The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa Part 10

During three whole days the deadlock lasted. From the inactivity of the king's adherents, it would seem that they were acting according to advice. Gustavus wished to force his enemies' hand. It was clear to everybody that the blessings conferred by him on Sweden were beyond all praise, and he was confident that no one would be rash enough to talk seriously about selecting another for the throne. His object was to wait until the patience of his enemies was exhausted, in the hope that ultimately the offer of a compromise should come from them. If such methods of procedure are to be allowed, it must be granted that the monarch's policy was shrewd. During the three days following his stormy action in the diet, he kept himself in the castle, entertaining his trusty courtiers and feigning utter indifference to what was going on outside. On the very day after his withdrawal, this independent policy began to tell. The bishop of Strengnas was apparently the first to waver. He appreciated the folly of longer holding out against the king, and rose to say that he regarded such a step as fraught with danger.

Something must be done, he said, without delay. To put aside Gustavus and elect another king was simply childish, and to buy up all his property would be impossible. While he wished the clergy's rights to be protected, he asked for nothing that would be a detriment to the realm.

Matters in general were now improving, and the future apparently was bright. If Gustavus should be permitted to withdraw, nations that had ever coveted the kingdom would no longer leave it unmolested. The effect of these words was in a measure lost through a wrangle that ensued between Laurentius Petri and the Papist champion, Peder Galle. What they were fighting over, no one knew, for Petri made his argument in Swedish for the benefit of the people, and Galle would not answer in anything but Latin. Nothing had been accomplished, therefore, when the disputation ceased. And the morning and the evening were the second day.[160]

When the diet once more came together, the battle opened with replenished strength. By this time the peasantry and burghers had pretty generally sided with the king, and threats were heard that, if the knights persisted in their stubborn purpose, they would be made to suffer for it. This language proved more efficacious than persuasion.

The knights and bishops could agree upon no policy, nor upon a leader.

They were terrified, moreover, by the preponderance in number of their foes. As a consequence, they gradually weakened, till at last the delegates all voted to obey the monarch's will. Andreae and Petri were therefore chosen to approach Gustavus and inform him that the delegates would now consent to his requests. Gustavus then indulged once more his love of masquerade. He feigned reluctance to accept the proffered honor, and scorned the delegates who came to him upon their knees. One after another the recalcitrant members grovelled in the dust before him, and begged that he would show them mercy. This was the sort of ceremony that the monarch loved. He kept his enemies in their humble posture till his vanity was glutted, and then declared that he would go before the diet on the following day.[161]

Gustavus was at last in a position to dictate to the diet. The opportunity for which he had been longing since his first acceptance of the crown was now at hand. He had won an unconditional victory over every one of his opponents, and he was minded to use this victory for all that it was worth. It is matter of regret that practically no account is given us of the steps by which the measures that he sought to have enacted were attained. This very meagreness, however, is strong evidence that the measures were enacted without much friction.

Apparently, the only object of the delegates now was to suit their action to the monarch's will. They therefore adopted as their guiding star the propositions with which the diet had been opened by the king, and formulated a set of answers in conformity therewith. These answers were drawn respectively by the Cabinet and n.o.bility, by the burghers and mountaineers, and by the common people. It is worthy of more than pa.s.sing notice that no answer was presented by the clergy. Indeed, the clergy appear to have been regarded in the light of victims. The whole object of the diet was to crush the Church, and the clergy were not permitted even to have a hand in the proceedings. The monarch's notion was to give the clergy no voice whatever in the diet, but after the lay delegates had formulated their resolves, to force the bishops to issue a proclamation certifying their a.s.sent.

It seems desirable to describe in brief the answers which the different cla.s.ses of delegates presented. The Cabinet and n.o.bility began by promising that, if the rebellion in Dalarne were not already quelled, they would use every measure in their power to attain that end. They were satisfied with the monarch's seizure of Gripsholm. They deemed it proper, since the royal rents were small, that Gustavus be at liberty to grant the monasteries of the land as fiefs, but not, however, to expel the monks. In order to increase the wealth of the n.o.bility, they advocated that all property granted by former n.o.blemen to churches or monasteries since 1454 revert to the donors' heirs, though not until such heirs should prove their t.i.tle. To augment the crown's resources, they believed the bishops, chapters, and cathedrals should surrender to the king all that portion of their income which they did not absolutely need. No one should be permitted to preach falsehood or anything beyond the simple Word of G.o.d, and old Church customs ought to be maintained.[162]

