The battle of Brunkeberg (1471) was a turning-point in Scandinavian history. Although the Union was restored in 1497 and again in 1520, each time it lasted for only a few years. For the next century, Sweden—Finland was a power with mainly Baltic interests, whereas Denmark—Norway was concerned with the North Sea as well.
In both Nordic states the authority of central government increased considerably at the end of the fifteenth century. Administration was made more efficient by the keeping of registers with copies of outgoing letters, but above all, the increasing use of firearms gave governments a definite advantage over everybody else. Only they could afford artillery in considerable quantity and the castles of the aristocracy could not resist an attack with cannon. While elaborate systems of defence might protect their strongholds against peasant riots or feuding neighbours, they could not do so against governments determined to compel headstrong aristocrats to obedience. In Denmark—Norway this tendency was reinforced by the creation of a genuine navy comprising ships built for war, not merely merchant ships adapted for that purpose. Although a royal fighting ship is referred to as early as 1414, the wars against Sweden and Lubeck during the first decade of the sixteenth century made the government appreciate the need for a bigger navy. Since vessels could not be acquired abroad because of the wars, they had to be constructed within the kingdom.
By about 1500, many towns had a grammar school. This was the situation in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark; in Iceland, schools were attached to the cathedrals and monasteries. Both states founded a university in the 1470s: Uppsala in 1477 and Copenhagen in 1479. From the 1480s, printers worked for the Nordic markets, some even establishing themselves in Denmark and Sweden. While their works were mainly liturgical books for individual dioceses, they also produced practical legal texts, historical works and fiction, an indication that literacy was spreading.
In both states governments encouraged the development of towns, not least for fiscal reasons. Swedish law had given German town dwellers separate representation on urban councils, but this was abolished in 1471. In Denmark, integration was likewise to be encouraged in 1475 and 1477 when the German merchants’ guilds were abolished: Germans were welcome, but they would have to enter the Danish merchants’ guilds, and they were not allowed to remain in the country during winter. Should they desire to do so, they would have to settle there for good, eventually marrying Danish women and paying taxes like everybody else. Related measures were taken in Iceland, which was subject to the competition of Englishmen, merchants of Hamburg and Lubeck merchants from Bergen. About 1480 the Icelandic assembly, the althing, reserved the right of residence during winter to those foreigners born in the countries under the king of Norway. The so-called Plning’s verdict (1490) confirmed this decision. In the same year, however, a treaty was concluded with England, allowing English merchants to trade in Iceland and in any Norwegian town, but in Denmark only in certain localities in the Sound region. A few years later the treaty between James IV of Scotland, Hans of Denmark—Norway and their realms allowed the subjects of either king to trade freely in the other’s dominions. Clearly, Hans’s government wanted to counterbalance the Hanseatics without surrending to English influence, while at the same time securing supplies of foreign goods.
Christian I died in May 1481, but the succession of his elder son, Hans, proved difficult, although he had already been recognised as future king by both Norway and Sweden in 1458 and as future ruler of Schleswig-Holstein in 1466. In Denmark, where Hans had already been recognised as future king in Christian’s lifetime, he was acclaimed in the spring of 1482.
Christian’s rule had aroused criticism, which manifested itself after his death. The Norwegian council wanted a future king to be more firmly bound. Consequently, in the autumn of 1481, the Norwegian rigsrad made the mainly tactical move of taking up contacts with the Swedish riksrad, which led to a treaty of alliance in February 1482. In Sweden, however, the men in power became more sympathetic to the idea of union and offered to mediate between the Danes and Norwegians; in return, the latter were to participate in a meeting at Halmstad in January 1483, in order to elect a new king. However, when the delegates assembled, it was found that only Norwegians and Danes had been empowered to carry out an election. The Swedish attitude was rightly seen as an evasion of responsibility, so that the Norwegian delegates joined their Danish colleagues. Together they elected Hans, who accepted a rather restrictive charter (handfastning, the so-called Halmstad reces, or agreement) on 1 February 1483. Hans was crowned at Copenhagen at Whitsun 1483 and at Trondheim on 20 July of the same year.
In the preamble to the charter Hans promised to recognise its articles as the basis for his administration. If he did this, the Swedes would accept him as king, but, until then, its terms would be applicable in Norway and Denmark alone. The domestic affairs of each country were to be kept separate from those of the other realms, and the king was to regain control over lands and revenues belonging to the crown of Norway. Fiefs and castles were to be given only to members of the country’s aristocracy, and neither the royal family nor the unfree estates were allowed to acquire ‘free’ land. In Norway no foreigner was to hold office in town government or to act as a judge appointed by the king (lagmand).
