AFTER the death of King Christopher, the Swedes elected Carl Knutsson Bonde king of Sweden, while the Danes elected Count Christian of Oldenborg, at the age of twenty-two, because he was heir to Schleswig and Holstein, and it was generally desired to have Schleswig reunited with Denmark. In the Norwegian Council of State there was dissension. The regent, Sigurd Jonson, the commander at Bergen, Olaf Nilsson, and the commander at Akershus, Hartvig Krumedike, who was from the duchy of Holstein, wanted to elect the Danish king, Christian, who was remotely related to the old Norse kings, while another more popular party, led by the Archbishop, Aslak Bolt, preferred the Swedish king, Carl Knutsson. The council finally elected Christian, at Oslo, in the spring of 1449; but, after his return to Nidaros, the archbishop declared the election void, not having been voluntary, and joined the people of the Throndhjem country and the Uplands in inviting King Carl to come to Norway. With a mounted force of five hundred men, King Carl proceeded through Vermeland and Solver to Hamar, where he was proclaimed king of Norway, October 25, 1449, and a month later he was crowned in Throndhjem by the archbishop. Early in 1450, however, when King Carl attempted to capture [Pg 232]Oslo, he was defeated, and an armistice was arranged. The archbishop died shortly afterward, and, at a meeting in Halmstad, in May, 1450, between Swedish and Danish magnates, the Swedish delegates, in the name of King Carl, relinquished all claims to Norway. Thus, when Christian came to Norway in the summer, he was acknowledged by everybody, and was crowned in Throndhjem on Saint Olaf’s day, July 29, 1450. He then went to Bergen, where, on the 29th of August, 1450, a closer union between Norway and Denmark was concluded. The main provisions of the agreement were: 1. That both countries were hereafter to be united in brotherly love, neither country being the superior of the other; 2. That each country should be governed by native-born officials, and enjoy their own laws, liberties and privileges; 3. That both countries should henceforth remain under one lord and king forever; 4. When the king died the councils of both kingdoms were to meet at Halmstad and elect a new king from among the late king’s legitimate heirs.

Thus the house of Oldenborg acquired the throne of Norway and continued to rule the country for three hundred and sixty-four years.

For several years there was war between Kings Carl and Christian, and in this war Norway was also involved. In 1452 King Carl invaded Norway with an army and captured Throndhjem; but he was afterward driven back across the frontier by the commander in Bergen, Sir Olaf Nilsson.

The German merchants (Hansa, Hanseatic League), who, after the war under King Erik, had returned to Bergen, had become more powerful and insolent than ever before. They drove the citizens of the town away from the wharves and continually increased their own number by importations. The commander, Olaf Nilsson, was very severe with the Germans, and made them pay heavy taxes. They complained to the king, and, as he feared that the Hansa might aid his enemy, King Carl, he removed Olaf. The latter now set out as a pirate against the Hansa towns, and captured several of their ships at sea. He also succeeded in capturing the Swedish fort, Elfsborg, at the mouth of the Gaut River, and offered it to the king if he were reinstated as commander at Bergen. This offer was accepted, and Olaf returned to Bergen. Enraged at this, the Germans armed themselves to the number of over 2,000, intent upon killing the commander. Olaf sought refuge in the cloister of Munkeliv, where his friend, Bishop Thorleif, tried in vain to appease the Germans. They burned the cloister, killed the bishop—who came out carrying the Sacrament—and three other priests, besides Olaf Nilsson and his brother, with families and children; in all, sixty people. This was the 1st of September, 1455. The king, who needed the help of the Hansa towns, neither would nor could punish this great crime. But the Pope placed the murderers in the ban of the church, and compelled them to pay heavy fines for the murder of the bishop and to rebuild the cloister.

Internal dissensions in Sweden, involving a struggle between the king, the bishops and the nobility, resulted in the expulsion of Carl and the acceptance of Christian as the king of Sweden. Thus the three countries again became united under one king (1457), and the next year the state councils promised that, after the death of Christian, his son Hans was to be king of all three countries. But King Christian made himself hated by his oppression, and when he caused the imprisonment of the powerful archbishop, Jens Bengtson Oxenstierna, the latter’s nephew, Ketil Carlsson Wasa, bishop of LinkÖping, swore that he would not put on his bishop’s robes until his country had been rid of its oppressor, and he kept his word. Carl was recalled, and died, as king of Sweden, in 1470, after several unsuccessful attempts by Christian to regain the Swedish crown. In 1471 Christian was defeated in battle at Brunkeberg (now a part of Stockholm) by King Carl’s nephew, Sten Sture, whom the Swedes had elected regent. After that King Christian made no further attempts to recover Sweden.

King Christian was a reckless spendthrift, and was always financially embarrassed. The annual tribute for the Hebrides, which Scotland was to pay to the king of Norway according to the peace made with King Magnus the Law-Mender, had not been paid for some time, and King Christian in vain demanded payment. In order to settle the matter peaceably it was arranged that Christian’s daughter Margaret was to marry the Scotch king, James III., and her dowry was fixed at 60,000 gulden. As Christian could not raise this amount, he obtained the consent of the Norwegian Council of State to pawn the Orkneys for 50,000 gulden, besides remitting the tribute for the Hebrides. Not being able to pay the balance, he also, without consent, pawned the Shetland Isles. Thus these ancient dependencies were lost to Norway, for they were never redeemed, although each new king solemnly promised to do so.

King Christian died May 21, 1481, at the age of fifty-five years, and lies buried at the Cathedral of Roskilde.