Svensk Militärhistoria / Swedish Military History

How it ended...

Despite the devastating victory at Uppsala, the war was not over when Kristian showed up at Stockholm with his fleet. The siege of the town dragged on, but finally, in early September, when Kristina and her supporters were promised an amnesty, the town surrendered. On the 7th of September Kristian is finally able to enter the town as the victor. To achieve this he had been forced to make an enormous investment on troops and on propaganda, but to be able to keep what he had conquered he needed a loyal aristocracy, a loyal population and large numbers of troops on garrisons all over the realm.

His time as King of Sweden were to be short and bloody. Right after his coronation he staged "the bloodbath of Stockholm". The intention was to once and for all crush the Swedish nobility by executing all the leaders. At the same time heavy taxes and severe laws were introduced in order to punish and control the peasantry. What Kristian failed to realise was that he was ruin all of his work as this was just the things that the Swedes had fought so hard to avoid. By Christmas the country were boiling again with open revolts once again. In June 1521 Gustav Eriksson Wasa is proclaimed as Swedish Chancellor and by early 1522 there is only Stockholm, Kalmar, Älvsborg and the major strongholds in Finland that's still under Danish control.

In 1523 the revolts had spread to Denmark as the Danish aristocracy cancel their obedience to Kristian and he is forced to leave the country. In June 1523 Gustav Wasa can enter Stockholm and is soon after coroneted as King of Sweden.

In 1531 Kristian makes a last attempt to regain his position as King of Denmark. He manages to be elected by the Norwegians but when he arrives to Denmark to negotiate with his successor, Fredrik I, he is arrested and spends the rest of his life as prisoner at the castles of Sønderborg and Kalundborg.

Kristian II is known as "the Good" in Denmark, as he supported the peasantry and the citizens in their opposition to the aristocracy. In Sweden he is known as "Kristian the tyrant", mainly due to the bloodbath of Stockholm. This is perhaps a bit unfair as a number of "proper" Swedish kings have performed much bloodier purges, but who holds the pen gets to write the story...