The most interesting clauses are those concerning the Norwegian economy. Minting was to be taken up again, but coins should have the same value as those struck in Denmark. All foreign merchants were to be allowed to visit Bergen and other Norwegian towns, but only if customs dues were paid; they were not authorised to interfere in the affairs of urban craftsmen, of the crown or the Church, nor to acquire rural property as security for loans. Clearly, the government wanted to keep not only agriculture and animal husbandry, but also sawmilling, which was expanding in the late fifteenth century, free of foreign capital. Merchants from the Low Countries were to be permitted to sail to Norway, as they had been accustomed to do. Finally, Hanseatic merchants were strictly forbidden to sail to Iceland, where Hans promised to appoint only native governors. In August 1483 it was decided to discuss Swedish adherence to the Union. The outcome of the ensuing meeting at Kalmar was a charter, the so-called Kalmar reces (7 September 1483) adopted by the Swedish participants alone. However, it contained some conditions for the election of Hans as king of Sweden, which, in several respects, restricted royal powers even more than the Halmstad agreement. Hans never sealed it.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages trade with the Low Countries, which depended on exports of corn from the Baltic region, became increasingly important. To the Nordic countries, trade with that area presented notable advantages: its merchants could offer the same goods as the Hanseatics, but they did not interfere in Scandinavian politics as did the Wendic towns. The foundation of Nya Lodose (1474) in the Goteborg region was to attract ships and merchants from the Low Countries, exactly as did the foundation of Goteborg a century and a half later, while in Norway, they were played off against the Hanseatics in order to limit the latter’s influence. Moreover, in the decades around 1500 Danish trade was changing direction. The Low Countries became ever more interesting as partners — the export of Danish cattle was specially important — with the consequence that the Hanseatics, above all Lubeck and the other Wendic towns, lost ground.
During the 1480s, Sten Sture’s government pursued the traditional Swedish—Finnish policy of infiltration in Livonia. An agreement with Riga was concluded in 1485 directed against the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order; the Swedish scheme was thwarted, however, when Riga made peace with its archbishop and with the Teutonic Order in 1491. In the previous year Sweden had begun to co-operate with Lubeck. The export of Swedish copper was thus secured through an agreement which was also profitable to the German town: in 1492, 25 per cent of its Baltic imports were of Swedish origin.
The Danish government realised the danger inherent in Sweden’s friendly relations with Livonia, as these could jeopardise free trade with Russia. Hans, who had ruled over Gotland since 1487, concluded an alliance with Ivan III of Muscovy in 1493: he needed Russian support against Sweden, and Ivan wanted Danish assistance against Lithuania. To the dismay of the Hanseatics, Ivan closed the German settlement at Novgorod in 1494 (it was to be reopened twenty years later) and in the following years the Russians raided eastern Finland. Within Sweden, opposition to Sten Sture grew, as did the desire for peace with Russia and for a settlement with Denmark—Norway, even at the cost of accepting Hans as king.
By 1497 the political situation in Sweden had further deteriorated, and hostilities broke out between the riksrad, on one side, and Sten Sture and his popular followers on the other. At that moment Hans declared war on Sten Sture (13 March 1497), defeating the peasant levy of Dalarna near Stockholm. Sten Sture now recognised Hans, and in return was granted large fiefs: Nykoping and all Finland. On his part, Hans promised a general amnesty; he would also observe the stipulations of the Kalmar charter. On 26 November 1497, he was crowned as king of Sweden, while his son, Christian, was recognised as his successor in 1499.
In his determination to pacify Sten Sture, Hans had forgotten to remunerate the councillors — among them Svante Nilsson, who called himself Sture, but in reality belonged to the family Natt och Dag — who had supported his cause. Hans would soon regret this when it became apparent that the agreement which he had made with Sten Sture would not last. In 1500 the bishop of Linkoping died, and, not without Sten Sture’s assistance, Hemming Gad, former Swedish resident at Rome, was elected to the see. A staunch nationalist, Gad brought about the collaboration of Sten Sture and Svante Nilsson. On 1 August 1501, a confederation was established which meant the beginning of the revolt against Hans. The king was deposed, and Sten Sture once again assumed the post of riksforestandare. Swedish dissatisfaction was further nourished by fear of Muscovy, which appeared to be co-operating against Sweden—Finland, whose eastern frontier was disputed by the Russians. The Swedish insurgents also found a certain support in Norway, where Knut Alvsson had inherited a blood-feud with Henrik Krummedige, leader of the pro-Danish faction. Alvsson was to make common cause with the Swedish insurgents. His first incursion into Norway (autumn 1501) was driven back, but he returned in February 1502. Hans now sent his son, Christian, who had been acclaimed heir to the Norwegian throne in 1489, and he soon managed to halt the rebellion. Krummedige arranged a meeting with Alvsson, but, in spite of a safe-conduct granted to him, had him killed (18 August 1502).
