The 7th of November a great number of Swedish nobles were called to the castle of Stockholm, where they were brought before a tribunal, the king presiding. The archbishop asked for remuneration for the sufferings caused him during Lord Sten’s reign. A jury of bishops and nobles convened. Christine Gyllenstierna was the first to answer to the accusations, holding forth that the Riksdag of Arboga was responsible for the action taken against Trolle and bringing the signed document in evidence. The king answered by announcing that all who signed were under the ban of the pope; Bishop Brask was the only one acquitted, producing his written slip of reservation from under his seal, besides Bishop Otto of Westerns, who supported Trolle in his claims. In the evening all the accused were imprisoned and judgment passed on them the following morning.
In the morning of November 8th, a solemn procession of convicts started from the castle to the grand square, hedged in by soldiers and executioners. The bishops Mattias of Strengnæs and Vincentius of Skara, in their ecclesiastical robes, came first, followed by thirteen noblemen and thirty-one town councillors and burghers of Stockholm. In the square, a Danish councillor of state from the porch of the court-house asked the masses not to be frightened. The archbishop, he said, had three times on his knees implored the king that justice should be done. Bishop Vincentius replied with great courage that the king had committed treason against the Swedes and called down divine punishment on him for such deeds. Two of the Swedish nobles followed the bishop with short addresses, admonishing the people not to believe in false letters and promises and to put down such tyranny as soon as within their power. King Christian, who from a window of a house facing the square looked down on the spectacle, now gave a sign for the executions to commence. First the bishops, then the state councillors, nobles and burghers were beheaded, among whom were two brothers of Christine Gyllenstierna and the father and brother-in-law of Gustavus Ericsson Vasa. Many burghers were captured in the street, or in their homes, and brought in to be executed, others being killed on the spot. Not less than eighty-two persons were that day executed, the number being increased during the following days by people killed in various ways. Olaus Petri, the reformer, who was an eyewitness, in his history gives a graphic description of the terrible scenes. He adds: “Yes, this was a horrible and cruel murder, such as no other prince who carried a Christian name ever committed before.” The corpses were burned, the remains of Lord Sten and one of his sons being taken from their graves and thrown into the flames. Christine Gyllenstierna, and the mother and sister of Gustavus Vasa, were with several other ladies carried to Copenhagen and thrown into a miserable dungeon. The mass murder has been called the Carnage of Stockholm, but it was extended also to Finland—where Dr. Hemming Gad was executed at Raseborg—and to the provinces. Christian marked his return through the Swedish mainland to Copenhagen by executions and mass murder everywhere; six hundred are estimated to have been killed through his order during his short stay in Sweden.
Archbishop Trolle had taken a terrible revenge, and Christian thought he had crushed forever the stubborn Swedish resistance. But through this excess of cruelty the Union became insupportable, and the Swedish people resolved to throw off forever the connection with any foreign ruler. In the woods of Dalecarlia a man was hiding who soon was to step forward to lead the work of liberation and independence.
[CHAPTER VIII]
Revolution and Reformation—Gustavus Vasa
Gustavus Ericsson Vasa, the man whom Providence had selected to save his country from anarchy and ruin, belonged to a noble family of Unionist sympathies, his great-grandfather being Drotsete Krister Nilsson Vasa. But the Vasa family had joined the cause of the patriots during the reigns of the Stures, simultaneously losing some of its earlier importance. The Vasas prided themselves on being the descendants of St. Eric and his line, and of St. Birgitta and the Folkungs. Its coat-of-arms consisted of a simple vase, or bundle of sticks. Gustavus Vasa was born May 12, 1496, at Lindholmen in Upland, at the mansion of his parents, Eric Johansson Vasa, state councillor, and Cecilia of Eka, a sister of Christine Gyllenstierna. His earliest years were spent with his mother at Rydboholm, another estate of his father’s, beautifully situated on an arm of the Baltic, only ten miles north of Stockholm. When a mere boy he was sent to the court of his granduncle, Sten Sture the Elder, who was childless. King John of Denmark noticed the bright little boy during a visit paid to Lord Sten. Young Gustavus took the command of all the other children at play and appeared to be a born leader. The king called the boy to him and asked him what his name was. Gustavus answered frankly. King John smilingly placed his hand on the boy’s head, saying: “Certainly thou shalt become a man in thy day if preserved in life.” The king intimated that he wanted to take him along to Copenhagen to supervise his education. But Lord Sten, who did not like this idea, hurriedly had Gustavus sent away, so that he could tell the king upon a second inquiry that the boy had returned to his parents. The young Gustavus was described as “attractive and welcome with everybody.” Gustavus was sent to Upsala to study at the age of thirteen. The University of Upsala was at that period in a state of stagnation. The first teacher who came in contact with Gustavus was a Dane named Master Ivar. According to the Prose Chronicle, he was a man who “was mean to everybody and who gave Gustavo drubbings.” It seems that the patriotic spirit early woke in the breast of this youth, who already in these days foreshadowed his own mission in the following words: “I will betake myself to Dalecarlia, rouse the Dalecarlians and batter the nose of the Jute.” When eighteen years of age, he was accepted as a squire at the court of Sten Sture the Younger, and Christine Gyllenstierna, his own aunt. He followed the younger Lord Sten in all his expeditions of war, taking part in the siege of Stæket and a battle of Dufnæs, and carrying the banner of state at Brennkyrka.
