Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stockholm - was complete, gaining symbolic artistic expression in the
statue of
St George and the Dragon
that still adorns Storkyrkan in Stockholm.
Sten Sture's primacy fostered a new cultural atmosphere. The first
university
in
Scandinavia was founded in Uppsala in 1477, with Sweden's first printing press
appearing six years later. Artistically, German and Dutch influences were
predominantly, traits seen in the decorative art of the great Swedish medieval churches.
Only remote
Dalarna
kept a native folk art tradition alive.
Belief in the union still existed though, particularly outside Sweden, and successive
kings had to fend off almost constant attacks and blockades emanating from Denmark.
With the accession of
Christian II
to the Danish throne in 1513, the unionist movement
found a leader capable of turning the tide. Under the guise of a crusade to free Sweden's
imprisoned archbishop Gustav Trolle, Christian attacked Sweden and killed Sture.
After Christian's coronation, Trolle urged the prosecution of his Swedish adversaries
(who had been gathered together under the pretext of an amnesty) and they were
found guilty of heresy. Eighty-two nobles and burghers of Stockholm were executed,
their bodies burned in what became known as the
Stockholm Bloodbath
. A vicious
persecution of Sture's followers throughout Sweden ensued, a move that led to
widespread reaction and, ultimately, the downfall of the union.
Gustav Vasa and his sons
Opposition to Christian II was vague and disorganized until the appearance of the
young
Gustav Vasa
. Initially unable to stir the locals of the Dalecarlia region into open
revolt, he was on his way to Norway, and exile, when he was chased on skis and
recalled, the people having had a change of heart. The chase is celebrated still in the
Vasaloppet
race, run each year by thousands of Swedish skiers.
Gustav Vasa's army grew rapidly. In 1521, he was elected regent, and subsequently,
with the capture of Stockholm in 1523, king. Christian had been deposed in Denmark
and the new Danish king, Frederick I, recognized Sweden's de facto withdrawal from
the union. Short of cash, Gustav found it prudent to support the movement for
religious reform propagated by Swedish Lutherans. More of a political than a religious
Reformation
, the result was a handover of Church lands to the Crown and the
subordination of Church to state. It's a relationship that is still largely in force today,
the clergy being civil servants paid by the state.
In 1541, the first edition of the Bible in the vernacular appeared. Suppressing revolt
at home, Gustav Vasa strengthened his hand with a centralization of trade and
government. On his death in 1560, Sweden was united, prosperous and independent.
Gustav Vasa's heir, his eldest son
Erik
, faced a difficult time, not least because the
Vasa lands and wealth had been divided among him and his brothers Johan,
Magnus and Karl (an uncharacteristically imprudent action of Gustav before his
death). The Danes, too, pressed hard, reasserting their claim to the Swedish throne
in the inconclusive
Northern Seven Years' War
, which began in 1563. Erik was
deposed in 1569 by his brother, who became
Johan III
, his first act being to end the
war by the
Peace of Stettin
treaty. At home, Johan ruled more or less with the
goodwill of the nobility, but matters were upset by his Catholic sympathies: he
introduced a new Catholic liturgy, familiarly known from its binding as the
Red
1563
1607
1611
1618
Northern Seven
Year's War begins
Gothenburg founded to
trade with west
Gustav II Adolf becomes king
Thirty Years' War breaks out
