem- 
 nity; but he was there with three thousand men, foot 
 and horse, whom he quartered on his hereditary pos- 
 sessions in the neighborhood. He said to the Estates 
 — " I part not from you; if Sigismund will be your king 
 he must fulfill your requests." He told the king that 
 no coronation should be permitted until the demands 
 and pledges required were given. When he proceeded 
 to the castle to make this announcement in person to 
 the king; he was accompanied by the council and no- 
 bility, and vast crowds of the applauding people. The 
 order of the peasants' in the diet offered Charles the 
 crown; but he sternly commanded them to be silent. 
 It was a great crisis, and it was evident that the reso- 
 lute and subtle Charles was equal to it. 
 
 Affairs seemed to be in what, in modern phrase, 
 would be called a dead-lock. The court labored to 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 239 
 
 bribe and disunite the Estates. Rumors were current, 
 and were afterwards confirmed, that an attempt was to 
 be made upon the life of Charles; but no charge was 
 made then or since that Sigismund was privy to the 
 design. Charles redoubled his vigilance and increased 
 his military force. In this period of painful suspense a 
 most impressive scene took place in the diet. The 
 whole assembly fell upon their knees and united in 
 prayer; and in that attitude vowed and pledged them- 
 selves to each other, at every hazard and every cost, to 
 uphold the decrees of the former Diet of Upsala. Un- 
 der the impulse of that enthusiastic proceeding they 
 were ready to enact, as they did, very decided meas- 
 ures. They decreed that no Catholic should henceforth 
 be permitted to hold a civil office in Sweden. Who- 
 ever should embrace the Catholic faith, or permit his 
 children to be educated therein, should forfeit the rights 
 of citizenship; Catholics might reside in the kingdom 
 if they conducted themselves peaceably; but no Catho- 
 lic service should be performed except in the king's 
 chapel. This was all that the king could obtain. And 
 when the duke, wearied with the delays and irritated 
 at the intrigues of the king, peremptorily announced 
 to him that unless he should give a decisive answer in 
 twenty-four hours, he would dissolve the diet and send 
 its members home, he was obliged to yield. We may 
 be sure that it was a bitter necessity; and that there 
 could have been no sincerity in his extorted assent. 
 The Te Deunt was sung by the States as upon occasions 
 of great military victories. The new archbishop was 
 confirmed by the king. But to another bishop — the 
 bishop of Westeras — was assigned the service of coron- 
 ation. The Jesuits were not permitted to be present. 
 When the king took the oath he allowed his hand to 
 
240 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 drop; but Charles reminded him that he must hold 
 it upright until the conclusion of the pledge; and the 
 king obeyed. One would have supposed that these 
 events — this demonstration of the substantial unity of 
 the people in the Protestant faith, and of their firm 
 purpose to maintain it, and this taste of the quality of 
 his uncle Charles — would have sufficed to convince the 
 young king that his attempt to reintroduce Romanism 
 into Sweden could not possibly succeed. 
 Th K' !> '^'^^ story of the king's evasion and viola- 
 faithless to lation of the solemn pledges which he made 
 his Pledges. ^^^ ]^jg coronation is found in manuscript, 
 among the papers of Adolphus Gustavus. No one 
 could be better informed on the subject than he; and 
 he has told the story, considering the temptations to 
 violent and indignant denunciations which he must 
 have experienced, with commendable moderation. 
 
 " Sigismund was slow in confirming all lay and 
 clerical privileges; and as he promised with hesitancy, 
 so he kept to it no longer than between Upsala and 
 Stockholm. He was hardly arrived at the capital, 
 when he made the Count Eric Brahe (a Catholic) to 
 be governor there, which was one of the highest offices 
 in the kingdom. Malaspina, the evil thorn that stuck 
 in the king's foot, made him halt sorely in his prom- 
 ises. Popish schools and Popish churches were erected; 
 around Stockholm divine service was interrupted by 
 disturbances; men were obliged to go armed to the 
 church, complaint thereof was made to the king, but 
 little good was thereby effected. Moreover the king's 
 counselors found it good to fish in troubled waters. 
 Sweden must be stirred up to civil discords that one 
 heretic might be extirpated by another. The king 
 hastened to Poland. Here all was to remain in dis- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 241 
 
