The Story of Norway

by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

2. If the king died without issue, the magnates of the three kingdoms should come together and peaceably elect a successor.

3. Each kingdom should be governed in accordance with its own laws and customs; but if one of the kingdoms was attacked, the two others should, in good faith, assist in its defence.

4. The king and his councillors from the three kingdoms should have the right to enter into foreign alliances, and whatever they agreed upon should be binding upon the three countries.

This was the famous Kalmar Union, which might have been a blessing to the brother kingdoms, but which to two of them, at least, became a curse. At first sight, it seemed a rational arrangement which promised success. The three nations were so closely akin, that they understood without effort each other's languages, which were but slight modifications of the same original tongue. If the forces which had been wasted in mutual wars and rivalries could have been combined for mutual help and common purposes, the kingdom of Scandinavia would have risen in prosperity and strength and would have taken a place among the European powers. Under a wise and far-sighted policy, the society of the three kingdoms could have been gradually amalgamated, its similarities and common interests emphasized, its differences slowly obliterated. If the kings of the Union had had the slightest conception of the task that was presented to them, and had been capable of viewing themselves apart from their Danish nationality, such results might have been achieved. But they were, with a single exception, utterly destitute of political ability and foresight. They were determined to raise the Danish to the position of a dominant nationality and to reduce Norway and Sweden to a provincial relation. Hereby they aroused again the ancient jealousies. They sent a troop of Danish and German nobles to prey upon the latter countries, which they seemed to regard as conquered territory. The Swedes complained of their being obliged to pay taxes, in order to defray the expenses of Danish wars, and they were vehement in their denunciation of the extortion of the Danish officials who plundered their provinces like Roman proconsuls.

QUEEN MARGARET.

The Norwegians were preliminarily disposed to be more patient, chiefly because they lacked spokesmen, the remnants of their old nobility being too powerless to assert themselves against the Danes. Nor can it be said that, during Queen Margaret's life, the conditions were intolerable. She died, however, in Flensborg (1412) aged 59 years, leaving her wide dominions in the feeble hands of Erik of Pomerania.

Erik had inherited from Margaret a war with the dukes of Sleswick, which lasted for twenty-five years, exhausting the resources of his realm and completely revealing his incapacity for government. The Swedes grumbled at the taxation which the war necessitated, and rebelled under the leadership of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. A Danish prefect, Jösse Eriksson, had been guilty of great cruelty to the peasants in Dalarne, taking their horses and oxen from the plow, hitching their pregnant wives to hay-loads, and horribly maiming all who dared to complain. Engelbrekt went twice to Denmark and asked the king to remove this malefactor, but was the first time put off with promises and the second time bluntly rebuffed. He then placed himself at the head of a rebellion, which spread from Dalarne over the whole kingdom. In Norway a similar, though less formidable, revolt broke out under Amund Sigurdsson Bolt (1436), who likewise sought to obtain redress against the Danish magistrates. The king, however, who saw his advantage in allowing considerable latitude to his creatures, wearied of the eternal complaints, and, carrying with him whatever money was left in the treasury, took up his residence in a fortified castle on the island of Gottland (1438). He was now formally deposed both in Denmark and Sweden, while in Norway the regent, or governor, Sigurd Jonsson, continued for a while to conduct the government in his name. When it became generally known, however, that the king had become a pirate, the Norwegians, too, revoked their allegiance (1442). For ten years Erik lived in his castle in Gottland, supporting himself by piracy, but was finally driven away. He then returned to Pomerania, where he died in 1459.

During the reign of this unworthy king, the city of Bergen was twice sacked and partly burned by the Vitalie Brethren, who murdered the citizens, plundered the churches and the episcopal residence, and carried away a rich booty.

With the tenacious fidelity peculiar to their race, the Norwegians adhered to the cause of Erik, even after he himself had abandoned it. They had, however, no choice but to recognize as his successor his nephew, Christopher of Bavaria, who had already been proclaimed king in Denmark and Sweden. In the latter country Charles Knutsson Peasant (Bonde), who, after the murder of Engelbrekt, had become the leader of the rebellion, and later regent, had vainly endeavored to break the Union. The clergy made common cause with Christopher, and were instrumental in securing his election.