The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa

of Christina Gyllenstjerna; of Mehlen; of Sunnanv?der.-Attitude of Fredrik to Gustavus.-Proposition of Gusta

e eyes of men, that temporal government along with class distinctions of every kind should be abolished, and that Christians should indulge in absolute community of goods. In religious matters, too, they had peculiar views, believing that only adults should receive baptism, and that all adults who had been baptized in infancy should be baptized again. By reason of this tenet they were known as Anabaptists. Their first appearance in the Swedish capital occurred at a moment when the monarch was away. In that, at any rate, they manifested sense. The capital was all agog with Luther's doctrines, and everything that bore the stamp of novelty was listened to with joy. Melchior and Knipperdolling were received with open arms, the pulpits were placed at their disposal, and men and women flocked in swarms to hear them. The town authorities raised no opposition, believing the influence of these teachers would be good. In a short time, however, they were undeceived. The contagion spread like wildfire through the town, and every other citizen began to preach. Churches, monasteries, and chapels were fill

the the people Gustavus planned a journey through the realm, intending to set forth before the autumn closed. This journey he was forced by stress of circumstances to postpone. He therefore turned to other methods to effect his end. The strongest feature of the Lutheran doctrine was that it purported to be based upon the Word of God. To such a pretension no one but an unbeliever could object. Lutheranism was opposed on the ground of its presumed basis in the idiosyncrasies of men. Gustavus, confident tha

these: man's justification; free will; forgiveness of sins; invocation and worship of saints; purgatory; celebration of vigils and masses for the dead; chanting of the service; good works, and rewards; papal and monastic indulgences; sacraments; predestination; excommunication; pilgrimages. The battle on these questions was fought, December 27, in the Chapter-house at Upsala; and the chronicle tells us, somewhat unnecessarily, that the fight was hot. Each party was struggling for the v

, for such was the decree made by the sixth Council of the Church." In his letter to the king, Brask used these words: "Your Majesty must be aware that much talk has been occasioned by the marriage in your capital of Olaus Petri, a Christian priest. At a future day, should the marriage result in children, there will be much trouble, for the law declares that children of a priest shall stand, in matters of inheritance, on a par with bastards.... Even in the Grecian Church, where persons who are married may be ordained on certain terms, those already priests have never been allowed to marry. Petri's ceremony is not a lawful marriage, and places him under the ban, according to the doctrines of the Church. For God's sake, therefore, act in this matter as a Christian prince should do." On receiving this letter, Gustavus, who had been in Upsala when the act occurred, called for the offending preacher and asked him what excuse he offered for violating the ancient customs of the Church. To this the culprit answered that he was ready to defend his conduct in o

den constantly at heart, was the first person to suspect foul play. So early as December 9 he told a friend his fears had been aroused. Gustavus, if he had suspicions, kept them dark. He opened correspondence with Norby, hoping to inveigle him into a conference in Stockholm. Norby, however, knew the trick himself. The wea

longed to see upon her son's head the crown that but for his early death would have been worn by her husband. This son, a mere boy of twelve, had recently returned from Dantzic, whither he had been sent as exile four years before by Christiern. He had disembarked at Kalmar, and still remained there under custody of Mehlen. In this s

orite in Stockholm. So imperative an order Mehlen dared not disobey. Proceeding at once to Stockholm, he appeared before the king, and soon discovered that his worst suspicions were not far from true. The assurances of his monarch's favor had been a blind to decoy the officer away from Kalmar. On the 12th of March Gustavus removed him from the post, and appointed another officer, Nils Eriksson, in his stead. Anticipating that the change might cause some friction, the monarch sent off a whole batch of letters in explanation of his act. One of these letters, though a trifle lengthy, is perhaps worth quoting. It is addressed to the fief of Kalmar, and runs in this wise: "Dear friends, we thank you warmly for the devotion and allegiance which you, as true and loyal subjects, have exhibited toward us as well as toward the kingdom of your fathers. You will remember that last summer, when we despatched our fleet to Gotland to besiege Norby in the castle and town of Visby, and when he found that he could expect no aid from Christiern, he sent his ambassadors to take oath of allegiance to Fredrik, King of Denmark. His purpose, which we clearly saw, was simply to cause dissension between the kingdoms, thus giving Christiern opportunity to come forward and seize the reins once more. It appearing to us and to our Cabinet unwise to permit a new war at that time to spring up between the kingdoms, we proceeded with delegates from our Cabinet to a congress of the realms at Malm?. There we made a permanent alliance with each other and the Hanseatic Towns against King Christiern. We agreed, moreover, that our respective claims to Gotland should be left to arbitration. When, now, Norby saw that the dissension which he had longed for was not likely to ensue, he disregarded every oath that he had made to Fredrik, and continued in his old alle

price of food, and attributing all their evils to the continuance of wars in Europe. The Cabinet also addressed the Dalesmen, urging them not to ally themselves with Sunnanv?der, who was disgruntled, so they heard, because he had not been given the bishopric of Vester?s. In one of his appeals Gustavus warned the rebels to be still, lest Christiern might be encouraged to return. The spectre of their gory tyrant seems not, however, to have haunted them, and in February we find that Knut, the deposed dean of Vester?s, had joined their ranks. To him Gustavus wrote a note, assuring

e was a story afloat that Fredrik's hand was really behind the pirate's opposition to Gustavus. No one could place the slightest confidence in what he said. In January he started a rumor that he was ready to give up Gotland, provided the king would grant him a like domain in Finland; but soon it turned out that the whole project was a ruse. In February he had so far befogged the intellect o

d whenever Fredrik fancied that danger averted, he spared no effort to humiliate his rival beyond the strait. One instance of his treachery was noticed in the comfort given to Knut and Sunnanv?der when they fled to Norway. The treaty of Malm? had stated with sufficient clearness that all fugitives from o