 order and confusion, no one bound to obey another, 
 that the more speedily among so many magnates (for 
 every province had its lieutenants), mischiefs might 
 spring up. But as the majesty of the realm of Sweden 
 was by God's blessing succored and defended to this 
 day, so that it was never transferred to another mon- 
 archy, but by Swedish valor was preserved to this 
 country and nation, so too were now found men who 
 would not allow this design of the king to be effected. 
 The council which was in Stockholm protested against 
 him, that it was not competent for him to remove the 
 kingly government out of the land; he should appoint 
 a government within the realm who should manage 
 its affairs. They also gave Charles, who lay sick at 
 Nycoping, to understand this. The king indeed made 
 out, though without good will, a warrant wherein with 
 few words my father was empowered to manage the 
 administration, with the council of state; but the lieu- 
 tenants of the provinces were enjoined to pay this 
 government no regard. Thus they did whatever they 
 wished. To the people, who (in Sweden especially) 
 were accustomed to law and justice, it appeared strange 
 that they were treated so ill by the lieutenants; and as 
 the people are beside prone to complain, so when they 
 found themselves oppressed they ran in crowds to 
 Stockholm where they were wont to find redress. 
 The government would gladly have had from Sigis- 
 mund a better warrant and fuller instructions, after 
 which they might have ruled the people and realm 
 for the Icing's behoof, which also while the king was 
 in Stockholm was sufficiently promised; yet it was 
 deferred from day to day, until the king was ready 
 to sail, and no other could be obtained, whence all 
 the disorder afterwards flowed." 
 
242 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 It was the policy of Sigismund to leave Swe- 
 d^m ^affer den in such an unsettled state that his in- 
 Sigismtind's tervention might become necessary to restore 
 Departure. ^^^^^. ^^^ ^j^^^ j^^ might thus govern it 
 
 according to his will, and reintroduce Romanism. 
 When he found however that the nobility could not 
 be won to sanction such a policy, in order to diminish 
 the power of Charles he adopted the system that had 
 prevailed under the settlement of Calmar, when Swe- 
 den was subject to the kings of Denmark. Under that 
 system the most eminent of the nobles were appointed 
 to administer the different provinces, and they exercised 
 so much power in their separate principalities that they 
 had reduced the office of guardian, or regent, or admin- 
 istrator, as he was variously called, to a position of com- 
 parative powerlessness. Charles, the lawful heir of 
 the throne, inheriting the principles and guided by the 
 policy of Gustavus, would by no means be contented 
 with such a position. But inasmuch as the council 
 approved this system — a system in which their own 
 power and consequence would be enhanced — Charles 
 was obliged to submit to it for the present, under em- 
 phatic protests, and with distinct assertion of his su- 
 preme power, under Sigismund, whom he represented, 
 both as the heir to the throne and the regent of the 
 kingdom. This was in fact, and it was so regarded, 
 a notice to these lieutenants of the provinces that he 
 should not allow himself to be a figurehead of the 
 kingdom; but that he should assume and exercise 
 supreme authority. The cunning device of Sigismund 
 to limit the power of Charles by this arrangement, 
 and the unwise acquiescence in it by the council, was 
 the cause of the innumerable embarrassments in the 
 administration of the kingdom to which Charles was 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 243 
 
 subjected during all the years previous to his own 
 elevation to the throne. 
 
 Meeting of After an almost uninterrupted war with Rus- 
 the Estates, gja for twenty-six years peace was at length 
 concluded, 1595, with that kingdom. But the turbu- 
 lent Clas Fleming of Finland refused to acquiesce in 
 some of the conditions of the treaty which referred to 
 that province, and still prosecuted the war. This led 
 to a convocation of the Estates. The duke had long 
 desired that they should be convened, under the convic- 
 tion that- he would be able to induce the three orders of 
 the knights and clergy and peasants to limit the powers 
 of the lieutenants of the provinces; but he had failed to 
 secure the assent of the Council. But now a crisis oc- 
 curred — the virtual revolt of a province, whose con- 
 tinued war with Russia threatened to nullify the treaty 
 of peace — which made it an obvious necessity that a 
 diet should assemble. 
 
