(1) Sweden: Political History and Notable Figures

970 - 1060 - House of Munso (All Facts)

• First and Founding Dynasty of Sweden

1022 - 1050 - Anund Jacob (All Facts)

• 3rd King of Sweden and 3rd King of the House of Munso

• He and his forces joined Olaf Haraldsson and his Norwegian forces to attack Canute the Great and his Danish forces in Denmark, but this failed

1210 - 1266 - Birger Jarl (All Facts)

• Swedish Statesman

• He and his forces conquered Finland during the Second Swedish Crusade (after a century of warfare involving the civil wars between the House of Erik and the House of Sverker)

1101 / 1457 - 1523 - House of Oldenburg (All Facts)

1457 - 1464 - Christian (All Facts)

• First King of Sweden from the House of Oldenburg

• He ceded Orkney and Shetland to King James III of Scotland in pledge for the dowry of his daughter Margaret, who was to marry King James III

1497 - 1501 - Hans (All Facts)

• 2nd King of Sweden from the House of Oldenburg

  • He ousted his predecessor

• He invaded Sweden and was crowned king thereafter, thus reuniting Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under his rule

1520 - 1521 - Christian II (All Facts)

• 3rd King of Sweden from the House of Oldenburg

  • He was nicknamed “The Tyrant”

• He had most of his enemies massacred in Stockholm

1523 - 1654 - House of Vasa (All Facts)

1523 - 1560 - Gustav Vasa (All Facts)

• First King of Sweden from the House of Vasa and Founder of the House of Vasa

  • He was brought up at the court of Sten Sture, one of his earlier predecessors

  • He was a Catholic, but then became a Lutheran upon his assumption to the throne

  • He led a rebellion, the “Swedish War of Liberation” against his predecessor and defeated him and replaced him to assume the throne, founded his dynasty, and consolidated power

  • He gained independence for Sweden from the Danish-controlled Kalmar Union and was elected king of Sweden by the Riksdag (of the Estates)

  • Het thus made Sweden independent of Denmark, taking it out of the Kalmar Union and being conscious that its sea and land routes to the west (the Oresund, and Norway) remained under Denmark’s control and could ultimately jeopardize its independence if infringed upon by Sweden

  • As a prince, prior to his accession, he tried to forge a diplomatic alliance with England by negotiating a marriage to Queen Elizabeth

• He did as much as he could to make Sweden a power in its own right

• He built up the Swedish Navy

  • He planned to fill the power vacuum left in the Baltic by Denmark’s defeat in the “Swedish War of Liberation”

  • This fleet of warships was also built to protect Sweden’s commercial interests at the time

  • He used the funds from the Diet of Vasteras, which

    • confiscated the wealth of the Catholic Church in Sweden, from which he first gained the funds

    • sanctioned Lutheranism as the official and administrative religion of Sweden, from which he ruled

  • He left the foundations, for his successor, of a stronger Swedish navy as well as Swedish army

• He modernized and reformed Sweden’s administrative system to make the country be governed more effectively

  • He replaced nobles in local government with civil servants answerable and loyal only to the crown

  • He filled vacant bishoprics and wanted candidates who favored church reform as he leaned towards Lutheranism himself

    • This was hardest to impose in rural Sweden where Lutheranism was virtually unknown

    • In this area, he relied on popular support, as he raised his peasant army at Dalarna to fight off the Danes

  • He had laws passed establishing that the monarchy would pass through the male line

  • He left the foundations, for his successor, of a more settled system of administration

• He abdicated the throne and was succeeded by his son, achieving an orderly handover of power

1560 - 1569 - Erik XIV (All Facts)

• 2nd King of Sweden from the House of Vasa

  • He continued his predecessor and father’s policy of expanding Sweden’s diplomatic and trade links with powers in western and central Europe

• During his reign,

  • he sought to expand Sweden’s influence in the Baltic region

• He was deposed after showing signs of madness, and was succeeded by his brother

1569 - 1592 - John III (All Facts)

• 3rd King of Sweden from the House of Vasa

• He died and was succeeded by his son

1592 - 1599 - Sigismund (All Facts)

