[CHAPTER X]
Period of Political Grandeur—Gustavus II. Adolphus
Gustavus II. Adolphus is the greatest figure of Swedish history, revered and beloved as one of the noblest of heroes, a genius in whom the qualities of the great statesman and warrior were blended with the faith of a man ready to sacrifice his life for the loftiest of causes—religious liberty. Gustavus Adolphus was, by his own triumphant deeds and through his school of discipline, which turned out men worthy to follow up his work, destined to bring his country up to the fulfilment of its mission in the history of human progress, and to open for it an era of glory and political grandeur which its limited resources made it impossible to preserve, but which was fruitful of results for its later cultural evolution.
The secret of Sweden’s success in solving the stupendous conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, between reaction and progress, rested in the fact that this little country was eminently ready to wage a war for religious liberty. It had been more perfectly rejuvenated by the spirit of Protestantism than had, at the time, any other country. The mediæval state, completed later in Sweden than on the continent, also gave way there sooner and more completely than elsewhere. The yeomanry, never fully suppressed, had preserved its old spirit of independence, fostered and guided by patriotic leaders of the nobility, with or without a crown. The population was suffering, hungering, bleeding, but free, indomitable, and devoted to its once more hereditary kings of Swedish birth and to their new faith, which had made strong in them their old individuality of views and life.
When Gustavus Adolphus ascended the throne, the country was in the greatest peril and distress, and had many a lesson to learn before entering the universal conflict of the Thirty Years’ War.
Gustavus Adolphus was born, Dec. 9, 1594, at the castle of Stockholm. When six years old, he followed his father to devastated Finland, returning through Norrland, for the settlement and future of which territory great plans were made. At ten, he was ordered to be present at the deliberations of the state council; at thirteen, he received petitions and complaints, rectifying wrongs and soothing suffering. His father said of him, in speaking of the fulfilment of great works, placing his hand on the curly blond head: “Ille faciet.” The prince received a severe and carefully supervised education, led by Johan Skytte. He acquired knowledge of a considerable number of languages, probably all in a mechanical way, except the Swedish and German, with both of which he was made equally and thoroughly familiar, speaking and writing the latter language with greater ease and perfection than the emperor Ferdinand, or Maximilian of Bavaria. In the sciences of economics and war he was well read, himself inaugurating novel theories in both. In him the best traits of the Vasa dynasty were admirably blended and enlarged. He possessed an acute intellect, far-reaching views of almost prophetic discernment, a mastery and patience in detail, and an indomitable strength of will. To the ceaseless and painstaking care of the welfare of his subjects, characteristic of his father and grandfather, were in him added a harmony of endowment and a gentleness of disposition which made him their superior. In him the turbulent blood of the Vasas was held in noble self-restraint. After his rare outbursts of passion, he made good his faults in a most royal manner. His youth was not without the temptations which beset all richly endowed natures, but they were vanquished as he grew up to the importance of his grand mission. He stood in the paternal attitude to his people so becoming to his grandfather, but lacked the fiery democratic tendencies and the sympathy for the untitled, unpretentious and lowly, so strong in his stern father. To his relatives he was as gentle as to his subjects, treating his resolute and ambitious mother, Christine of Holstein-Gottorp, with love and respect; on her demand sacrificing the love of his youth and intended bride, Ebba Brahe, who became the consort of victorious Jacob de la Gardie. Also to his brother Charles Philip he stood in an exemplary relation; but firmly refused to grant him privileges for his duchy of Vermland which could be injurious to the country at large.
Gustavus Adolphus was a man of commanding presence, tall and of a heavy frame. The color of his face was clear and light, his eyes blue, his hair and beard blond. Foreign contemporary authors called him “the golden king of the North.” He carried his head high, and his open, frank eye, and the clear voice of manly resonance, gave added charm to his noble appearance. Gustavus Adolphus possessed a majestic dignity of bearing coupled with the unfeigned kindness of a noble heart.
Charles IX. had left his son the Danish war as an inheritance. It was carried on in the provinces of the frontiers, and consisted chiefly in small conflicts, which caused fatigue and detriment without being decisive. The Danes entered the interior of Smaland during the first days of the year 1612. Gustavus Adolphus, in his turn, moved from the fort of Ryssby into the province of Scania, destroying by fire the town of Væ and several castles belonging to the wealthy nobility. During a smaller conflict which then took place, Gustavus Adolphus was in imminent danger of his life.