 But still the Council refused to join him in the sum- 
 mons, unless they were directed to do so by the king. 
 The Council and the Estates were positively forbidden 
 to assemble by the king. Charles in this crisis exhib- 
 ited the boldness and the dominating power of his 
 character over those with whom he had to deal. He 
 presented the summons to them and told them per- 
 emptorily that they must sign it. "You must sign 
 the letters, and betake yourself thither too, or I shall 
 show you another way.'' He reminded them of Engle- 
 bert the Dalesman, a peasant's son, but who as admin- 
 istrator constrained the council of the realm. "I am a 
 king's son," he said, " and prince hereditary of this 
 monarchy. After my will ye shall do, and if ye follow 
 not after with a good heart, I will have you brought 
 hither in bonds." They were compelled to subscribe; 
 
244 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 but they still hoped that by the aid of the high no- 
 bility they could prevent any great change in their 
 own privileges, or in those of the lieutenants of the 
 provinces. 
 
 When the Estates assembled at Soderkoeping the 
 duke took the same high tone with them as he had taken 
 with the Council. It was only under a sense of duty to 
 the country and to himself, as the lawful heir of the 
 crown, that he had accepted the ofiSce of administrator 
 of the kingdom. But as long as he held the office, he 
 insisted upon possessing the powers necessary to its 
 discharge. If the conditions contained in the king's 
 oath at his coronation were not to be fulfilled, and if 
 Clas Fleming and other rebellious lords were not to 
 be punished, he would no longer occupy the position 
 of administrator. And the Estates were now to decide 
 whether these two things were to be done. The stat- 
 ute of Soderkoeping, drawn up under the direction of 
 Charles, contained the following articles, which con- 
 stitute a declaration of absolute disobedience and de- 
 fiance of the king; and were unanimously subscribed by 
 the Diet. No doubt some of the subscriptions were 
 not ex animo. The purport of the statute was as fol- 
 lows: That no other doctrine than that of the Augs- 
 burg Confession should be allowed in Sweden; that 
 even the natives of a different religion should be in- 
 capable of holding any office in the kingdom; that the 
 Popish priests should leave the country in six weeks; 
 that the Romish worship should be entirely abolished 
 not only at Stockholm, but at Protingsholm and Wad- 
 stena; that the nuns of the last place should be ex- 
 pelled; that for the future if any Swedes embraced any 
 other religion than the Protestant or educated their 
 childi'en in any other profession, whether in Sweden or 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 245 
 
 elsewhere, they should be incapable of hereditary suc- 
 cession, their estates should be possessed by their near- 
 est relations, and themselves banished from Sweden for 
 ever. Those who had professed the Roman religion 
 before the coronation of King Sigismund were allowed 
 to remain in Sweden, though not to make any public 
 profession of that religion, or to join in its worship, or 
 in the celebration of any of its services. 
 
 To these decisive articles concerning religion, oth- 
 ers relating to the duke's civil power, which were 
 scarcely less stringent, were added. The duke should 
 be Governor of Sweden, and in conjunction with the 
 council administer all its affairs in the absence of the 
 king; no suit or process which belonged to Sweden 
 should be entered in Poland before King Sigismund; 
 the right which every one had of appealing to the king 
 could be exercised only when his majesty was present 
 in Sweden; his majesty's orders sent from Poland to 
 Sweden could not be published nor put in execution, 
 till they were read and approved by Charles and his 
 council. In the case of appointments which were in- 
 vested in the king, the nomination should lie with the 
 duke and the council. 
 
 It is obvious that these sweeping provisions abso- 
 lutely excluded King Sigismund from the exercise of 
 all power in Sweden except when he was personally in 
 the kingdom. If we imagine such powers vested in the 
 viceroy and council of Ireland, we shall see to what a 
 nullity they would reduce the queen. They are to be 
 vindicated only on the ground — and on that ground 
 they are to be vindicated and applauded — of national 
 self-preservation. 
 
 In order to give the utmos.t impressiveness to the 
 assent of the Estates to these Articles, Chlares deter- 
 