• 4th King of Sweden from the House of Vasa

  • He was “offered” the crown by the Swedish aristocrats

• During his reign,

  • He had to sign the Statutes of Kalmar, which were designed to ensure that the union of the crowns should neither endanger the country’s independence nor prejudice its faith

  • He appointed his uncle and future successor to rule Sweden jointly with the council in the namesake’s absence from the country as ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (his future successor would eventually rule Sweden in the namesake’s place)

• Under his reign,

  • The Uppsala Synod was ratified, by Sweden’s nobles

  • Sweden’s nobles began to think of themselves as the historic guardians of Sweden’s laws and liberties, having (continuously up to the point of the namesake’s reign) staked their claim to a major share in government

• He was deposed by the Riksdag because of growing opposition amongst his Lutheran subjects to his support for the Catholic Counter-Reformation

• He was succeeded by his nephew

1604 - 1611 - Charles IX (All Facts)

• 5th King of Sweden from the House of Vasa

  • He succeeded his nephew

  • He was an autocratic and capricious king

• He and his (Lutheran) Swedish forces revolted against and defeated King Sigismund and his (Catholic) Polish-Lithuanian forces in the War Against Sigismund and Battle of Stangebro

  • He gained the support of the Lutheran states against members of the Swedish council to inflict the defeat on his nephew

• During his reign,

  • He and his Swedish forces were defeated by King Christian IV and his Danish and Norwegian forces in the Kalmar War

    • He provoked King Christian IV of Denmark into declaring war by Sweden’s constant hostility towards Danish ships in the Baltic

    • Within weeks, the Danes had taken the strategic stronghold of Kalmar, infuriating the namesake so much that he challenged the Danish king to a duel, an offer which was scornfully rejected

• Under his reign,

  • Swedish forces were defeated upon helping Tsar Vasily IV and his Russian forces in the Siege of Smolensk and in the battles during the Russo-Polish War

• He died and his successor faced external threat and internal disintegration

1611 - 1632 - Gustavus Adolphus (All Facts)

• 6th King of Sweden from the House of Vasa

  • He assumed the throne when he was 16 years old by the Swedish nobles and the council, for whom they demanded in exchange a guarantee of their rights

    • He was bullied into signing a charter of accession which allowed only nobles to take high office

  • He was a huge man who was blond and broad-shouldered

  • He was an outstanding statesman and brilliant military commander

  • He displayed a remarkable charisma, particularly with the common people

  • He worked with his astute chancellor Axel Oxenstierna

• He turned Sweden from a feudal backwater into a major European power

  • He remodeled Sweden in every department

  • He streamlined Sweden’s government and made its council sitting permanently as a cabinet, making decisions in his absence

  • Along with Axel Oxenstierna, he

    • modernized Sweden’s

      • government

      • courts

    • promoted Sweden’s

      • education

      • commerce

      • industry

    • encouraged immigration

• He led the most modern army in Europe of his day

  • He ensured that his conscript army was paid regularly, a rarity in his day (where most soldiers were expected to live off the land)

  • He built up a large navy to challenge Denmark for mastery over the Baltic

  • He and his Swedish forces

    • defeated the Russian forces in the Ingrian War

    • were defeated by King Christian IV and his Danish and Norwegian forces in the Kalmar War

      • However, this war featured his modernized army which he had equipped with reindeer-drawn sledges and skiing units

    • defeated King Sigismund III and his Polish-Lithuanian forces in the Siege of Riga (having taken Riga) and the Fourth Polish-Swedish War

    • defeated King Sigismund III and his Polish-Lithuanian forces in the Fifth Polish-Swedish War

  • During the Thirty Years’ War, he and his Swedish forces

    • invaded Pomerania and Mecklenburg to counteract recent German military successes in the Thirty Years’ War

    • with the help of John George of Saxony and his German forces, defeated Johann Tserclaes and his Holy Roman forces and Catholic League in the Battle of Breitenfeld

    • with the help of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and his Swedish forces, defeated Albrecht von Wallenstein and his Holy Roman forces and Catholic League in the Battle of Lutzen

• He

  • signed

    • The Treaty of Barwalde (with Cardinal Richelieu of France)

  • made an alliance with John George of Saxony of Germany of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War