The burghers and mountaineers gave their answer in a similar vein. They begged Gustavus to remain their king, and promised to defend him with their blood. They would express no opinion concerning Dalarne till the Dalesmen who were going thither should bring back their report. Since the monks were clearly at the bottom of the trouble, no monk should be permitted to leave his monastery more than twice a year. Gustavus should be given the right of billeting whenever it were necessary. Before deciding about the new beliefs they wished to hear a disputation on the subject. As the rents of the n.o.bility and crown had been diminished by the Church, the Church ought certainly to restore them; and the mode of restoration should be determined by Gustavus and his Cabinet. The royal castles having been demolished, the prelates should surrender theirs until the castles belonging to the crown could be rebuilt. Finally, from that day forth no bishop ought to send to Rome for confirmation.[163]

The answer of the common people began with a promise that they would go to Dalarne and inflict punishment upon the traitors; and since many monks were in the habit of inciting the people to rebel, it seemed desirable that they be permitted to leave their monasteries only twice each year. Gustavus might quarter his soldiers in the monasteries whenever it was necessary. The churches and monasteries near Stockholm, having in times past given shelter to the enemy, should be torn down and their materials used to repair the city walls. All matters of creed they were willing to leave to the bishops and prelates, but asked that a disputation on these subjects might be had in presence of representatives of the people. The king should have authority to increase his revenue in the way that seemed to him most fitting. The king might take the bishops' castles till his own could be rebuilt. The proper disposition of the Church incomes they were content to leave to the king and his Cabinet.[164]

One cannot but be startled by the revolutionary tendency of these replies. Never before had such a thing been dreamt of as the surrender of all the bishops' castles to the crown. Gustavus must have been bewildered by his own audacity. Within four days the diet that had come together puffed up by a consciousness of its own magnificence, had sunk into a position of absolute servility. Things had been granted by the delegates which, when the diet opened, Gustavus had not even dared to ask. The very mode in which the votes were taken and the acts were pa.s.sed, shows how completely everybody answered to the monarch's nod.

Instead of the answers being submitted to a general vote, they were laid before the Cabinet to be pa.s.sed upon by them. In defiance of every precedent, the Cabinet usurped the right to clothe the diet's sentiment in language of their own. The result was a decree promulgated in the diet's name and celebrated in Swedish history as the Vesters Recess. By this decree the delegates a.s.serted, every one of them, that they would do their utmost to punish all conspiracies against the king. They declared, moreover, that as the royal incomes were but meagre, the monasteries and churches must come to the relief, and, to prevent all danger, no bishop should keep up a larger retinue than the king allowed.

All bishops and cathedrals, with their chapters, must hand over to the king all income not absolutely necessary for their support. Since many monasteries were dilapidated and their lands were lying waste, an officer must be appointed by the crown to keep them up and hand over all their rents not needed for that purpose to the crown. The n.o.bility were declared ent.i.tled to all property that had pa.s.sed from their ancestors to the Church since 1454. Finally, Gustavus was ordered to summon the two factions in the Church to hold a disputation in presence of the diet, and the members promised to quell the outcry that had arisen against Gustavus and to punish the offenders.[165]

It is reported that something in the nature of a disputation was now held. But its significance, at any rate, was small. The bishops and their clergy were to all intents and purposes without a voice; and ere the diet closed, a set of resolutions had been pa.s.sed which did away with all necessity for further disputation. These so-called "Vesters Ordinantia" were even more far-reaching than the "Vesters Recess."

Since they are the touchstone of the modern Swedish faith, the reader will pardon prolixity if I give them all. They are as follows: (1) Vacancies in the parish-churches are to be filled by the bishop of the diocese. If, however, he appoints murderers, drunkards, or persons who cannot or will not preach the Word of G.o.d, the king may expel them and appoint other priests who are more fit. (2) Where a parish is poor, two of them may be joined together, though not if such a step would be an injury to the Word of G.o.d. (3) All bishops shall furnish the king with a schedule of their rents and incomes of every kind. From these schedules he shall determine the relative proportions for them to keep and to hand over to the crown. (4) A similar course shall be pursued with regard to the cathedrals and chapters. (5) Auricular confession must be given up as already commanded, and an account must be rendered to the king of all fines imposed. (6) An account must also be rendered to the king of all fees received for remitting the ban, and bishops with their officers must not inflict the ban for petty offences, as has been often done hitherto. (7) Bishops shall have authority to determine as to the legality of marriages, and may grant divorces, but an account shall be rendered to the king of all fees received therefor. (8) Fees for weddings, funerals, and churchings, may be taken as provided in the Church ordinances, but no more. (9) Since it has been decreed that the king and not the bishop is to receive all fines imposed in cases within ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the provosts may hereafter hold court just as the bishops have done hitherto, and shall render an account of their doings to the king. (10) For desecration of holy days no penalty is to be imposed on those who have been tilling the ground, or fis.h.i.+ng, or catching birds, but persons discovered hunting or quarrelling shall be fined. (11) Priests shall be subject to temporal laws and temporal courts, in all disputes, of their own or of their churches, concerning property, torts, or contracts, and shall pay to the king the same penalties as laymen. But all complaints against the clergy for non-fulfilment of their priestly duties shall be laid before the bishop.