246 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 mined to hold what was technically called " a Bench 
 of Majesty." This "Bench of Majesty" was an ele- 
 vated platform in the open air, immediately before 
 which the Estates were gathered, and around which 
 vast multitudes of the people thronged. After an ad- 
 dress to the Estates Charles addressed himself immedi- 
 ately to the people, closing thus: "After what we, 
 honorable and good men, both by means of the an- 
 swers which ye gave us, on the points which were 
 propounded to you, have come to a clear resolution, 
 here therefore cometh my question. Whether ye mind 
 to defend what here hath been done and decreed, and 
 will stand to the same all for one and one for all, see- 
 ing it is grounded upon the oath and assurance of the 
 king, and nought hath been done save what is profit- 
 able to his royal majesty and to our fatherland." Yet 
 again he repeated the demand. With that the com- 
 mon people answered. Yea, yea; yea gracious lord, and 
 took the oath with uplifted hands, to hold by his 
 princely grace all for one and one for all — which form 
 of speech the prince was ever wont to use. Thereupon 
 he turned to the councilors of state, the bishops and 
 nobles, who stood by him upon the royal bench, and 
 questioned them in these words: "And ye, what say 
 ye to this ? Hear ye what these have sworn .' Will 
 ye sever yourselves from them ? " The council of state 
 answered in the name of the collective body of knights 
 and nobles, and promised to his princely grace obedi- 
 ence in all which should tend to the weal and profit 
 of king and fatherland. But the prince raised his 
 hand and said: " So swear that ye will obey me in that 
 which I shall prescribe." Then the greatest number 
 lifted their hands; but there were many who would 
 not. Not from all, even in that position of command- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 247 
 
 ing influence, could Charles obtain the pledge that they 
 would obey him in all that he should prescribe. But 
 the whole proceeding — the calling of the diet against 
 the prohibition of the king and the refusal at first 
 of the council — the thoroughness of its proceedings 
 and the method of securing the adherence to both of 
 the Estates and the people — exhibit the extraordinary 
 resolution and ability of the duke. If at either of the 
 two diets of Upsala, or at this, Charles had faltered. 
 Protestantism would have been extinguished in Swe- 
 den, as, a century later, it was extinguished in Austria 
 and Bohemia. 
 
 It would be an interesting topic for a monograph, 
 by a competent historian — that of showing in how 
 many instances the fate of nations, for centuries of 
 weal or. wo, has hung suspended on the fidelity and 
 firmness, or the treachery and weakness, of a single 
 mind. In such a treatise the history of Charles IX. 
 would occupy a conspicuous and honorable position. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FROM THE MEETING OF THE DIET OF SODERKCEPING, 
 SEPT. 30, 1596, TO THE CLOSE OF THE REIGN OF 
 CHARLES IX., OCT. 30, 161I. 
 
 WE enter at this point into a new series of strug- 
 gles and entanglements on the part of Charles, 
 which it would seem that no one but a true inheritor 
 of the stalwart body and the big brain and the indom- 
 itable resolution of the great Gustavus could for a series 
 of years have endured. 
 
 Enforcement The statutes of Soderkceping were promul- 
 of the Eccle- gated by Charles in Swedish and German and 
 visions of the Latin. The worship of the Catholics at Stock- 
 Diet. holm, Drottningholm, and Wadstena, was in- 
 
 terdicted and the priests were banished. The convent 
 at the latter place, the most famous in the kingdom, 
 was suppressed. A general church inquest for the sup- 
 pression of Popery throughout the kingdom was estab- 
 lished. The new archbishop, Abraham, drove on this 
 measure throughout the kingdom with great severity; 
 but no lives were taken on account of religion. The 
 minister of the church of Stockholm, Eric Schepper, 
 exhibited equal zeal. They were both violent, injudi- 
 cious and unstable men; and when they found that they 
 could not direct and overrule Charles they soon grew 
 cool in carrying out the objects which they first advo- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 249 
 
 cated and pressed with undue heat. Schepper assumed 
 to criticise and harshly censure some measures of the 
 government which had no reference to religious inter- 
 ests. The archbishop protected Schepper; but his in- 
 tervention did not prevent Charles's deposition of him 
 from his office. To the archbishop he wrote, "We will 
 maintain the right which our father of happy memory 
 acquired, that it shall appertain to the magistrate to 
 suspend a clergyman upon well-grounded cause from 
 the exercise of his office; else might we as gladly sit 
 under the Pope as under the Archbishop and Chapter 
 of Upsala." The duke charged upon the archbishop 
 that he demeaned himself more like an executioner 
 than a paternal prelate. 
 
