Gustavus Vasa

“ He opposed Gustavus Vasa in his patriotic endeavours, and once circumvented the hero with a troop of Danes, so that he narrowly escaped with his life. Vasa, however, soon retorted the same stratagem on his enemy; and he was at last obliged to retire into Denmark, where he with difficulty escaped death from the resentment of his master. A wound, received in an engagement with the troops of Christiern the Third, terminated the existence of one of the most restless caballers, and most accomplished statesmen, of his time. ”

“ As a canon of Upsala and Linköping was employed by Gustavus Vasa in several missions, being sent to Rome in 1523 to obtain papal confirmation of his brother's election to the archbishopric. After his brother's disgrace he followed him, as his secretary, to Rome, and at his brother's death was appointed archbishop of Upsala by the pope, but never attempted to assert his right. Died in Rome in 1558. He was a man of remarkable memory, and possessed strong powers of observation; but he lacked his brother's even temper. His Hist. de gent. Sept. is one of the most singular books ever written. ”

“ The Revolution in Sweden is, however, in one respect pre-eminent among the great crises known to history. Never was a revolution so thoroughly the work of a single man as that in Sweden. From beginning to end there was one figure whose presence alone infused life into a lukewarm people, and who, working upon the forces which had been forged by years of tyranny, shaped them gradually to his own commanding will. The Revolution in Sweden is the history of Gustavus Vasa. ”

“ But he did not lay that foundation of public liberty which the blood poured out by the Swedish people merited. Of all nations on the face of the globe none are more fitted by temperament for a republican form of government than the Swedes. They are calm, they are thoughtful, they are economical, and above all else, they are imbued with an ardent love of liberty. It is hard, therefore, to repress the wish that Gustavus Vasa had been allowed, at the diet of Vesterås, to lay aside the crown, and that in his place a leader had been chosen to carry on the good work on the lines already drawn. ”

“ He was very angry with Gustavus for having escaped out of his hands, and exposed him to the king's wrath, and wanted him to return with him to Denmark. Gustavus promised to refund the six thousand dollars Banner would be obliged to forfeit, but it was not likely that he would agree to go back to his gloomy prison. So he remained some months at Lubeck, and heard there of the death of Sture and the defeat of his countrymen. It was at this time, when Martin Luther, the great Reformer, came to visit the city of Lubeck, that Gustavus Vasa declared himself a convert to the Protestant faith. ”

“ In 1493 war broke out again with Russia, and Hans resolved to seize this opportunity to make good his claims in Sweden. He opened negotiations once more with the disaffected members of the Cabinet, still hoping to make compromise with Sture; they hesitated, they promised, and then made new demands; and it was in the midst of this elaborate trifling, while the regent was in Finland conducting the Russian war, that Gustavus Vasa was born at Lindholm.
Affairs in Sweden were now fast coming to a crisis. The fitful struggle of a century had at last assumed a definite and unmistakable direction. ”

“ In Sweden, more than in almost any other land, the Reformation was a political revolt. Indeed, it may well be called a political necessity. At the moment when Gustavus Vasa was elected king, Sweden was on the verge of bankruptcy. The war just passed had drained the resources of the country, and left her heavily involved in debt. The principal creditor was Lubeck. Precisely how much had been borrowed from that town it is impossible to determine, though it is certain the total amount fell not far short of 300,000 Swedish marks. ”

“ Soliloquies of Ernestus and Harfagar in prison—Christiern in a conversation with his peers throws further light on the rebellion of Prince Frederic in Denmark—He employs Olaus to carry Ernestus and Harfagar, in a boat, into the sea, and there assassinate them—Death of Olaus and Harfagar—Ernestus is ordered by the genius of Sweden, to seek Gustavus Vasa, hero of the poem, in Dalecarlia—Character of Admiral Norbi. ”

