Sweden 1397-1448 Sweden 1523-1560









Sweden and the Kalmar Union, 1448-1523



A.) The Status of Sweden within the Union of Kalmar, and Swedish-Danish Relations

Since 1397 Sweden was one of the three kingdoms that formed the UNION OF KALMAR, the other two being Denmark and Norway. Union king ERIK OF POMERANIA had been by the nobility of Sweden in 1439, by the nobility of Denmark also in 1439. Erik had moved to the island of Gotland, where he continued to rule, claiming to be King of both Denmark and Sweden, until 1449.
The Danish Council had elected Christoph of Wittelsbach (Bavaria) king in 1440; Sweden had followed in 1441. Christoph had died in 1448, and the Danish Council now elected Christian I. of Oldenburg.
At this point of time, the Swedish Riksrad elected KARL KNUTSSON, co-leader of the rebellion under Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson in 1434 and regent of Sweden 1438-1441, King of Sweden; the Norwegian council also elected Karl Knutsson. While Danish King Christian maintained that the Kalmar Union was not dissolved and he thus had a claim for the crowns of both Norway and Sweden, the island of GOTLAND, claimed both by Sweden and Denmark was an immediate bone of contention. Sweden launched an invasion and got control of the island except the fortress of VISBORG, where Erik XIII. held out. Erik sold out the fortress and his claim to the crown to Christian, and at night Danish soldiers sneaked into the fortress; the Swedes evacuated the island and Gotland again was under Danish control.
In 1450, Christian I. succeeded in having the Norwegian Council renounce Karl Knutsson as their king and elect King Christian instead. In 1451-1452 Denmark and Sweden were at war with each other. In 1457 Karl Knutsson faced a conspiracy lead by Archbishop Joens Bengtsson; Karl Knutsson fled to Danzig, while the Swedish Council elected Christian I.
Christian I. violated the prerogatives he had agreed to in 1457, and opposition to his rule grew. In 1463 Archbishop Bengtsson was arrested; in 1464 armed resistance was taken up, and King Karl Knutsson returned, only to be ousted in 1465 by bishops Joens Bengtsson and Kettil Karlsson; in 1467 King Karl Knutsson returned; he died in 1470.
STEN STURE THE ELDER in 1470 assumed the position of stadholder of the realm. An invading army sent by King Christian I. of Denmark was defeated in the BATTLE OF BRUNKEBERG in 1471. In 1476 Sweden recognized Christian I. as king of Sweden, under certain conditions. Christian died in 1481, in Denmark succeeded by his son Hans, who claimed the Swedish throne. In 1483 delegates from the councils of Denmark, Sweden and Norway drew up the HALMSTAD RECESS, in which the higher nobility of each country was guaranteed dominant influence in the administration of each country. In 1484 Sweden accepted the Halmstad Recess; yet the election of Hans was repeatedly postposed. In 1493 Denmark and Russia formed an alliance directed against Sweden; a Russian invasion of Swedish Finland was repelled (1495). Sweden signed peace with Russia in 1497. The same year the Swedish Council dismissed Sten Sture and elected Hans as King of Sweden. In 1501 Sten Sture lead a rebellion; the Council deposed King Hans (1501); places held by troops loyal to King Hans were taken. On such an occasion, Hans' wife Christina was taken prisoner by the Swedes (1502).
Sten Sture died in 1503, succeeded by SVANTE NILSSON. In 1505 the Councils of Denmark and Norway condemned the Swedish rebellion; the Emperor ordered the Hanseatic cities to break off trade with Sweden. A peace was negotiated in 1509, but did not hold. Svante Nilsson died in 1512, succeeded after a brief interlude by STEN STURE THE YOUNGER. Negotiations with the aim of electing Christian II. (already King of Denmark) King of Sweden lead to no result; in 1515 the Swedish delegation bluntly stated that it was impossible for them to elect a foreigner king.
Meanwhile there was a pro-unionist party in Sweden, lead by Archbishop GUSTAV TROLLE of Uppsala; in 1517 he was imprisoned. Now the Sture-party was excommunicated by the pope. In 1520 Sten Sture the younger died; Unionist forces took Stockholm. The nobles who had supported Sten Sture were accused of heresy, in a trial presided by Archbishop Gustav Trolle, sentenced to death, and executed (the STOCKHOLM BLOODBATH, 1520). It seemed that the Unionist side had won a decisive victory. One of the Sture party, Gustavus Vasa, fled to Norway, then made up his mind, returned, raised a rebel force in Dalarna, acquired money when he raided Stora Kopparberget, and then proceeded to liberate Stockholm (1523) and all of Sweden - Sweden's independence was established.
The Swedish Riksrad (council of the realm), for the larger part of the period concerned, accepted the view that Sweden was a part of the Kalmar Union; however it saw no need to hurry the election of a king and rather delayed such an election by the way of negotiation. Thus a distinct Swedish foreign policy emerged only when the respective King of Denmark decided to treat Sweden as an enemy.


B.) Domestic Policy

Domestic and foreign policy were so strongly interwined, that for a description of events reference is made to the preceding chapter.
The Swedish RIKSRAD (Council of the realm) emerged as the nation's political driving force. It appointed or dismissed the country's political leaders; its delegates negotiated treaties. The nation's nobility, including the leading clergymen (who also were of noble descent) dominated national policy.
While the Swedish nobility often stood together when threatened by a Danish (Unionist) invasion, frequently Sweden's nobility was divided in two factions willing to fight each other over who would determine the country's future.
Despite the seemingly chaotic twists and turns of Swedish history in the later 15th and early 16th century, the Sture family, in her drive for power resp. Swedish independence, provided the background for the emergence of Swedish national identity.


C.) The Economy

Sweden's economy was dominated by agriculture; the population of Sweden proper (without Finland) is estimated as having been 500,000 c.1400 and 750,000 c.1500. Sweden's cities were of negligible size, the largest, Stockholm, having less than 10,000 inhabitants. The most important economic sector besides agriculture was MINING (iron, copper, silver).


D.) Intellectual Life

In 1477 UPPSALA UNIVERSITY was founded, the oldest university in Scandinavia. The STURE CHRONICLES recorded Swedish history from a perspective supporting the rebels.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		Chronology of Swedish History, 1400-1499, 1500-1599 by Ken Polsson
Kort om Sturerna, from Nationalismen - dess historia och nutida roll, Stockholm University, in Swedish
DOCUMENTS Chronicle Excerpts on the Battle at Brunkeberg, posted by Nationalismen - dess historia och nutida roll, Stockholm University, in Swedish
Documents on and around Sten Sture the Younger, posted by Nationalismen - dess historia och nutida roll, Stockholm University, in Swedish
REFERENCE Franklin D. Scott, Sweden : The Nation's History, Univ. of Minnesota Press 1977
Jerker Rosen, Svensk Historia Vol.1, Stockholm : Esselte (1962) 1983


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 8th 2004

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