Gustavus Vasa

Gustavus Vasa (Gustavus I.), king of Sweden from 1523 to 1560, was born in 1496, of a noble house closely allied to the Sture family, his own family name being Ericson. Still a boy, he became involved in the patriotic struggle with Christian of Denmark, and was treacherously carried off to Denmark, there to be kept in confinement with other nobles as hostages. After a year he escaped in disguise to Lübeck, thence to Sweden, where he went about from place to place striving, with great danger to himself, and with but little success, to rouse up a spirit of resistance against the Danes. At length he had to retreat to Dalecarlia, where he wandered for several months, in poverty and disguise, with a price set on his head, working with his hands on the farms and in the mines. At last the infamous 'Blood-bath' of Stockholm (1520) roused the slumbering fury of the Swedes, and gave Gustavus the opportunity he longed for. The hardy miners of Dalecarlia mustered round him, and ere long he had an army large enough to attack the enemy. One by one the strong places fell into his hands, and the capture of Stockholm in 1523 finally drove the Danes from the soil of Sweden. Thus fell the great Scandinavian union which had survived the treaty of Calmar (1397) for 126 years. At the diet of Strenghnäs that same year Gustavus was elected king. Thenceforward he strove with unceasing zeal to heal the wounds of his unhappy country. He found the peasantry restless and disaffected, the Romish clergy wealthy, corrupt, and unpatriotic, the Lutheran party too eager to push their dogmas by force, and the whole country demoralised without respect to law or religion. Yet after forty years' rule he left Sweden a peaceful and civilised realm, with a full exchequer, and with a well-organised army of 15,000 men and a good fleet—both his own creations. He promoted trade at home and abroad, fostered schools and colleges, made commercial treaties with foreign nations, and established fairs for foreign traders, while he opened up roads, bridges, and canals throughout the country. In his relations with his subjects Gustavus was firm, and sometimes severe, but seldom unjust, except in his dealings towards the Romish clergy, whom he despoiled with something like rapacity of all their lands and funds. On the other hand he did much to promote the cause of Lutheranism; although he took care that the reformed clergy should be dependent on the crown, and enjoy only very moderate emoluments. To him the Lapps were indebted for the diffusion of Christianity among them by Lutheran missionaries; the Finns for the first works of instruction—parts of the Bible and hymn-books printed in their own language. Gustavus was methodical, just, moral, and abstemious in his mode of life—his character altogether admirable but for a touch of avarice. He was three times married, had ten children, and died 29th September 1560, his eldest son, Eric, being his successor according to the treaty of Westerås (1544), which made the crown hereditary. The best memoir is that by Fryxell—Ger. trans. Leben und Thaten Gustavs I. Wasa (1831). See also Alberg's Gustavus Vasa and his Stirring Times (Lond. 1882), and Paul Barron Watson's book, The Swedish Revolution under Gustavus Vasa (1889).