 It was a matter of course that the proceed- 
 frmn. '^King ings of the Diet of SoderkcEping should be 
 Sigismund very offensive to King Sigismund. He sent 
 an embassy of six of his highest nobles to 
 remonstrate against their execution. To their demand 
 that these enactments should be rescinded Duke Charles 
 gave a very decided refusal. These embassadors, how- 
 ever, had an opportunity to tamper with the members 
 of his council, whose assent to the summons and the 
 decrees of the Diet of Soderkoeping we have seen were 
 extorted by the firm measures of the duke. All of the 
 members of the council but one joined with the em- 
 bassy in demanding a repeal of some of the measures 
 of the late diet, which they had sanctioned only under 
 intimidation. Charles had now reached a point where 
 he seemed absolutely helpless. Civil war raged in Fin- 
 land. The commander of the troops in that country 
 refused to lead them by command of the duke, while 
 he himself was thus in open disobedience to the king. 
 No other path seemed open to him but to resign. He 
 
2SO The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 would not continue in office on condition of reversing, 
 or sanctioning the reversal of, the statutes of the Diet 
 of Soderkceping. Without this reversal, in obedience 
 to the king, he could not now secure the co-operation 
 of his council, or enforce the obedience of the leaders of 
 the troops. He resolved to resign. But the form in 
 which his resignation was offered leads us to infer that 
 he foresaw that an armed conflict in defense of Protes- 
 tantism, which was now identified with the cause of 
 the old liberties of Sweden, was inevitable, and could 
 no longer be delayed. 
 ^, _ , When the duke announced that he would 
 
 The Duke i i • i 
 
 Resigns the lay down the government, he coupled with 
 Government. j.jjg announcement the declaration that as 
 he had received it from the Estates, into their hands 
 alone should it be deposited. He accordingly con- 
 vened a new diet to be held in February of the follow- 
 ing year in Arboga. Meantime, on the 13th of Janu- 
 ary, 1597, came Sigismund's letter to the Estates of the 
 realm to the effect that he had learned from his envoys, 
 on their return, that the duke would not conform to his 
 directions: and that therefore the king transferred the 
 government of the country to the council. On the 
 25th day of the same month Charles wrote to the king 
 that the envoys had not mentioned to him that he had 
 already deprived him of the government. He then en- 
 tered into a full vindication of all his proceedings as 
 those which were demanded by loyalty to the will of 
 his royal father Gustavus, and the principles upon 
 which he had established the government. He con- 
 cluded with the statement that he had convened the 
 diet at Arboga; and with a declaration, which was in 
 effect an announcement, that whether that coming 
 diet should accept or decline to receive his resigna- 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 251 
 
 tion, he would still resist the efforts of the king to 
 overthrow the decrees of Soderkoeping and to admin- 
 ister the government in the interests of Romanism. 
 The king could not misapprehend the meaning of such 
 a sentence as this: "We would not deal underhand, but 
 would have your majesty plainly informed and warned 
 that if the government of this realm be not otherwise 
 disposed and arranged {i. e., otherwise than as you 
 propose) we will not b^ subject to such a government, 
 but will use those means and expedients which may 
 help for the alleviation of our own lot and that of the 
 country." 
 
 Diet ofAr- The conduct of Charles at first at Arboga 
 t'ogO' seems to sanction the conjecture which I 
 
 have made that he hoped that the diet would not ac- 
 cept his resignation. Finding that no one raised a 
 voice to dissuade him at the opening of the diet, from 
 resigning the regency, he retired to his near palace of 
 Gripsholm, as if for the purpose of taking no part in 
 its proceedings. But on reflecting upon the anarchy 
 that might ensue if he continued in that resolution, 
 he stifled his indignation and returned. The diet as- 
 sembled at the designated time, notwithstanding the 
 prohibition of the king and the protest of the council. 
 One only of the lords of the council. Count Axel 
 Oxenstiern, could be induced to attend; and but a 
 small sprinkling of the nobility were present. Even 
 the hitherto too zealous archbishop was accused of 
 having secretly given in his allegiance to the king. 
 To the appeals of Charles the representative peas- 
 ants answered with enthusiasm, and brandished their 
 clubs and axes in the face of the lords, declaring that 
 they would defend Charles, against all enemies, so 
 long as the blood was warm in their veins. The 
 
