After Christoffer’s death both the Danes and Swedes prepared for the election of a new king by electors from the three kingdoms. In Denmark, the rigsrad first asked Duke Adolf of Schleswig, who was descended from the three Nordic royal families. He declined the offer, however, proposing in his stead Christian of Oldenburg, son of his sister.
In June 1448 meetings of the councils of the three countries were held for the purpose of nominating candidates for the coming election. Duke Adolf introduced his nephew to the Danish rigsrad, to whose members he would be more acceptable were he to marry Christoffer’s widow, Dorothea of Brandenburg. In Sweden and Norway certain factions were in favour of calling back the deposed king, Erik, but the idea had been rejected in Denmark. However, when it became clear that Christian was going to be a serious candidate, the Swedes elected Karl Knutsson; he was acclaimed on 29 June 1448, and crowned on the following day. Consequently, the Danish rigsrad proceeded with the election of Christian as king of Denmark; acclaimed at the landsting, he took up government at Copenhagen in the autumn of 1448.
Norway had nominated no candidate of her own before the elections in Sweden and Denmark, and the Norwegian rigsrad was divided between the adherents of Karl Knutsson and those of Christian. In February, 1449, the latter obtained the majority, not least because he had promised to grant a succession charter (handfastning). In July, Christian was elected at Marstrand by members of the Norwegian council, aristocracy, bourgeoisie and peasantry, although some councillors had already committed themselves to Karl Knutsson’s cause. Before the end of September his Norwegian adherents offered him the throne, which he accepted. In November, he was crowned at Trondheim. Christian was prepared to evict him by force, and asked Lubeck and the Prussian towns to establish an embargo on trade with Sweden. At a meeting at Halmstad in May 1450, the Swedish negotiators left Norway to Christian; the Union was re-established as an alliance which was to develop into a union when one of the kings died. Later, the Treaty of Bergen attached Denmark and Norway to each other under one king, stipulating rules of succession (29 August 1450).
The island of Gotland remained a problem. The Swedes had never forgotten that Valdemar IV of Denmark had conquered the island in 1361. When one sovereign ruled over both Sweden and Denmark, the political status of the island was of slight interest. But which country was to take it over when Erik died?
The old king had favoured privateering based at Gotland to such an extent that the Hanseatics and the Teutonic Order determined to fit out armed vessels in order to protect shipping. Erik tried to win over the Teutonic Order by his proposal of pledging Gotland to it, but the Order lost all interest in the scheme when Karl Knutsson’s forces invaded and occupied the island (except Visby and its castle) in the summer of 1448. The town was taken in December, and Erik agreed with the Swedes to surrender the castle on 20 April 1449.
In the meantime Erik had asked the Danish government for reinforcements, declaring that he held Gotland of the Danish crown. Christian sent him victuals and troops, and in April 1449, more arrived under the command of Oluf Axelson Thott, together with an offer of reconciliation with the Danish government. Erik would receive three castles in Denmark and a yearly pension in return for his surrender of Visborg castle and transfer of his rights to the realms to Christian. Erik accepted, but did not sail back to Denmark. He settled down in Pomerania, where he was to die in 1459.
