AFTER the death of King Hans, his only son, the cruel Christian, mounted the throne; but the Council of State and the nobility, well knowing that he would be a less compliant monarch than his father, sought to secure their alleged rights by a new charter, which he was compelled to sign before he was crowned.

During his stay in Norway as viceroy, Christian had become acquainted with a Dutch girl in Bergen, the beautiful Dyveke. They first met at a ball, which he gave for the most prominent citizens in Bergen, and where they fell in love with each other. He afterward brought the girl and her wily mother, Sigbrit Willums, with him to Oslo and later to Copenhagen, where Sigbrit continued to wield a great influence during the whole of Christian’s reign. Two years after his accession to the throne, Christian married the wealthiest princess of Europe, Isabella, a sister of Charles V., who afterward became emperor of Germany and king of Spain. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp at Copenhagen. The young queen brought him a dower of 250,000 gulden, and she was as good and lovely as she was rich. Archbishop Erik Valkendorf had brought the bride to the country, and had promised Charles V. to see that Dyveke was kept out of the way. Sigbrit Willums heard of this, and henceforth was the archbishop’s bitter enemy. Neither did the king listen to the archbishop’s advice. Dyveke retained the favor of the king until, a year and a half later, she suddenly died, and the king’s passionate love for her now led him to a cruel and unjust act. The governor of the castle in Copenhagen, Torben Ox, had also fallen in love with Dyveke, and, as she died shortly after having eaten some cherries, it was rumored that the cherries had been poisoned, and that Torben Ox had caused her death. The king summoned Torben before the Council of State, which acquitted him. The king became enraged when he heard the decision, and said: “If we had had as many friends in the council as Torben had, the judgment would have been different; but even if this ox has a neck as thick as that of a bull, he shall yet lose it.” Although, according to law, a nobleman could only be tried by the Council of State, the king summoned twelve peasants to retry the case. They found him guilty, and although the counsellors and the nobility, the queen and the court ladies, all begged for mercy, the king was unmoved, and Torben Ox was executed.

The crown of Sweden was the great object of King Christian’s ambition; but it took years before he reached this goal. The Swedish regent, Sten Sture the Younger, was very popular and had undisputed power, until he was antagonized by the newly-elected archbishop at Upsala, Gustaf Trolle, who, with many members of the old nobility, became jealous of the power enjoyed by the Sture family and preferred to support King Christian. Sten Sture defeated Gustaf Trolle, who was deprived of his see and compelled to flee from his castle. Afterward Sten Sture was placed in the ban of the church, and the archbishop received aid from Denmark. King Christian made several expeditions to Sweden, and finally his general, Otto Krumpen, defeated Sten Sture’s army in a battle on the ice at Bogesund, where Sten Sture was mortally wounded (February, 1520). Sture’s widow, the courageous Christina Gyldenstierna, tried to hold the party together, and, for a few months, defended Stockholm; but finally had to surrender the city. The Swedes now acknowledged Christian as hereditary king, and, on the 4th of November, 1520, he was crowned by Gustaf Trolle in the Grand Church in Stockholm. After the coronation great festivities were held for three days. On the fourth day a number of the Swedish nobles were summoned to meet at the palace. While the king was surrounded by his court, the representatives of Gustaf Trolle stepped forward and demanded reparation for the wrongs committed against the archbishop. Christian, who wished to subdue the Swedish nobles, availed himself of the opportunity and followed the bad advice given him. The document by which Gustaf Trolle had been deposed was produced, and all who had signed it were arrested on the spot. The following day, November 8, 1520, the accused were brought before a court consisting of eleven Swedish priests and one Danish bishop. The only question asked was whether men who had raised their hands against the Pope and the Holy Church were heretics. The members of the court answering in the affirmative, the accused were declared to be heretics, and the king fixed the punishment at death. The condemned were at once conveyed to the great market-place, where two bishops, thirteen Counsellors of State and knights, and many other prominent men, in all about fifty, were beheaded. This was the notorious Carnage of Stockholm.

After having left the conduct of the fight in Sweden in the hands of his able admiral, Soefren Norby, King Christian now returned to Denmark, where, during the next two years, he introduced several excellent laws for the improvement of commerce, industry and culture. But he also tried to establish himself as an autocratic king. He abolished several of the privileges of the nobility and the bishops, and planned the gradual extinction of the Council of State, by not appointing any successors to members who died.

The Swedes did not long endure the rule of King Christian and the insolence of his officers. The people of the province of Dalarne (Dalecarlia) rose under the leadership of Gustavus Eriksson Wasa, a young nobleman whose father was among those beheaded in the Carnage of Stockholm. They successfully fought the Danes and captured one town after another, and elected Gustavus Wasa regent of Sweden. King Christian prohibited all trade by the Hansa towns with Sweden, and let his men capture their ships; thus he incensed the people of Lubeck, who declared war against him and helped the Swedes. King Christian then levied a new tax to cover the war expenses and summoned a meeting of nobles. But now the nobles of Jutland rose against him and offered to proclaim his uncle, Duke Frederick, king. Frederick accepted the offer, and the nobles sent Christian a letter revoking their allegiance to him. An inexplicable faint-heartedness now seized Christian, and, instead of summoning his many faithful adherents to his support, he commenced to negotiate with his enemies, and when that proved of no avail, he embarked, April 20, 1523, with his queen, his children, Lady Sigbrit and others, and sailed to Holland in order to seek the aid of his powerful brother-in-law, Emperor Charles V. Duke Frederick was now proclaimed king, but he had to divide the power with the Council of State and sign a charter which gave the nobility many improper privileges. Shortly afterward the Swedes elected Gustavus Wasa king, and thus ended the union of the three countries. Both kings were obliged to restore to the Hansa towns all trading privileges, in order to be assured that they would not help King Christian to return.