253 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 statute that was passed was sent through all the 
 country for signature. It contained a re-assertion of 
 the statute of Soderkoeping. Whoever opposed its 
 provisions was to be put down by arms, as a public 
 enemy; and the duke, who now, at the request of the 
 diet, resumed the government, proceeded to the en- 
 forcement of its decrees. Most of the counselors fled 
 from the kingdom. Charles, with great promptitude, 
 took possession of Elfsborg, Stegborg and Calmar, and 
 passed oyer into Finland where his old foe Clas Flem- 
 ing had lately died. There he made several noblemen 
 prisoners; and a new envoy of the king to Stockholm 
 saw some of them conducted to the scaffold. The die 
 was now cast; the issue was made; civil war already 
 was begun. It was a distinct issue between a king 
 who was attempting, against his coronation oath and 
 the fundamental laws of the kingdom, to introduce a 
 religion which they had repudiated and which they 
 abhorred; and a prince, an hereditary heir to the 
 throne whose foundation principle he was bound to 
 conserve, and at the head of a people, for whose rights 
 and liberties he was under the most solemn obligation 
 to contend. Thera never was a clearer call of duty to 
 self, to God, and to country, than that which was now 
 made upon the duke. 
 
 Si^smund's Upon hearing of these events the king raised 
 return to an army of six thousand men and came to 
 "'^'^"*- Sweden and took possession of Calmar. Even 
 Stockholm declared for him. But Charles, at the head 
 of the indomitable Dalesmen, who triumphantly bore 
 the great Gustavus to the throne, prepared to meet 
 the king in open fight. The presence of a foreign army 
 in Sweden exasperated a large number of persons, who 
 might otherwise have been neutral or friendly to the 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 253 
 
 king-. At a first encounter the forces of the king 
 gained some advantage. But in a second great battle, 
 at Stangbridge in Linkoping, the king's forces were ut- 
 terly defeated, with a loss of two thousand men killed 
 and comparatively few wounded; and with but little 
 loss on the part of the army of the duke. The king 
 and the duke held a personal conference immediately 
 after the battle. This was followed by the convention 
 of Linkoping, by which the faithless Sigismund was al- 
 lowed by Charles, even in that hour of victory, to be 
 acknowledged king on the condition, again renewed, 
 that he would govern the kingdom according to his 
 coronation oath, and send back his foreign troops, and 
 within four months convoke a diet. From the general 
 amnesty that was proclaimed Charles insisted that the 
 names of five of the counselors, who had fled to the 
 king in Poland, should be excepted. These lords were 
 delivered up to the duke. 
 
 The ever-faithless king at once violated the provi- 
 sions of the treaty of Linkoping by leaving a garrison 
 of Polish troops at Calmar. By one of the articles of 
 that treaty it was provided that the States should have 
 the right to resist any violation of its provisions. Ac- 
 cordingly, when it was known that Sigismund had left 
 these Polish troops at Calmar, the Estates assembled 
 at Jenkoeping in the early part of 1 599 and renounced 
 their allegiance to Sigismund conditionally. At a 
 new diet in July this condition was withdrawn, and 
 it was added that if within six months Sigismund 
 should not send his son Vladislaus to Sweden to be 
 educated for the crown in the evangelic faith, his fam- 
 ily should forfeit for ever its hereditary right to the 
 Swedish throne. The duke was declared reigning 
 prince hereditary of the realm. 
 
254 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 This was the end of Sig'ismund's power even in name 
 in his hereditary kingdom. 
 ,.. , „ According to the usual course of history it 
 
 Singular Po- , ° , , ^, , i , , 
 
 sition of was to be expected that Charles would mount 
 Charles. j.j^g throne. The Estates had declared that 
 Sigismund and his heirs had for ever forfeited their 
 hereditary right. Charles was the next acknowledged 
 and undisputed heir. He had for a long time, during 
 the absence of the king, administered the government; 
 and now that the king's authority was disowned, his 
 government of the kingdom with the full royal power 
 would be continuous — uninterrupted and unshared. 
 That he did not at once enter upon the office that 
 was open to him, and did not subsequently, for a long 
 time, accept it when it was pressed upon him, was not 
 due to embarrassments and obstacles without, but rather 
 to scruples of conscience which we cannot but regard 
 as real. For his difficulties were increased by the 
 singular and anomalous position which he occupied; 
 and the peaceful settlement of the kingdom delayed 
 by his persistent hesitation. While there was in the 
 character of Charles a severity which subsequently, in 
 the struggle with manifold treacheries, sometimes har- 
 dened into cruelty, there was at the same time a high 
 conscientiousness, and a power of stern self-repression, 
 and a vigorous will to follow out his convictions of 
 duty, which recall the best specimens of heroic Puri- 
 tanism. His religion was free from fanaticism, and 
 was guided far more by moral than emotional forces. 
 And along with this stern conscientiousness he had 
 a lofty view of the prerogatives and rights of the house 
 of Vasa, and would contend for their conservation, even 
 when that contention would harm rather than help his 
 personal interests. It is impossible to read the record 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 255 
 
 of the career of Charles from this period with an un- 
 derstanding of its guiding principles and motives, ex- 
 cept upon the view which I have here presented — a 
 view which Geijer has thus admirably explained and 
 expanded. 
 