In Sweden, Stockholm had fallen to the insurgents by October 1501; only the castle was held by Queen Christina. After a heroic defence she surrendered it in the spring of 1502, a few days before Hans came to her assistance, but in vain. Hans sailed back to Denmark; his queen was only released late in 1503, after Hanseatic mediation. Soon afterwards Sten Sture died (14 December 1503) to be succeeded by Svante Nilsson.
Hostilities were resumed in spring 1504; Kalmar castle was still held by the Danes, while the town had surrendered to Svante Nilsson. In June, a truce was concluded, the intention being to solve the differences at a meeting to be held at Kalmar in June 1505. Hans attended with members of the Danish and Norwegian rigsrad; representatives of the emperor, certain German princes; the king of Scots also appeared, but the Swedes did not. After two weeks of waiting a court was constituted by the Norwegian and Danish councillors, who found that Hans was Sweden’s lawful king. The Reichskammergericht confirmed the verdict in October 1506, as did the emperor shortly afterwards, forbidding the subjects of the Empire to assist the Swedish leaders.
Despite this, Sweden was not entirely isolated, being invited by Poland to join an alliance with Livonia against Russia in May 1506. Yet, on 7 October, Lubeck promised not to support Sweden, and to work for Hans’s restoration (agreement of Segeberg, confirmed in July 1507). In the late summer of 1507 Lubeck and other towns offered their mediation, forbidding Swedish ships to call at their ports. In the meanwhile, hostilities were to continue in 1508 and for most of 1509. Danish superiority at sea made coastal raids possible in Sweden and Finland. One such, Otte Rud’s attack on Abo (Turku) in August 1509, became renowned for its cruelty. In early 1509 Hans’s Russian ally invaded Finland; the effects of the suspension of Swedish trade with the Hanseatics were multiplied by dearth in 1507—8, by a poor harvest in 1509 and by plague. Sweden was thus obliged to conclude the Peace of Copenhagen (August 1509) and to pay Denmark a yearly tribute until Hans or his son, Christian, became king of Sweden. In the meantime Oland and Kalmar were to be held by Denmark.
Lubeck, which had concluded a trade agreement with Sweden in September 1509, still felt that the Danish friendship towards merchants of the Low Countries threatened her vital interests. Consequently, when Sweden renounced the Peace of Copenhagen, Lubeck soon followed, declaring war on Denmark on 21 April 1510, and concluding a formal alliance with Sweden against Denmark in July of the same year. As Sweden made a simultaneous truce with Russia, Denmark—Norway now had to rely on the monarchy’s own resources. When war broke out at the beginning of the sailing season 1510, Lubeck showed its superiority at sea. Hans lost Kalmar and Borgholm castle in Oland, but German and Swedish incursions into Danish territory were thrown back. Furthermore, an energetic programme of securing armaments and recruiting mercenaries abroad made the Danish navy in 1511 as efficient as that of the Wendic towns, and, early in the year, Prince Christian raided western Sweden from Norway. Lubeck tried to obtain peace by offering an annual tribute to Hans, who, in return, was to allow only a restricted number of vessels from the Low Countries to enter the Baltic each year. Declaring himself a partisan of the freedom of the Danish seas, Hans refused.
In the meantime, Svante Nilsson’s war became ever less popular with the members of the riksrdd. When he was asked to resign, he led a campaign rallying the people to his cause, but died suddenly on 2 January 1512. The party which favoured peace won over the riksrdd to its views, and peace was concluded at Malmo on 23 April 1512. The treaty was in most respects a confirmation of the Treaty of Copenhagen; the decision concerning the rights of Hans and Prince Christian to Sweden was postponed until the coming year.
Svante Nilsson’s son, Sten ‘Sture’, succeeded his father as riksforestdndare (against the candidacy of Erik Trolle) in July 1512. After his election he strove to circumvent his agreements with the riksrdd on the pretext that his mandate had been given him not only by the council, but also by the people, probably a deliberate confusion of the distinct ceremonies of election and acclamation.
