Sweden for King Christopher of Denmark; and to reward them, he granted their order greater freedom than they had ever enjoyed in the kingdom. During his stay in Sweden Christopher took part in the first trial against heretics that had been witnessed by the Swedes, and looked on while a poor half-witted peasant was made to do public penance for the opinions he had expressed, and sentence was read aloud against all who might in future repeat the offence for which he was punished. The nobles rose against Karl Knudsson as soon as he left Stockholm to take possession of his fief, and King Christopher, who was always in want of money, seized upon the occasion to extort fines from the Marshal in defiance of his promises to him, and to offer his lands to anyone who would bid the highest for them. While these things were going on among the great men of the kingdom, the poor were dying off under the evil effects of murrain among the cattle, famine, and the plague.

The news of King Christopher's death in 1448 recalled Karl Knudsson from Finland, and in the following year he entered Stockholm with a great array of troops, and after some months of disturbance and conflict, he was proclaimed king at the Mora Stone amid great cheering on the part of all the people, and soon afterwards crowned, together with his wife, at Upsala.1 When the news of these events reached Norway, the Norwegians showed a strong desire to take Karl for their king, and they sent messengers to Christian of Oldenburg to announce to him that they were resolved never again to submit to be ruled by a Danish monarch, after which Karl was crowned King of Norway in the cathedral of Trondhjem. But Karl had not the power of retaining what had been given him, and soon the Norwegians found themselves in the midst of a civil war, which had been stirred up in the country by Christopher's successor, King Christian of Denmark, who had friends amongst the upper classes. The Swedish and Danish kings both sent

1 The Swedish Rhyming Chronicle says of her :

"Af alla de Fruer man kan leta

Skal man aldrig skönare quinna veta."

Of all the ladies one may see,

Ne'er was a fairer dame than she.

hostile armies into the kingdom, and Norway was made a battleground for foreign hired troops, who cared for neither party, and only strove to secure booty for themselves. In the course of this war Danes were found fighting in Karl's ranks, and Swedes on the side of King Christian, and men seemed to care very little for their country in comparison with their private interests. It must be owned, however, that many persons had family connections in all three kingdoms, and therefore, it might have been a hard matter to decide on which side one ought to take up arms.

Karl Knudsson made King of Sweden, 1457.-Karl Knudsson did not make as good a king as might have been expected from his former conduct; and from a brave and daring party-leader he became a weak and suspicious monarch. His officers, whom he chose from the lower classes, behaved quite as ill, or worse than the foreigners who had been employed under Danish or German rulers; and very soon both poor and rich agreed in disliking their old favourite, while the clergy were especially opposed to him on account of the laws which he had caused to be passed to prevent the Church being enriched by gifts from persons on their death-beds.

The Archbishop, Jöns Bengtsson, had also long and private causes of anger against the Swedish king, and in 1457 this primate at length ceased to keep up any pretence of good-will towards him, and having with solemn state laid his mitre, staff, and pallium, or cloak, on the high altar of the cathedral of Upsala, he put on armour, and sword in hand advanced to the church door on which he caused to be posted up a declaration of war against the king. Karl made only a faint attempt to resist the rebels, and finding, as the old chronicler, Olaus Petri, says, that "his primate was in right good earnest and had no idea of playing at war," he embarked in haste and secresy by night with as much of his wealth in gold and silver as he could carry away with him, and betook himself to Dantzig, where he remained for seven years. Then it was that Christian I. of Denmark was able to secure the crown of Sweden for himself, with the promise that his eldest son Hans should succeed him, but the people soon began their old complaints against Danish rule. For a time all had seemed to promise well, but when