In the spring of 1449 both Danes and Swedes sent troops to Gotland, trying at the same time to settle the question by diplomatic means. At the end of July, Christian arrived at Visby with a considerable force, compelling the Swedes to leave the island and to accept a truce. His work well done, Christian could now marry Dorothea and celebrate his coronation at Copenhagen (28 October 1449). The final settlement of the issue was to have taken place in the coming year, but was delayed until June 1451. At this meeting, at which both kings were present, neither party was willing to yield. In September, hostilities broke out in the form of a raid from Norway across the frontier into Varmland. Indeed, the war was to be characterised mainly by raids across the frontiers, combined with Danish privateering against Swedish trade in the Baltic. In 1453, a two-year truce was concluded; Karl Knutsson used the interval to increase his resources by a resumption directed against ecclesiastical property. In 1456, Karl Knutsson’s situation deteriorated when Christian captured the castles of Alvsborg, near present-day Goteborg, and Borgholm on the island of Oland. As had happened twenty years earlier, the mining districts suffered from the hostilities, which prevented the exportation of their products, and in January 1457, Archbishop Jons of Uppsala led a revolt against the king. The prelate, supported by Stockholm, by the mining districts, by the peasants in Dalarna and Uppland and by councillors from the provinces around Lake Malar, forced Karl Knutsson to go into exile at Danzig. In March, the riksrad appointed Archbishop Jons and the Danish-born Erik Axelson Thott (brother of Oluf, Christian’s governor in Gotland) as regents of Sweden until a king could be elected. In June, Christian arrived at Stockholm and began negotiations with the council. Having promised to observe Swedish law, privileges and liberties, he was elected, and set out on his Eriksgata (journey during which a king-elect was acclaimed by the individual provinces). However, nobody had foreseen that Christian would be accompanied by his two-year-old son, Hans, whom he now had recognised as heir to the thrones by both the Norwegian and Swedish councils.
In order to obtain support from the Swedish clergy Christian had had to confirm the privileges of the Church. He had also been obliged to reconcile himself with the Norwegian prelates. In 1458, Christian found it necessary to confirm the sattargjerd of 1277, which defined the traditional liberties of the Norwegian Church. In his Norwegian handfastning, Karl Knutsson had promised to respect the sattargjerd, but Christian’s charter of succession had contained no such clause. Only when these questions had been settled did the Norwegian council agree to accept Christian’s elder son after his death.
On 4 December 1459, Adolf, duke of Schleswig and count of Holstein, died without issue. The aristocracy of Schleswig and Holstein, the Ritterschaft, declared itself in favour of choosing only one ruler for the two provinces. At a joint meeting with the Danish rigsrad, Christian was elected duke and count after his uncle (Ribe, 2 March 1460). Christian had to recognise Adolf’s debt and to make financial arrangements with the other heirs, Christian’s brothers and Count Otto of Holstein—Pinneberg. In 1479—80, the king enfeoffed his queen with Holstein, which had been raised into a duchy in 1474, and Schleswig; she was thus responsible for the payment of the entire debt. This task she accomplished by 1487, a year earlier than foreseen.
As king of Sweden Christian left castles in the hands of native or naturalised governors, but he saw to it that the influential Oxenstierna—Vasa faction did not obtain too much power. Nevertheless, among Christian’s governors was Danish-born Erik Axelson Thott, who ruled important fiefs (ten) in Sweden and Finland.
Christian’s finances did not allow him to live off the ordinary income from the crown lands or off his customs revenues. He had to levy extraordinary taxes, not least in order to raise funds for payment to his creditors in Schleswig and Holstein. From a Swedish point of view this aim was considered by many as being as irrelevant as had been Erik’s obsession with the Schleswig question a generation earlier. In 1463, a new tax was levied, but when the peasants of Uppland complained to their archbishop, he exempted them from payment. The fundamental question was thus being asked once again: who was to govern Sweden — the king or an aristocratic faction? Christian, deciding not to tolerate the prelate’s behaviour, imprisoned him and captured his residential castle.
In January 1464 the archbishop’s cousin, Bishop Kettil of Linkoping, rebelled in order to bring about the release of the archbishop. The peasants of Uppland and Dalarna, as well as the inhabitants of the len governed by members of the Oxenstierna—Vasa faction, rallied to the archbishop’s cause, and Christian’s army was defeated by the Dalarna peasants commanded by Bishop Kettil. The insurgents decided to offer the crown to Karl Knutsson, if he would rule according to Swedish law. He accepted and returned to Sweden. He was soon to realise that he was governed by the same faction that had rebelled against him seven years before. After negotiations with Christian, he managed to have the archbishop set free, but when Karl Knutsson tried to liberate himself from the faction’s embrace, it took to military action. Karl was defeated and forced to resign, but was allowed to keep his royal title and two Finnish len for his lifetime (January 1465).