and arrested. It appears, however, that she did not merit all the king's severity; for Brask in April wrote a friend, that the monarch was treating her with undue harshness. She was widely popular, and Gustavus would have been more wise had h

s own. Convinced that the whole delay on the part of Mehlen was to use up time, he instructed his messenger to warn the occupants that if the castle were not surrendered by the 1st of May, he would make them smart for it. In his letter, however, Gustavus used more gentle language. "We have kept your brother here," he wrote, "in order to protect him from the populace, whose mouths are full of scandal about our relations to him. From your letter it appears you thought we held him in confinement.... We are minded to treat him well and kindly, unless we shall b

was at their request and exhortation that we assumed the reins at Strengn?s, and whatever their judgment now may be, it shall be followed." In addition to this notice, sent to all portions of the land, Gustavus wrote to the people of Mora that he had heard of a complaint from them that the kingdom was going to pieces and that he was causing it. He assured them that the rumor was untrue, and that he was doing all he could to hold the realm together. When these assurances reached Dalarne, the poor peasants of that district were already starving. Half mad with hunger, they called a mass meeting of their little parishes, and drew up a heart-rending though unfair statement of their wrongs. A copy of these grievances they despatched at once to Stockholm. It charged the king with appointing German and Danish officers to the highest positions in the state, and with quartering foreign soldiers in the towns and villages till the inhabitants were constrained to flee. He had further, they asserted, laid taxes on the monasteries and churches, and on the priests and monks; he had seized jewels consecrated to God's service; he had robbed the churches of all their Swedish money, and substituted "klippings," which he then had repudiated; and he had seized the tithes. Finally they charged him with imprisoning Christina and her boy. The letter ended with a warning that unless he at once drove out all foreigners, released Christina with the others whom he had in prison, and took some measures to better trade, they would renou

that he now had a chance of restoration such as he had never had before. But Norby's hopes were at the very highest when the bubble burst. The emperor proved too busy with his own affairs to send his army to the North, and Christiern could not raise the armament requisite for a foreign war. Gustavus, moreover, sent his troops to drive back the invader, and the Danish nobility enlisted in behalf of Fredrik. The result was that ere the close of May the pirate was routed in two important battles. Gustavus literally hugged himself for joy, and sent off a letter of congratulation to the army that had won the day. "My good men," he began, "you may rest assured that if Norby shall escape you and come this way, he will meet with a reception that will cause him little joy. From his assertion that he expected aid from us, you will perceive he sought to foster discord between your realm and us.... We had already ordered our men in Vesterg?tland to go to your relief as soon as yo

roximity of Norby's fief to Sweden. He was at a loss, moreover, to understand the king of Denmark's motives. "It may be," he suggested in a letter of July 9, "that Fredrik's purpose was to secure Gotland, and then deal with Norby as he pleased. However this may be, we must keep watch on every side." The same day he wrote to another person,

out upon the bridge. But while he pretended to be crossing, a portion of the garrison dashed out of the castle and massacred a number of the people, all unsuspecting, in the town. The alarm was then given to the royal guard, and Mehlen's soldiers, finding themselves outnumbered, retired across the bridge. Five days later, Mehlen, with his wife and brother, scaled the castle wall and sailed for Germany, leaving his wretched soldiers to withstand the siege. If ever there was a cowardly, bustling, impotent, insignificant adventurer, Berent von Mehlen was that man. During his two years' stay in Swede

of masonry twenty feet in height. This rampart was washed on three sides by the sea, and on the other was protected by a broad deep dike and then an outer wall. From within, the rampart was guarded by eight huge towers that stood out from the castle-walls, and the four corners of the ramparts were further strengthened by four more towers with apertures for crossbows, cannon, and muskets. Such was the fortress that Gustavus, late in July, resolved to storm. He began by throwing up a line of earthworks, behind which he placed his heavy guns, hoping to batter down the towers and ramparts, while his pikemen and halberdiers were scaling the unprotected parts. But his men at first were lukewarm. The task seemed herculean, and every effort to ascend the ramparts met with certain death. Those in the castle fought like maniacs, the men with guns and crossbows, and the women firing stones. Gustavus, it is reported, stormed and swore, and finally put on his armor, declaring that he would ei

TNO

Gust. I.'s kr

p. 98-99; and Kon. Gust. den F?r

ust. I.'s kr?n

ol. xiv. pp. 33-41 and vol. xviii. pp. 265-266 and 273-276; and K

107-110; and Kon. Gust. den F?rstes registrat.,

vol. ii. pp. 24-26. Some modern writers, unwilling to believe Christina base enough to marry Norby, regard the whole story of her consent as false. It seems impossible, however, that a false rumor should

and 1527-1533; Handl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xiv. pp. 61-65; and Kon. Gust. de

47; Handl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xxiii. pp. 28-34; and Kon. Gust

ndl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xiii. pp. 124-127; and K

ol. xxiii. pp. 65-67; Kon. Gust. den F?rstes registrat., vol. ii. pp. 33-34, 4

. hist., vol. xiv. p. 64 and vol. xviii. pp. 269-270 and 276-2

. 45; and Kon. Gust. den F?rstes registrat.

. Dal., vol. ii. pp. 50-51 and 63-64; Handl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xiv. pp. 41-44 and 60-61 and vol. xxiii. pp. 77-81;

hrist. II.'s arkiv, vol. i. pp. 7-36; Handl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xiv. pp. 55-57 and 72-73; and Ko

F?rstes registrat.,

. 86-89; Handl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xiv. pp. 61-65; and Kon.

andl. r?r. Skand. hist., vol. xiv. pp. 72-73; and Kon. Gust. den F?rstes r