in the year 1463 a report was spread that Karl was coming back from his exile, it gave the Swedes courage to express their discontent at the heavy taxes which the Archbishop, on behalf of King Christian, had been levying upon them; and rising in numbers all over the country, they threatened to renounce their allegiance to him unless these burdens were removed. The primate to restore quiet agreed to their demands, which so enraged Christian that he ordered the arrest of Jöns Bengtsson, whose enemies in the Council caused the words "the Archbishop is a traitor" to be written in large letters upon all the public buildings and churches of Stockholm. The peasants, who looked upon the primate as a martyr in their cause, took up arms, and advanced towards the capital for his rescue, but they and the citizens who took part with them were soon quite routed by the Marshal Thure Thuresson, who gained for himself the name of "the Peasants' Butcher," on account of his great severity towards them. It was said of him that he had spared neither air, water, nor land in his thirst for gold, as he had pulled the gilt weather-cock from the highest tower in Stockholm, broken down walls, and drained lakes in search of treasures. Still the peasants kept up the strife, and in the winter of 1464 King Christian I. of Denmark had to come back to Sweden to quell the tumult. He had left the Archbishop shut up in a Danish prison, and he now appeared at the head of an army to chastise the rebels. But the peasants of Dalekarlia still defied him, and leading him by false information to advance into a thick wood in Westmannland they gave him battle, defeated him, and forced him to return to Denmark without having gained any footing in Sweden. Then a war-cry was raised all over the land: "Sweden is a kingdom, not a farm or a parish to be ruled over by bailiffs, and we will have no Danish overseers to plague us, but a true-born Swede for our king." On this the Council of State had to yield to the wishes of the people, and recall the exiled king, who, however, once again for a period of many months was forced to leave his kingdom and give place to Christian.

Karl's successors, 1467-1470.-In 1467, Karl Knudsson for the third time recovered the throne which he retained till his death three years later, and with his last breath he

entrusted the government of the kingdom to his nephew, Sten Sture, while he earnestly prayed him never to attempt to gain the throne for himself. After some hesitation on the part of the Council of State, Sten Sture was formally proclaimed Regent and Marshal of Sweden in the spring of 1471. Six months later, King Christian I. of Denmark, landed near Stockholm with a large army of German hired troops, who boasted of all the disgrace which they would bring upon men and maidens throughout the land, while Christian in his contempt for Sten Sture called him a conceited puppy, who needed a sound thrashing to make him know his right place. But the result of the day's fight at Brunkebjerg, when Sten Sture's wife and other noble ladies looked down from the castle walls on the combatants below, was very different from what the invaders expected, and their complete defeat freed Sweden for some years from further attacks on the part of the Danes. King Christian I. never again set his foot on Swedish ground, and for a short time the kingdom enjoyed greater quiet and prosperity under Sten Sture than it had known during the whole of the century. Amongst other blessings, the people owed to the marshal the revival of trade and agriculture, while schools and learned men were encouraged, and the University of Upsala was founded and opened with great state two years before Copenhagen could boast of a similar institution in 1479.

CHAPTER XV.

DENMARK AND SWEDEN FROM 1450.

Christian of Oldenburg father of the present line of Danish kings-His character-His nickname of "Stringless Purse" well merited-His efforts to secure the crowns of Sweden and Norway-His defeat in Sweden in 1471 after many successes-His schemes for getting moneyHis conduct in regard to Slesvig-Secures the duchy and gains the title of Count of Holstein-What he sacrificed for these provinces-His daughter Margaret's dowry-Loses the Shetlands and Orkneys-The University of Copenhagen-His dislike of Denmark-His son Hans succeeds him-Hans' troubles to secure the three kingdoms and two provinces-Prince Frederick's bad advice and ambition-Conquest and loss of Sweden-Campaign against the Ditmarshers-Hans defeated— Only one successful war in this reign-Affairs in Sweden since 1434— Karl Knudsson the marshal made king-Christopher of Bavaria laughed at by the Swedes-The troubles with the primate Jöns Bengtsson-Sten Sture and his conduct to Christian I.-Hans in Sweden-Sten Sture's speech to him, and Hans' reply-Hemming Gade-His hatred of Denmark-Svante Sture the adopted heir of Sten Sture-His love of war and soldiers-His bravery-Svante's sudden death-Sten Sture the bravest of the Stures-Christian II., his treachery to the Swedish hostages-Gustaf Vasa carried to Denmark and thrown into prison -Sweden laid under an interdict-Sten Sture excommunicated; he dies in 1520, and Christian II. makes himself master of Sweden.

PART I.

THE FATHER OF THE OLDENBURG KINGS.

Christian 1., 1448-1481.-LOYAL Danes have always shown themselves very ready to excuse the faults and extol the merits of Christian I., the founder of the long line of kings who have ruled over Denmark for more than four hundred years. It is true that he was a brave man, of a cheerful and amiable disposition, but he was selfish and wasteful, and cared very little