The victory of the Oxenstierna—Vasa faction aroused opposition from another dynastic group uniting the Axelsonner (Thott), important landowners and politicians in both Denmark and Sweden and Karl Knutsson’s relatives. Whereas the various aristocratic factions were prepared to accept a Danish king who would further their interests, the burgesses of Stockholm and the peasantry of Dalarna found the idea of an alien king intolerable. In November 1466, the nationalists invited Karl Knutsson to return to the throne; the Axelsonner had to support his cause, as they did not feel strong enough to resist Christian, the Oxenstierna—Vasa faction and the nationalists at the same time. The invitation to Karl was repeated in the autumn of 1467, and before the end of the year he was back in power. His interests were now bound to those of the Axelsonner, whereas Christian had to support the rival faction and, if possible, estrange the Axelsonner from Karl. The king of Sweden died in 1470, which led Christian to prepare a campaign in order to win back his lost kingdom. Karl’s nephew, Sten Sture, had been elected riksforestandare, and he and the riksrad negotiated without result with Christian. In the following summer Christian arrived in Stockholm with a fleet. An agreement was made which gave him clear advantages in the struggle for control over Sweden. Sten Sture and his cousin, Nils Sture, left the negotiations in order to mobilise support against Christian, who was acclaimed by the peasants of Uppland. In the decisive battle at Brunkeberg, near Stockholm (10 October 1471), Christian was defeated and left for Denmark.
Whereas the Oxenstierna—Vasa faction’s field of interest was limited to Sweden—Finland, the Axelsonner were more comprehensive. Their father, Axel Pederson Thott, had governed Varberg castle on Erik’s behalf, and he was the last governor to leave his cause (1441). His sons, among whom six became politically important, held together, always helping one another and keeping their family interests well to the fore. Their father had acquired estates in both Sweden and Denmark, and his sons continued this policy. Three of them — Erik, Aage and Iver — married Swedish ladies, thus obtaining double nationality. All six sons endeavoured to acquire land near their fiefs, which were mainly situated near the principal routes of communication. Their entrepreneurial interests included agriculture, animal husbandry and trade; their commercial activities, in particular, widened their spheres of interest to most of the Baltic. That Gotland and Viborg castle were fiefs of extraordinary importance to the brothers can be a matter of no surprise: in 1449, King Erik surrendered Gotland to Oluf, whom Iver succeeded in 1464; Erik Axelson, on his part, governed Nykoping in Sweden and the Finnish castles of Tavastehus and Viborg. With two of the brothers in charge of Gotland and Viborg, Christian could delegate his intervention in Estonia—Livonia to them, thus continuing the Baltic policy of his predecessors.
The fact that the Axelsonner had interests in both Denmark and Sweden—Finland caused them to change their allegiance when it served their interests. Despite their collaboration with Christian during the early 1460s, the victory of the Oxenstierna—Vasa faction over the two rival kings in 1464—5 led the brothers into matrimonial alliances with Karl Knutsson, his daughter marrying the widower, Iver Axelson, and his nephew, Sten Sture, being engaged to Aage Axelson’s daughter. The nationalistic programme advocated by an important part of Karl Knutsson’s supporters obliged the Axelsonner to commit themselves more firmly to Karl Knutsson’s cause. Christian’s sequestration for their Danish fiefs 1467—8 had the same effect.
As king of Sweden for the third time Karl Knutsson had granted vast powers to Iver Axelson, who continued to rule over Gotland after his rupture with Christian. The Swedish castles should have been accessible to him on King Karl’s behalf, but on the king’s death (15 May 1470) his nephew, Sten Sture, was elected riksforestdndare, perhaps in order to hold together the coalition of aristocrats and nationalists. The Axelsonner were ready to invite Christian back to the Swedish throne, but on condition that he be reconciled with the brothers and restore them to their fiefs. When Christian finally arrived at Stockholm, he came with considerable force and made no concessions to the Axelsonner. In order to save at least their fiefs in Sweden—Finland, they had to espouse the Swedish cause once more.