(12) If a priest and layman come to blows, one shall not be placed under the ban any more than the other, for G.o.d has forbidden priests to quarrel as well as laymen. Both shall suffer for their acts according to the laws of the land. (13) Since it has been found that mendicant monks spread lies and deceit about the country, the royal stewards are to see that they do not remain away from their monasteries more than five weeks every summer and five weeks every winter. Every monk must get a license from the steward or burgomaster before he goes out, and return it when he comes back. (14) Monks who receive rents shall not go out to beg at all. (15) When a priest dies, the bishop is not to defraud the priest's heirs of their inheritance. Priests shall be bound, in regard to their wills, by the same law as other people. (16) If a man has s.e.xual intercourse with a woman to whom he is engaged, he shall not be punished, since they are already married in the eye of G.o.d. (17) No person who is infirm shall be compelled by priests to make a will. (18) The sacrament shall not be withheld from any one for debt or other reason. The church or priest has a remedy in court. (19) Fines for adultery and fornication belong to the king, not to the bishop. (20) The Gospel shall hereafter be taught in every school. (21) Bishops shall consecrate no priest who is incompetent to preach the Word of G.o.d. (22) No one shall be made a prelate, canon, or prebend unless he has been recommended by the king, or his name submitted to the king.[166]

These ordinances were practically a signal for the death of popery. They not only transferred to the king the rich emoluments on which for centuries the bishops had grown fat; they transferred also to him a right to superintend the actions of ecclesiastical authorities in matters appertaining to the Church. It is hardly credible that so vast an object should have been attained without more friction, and that it was attained is a lasting testimony to the shrewdness of the king. We may sneer at the childish indignation with which Gustavus strode forth from the diet, but the fact remains that this pretended indignation gained its end. Above all else, Gustavus knew the character of his people. They were particularly p.r.o.ne to sentiment. A few sham tears or an exuberant display of wrath had more effect upon them than the most sagacious argument that the monarch could employ. His policy, therefore, was to stir their feelings, and then withdraw to watch their feelings effervesce. It is not too much to say that no monarch has ever in so short a time effected greater change in sentiment than Gustavus effected among the members of this diet.

Before the delegates departed, a letter was issued by all the bishops present, and by representatives of the absent bishops, declaring to the people that Gustavus had portrayed in graphic terms the evil inflicted on the crown in former times by bishops; and that the lay members had voted, to prevent such danger in the future, that the bishops' retinues should be limited thereafter by the king, and that all their superfluous rents and castles, as well as the superfluous rents of the cathedrals and chapters, should be surrendered to the crown. "To this," the humbled prelates added, "we could not, even if we would, object, for we wish to dispel the notion that our power and castles are a menace to the realm.

We shall be satisfied whether we are rich or poor." To one who reads between these lines, it is easy to discern the language of the king. He also wrote, above his own name, to the people, informing them that the diet had been held; and for details of the proceedings he referred them to a letter which the Cabinet had penned.[167]