“ With a joyous heart he turned about and hurried back to Mora. The whole province was now awake. Rättvik had already had a conflict with a body of Danish horsemen; and when the [Pg 89] outcast hero appeared once more at Mora, he found a vast throng of peasants flocking from every side to join his ranks. By common consent he was chosen to be their leader and a body of sixteen stout highlanders selected to be his guard. This was in the early days of 1521. The perseverance of the stanch young outlaw was rewarded, and the supremacy of Gustavus Vasa had begun. ”

“ His grandfather, Gustavus Vasa, had established the Protestant religion in Sweden; but his nephew, Sigismond, who had been elected king of Poland, and had become a Catholic, succeeded to the throne. Endeavoring to change the established religion, he was deposed, and the succession changed. This caused a war between Sweden, and Russia, and Poland. Gustavus was only eighteen when he came to the throne, with this war bequeathed to him. He was full of energy, and defeated his enemies on all sides. ”

“ He made a second attack upon Sweden, and, after the death of Steen Sture, was crowned King of Sweden. Under false pretences, he put to death the whole Swedish senate, and exercised innumerable barbarities on the townsmen and peasants. (Puffendorff, passim.) Being afterwards expelled from Denmark by his uncle Prince Frederick, and from Sweden by Gustavus Vasa, after many fruitless attempts to regain possession of either kingdom, he was at last seized by Frederick, August 2, 1532, and confined in the Castle of Coldinger, where he died some years after. ”

“ GUST. ADOLPHUS. During the fourteenth, and the beginning of the fifteenth century, Sweden, lying under vassalage to the crown of Denmark, suffered the evils which commonly belong to that condition. Gustavus Vasa, after a series of romantic adventures, established the independence of his country, and was deservedly elected by the Swedish Diet, in 1523, to wear its crown. The same kingdom to which he gave a place among free states, his grandson, Gustavus Adolphus, raised from the obscurity of a petty northern power, to rule in Germany, and to be the terror of the Church of Rome. ”

“ The publication therefore of a History of Gustavus Vasa, with Extracts from his Correspondence,—which, although based upon the narrative of his startling adventures, his gallant exploits, and the picture of his manly sincere character, and his quaint but telling eloquence, given by Geijer in his History of Sweden, has been carefully elaborated by references to original authorities, and rendered more picturesque by the introduction of copious extracts from his correspondence,—is good service rendered to the cause of historic truth. The writer is obviously an earnest, able, and painstaking man ”

“ One moment the peasantry were all in arms, burning to avenge their wrongs, and the next moment, just on the eve of victory, they scattered, each satisfied with promises that his wrongs would be redressed and willing to let other persons redress their own. What was needed above all else was a feeling of national unity and strength; and it was this feeling that from the very outset the young Gustavus sought to instil in the minds of the Swedish people. ”

“ The liberation of Sweden by Gustavus Vasa is a history written by the people, and they counted neither themselves nor their foes. The army was now divided under two generals, Lawrence Olaveson and Lawrence Ericson, both practised warriors. Gustavus next issued his declaration of war against Christian, and marched to Westeras. He expected here to be met by the peasants of the western mining district from Lindesberg and Nora, who had already taken the oath of fidelity to him through his deputies ”

“ In 1520 Gustavus Ericsson excited a rebellion against Christian II., of Denmark, who had murdered his father and many other Swedes. This revolution was successful three years later, and its leader made king, under the title of Gustaf I., often called Gustavus Vasa, or Wasa. He was succeeded by his son, and the throne continued in his family; but the next notable sovereign was Gustaf II., or Gustavus Adolphus. ”

“ The Hansa had other views, and the Scandinavian Powers had not the remotest intention of playing Poland's game. As soon as Derpt had fallen, the nobility of Revel had appealed to the King of Sweden. Gustavus Vasa, a dying man, remembered the humiliation imposed on him when Livonia had stolen away and left him to accept the peace of 1557, which the Tsar had refused to negotiate in person. ”

“ This is the name given to nine bundles of MSS., chiefly originals, in the Royal Archives at Stockholm, bearing on the reign of Gustavus Vasa. Many of them are found transcribed in the Registratur. Some, not so transcribed, have been published in the already printed volumes of the Registratur, as supplements, and in the Svenska riksdagsakter edited by Hildebrand and Alin. ”

