Now the storms and trials of his reign were at an end, and Gustavus allowed to gather the fruit of his wise management, which itself grew wiser with his old age. In 1544 the Union of Succession of 1540 was confirmed at Westeros. In matters of finance Gustavus laid the foundations of the modern state. The bailiffs were multiplied and made to give close accounts of the revenues. Fiefs granted to nobles before were now kept by the crown. The great nobles who held fiefs were placed under stricter control. The bloody Christian did useful work for the crown by ridding it of many unruly heads. The privileges granted by Westeros Recess were enforced, but the king saw to it that the nobility received back only what was properly due. But when the crown was concerned, property was taken from the Church to the greatest tension of these privileges, and likewise for the king’s private rights, by means of which less scrupulous tactics both the state and the king were enriched. The former came in possession of 12,000 farms, the latter of 4,000, in his case called “inherited estates.” As Gustavus was a great economizer, he left a treasury replete with money and uncoined silver, in spite of elaborate pomp on state occasions, expensive royal marriages and wooings, and a feud with Russia. From which of the two treasuries in his care expenses were paid, Gustavus was not overparticular. He set a good example as a practical farmer and agriculturist, the dairy at Gripsholm standing under the personal supervision of the queen, with twenty-two less ladylike assistants.
Gustavus created the nucleus to a standing army of hired troops, of natives and foreigners, about 15,000 in numbers, and provided Sweden with a considerable and well-equipped fleet. He encouraged the mining industry by supporting the silver mines of Sala and the copper mines of Falun. He introduced the working of iron, according to new methods, calling in German experts whose work he superintended in person. Putting an end to the supremacy of the Hanseatic commerce, he made treaties of commerce with the Netherlands and France, making Helsingfors in Finland the centre of the trade with Russia. On the western coast he founded the new town of Elfsborg, and ordered the inhabitants of New Lœdœse to move thither. To the common people Gustavus held an attitude which shows evidence of love and confidence. Many of his letters and messages to them abound in hints at practical methods in farming. The schools were improved and partly reorganized through the spirit of Reformation, while the University of Upsala lost in importance and prestige, the students again going abroad.
The war with Russia, commencing in 1554, and marked by mutual invasions, offered no aspect of importance, and was ended by a treaty of peace in 1557.
The founder of the famous royal line of Vasa was, personally, a man of prepossessing appearance, tall, and of commanding presence, having blond hair and beard, sharp blue eyes, full lips, rosy cheeks and a fine frame. He was fond of costly garments, and the styles of his day were becoming to him. Gustavus was of an amiable and cheerful disposition, although of a quick temper. He had a rare gift of winning the goodwill and confidence of all classes by addressing everybody according to their compass of intellect and conversation. He was fond of music, and played and sang. The lute was his favorite instrument, which he liked to play in his evenings of solitude. Gustavus possessed a rare intellect and a remarkable memory. Well aware of his own weakness to give way to his quick temper, he generally postponed all decisive action in matters of importance until sure of his full power of discernment. He was not a brilliant genius, but a typical prince of the Renaissance epoch, never afraid of taking action in instances without a precedence, or of the consequences of his actions. His letters and addresses evince an unusual degree of common sense, clothed in a language of manly vigor, terseness and humor, and are fine specimens of the modern Swedish, such as it meets us in this its period of rejuvenation, brought about by the spirit of the Reformation. There is something in the oral and literary eloquence of Gustavus Vasa which makes it easy to believe that he was a descendant of Birgitta. Gustavus did not possess the fine erudition of his sons, who were considered to be men of learning in their time, for he early left his university studies for the court and the war; but he was able to pass such good opinions upon subjects of art and science that he astonished many who had made these a special study. He had the power of recognizing people whose faces he once had noticed after ten to twenty years of absence, and was also skilled in divining what character dwelt behind every face. What he once heard he never forgot. Where he had travelled once he could never mistake the road, and knew not only the names of the villages but also the names of the peasants whom he had met. His life was led by the unswaying principles of an earnest piety and high morals. His nephew, Peter Brahe the Elder, who in a chronicle has given the above picture of Gustavus Vasa, adds: “In summa, God had bequeathed him, above others, with great ability, high intellect and many princely virtues, so that he was well worthy of carrying sceptre and crown. For he was not only sagacious and kind above others, but also manly and able. He was sharp and just in passing sentences, in many cases being charitable and merciful.”
The royal court was characterized by a joyous and elevated spirit. Every day after dinner all the courtiers collected in the dancing hall. The lady of ceremonies then entered with the ladies of the court, and the royal musicians dispensed music for dancing. Every other or third day the king went out hunting or horseback riding with the gentlemen and ladies of his court. The youths of the nobility once a week held exhibitions of fencing and other knightly sport, the king taking an interested and active part. Those who excelled received prizes in the form of rings of gold or chaplets of pearls and led the dance of the evening.