A second time in his life it came to pass that Gustavus Vasa was considered a person whom the Danish king was desirious of carrying away. This time the king was Christian II., who gained his object by treachery and violence. Gustavus was one of the Swedish hostages who were offered to King Christian and by him carried away to Denmark.
Gustavus was handed over to Eric Banér, a relative of his, who held in fief the castle of Kallœ in Jutland. The latter was placed under a heavy fine in case he allowed his prisoner to escape. Gustavus received a kind and generous treatment. He ate at the table of the lord and was allowed to wander at liberty in the close neighborhood of the castle. But the danger that menaced his country never left him in peace. He heard repeatedly of the great preparations made by Christian II. to crush the resistance of Sweden, and of the acts of violence to be perpetrated. Gustavus remained at Kallœ for a year, when he resolved to flee from a captivity which had become insupportable. One morning at sunrise, Gustavus Vasa put on the garb of a peasant and disappeared from the castle. He made good speed, reaching a seaport and escaping to Lubeck with a merchant vessel. In this friendly Hanseatic centre Gustavus expected armed support. Such was not granted, but he was shielded against Danish pursuit. Eric Banér arrived, having followed up his tracks, but his demands to have Gustavus surrendered were refused. After eight months of delay in Lubeck, Gustavus obtained leave and arrived in Sweden on board a German ship. He landed at Stensœ, a promontory outside of the town of Kalmar, while Christian II. was laying siege to Stockholm. Gustavus was resolved to do his utmost to rouse the people to active resistance against the invaders. The castle of Kalmar, next to that of Stockholm the firmest stronghold of Sweden, was in charge of Anna Bielke, the widow of the last commander. Gustavus strengthened the courage of the inhabitants of town and castle, but finding it impossible to accomplish anything for the defence himself, and unsuccessful in his attempts to bring the hired German troops up to a point of enthusiasm for the Swedish cause, he left Kalmar and continued his way through Smaland. But the population of this province had no patience to listen to his appeals for a revolt. The peasants answered him that if they remained faithful to the Danish king they were never to be in want of herring and salt. Some of them in their indignation sent arrows flying after the young patriot. In September he reached the Terna estate in Sœdermanland, where his sister and her husband, Joachim Brahe, resided. Lord Joachim had just received an invitation to be present at the coronation of King Christian in Stockholm. The attempts made by Gustavus to persuade the couple to abandon their intended journey to Stockholm were futile. Reaching his paternal estate of Ræfsnæs in Sœdermanland, he remained there in concealment for some time. He visited the old archbishop Jacob Ulfsson, who, after his retirement, lived in the neighboring monastery of Mariefred. The old prelate tried his best to persuade him to seek mercy and grace of King Christian, but the resolution of the young squire to free his country was only strengthened into an iron-cast determination. One of the servants who had followed Lord Joachim to the capital managed to make a safe return to tell Gustavus the terrible news of the Carnage of Stockholm. He was also told that a high price had been placed on his own head.
Gustavus at once prepared for flight. Accompanied by a single servant he secretly left Ræfsnæs one day toward the end of November, travelling on horseback northward to Dalecarlia. He arrived at Kopparberg in Dalecarlia, where he had his hair close cropped and put on peasant’s clothes. Putting an axe over his shoulder, he went about looking for employment. The first man whom he tried was Andrew Persson, a wealthy mine owner at Rankhytta. Gustavus found employment with him, taking part in the threshing. But the other servants soon detected that the new man had a carriage and habits different from their own, and they commenced to watch him closely. They noticed that he was not accustomed to the work, and one of the servant girls saw a collar of silk above the coarse blouse. Andrew Persson called before him the suspect, and was highly surprised when recognizing in him a comrade from the time of his student days at Upsala. He was favorably disposed, but was afraid of sheltering Gustavus, advising him to flee to the less thickly settled parts of the province, and to change often from one place to another. Gustavus continued his way in a westerly direction, following the shore of a lake named Runn, and arrived at Ornæs the following day. He knew he had an old comrade and friend in the owner of the place. This man, Arendt Persson, received him in the most hospitable manner, but was in his heart desirous of obtaining the price placed upon the head of the young squire. Gustavus went to bed in the attic, not suspecting treachery. The host himself accompanied him to his resting place, according to the mediæval custom. This done, Arendt travelled in great haste to one of his neighbors, the much-respected Mons Nilsson of Aspeboda. Arendt asked him to assist in capturing Gustavus Vasa; but Mons Nilsson flatly refused, taking no pains to hide his indignation. Arendt left and went past his own home to Sætra, which was the residence of the Danish bailiff. He started for Ornæs the following morning, accompanied by the bailiff and twenty men ready to capture the fugitive. But Arendt’s wife, Lady Barbro Stigsdotter (Swinhufwud), had not been inactive. Her suspicion was aroused when she noticed her husband travelling back and forth to disappear in the direction where the bailiff resided. She divined that the safety of her guest was threatened and decided to take action. Lady Barbro went to the attic, roused her sleeping guest and told him of the impending danger. Gustavus let himself down to the ground by means of towels fastened to the window-sill, assisted by Lady Barbro, who had a horse and sleigh in readiness for him, in charge of a faithful servant. He reached the residence of John, the priest of Sværdsjœ. Arendt was enraged when he found that Gustavus had made his escape. It is said that he from that day refused to ever see Lady Barbro again.