    • This catalyzed Sweden’s involvement in the Thirty Years’ War

• Under his reign,

  • The Truce of Altmark was made (with Poland-Lithuania)

• He was killed in the Battle of Lutzen during the Thirty Years’ War

  • He was killed as he led a cavalry charge into victory in the battle near Leipzig

  • He was 37 years old

  • He was deeply mourned

1604 - 1639 - Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (All Facts)

• Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Protestant Military General who served Sweden during the Thirty Years’ War

• He and Gustavus Adolphus and their combined Swedish forces defeated Albrecht von Wallenstein and his Holy Roman forces and Catholic League in the Battle of Lutzen during the Thirty Years’ War

• He and his Swedish and German Lutheran forces were defeated by Ferdinand III and the Holy Roman Empire, Catholic League, and Spain in the Battle of Nordlingen during the Thirty Years’ War

• He was promised the Duchy of Alsace as a reward for his cooperating with Cardinal Richelieu of France

• He and his French forces defeated the Holy Roman Empire and Bavaria in the Battle of Rheinfelden during the Thirty Years’ War

  • He took Freiburg and the fortified town of Breisach afterwards

• Upon his death, his armies and conquered territories were taken over and controlled by France

1612 - 1654 - Axel Oxenstierna (All Facts)

• Lord High Chancellor (Chief Minister) and Regent of Sweden during the reign of Queen Christina

  • He worked with Gustavus Adolphus prior to Adolphus’s death

  • He kept Sweden involved in the Thirty Years’ War

• He

  • along with Gustavus Adolphus,

    • modernized Sweden’s

      • government

      • courts

    • promoted Sweden’s

      • education

      • commerce

      • industry

    • encouraged immigration

• He

  • tried to prevent Gustavus Adolphus from entering the Thirty Years’ War

    • However, he loyally served Adolphus in his military campaigns during the war

  • negotiated peace with Denmark, Poland, and Russia

• Under his reign,

  • The Treaty of Hamburg was signed (with France)

1632 - 1654 - Christina (All Facts)

• 7th Queen (Ruler) of Sweden from the House of Vasa

  • She was an infant monarch and European stateswoman

  • She was a patron of Rene Descartes

  • She was the only child of Gustavus Adolphus and his wife, the Princess, Maria Eleanora of Brandenburg

  • She was an exceptionally gifted young woman, a linguist, and a scholar

• She

  • accelerated the sale of the crown lands to pay for her armies

  • played off the peasantry against the nobles to ensure her cousin’s succession

• She

  • signed the Peace of Westphalia, which

    • ended the Thirty Years’ War

    • confirmed Sweden’s control over the Baltic

  • signed a treaty a friendship with King John IV of Portugal where she offered Portugal military aid against Spain in exchange for Portuguese commerce

• She abdicated the throne of Sweden, to the regret and consternation of her people, and was succeeded by her cousin (whom she was once determined to marry)

  • She likely did this due to her

    • lack of freedom as a (female) monarch

    • growing sympathy for Catholicism in a Protestant-dominated Sweden

  • She eventually became a Catholic

1654 - 1660 - Charles X Gustav (All Facts)

• 8th King of Sweden

  • He was the First King from the House of Wittelsbach

• He signed the Treaty of Konigsberg (with Frederick William of Brandenburg) during the Northern War

• He led Sweden in the Northern War, which he launched against the rest of Europe

  • He and his Swedish forces defeated Frederick III and his Danish-Norwegian forces in the First Dano-Swedish War

  • He signed the Treaty of Roskilde (with Frederick III of Denmark-Norway), ending the First Dano-Swedish War

  • He and his Swedish forces were defeated by Frederick III and his Danish-Norwegian forces in the Second Dano-Swedish War

    • He was killed in the Second Dano-Swedish War

1641 - 1680 - Per Brahe (All Facts)

• Lord High Steward of Sweden

• He suggested that Queen Christina establish the University of Turku in Finland

1660 - 1697 - Charles XI (All Facts)

• 9th King of Sweden

  • He was the 2nd King from the House of Wittelsbach

  • Upon his assumption to the throne, Russia looked for foothold on the Baltic coast