 "The common responsibility which Gustavus had im- 
 posed upon his sons was in truth Charles's political re- 
 ligion. Throughout his life he fought for the Swedish 
 crown, seemingly against his own interest and that of his 
 children; and he was himself, amid these contrarieties, 
 torn by internal strife. With one hand battling against 
 Sigismund, and all the dangers which with him threat- 
 ened the country, with the other he struggled inex- 
 orably with the factions which had dared to beleaguer 
 the throne of Gustavus Vasa. As the son of Gustavus, 
 and from his whole position, he could not misappreci- 
 ate the value of power bestowed by the voice of the 
 people. But on the same voice his whole family rested 
 their hereditary right. Against Sigismund, an outcast 
 by religion from the heritage of the father of his line, 
 Charles enforced the resolution of the Estates. But 
 there remained a child whose weak arm, outstretched 
 between him and the throne, seems to have excited in 
 him deeper disquietude. Duke John, Sigismund's half- 
 brother, was, by the hereditary settlement, his claim 
 being unforfeited, next heir to the throne. Not only 
 was the life of this child held sacred by a hand other- 
 wise so blood-stained, but Charles fulfilled towards 
 him all the duties of a near kinsman. He is still un- 
 certain whether the young prince's renunciation of his 
 pretensions, made at the age of fifteen, is valid; and 
 closes by acknowledging in his testament John's su- 
 perior right ' provided that the Estates of the realm 
 shall in no wise depart from their enacted statutes.' 
 
256 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 According to this Sweden was without a king at the 
 death of Charles, and first received one in Gustavus 
 Adolphus by a new election of the Estates." 
 
 By the light of this explanation of the singular 
 attitude of Charles's mind, we can comprehend some 
 of his proceedings after the deposition of Sigismund 
 which would be otherwise unintelligible. On the one 
 hand we cannot fail to respect the personal self-abne- 
 gation with which, in obedience to what he almost 
 alone regarded as a claim of right, he consented that 
 the crown should pass from his own gifted son to one 
 who had ceased to be a Swede, and had been educated 
 in the faith the attempt to introduce which into Swe- 
 den had convulsed the country for fifty years. On the 
 other hand we wonder at the seeming want of consis- 
 tency by which he adhered so fanatically to the prin- 
 cipal of hereditary succession as to sacrifice his son's 
 pretensions to those of his nephew, which, by the 
 supreme authority of the State, had been forfeited; 
 while he left the kingdom in such a state as to make 
 it inevitable that his son should succeed, not by that 
 right of hereditary succession to which he rendered 
 such unusual homage, but by a new election of the 
 people. These are singular weaknesses in a strong 
 character which, although on the side of self-abnega- 
 tion, we find it difficult to respect, because they laid 
 his kingdom open to dangers, which all his life was 
 passed in the struggle to forefend and overcome. 
 Civil War ^igismund's exasperation at the failure of 
 his effort to coerce Sweden was extreme. 
 He had enough partisans in the country, and espe- 
 cially in Finland, to excite a civil war. A slanderous 
 pamphlet was prepared against Charles, by the com- 
 mand of Sigismund, and distributed through all the 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 257 
 
 courts of Europe. The mutual animosities of the two 
 parties became greatly inflamed. The Dalecarlians and 
 the adjacent provinces were leagued to resist and crush 
 the partisans of the king. The lords of the council 
 who had been surrendered to Charles were tried and 
 executed. Many others were executed, and still more 
 banished. And while the war in Livonia and Finland 
 was in progress, in the conduct of which Charles ener- 
 getically intervened, the crown was twice offered to 
 him and rejected. The States indeed became impa- 
 tient and angry with Charles because of this persistent 
 refusal of the crown. At length, in 1604, when the 
 ciyil war was ended, Charles accepted the crown after 
 it had been offered, at his request, to Duke John, and 
 had been declined on account of the conditions at- 
 tached to its acceptance. 
 