“ Sweden was impoverished, commerce was at a standstill, education had been neglected, and the dominions for which his people had poured out their blood during many years were lost almost in a single day. His career shows, if it shows anything, that prosperity is incompatible [Pg 221] with war. No man can serve two masters. So long as nations are in active and continued warfare, they cannot enjoy the blessings or even the comforts that belong to them in time of peace.
A like argument may be drawn from the reign of Gustavus Vasa. The early years of the Swedish Revolution were marked by bloodshed. ”

“ Sweden in the early part of the sixteenth century was not fertile in literary men. Gustavus himself, judged by any rational standard, was an abominable writer. His despatches are in number almost endless and in length appalling. Page after page he runs on, seemingly with no other object than to use up time. Often a document covers four folios, which might easily have been compressed into a single sentence. Such was the habit of the age. A simple letter from a man to his wife consisted mainly of a mass of stereotyped expressions of respect. ”

“ The powers which Gustavus possessed as regent were too vague to meet the necessities of a time of peace. While the army was in the field, he had authority, as commander of the forces, to levy the taxes necessary to sustain his men; but, so soon as the war was over, there would be no means for raising the money needed to pay the nation's debts. He therefore, shortly before the fall of Kalmar, summoned a general diet to be held at Strengnäs on the 27th of May. Whether or not all the magnates of Sweden were summoned to the diet is not known, but at any rate the peasantry were represented. ”

“ Dalarne had become the only spot in Sweden where liberty still lived, and thither all liberty-loving Swedes whose hands were not yet tied repaired. Whenever these recruits appeared, Gustavus placed them in the midst of his little army, and called upon them to declare what they had seen of Christiern's deeds. It makes a striking picture, this little band of patriots, in a far-off mountain region in the dead of winter, with no arms but their picks and axes, strong only in their high resolve, and yet breathing defiance against the whole army of the Danish king. ”

“ I believe a new edition is, or shortly will be, in the press.
J. B. WHITBORNE.
Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.
So long as the people of this country are animated by that deep-rooted love of true liberty and national independence, which have proved at so many momentous periods of our history to be at once their ruling principle and the country's safeguard, so long will the memory of Gustavus Vasa, the patriotic king of Sweden, be to all Englishmen an object of the deepest interest. ”

“ A body-guard of 400 men is appointed him; Adolphus is chosen captain, having now returned, and disclosed the supineness and neglect of the Danish garrison. Gustavus declares his intentions of storming the castle; arranges the troops, and bids all be ready by midnight. They retire.
BOOK THE EIGHTH.
The proceedings of Christiern, Trolle, and Norbi, from the conclusion of Book 4, severally described.—Gustavus secretly dismisses the unfaithful tribes.—The Genius of Sweden appears to him in a dream; foretels his future exaltation, and the disgraceful end of Christiern and his party. ”

“ We have watched the Swedish nation rise from insignificance, through a series of remarkable developments, till its grandeur cast a lengthened shadow across the face of northern Europe. In some regards this revolution stands pre-eminent above all others known in history. Few political upheavals have been more sudden, and few, if any, have been more complete. Seven years was all Gustavus needed to annihilate the ancient constitution, and fashion another structure of an absolutely new design. The Cabinet, at one time the autocrat of Sweden, was now a mere puppet in the monarch's hand. ”

“ Gustavus. See Vasa (Gustavus) . Gyllenstjerna (Christina) , marries Sten Sture the Younger, 24; her character, 32; her bravery, 66; refuses to parley with the Danes, 67 and 68; battles with the Danes, 68-69; surrenders Stockholm, 76-77; is summoned before Christiern, 82; is imprisoned in Denmark, 83; her projected alliance with Norby, 172; is suspected of conspiracy against Gustavus, 179; is said to have been imprisoned by Gustavus, 181 and 182; impersonation of her boy, 218-219. Hans, king of Denmark, 17; his hostility to Sten Sture, 18-21; is recognized as king, 21; is forced to flee, 22 ”