After the victory won at Brunkeberg the Axelsonner played a leading role as governors of important castles. Erik and Laurens were in charge of Finnish castles, while Iver ruled over Gotland and held Stegeborg as fief. Moreover, in the early 1470s, they were to take charge of Swedish policy in the eastern Baltic, as they had done on Christian’s behalf ten years earlier.
In 1474, the Swedish clergy declared that a legally elected riksforestdndare should be considered sacred, as if he were an anointed king. Strengthened by this moral support and by the effects of his policy of filling vacant fiefs with his own adherents, Sten Sture strove to render himself less dependent on the Axelsonner. Before his death, in 1481, Erik Axelson transferred his fief, Viborg castle, to his surviving brothers, Laurens and Iver, an arrangement which Sten Sture was not ready to recognise. The negotiations with the new Danish king, Christian’s son, Hans, led Sten Sture to accommodation with Iver, now the sole surviving Axelson, after the death of Laurens in 1483. In his negotiations with Sten Sture (1483) Iver Axelson surrendered both his and his brother’s fiefs in Finland, except for Raseborg, but obtained Oland in their place. Iver’s influence had been limited to the central Baltic. Hans promised to restore Iver to Solvitsborg castle, which his father had confiscated in 1467, but in return Iver was to renew the recognition, made in 1476, that he held Gotland as a fief of the Danish king and assist Hans in winning the Swedish crown.
The conditions for Iver’s restoration to Solvitsborg had not changed, and Iver attempted in vain to overthrow Sten Sture. Having pacified leading members of the riksrad by concessions, the riksforestandare confiscated Iver Axelson’s remaining fiefs except Gotland, to which Iver withdrew. When he felt unsafe there, he gave up the island to King Hans (1487) and settled down at his estate at Lillo; he died in the same year.
At the beginning of his reign Christian had tried to limit the Hansa merchants’ influence at Bergen; at the same time he had endeavoured to prevent the English from sailing through the Sound. This measure hit the Prussian towns, but was condoned by Lubeck. Christian’s aspirations to the Swedish throne told him not to estrange himself from Lubeck, and Icelandic interests urged him to show the English that any abuse committed by them in Iceland would cause retaliation elsewhere.
Complaints against the governor of Bergen castle, Olav Nilsson, led Christian to look into his administration in 1453, and as a result he was removed. As Christian needed Hanseatic support, or, at least, neutrality in the conflict with Sweden, he had to make concessions to the German merchants; among other things, Norwegian local government officials were to assist the Germans in the collection of debts. But Olav Nilsson, who had been restored to office, continued his policy of confrontation with the Hanseatics; on 1 September 1455, riots, led by the German merchants, broke out at Bergen. By the time they were over, Olav Nilsson and the bishop of Bergen had been killed and the monastery of Munkeliv burnt down. Although the secular government, which needed Hanseatic neutrality in the conflict with Sweden, did not punish the riots too severely, the Church demanded extensive reparations from the German community at Bergen.
As Karl Knutsson had friendly relations with Danzig, Christian saw his interest in an entente with Lubeck; this was to be a constant feature of international relations in the Baltic for the remaining part of the 1450s and 1460s.
Christian’s relations with England dominated a considerable part of his government’s foreign affairs in the same years. In 1456, Charles VII of France and Christian concluded an offensive and defensive alliance against England, and, through French mediation, negotiations between Scotland and the Nordic countries were taken up in 1460. James III’s minority postponed the conclusion of a similarly motivated treaty until 1468, when it was decided that Christian’s daughter, Margrete, should marry the king of Scots. The Northern Isles — Orkney and Shetland — were pledged as part of her dowry, but the Danish—Norwegian government, in spite of repeated attempts, never succeeded in redeeming them during the next two centuries.