Gustavus I. was three times married. His first consort was young neurotic Catherine, princess of Saxony-Lauenburg, whom he married while the “Revolt of the Bells” was going on in Dalecarlia, and who died four years later, leaving him a son, Eric, of her own hysteric temperament. Shortly after the death of Catherine, the king married a young lady of the highest Swedish nobility, Margaret Leijonhufvud, with whom he lived in a long and happy union, ended by her death in 1551, and blessed by ten children, among whom the sons John, Magnus and Charles. Lady Margaret had been in love with the oldest son of Christine Gyllenstierna, Svante Sture, whom she renounced, and who married her younger sister Martha. Queen Margaret was a tender and high-minded woman, who won the love and absolute confidence of her royal consort, on whose quick temper she exerted a quieting influence, comforting him in hours of trouble and distress. She preserved as queen the plain and severe habits of her youth, having a personal superintendence over the dairies of the royal castles, especially those of Gripsholm and Svartsjœ. She was interested in brewing, baking and other household affairs, often making with her own hands the clothes of her children. When the king referred to Queen Margaret, he always called her “our dear mistress of the house.” The king remained a nobleman of his day in the purple. Royal splendor was displayed on great occasions only. Simplicity was the principle of every-day life. When entertaining his friends, the king took great pains to please and arranged many details himself. Upon one occasion of this kind at Gripsholm, Queen Margaret carried in the sweetmeats and cookies, while the king served the wine and asked his guests to be glad and make merry.
Queen Margaret was suddenly taken ill while partaking in a pleasure trip on Lake Mælar, and died in 1551, after a touching farewell to her consort. In the following year the king married the young Catherine Stenbock, a daughter of Gustavus Stenbock, an intimate friend to the king, and Lady Brita Leijonhufvud, a sister of Queen Margaret. In the lives and fate of Catherine and Margaret there are several remarkable coincidences. Like Queen Margaret, Catherine was secretly in love with some one else when the royal proposal was made. Strange enough the object of Catherine’s secret affection was, like Margaret’s, a son of Christine Gyllenstierna, Gustavus Johnsson Tre Rosor. This young man was the grandson of conceited Ture Jœnsson and the son of able John Turesson, the second consort of Christine Gyllenstierna. The family name was Tre Rosor, after the coat-of-arms, which consisted of three roses. As her aunt Margaret must renounce the hero of her dreams, so also Catherine. Like his half-brother, Svante Sture, Gustavus Tre Rosor married the sister of his first love, and this marriage, like that of Svante, turned out a happy one. There was a last coincidence in the life of the two queens. When Margaret heard that the royal sponsor was coming, she knew his errand and concealed herself in an oak chest in a distant part of the castle of Ekeberg. Catherine, upon a similar occasion, ran down in the gardens of Torpa and hid herself behind a bush. The third marriage of the king was a happy one, in spite of the great difference in years between the consorts. The clergy tried to raise objections, holding that Gustavus and Catherine were too nearly related to make the marriage a legal one. After some severe pressure these objections were finally dropped.
Queen Catherine thus expressed the state of her feelings after her marriage: “Gustavus is dear to me, but I shall never forget the Rose.”
The king gave scrupulous attention to the education of his children. They were brought up in simplicity and sternness, but received a manifold training and a great amount of instruction. While they were studying at Upsala, hams and butter were sent them from the royal estates to make part of their breakfasts and suppers. In spite of these patriarchal endeavors, Eric and John grew up to be typical Renaissance princes, fond of extravagance and luxury. The king wrote once to Duke Magnus: “Our dear Lady Catherine sends thee five shirts which thou must bear in mind to take good care of; item, to keep thy head clean and not ride or run too much.” When his sons grew older, King Gustavus used to admonish them orally before the hearth or at the table, or by letters. His wise counsel recalls the terse and sharp advice of Havamal in the Edda: “Ye shall weigh all matters carefully, perform them quickly and stand by it, putting nothing off to the morrow; counsel not followed up in due time is like clouds without rain in times of dearth.” “To speak once and stand by it, is better than to talk one hundred times.” “Surround ye ever with able men of pure living; one shall believe of ye what one knows about them.” Duke Eric early caused him trouble by stubbornness, defiance and vanity. Duke John, the oldest child of Queen Margaret, long remained his favorite, but ended by causing him grief through disobedience and secret conspiracy with Eric. In his old age, King Gustavus suffered through failing health and melancholy. He complained because the fate of his country seemed uncertain on account of the unstability of his sons, and because his old friends, like John Turesson and Christine Gyllenstierna, passed away before him, leaving him alone in the world.
When King Gustavus felt that the end was drawing near, he sent word to the four Estates or representative classes of the country, the nobles, clergymen, burghers and yeomen, to meet him at Stockholm around the Midsummer of 1560. He made known to the Estates his will, which his sons pledged themselves by oath to fulfil. Eric should inherit the crown, according to the will, but the three other sons were to receive duchies which they should govern with a good deal of authority. It became evident that the king had taken pains to provide liberally for his sons. But it appears as if he intended to make them all responsible in the maintenance of the work of their father, by distributing the power between them.