Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE MAKING OF A NATION
The rule of Vasa and his sons made Sweden a nation , culturally as well as politically. The courts
were filled with and influenced by men of learning; art and sculpture flourished. The Renaissance
style appeared for the first time in Sweden, with royal castles remodelled - Kalmar being a fine
example. Economically, Sweden remained mostly self-su cient, its few imports being luxuries like
cloth, wine and spices. With around eight thousand inhabitants, Stockholm was its most
important city, although Gothenburg was founded in 1607 to promote trade to the west.
Book , which the clergy accepted only under protest. On Johan's death in 1592, his
son and heir, Sigismund (who was Catholic king of Poland) agreed to rule Sweden
in accordance with Lutheran practice, but failed to do so. When Sigismund
returned to Poland, the way was clear for Duke Karl (Johan's brother) to assume the
regency, a role he filled until declared King Karl IX in 1603.
Karl, the last of Vasa's sons, had ambitions eastwards but was routed by the Poles and
staved off by the Russians. He suffered a stroke in 1610 and died the year after. His
heir was the 17-year-old Gustav II, better known as Gustav II Adolf .
Gustav II Adolf and the rise of the Swedish empire
Sweden became a European power during the reign of Gustav II Adolf . Though still in
his youth he was considered able enough to rule, and proved so by concluding peace
treaties with Denmark (1613) and Russia (1617), the latter pact isolating Russia from
the Baltic and allowing the Swedes control of the eastern trade routes into Europe.
In 1618, the Thirty Years' War broke out. It was vital for Gustav that Germany should
not become Catholic, given the Polish king's continuing pretensions to the Swedish
crown and the possible threat Germany could pose to Sweden's growing influence in the
Baltic. In 1629, the Altmark treaty with a defeated Poland gave Gustav control of Livonia
and four Prussian seaports, and the income this generated financed his entry into the war
in 1630 on the Protestant side. After several convincing victories, Gustav pushed on
through Germany, delaying an assault upon undefended Vienna. The decision cost him
his life: Gustav was killed at the Battle of Lützen in 1632, his body stripped and battered
by the enemy's soldiers. The war dragged on until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
With Gustav away at war for much of his reign, Sweden ran smoothly under the
guidance of his friend and chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna . Together they founded a new
Supreme Court in Stockholm (and did the same for Finland and the conquered Baltic
provinces); reorganized the national assembly into four Estates of nobility, clergy, burghers
and peasantry (1626); extended the university at Uppsala (and founded one at Åbo
- modern Turku in Finland); and fostered the mining and other industries that provided
much of the country's wealth. Gustav had many other accomplishments, too: he spoke five
languages and designed a new light cannon which assisted in his routs of the enemy.
The Caroleans
The Swedish empire reached its territorial peak under the Caroleans . Yet the reign of the
last of them was to see Sweden crumble. Following Gustav II Adolf 's death and the later
1632
1658
1662
1741
Gustav II Adolf killed at
the Battle of Lützen
Treaty of Roskilde secures
southern provinces for
Sweden
Work begins on
Drottningholm
palace
Carl von Linné becomes
a professor at Uppsala
university
 
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