I thought it could be fun to show three historically connected photographs from Gamla Stan, or the Old Town, of Stockholm.
Beginning in 1397, Sweden (including parts of today’s Finland), Norway and Denmark were joined in a union called the Kalmar Union after the Swedish city in which the first joint (Danish) king was crowned. The Union was principally established to prevent further German expansion north into the Baltic area through the Hanseatic League and was strongly favoured by the Danes. The Union’s main difficulty was to actually remain unified. While there was a common monarch directing domestic and foreign policy, each country remained a sovereign state with its own laws. With time, the Norwegian and Swedish nobility were not keen on remaining in the Union and tried to leave it several times.
In the beginning of the 16th century Sweden was at war with Denmark after a messy several decades where Sweden had been at war with Russia, rebellious Swedes belonging to the Sture Party had pulled Sweden out of the Union and even occupied the Stockholm castle Tre Kronor (‘Three Crowns’). Due to the deaths of various key individuals the situation changed significantly towards 1520. The palace occupation ended and in November that year king Christian II of Denmark was crowned Union king in Stockholm.
The photograph above shows Stortorget, or Big Square, which is centrally located on the Old Town island. It's rather pretty with those colourful buildings that look like the result of a tryst between an Amsterdam huisje and a Nyhavn townhouse. But looks can be deceiving. It was on this spot between 7-9 November 1520 that Christian II – having first duly celebrated his coronation for three days and granted amnesty to members of the Sture Party – ordered the execution of upwards 100 Union opponents and their servants. He even went as far as ordering the exhumation of the recently-deceased leader of the Sture Party to be able to throw his body on the fire with the bodies of those just executed.
At this event – infamously known as the Stockholm Bloodbath – the father and several relatives of Swedish noble Gustav Vasa were executed. This galvanised Vasa, who was already one of several rebel leaders, to begin a war of liberation against Christian the Tyrant, as he henceforth became known in Sweden.
The above photograph shows Riddarhuset, or the House of Nobility (literally the House of Knights), which is a stone’s throw from the Riddarholmen Church in the previous post. In front stands a statue of Gustav Vasa. After the Stockholm Bloodbath he went to the Dalarna region in western Sweden to assemble an army and drum up support. After a series of local rebellions and successful battles against Danish forces in Sweden, Vasa was elected king on 6 June 1523 in the city of Strängnäs, which is one of the reasons that date is celebrated as the Swedish national day. On Midsummer’s Eve 23 June 1523 Gustav Vasa victoriously entered Stockholm.
The successful rebellion against Christian the Tyrant led to him being very disliked in Denmark, too. Furthermore, because he had killed several bishops in the Bloodbath also the Catholic Church in Rome was extremely displeased with him. As a consequence, Christian left Denmark and ended up in the Netherlands.
Gustav Vasa took up residence at the Tre Kronor castle in Stockholm. As a king, he was quite ruthless against various domestic uprisings, and he also raised taxes, cut the ties with the Catholic Church and nationalised its assets.
The above photo was taken on the square in front of the Riddarholmen Church. It shows the Wrangel Palace which since 1756 houses the Svea Court of Appeal. There's are a few Gustav Vasa links here, too. For instance, the palace’s southern tower used to form part of Vasa's defence fortifications in Stockholm.
The Wrangel palace served as royal residence for 50 years after Tre Kronor burnt down in 1697. At the time of its destruction that palace was around 400 years old. It had been constructed from wood and copper and the fire spread quickly. Today’s royal palace is built where the old palace was located.
A final point on Gustav Vasa. He changed the Swedish monarchy from an elective monarchy to a hereditary monarchy under the House of Vasa. This house ruled Sweden until 1654 when his descendant Queen Christina abdicated, converted to Catholicism and emigrated to Rome. As mentioned in the previous post, she is not buried in the Riddarholmen Church, but rests in the Vatican Grotto. The sole heir of the House of Vasa after her abdication was John II Casimir Vasa of Poland, and with his death 1672 the House of Vasa became extinct. No Vasa descendant therefore lived in the Wrangel palace.