On 20 February 1513, Hans died at Aalborg, and was succeeded by his son, Christian, who had been elected heir to Denmark and acclaimed as such in 1487 (confirmed in 1497 and 1512), and had been recognised in Norway in 1489. At Hans’s death, he had already ruled Norway with viceregal powers between 1506 and 1512. One of his first tasks as viceroy had been to confirm the privileges of foreign merchants at Bergen. In 1507 Lubeck had agreed to establish an embargo on trade with Sweden, and Christian had to be more accommodating with the Hanseatics. Merchants from the Netherlands lost their right to remain in Norway during the winter months, and the German craftsmen of Bergen were placed under the control of German merchants. Furthermore, the Hanseatic monopoly of trade north of Bergen was confirmed. Early in 1508 Christian abolished Rostock’s privileges at Oslo and Tunsberg. The measure proved fruitful, as it stimulated the formation of a native trading class.
As viceroy Christian had shown that he could rule a country and that he expected loyal collaboration from both clergy and secular aristocracy. Not all found this achievement to their liking. Hoping that he would be more accommodating, certain members of the Danish rigsrad offered the throne to Christian’s uncle, Frederik, who refused it. In June 1513, negotiations began at Copenhagen about Christian’s handfastning and about Sweden’s fulfilment of the Treaty of Malmo. A meeting in the following year was demanded in order to answer the question whether Sweden was prepared to accept Hans or Christian as king. The Swedish delegates, however, had not been empowered to recognise Christian as king of Sweden, so it was agreed to postpone the decision until June 1515 and to keep the peace between the realms until Easter 1516. In the meantime in Norway, the German establishment at Bergen maintained its monopoly of trade with northern Norway and Iceland against competition from Bremen and Hamburg. Christian’s conciliatory attitude towards the Wendic towns was caused by his need for their support in order to obtain the Swedish crown. When he visited Norway in 1514 on the occasion of his coronation, Rostock sought the grant of new privileges from him. The burgesses of Oslo, and especially Tunsberg, however, were adamant: they wanted to keep the advantages acquired by them in 1508. Some months later, when Christian was negotiating an alliance with the duke of Mecklenburg about military aid to win Sweden, the duke made the grant of privileges to Rostock a condition of it: Christian was obliged to acquiesce, sacrificing the interests of the Norwegian burgesses to his Swedish undertaking.
The contents of Christian’s handfastning were the subject of important negotiations between the prince (represented by the chancellor) and members of the Norwegian and Danish rigsrad. As had been the case in 1483, this handfastning applied to both Norway and Denmark. A series of demands had been submitted by the aristocracy, most of them intended to secure a respectable income for its members. Since land and fiefs were being concentrated in the hands of the highest ranks of the aristocracy, it could now be difficult for a gentry family to keep up with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Thus, as in 1483, fiefs and castles were reserved for members of the native aristocracy. In Norway, however, local conditions could necessitate exceptions. The Norwegians had desired that the same clause should be valid for both countries, but Christian had clearly wanted to keep open the possibility of appointing Danes to Norwegian fiefs. As in 1483, neither the royal family nor the unfree estates were allowed to acquire land from the aristocracy, who in return were prevented from acquiring crown lands. A new clause now allowed the clergy and the aristocracy to trade directly with foreign merchants, although the principle had already been recognised in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish common law. The monetary union between Norway and Denmark was main tained, but the currency was aligned to the Rhenish florin, liberating it from the monetary domination of Lubeck.
Regarding appointments to offices in the Church, the charter represented a compromise: the king was not allowed to exercise any pressure upon electors, and he was bound to respect the outcome of elections. On the other hand, he could be an ally for the native Churches against the practice of papal appointments to offices, frequently of persons belonging to the Roman curia. These seldom took up their posts; instead, they received the entire income from the office, paying only part of it to the vicar who acted for them.
Finally, the handfastning allowed the people to see to it that the constitution was respected if remonstrances from the rigsrad to the king proved to be of no avail. Hans’s handfastninghad contained a similar clause, but only as regards violations of the habeas corpus principle. Clearly, the experience of Hans’s administration necessitated further guarantees against unconstitutional behaviour. The terms of this handfastning were sealed on 22 July 1513. Almost a year later, Christian was crowned king of Denmark, and on the same day (11 June 1514) he was married by proxy to Elizabeth, sister of Charles, later to become emperor. As the embargo against Sweden had proved, the backing of the emperor could still be useful. Charles and Elizabeth had been brought up in the Low Countries: Christian’s marriage shows how important the connection with that area had become to both the Danish and, to a lesser extent, the Norwegian economy.
In 1512, Sten Sture had been elected riksforestandare in Sweden. During the five years following his election he strove to increase his power, not least by seeking popular support for his policy against the riksrad, by augmenting the resources of his office, and by granting important fiefs, mainly to his political allies. Like his predecessors, he recognised the political force of the mining districts, especially in Dalarna, and of Stockholm, in both cases a consequence of their economic development.