 Relation of We have already intimated that Charles had 
 Charley to given some indications of his preference of 
 and the the Reformed to the Lutheran Church. His 
 Church. relation to the clergy became unfriendly and 
 continued to be so to the end of his reign. It must be 
 confessed that there was not much in the character 
 of the Lutheran clergy at that time to secure the re- 
 spect of one of such rigid principles, and such straight- 
 forward policy as Charles. Moreover, the Reformed 
 system itself, in its general principles, was no doubt 
 more congenial to his nature. " The perfecter of the 
 Reformation in Sweden," says Geijer, "was not reck- 
 oned an orthodox Lutheran." At the Diet of Linkoe- 
 ping, in 1600, a service-book prepared by him had been 
 rejected by the clergy. But Charles, notwithstanding, 
 introduced the new order of worship which he had 
 proposed into his own household. It was charged 
 that this service was Calvinistic; and the Archbishop, 
 
2s8 The Reformation in Sweden. 
 
 Olaf Martinson wrote against it as such. It is curi- 
 ous to find among its alleged Calvinistic points, the 
 statement that heretics ought to be allowed Christian 
 burial. In the year i6oi Charles published a collec- 
 tion of Swedish psalms. He also composed and pub- 
 lished a collection of Swedish and German hymns. 
 In 1604 he issued a Swedish catechism, in which he 
 followed the Reformed catechism of Heidelberg. This 
 publication, together with his effort to secure an 
 amended translation of the Bible, caused no little 
 commotion among the Swedish clergy. Controversies 
 arose, in which Charles showed himself no mean po- 
 lemic. He contended against the decree of a Diet 
 of Upsala, which had modified the article of the 
 Augsburg Confession, that the Scriptures were the 
 sole rule of faith. He also contended that sacraments 
 were only confirmatory signs of grace, and did not in 
 themselves impart forgiveness of sins. Hence he de- 
 nied that the reception of the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper at the hour of death was necessary for salva- 
 tion, although it might be a comfort and support; and 
 he dwelt upon the anguish which was inflicted upon 
 the dying, who could not obtain the sacrament, by 
 this cruel dogma. He contended that only a condi- 
 tional and not a positive absolution should be pro- 
 nounced upon confession; and that the words should 
 be inserted into the formula of absolution "in the 
 name of God who alone forgiveth sins." He also 
 advocated the use of reason and philosophy in the 
 construction of a Christian theology. It is creditable 
 to Charles, and in this we see an utter contrast to 
 the policy of his brother John, that he made no at- 
 tempt to force his new services and doctrines upon 
 the diets and the people; and that the archbishop was 
 
The Reformation in Sweden. 259 
 
 permitted to answer the royal theologian as an equal, 
 without suffering any penalty or deprivation. The 
 Lutheran system remained unmodified, and so con- 
 tinues in Sweden; and it must be confessed that it has 
 exhibited itself there as narrow and intolerant as in 
 any part of Europe. It is less than twenty years since 
 the profession of the Catholic faith and the exercise 
 of the Catholic worship has been allowed in Sweden. 
 Charles spent a large part of his life in the abortive 
 attempt to unite the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. 
 He did not adopt all the views of Calvin, and especially 
 his most distinctive doctrine, the decrees of election 
 and reprobation. Many conferences and disputations 
 were held upon the subject. But all his efforts failed 
 of making any impression upon the Lutheran clergy. 
 , ,. The reign of Charles extended to the year 
 
 Concluding .-• t^ . , . , 
 
 Years of loii. Dunng that period no new arrange- 
 Charies' ments Were made in ecclesiastical affairs. 
 " ' He devoted himself with earnest efforts to 
 
 restore order and prosperity to the country; and his 
 judicious and energetic measures for that object would 
 have met with greater success, but for the wars in 
 which he was involved with Denmark and with Rus- 
 sia. It is, notwithstanding, one of the enigmas of his- 
 tory, that, after so many years of strife and of national 
 exhaustion which followed the death of Gustavus, a 
 country so poor and sparsely settled should so soon 
 afterwards develop the large resources and put forth 
 the strength in the great Protestant struggle in Ger- 
 many which has made the name of Gustavus Adolphus 
 immortal. 
 
 The End.