LITMIR.BIZ

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election of Sweden's ruler. The peasantry had once before been prominent, but so long as the oligarchy held firmly together, their actual influence had been slight. Now the ranks of the oligarchy were broken. One party looked for supporters in Denmark and in the Church; the other, now gaining the upper hand, was distinctly the party of the people. The very name of regent, which was granted to Sten Sture, bears witness to the popular character of the movement. And this was destined to be the tendency of the current during the next half-century. There were many difficulties, however, with which the patriot party had to contend. In the first place, the Swedish party was in lack of funds. An enormous proportion of the kingdom was exempt from taxes, being held by magnates, who by this time claimed the right to inherit their fathers' fiefs with all the ancient privileges, but without the ancient duty to render military service. In this juncture war broke out with Russia, at the same time that the kingdom was continually harassed by Christiern, king of Denmark. It was clear that some new mode must be discovered for raising money. The peasantry were already groaning under a heavier load than they could bear. Sten therefore turned to some of the magnates, and demanded of them that they should give up a portion of their fiefs. They of course resisted, and his whole reign was occupied with a struggle to make them yield. In 1481 Christiern, king of Denmark, died, and was succeeded by his son Hans. The efforts of Sten Sture to curb the magnates had rendered him so unpopular among them, that the Swedish Cabinet now opened negotiations with the new king of Denmark. These negotiations resulted in a meeting of the Cabinets of the three Northern kingdoms, held at Kalmar in 1483. This body promulgated a decree, known in history as the Kalmar Recess, accepting Hans as king of Sweden. To this decree Sten Sture reluctantly affixed his seal. The main clauses of the decree were these: No one in Sweden was to be held accountable for past opposition to King Hans; the king was to live one year alternately in each kingdom; the high posts as well as the fiefs of Sweden should be granted to none but Swedes; and the magnates should be free to fortify their estates and refuse the king admittance. This decree, if strictly followed, would have practically freed Sweden from the yoke of Denmark. But as a matter of fact it was several years before it was destined to go into operation at all. The Swedish Cabinet were determined that no step should be taken to put the decree into effect until certain preliminary duties were discharged; among them, the cession of the island of Gotland to Sweden. These preliminaries Hans was in no hurry to perform. Meantime Sten Sture continued to act as regent. His path remained as rugged as before. Beset on all sides by enemies, each struggling for his own aggrandizement, Sten had all he could do to keep the kingdom from going to pieces. In every measure to increase the income of the crown he was hampered by the overweening power of the Cabinet, who were reluctant to give up a jot or tittle of their ill-acquired wealth. Chief among his opponents was the archbishop, Jacob Ulfsson—a man of rare ability, but of high birth and far too fond of self-advancement. Another enemy, who ought to have been a friend, was Svante Sture, a young magnate of great talent, who first became imbittered against his illustrious namesake because the latter, on the death of Svante's father, in 1494, claimed that the fiefs which he had held should be surrendered to the crown. Of Erik Trolle, another opponent of Sten Sture, we shall see more hereafter. His strongest supporter was one Hemming Gad, a learned, eloquent, and dauntless gentleman, who also was to play a leading rôle before many years were past. 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. All Sweden was now divided into two distinct and hostile camps, and to the dullest intellect it was clear as day that Sweden was soon to be the scene of open war. In the autumn of 1496 the Cabinet, seeing that Sture was thoroughly determined to check their power, resolved to hesitate no longer. They therefore despatched a messenger to Hans, inviting him to a congress of the three realms to be held at midsummer of the following year, when, as they gave him reason to expect, the Kalmar Recess should be put into effect. This news being brought to Sture in Finland, he set forth post-haste for Sweden, and called a meeting of the Cabinet. The members failed to appear on the day appointed, and when at last they came, they were accompanied by a large body of armed retainers. At a session held in Stockholm on the 7th of March, the Cabinet declared Sture deposed, assigning as reasons, first, that he had mismanaged the war with Russia, and, secondly, that he had maltreated certain of the Swedish magnates. The regent waited two days before making a reply, and then informed the Cabinet that, as he had been appointed to the regency by joint action of the Cabinet and people, he felt bound to hold it till requested by the same powers to lay it down. The Cabinet had nothing for it but to acquiesce, and letters were issued summoning a general diet. That diet, however, was never held. On the very day when the Cabinet made its armistice with Sture, Hans put forth a declaration of war, and at once proceeded with his fleet to Kalmar. The enemies of Sture now openly embraced the Danish cause; and the regent was forced to go to Dalarne, to get together a force with which to defend the kingdom. Here he was received with enthusiasm by the people, who saw in him the defender of their rights. At the head of a detachment of Dalesmen, reinforced by his army now recalled from Finland, he marched to Upsala, and laid siege to the archbishop's palace. By the middle of July it fell; and Sture advanced to Stäket, a strongly fortified castle of the archbishop, about thirty miles south of Upsala. While beleaguering this place, he learned that a portion of the Danish forces were advancing on the capital. He therefore relinquished the siege of Stäket, and proceeded to Stockholm, where he held himself in readiness to repel the enemy. On the 29th of September, being led by a ruse outside the city, he was surrounded by the Danes, and was able to recover the castle only after heavy loss. This battle sealed his fate. Finding himself far outnumbered, he deemed it wise to yield; and on the 6th of October, 1497, Hans was recognized by him as king.

      The reign of Hans lasted about four years. At first he appeared desirous to promote the welfare of Sweden and to conform to the terms of the Kalmar Recess. But before long even the Cabinet began to grow weary of their king. The benefits conferred upon them were not so great as they had hoped. As for Sture, at his renunciation of the regency he had been granted extensive fiefs both in Sweden and in Finland; but in 1499 the king forced him to resign a large portion of these fiefs. The other members of the Cabinet, now having less cause of jealousy, became more friendly to Sten Sture. His old enemy, Svante Sture, was at length reconciled to him through the mediation of their common admirer, Dr. Hemming Gad. Even with the clergy Sten Sture was now on better terms; and at his solicitation, in January, 1501, the Chapter of Linköping elected Gad to fill their vacant see. The main ground of complaint against Hans was that he disregarded the clause of the Recess which forbade the granting of Swedish fiefs to Danes. Matters reached a crisis in 1501, when Sten and Svante Sture, Gad, and three others met in council and took oath to resist the oppression of their foreign ruler. This step was the signal for a general explosion. On every side the people rose in arms. Hans was in despair. He first took counsel with his warm supporter, the archbishop, and then, on the 11th of August, 1501, set off with his whole fleet for Denmark.

      In the royal castle at Stockholm he left his wife Christina, who, with Erik Trolle and a force of one thousand men, was determined to resist. Gad, whose election to the bishopric of Linköping the pope refused to ratify, undertook to besiege the castle. Meantime Svante Sture laid siege to Örebro, and Sten proceeded to Dalarne and other parts to gather forces. On the 12th of November the Cabinet again called Sten Sture to the regency. In February the Castle of Örebro fell. And still Christina with her brave followers held out. Not till the 9th of May, after a bloody assault, could the patriots force a passage. Then they found that, of the one thousand who had formed the original garrison, but seventy were alive. Christina was conveyed to Vadstena, where she remained several months pending negotiations. At the close of the year 1503 she was accompanied to the frontier by the regent, who however was taken ill on his return journey, and died at Jönköping on the 13th of December, 1503. Sten Sture had done much for Sweden. Though himself a magnate, and ambitious to increase his power, he was zealous for the welfare of his country, and did more than any other of his time to awake Sweden to a sense of her existence as a nation. It was on the foundation laid by him that a still greater leader

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