In October 1514, the ageing archbishop of Uppsala resigned in favour of Gustav Trolle, son of Sten Sture’s opponent in the election of 1512. No doubt the new archbishop was intended to reorganise the council’s constitutional party in opposition to Sten Sture. Consecrated at Rome in 1515, he obtained on that occasion the right to be served by a force of 400 armed men. In addition, the pope confirmed him in the possession of Staket (castle and fief), allowing him to lay interdict on those who tried to contest it. When Sten Sture maintained that the fief of Staket belonged to the realm, the prelate would neither discuss the question nor swear fealty to the riksforestandare for the fief. In the autumn of 1516 Sten Sture laid siege to the castle; not all members of the council approved this measure, but he succeeded in mobilising popular opinion against the archbishop, so that, in certain parts of the archdiocese, the peasants refused to pay their tithes.
In 1513 a new meeting of Danes, Norwegians and Swedes was fixed for June 1515, to apply the clauses of the treaty of Malmo. As the Swedes, who knew that their choice lay between the payment of tribute and the recognition of Christian as their king, demanded further negotiations with the evident aim of postponing a decision, the meeting agreed to prolong the truce until Easter 1517 and to fix a meeting for February of that year.
Christian used the delay to find support abroad. The Hanseatics promised to establish an embargo on trade with Sweden, if the country refused to carry out the treaty, and in 1516 Christian renewed the Russian alliance. Nor was Sten Sture idle: he tried to have Christian’s title to the Swedish crown declared invalid by the pope, who suggested that the problem be resolved by a verdict. This Sten Sture refused, although he was willing to accept the idea of pontifical mediation.
In the summer of 1517 a Danish fleet raided the Swedish and Finnish coasts; it landed at Stockholm in order to relieve the besieged archbishop, but was defeated (13 August 1517). In November of the same year a diet met at Stockholm at which clergy and aristocracy, Stockholm’s town government and representatives of the people, as well as Gustav Trolle, were present. At the meeting Archbishop Trolle, held responsible for the Danish attack and accused of high treason, was deposed on those grounds and his castle at Staket was ordered to be demolished. Further, those present at the diet formed a confederacy, promising one another assistance, even at the Roman curia, in case of excommunication by the archbishop or his chapter (23 November 1517). In the following month Staket was taken (to be subsequently demolished) and the archbishop resigned (to be held as Sten Sture’s prisoner).
In 1518 Christian again made a seaborne attack on Stockholm, but was defeated. A truce was concluded, but was renounced by Christian, who took with him to Denmark six hostages left as security for a personal meeting with Sten Sture. In 1519, Christian’s forces won back Oland and barred Sweden’s access to the west, where a new fortress was constructed at Alvsborg.
The deposition of Archbishop Trolle led to legal action at the Roman curia on his behalf: Sten Sture and his adherents were ordered to seek ecclesiastical absolution from the excommunication incurred for the demolition of Staket and the imprisonment of the archbishop. If they proved recalcitrant, interdict was to be laid over Sweden and assistance could, if necessary, be asked from the secular arm, that is, from Christian.
Early in January 1520, a Norwegian force marched into Dalsland and Varmland, while Otte Krumpen invaded Sweden from Halland with a large army. The main force met Sten Sture’s troops on the frozen Lake Asunden, where the Swedes were defeated and Sten Sture himself was wounded. The invading army arrived at Tiveden at the end of the month, overcoming the Swedish resistance after fierce fighting; from there it marched on to Vasteras. In the meantime Sten Sture had died from his wounds (February 1520).
His death opened the way for a compromise between his opponents in the riksradand the leaders of Christian’s army. After some two weeks’ negotiations, Christian was recognised as king of Sweden; in return a general amnesty was granted. The new king was to govern Sweden with the assistance of the council and according to Swedish law; the castles were to be held of the riksrad, which was to help Christian to compel Stockholm to obedience, were the capital not to respect the agreement (Uppsala dagtingan, 6 March 1520, ratified by Christian on 31 March).
Commanded as it was by Sten Sture’s widow, Christina Gyllenstierna, Stockholm did not agree. Moreover, a peasant army was gathering: it met the invading army on Good Friday (6 April) near Uppsala, where it was defeated after very hard fighting. In the coming weeks hostilities continued, while Christian prepared to sail to Stockholm with a fleet. It arrived in May, and siege was laid to the capital. It was September before Stockholm’s defenders were ready to negotiate. Hemming Gad, once Sten Sture’s close collaborator and Christian’s hostage, had espoused Christian’s cause; he managed to convince the defenders, who surrendered the capital on honourable terms (5 September). Two days later, Christian entered the Swedish capital.