There was one man on whom the diet of Vesters had fallen like a clap of thunder from on high. His cherished dream of finally restoring Romanism to her old position in the eyes of men was now no more. The knell of popery had been sounded, and nothing remained for the aged bishop but despair. True to the spirit of the ancient Church, he had looked askance on every effort to discuss her faith. The doctrines handed down through centuries appeared to him so sacred that in his eyes it was sacrilege to open them again. In answer to the monarch's oft-repeated counsel that the Church reform her doctrines, he had steadily a.s.serted his unwillingness to take that step, "for these new doctrines," he declared, "have been investigated frequently in other countries and have been condemned. No man of wisdom, I believe, will champion a doctrine that is contrary to the mandates of the Christian Church." This constant opposition on the part of Brask had brought him more and more beneath the monarch's frown. Gustavus let no opportunity escape to add humiliation to the venerable bishop. On one occasion Brask unwittingly had consecrated as a nun a woman who formerly had been betrothed; and when the woman later left the convent to become her lover's wife, the bishop placed them both beneath the ban. This act called forth a condemnation from the king. "The bearer tells us," were his words to Brask, "that he has married a woman to whom he was engaged, and who against her will was made a nun. We see no wrong in such a practice, and wonder much that you did not inform yourself before the girl received her consecration. The husband informs us, further, that you have placed them both beneath the ban. This course appears to us unjust, and we command you to remit the punishment.... We think it better to allow this marriage than to drive the woman to an impure life." A little later, when revolt arose in Dalarne, Gustavus fancied that he saw the bishop's hand. "The priests," he said to one of his officers, "are at the bottom of all rebellion, and the diocese of Linkoping is the heart of this conspiracy." Gustavus had no ground for this suspicion, and the charge was utterly untrue. Brask thought the tax imposed upon the Dalesmen altogether too severe, and did not hesitate to say so; but he was very far from sympathizing with the rebels, and when it was ordered that the diet should be held in Vesters to please the Dalesmen, he was the first person to suggest a danger in holding it so near the seat of the revolt.[168]

Brask's influential position in the diet only added to the monarch's wrath, and it was against him chiefly that the diet's acts were framed.

He was the wealthiest of the Swedish bishops. Hence the reduction in their incomes, as commanded by the diet, fell heaviest on him. But even here the monarch's greed was not a.s.suaged. After the "Ordinantia" had been pa.s.sed, Gustavus rose and called upon the several bishops to resign their castles. This step, though advocated by the burghers and mountaineers as well as common people, had not been ordered by the diet.

Gustavus seems, therefore, to have made the demand upon his own authority alone, and the issue proved that his authority was great. The bishops of Strengnas and Skara, on whom the demand was made first, acquiesced as gracefully as was possible to so provoking a demand. But when the monarch came to Brask, that prelate did not readily comply. One of the n.o.bility addressed the king, and begged him to allow the aged bishop to retain his castle during the few short years that yet remained to him of life. This reasonable request, however, the monarch would not grant; and Brask persisting in his right to hold the castle, Gustavus deprived him of his retinue and held him prisoner till he furnished bail conditioned for his good behavior as well as for the surrender of his castle. The diet then adjourned, Gustavus sending forth a body of men who entered the bishop's castle by main force, and placed it under the supremacy of the king.[169]

The ground of this barbaric treatment appears in a negotiation between the king and Brask some five weeks later. By the Vesters Recess Gustavus was given a claim to all the income not needed by the bishops, cathedrals, and chapters for their support. But since the sum required for the prelates was not named, the field thus left for argument was wide. The prelates took a much higher view of their necessities than was taken by the king. Brask especially found it hard to do without his ancient pomp and circ.u.mstance. Gustavus therefore put the screws upon him to bring the lordly bishop to the ground. How well this plan succeeded is shown in a doc.u.ment of the 2d of August--about five weeks after the seizure of Brask's castle--in which the bishop is declared to have come to an understanding, and to have promised the king fifteen hundred marks a year beside some other tribute. In reward for this concession, Gustavus declared himself contented, and received the bishop once more into royal favor.[170]

There is now but little more to chronicle about the aged bishop. Beaten at every point, and practically a prisoner at the monarch's mercy, he had at last capitulated and granted to Gustavus all that he had asked.

The surrender, furthermore, was but the prelude to the bishop's flight.

Conscious that every hope was crushed forever, he craved permission to visit Gotland and perform the sacred duties of his office. This request was granted, and the venerable prelate set forth never to return. On pretext of consulting eminent physicians, he sailed across the Baltic, and watched the monarch's movements from afar. Gustavus, when he learned of this escape, confiscated all the property of Brask that he could find, and, worse than all, he issued a letter, filled with venom, denouncing the perfidy of the aged bishop and telling the people of his diocese that Brask had fled because of suits that certain persons were about to bring against him for his wrongs.[171]

It is difficult to take our leave of Brask without a word in admiration of his character. He was, in point of intellect, the most commanding figure of his time. Though born and bred among a people strangely void of understanding, he displayed some talents by which he would have stood conspicuous in any court of Europe. His learning possibly was not so great as that of Magni, nor did his eloquence by any means compare with that of Petri. But in matters of diplomacy, in the art of comprehending human nature, he was unsurpa.s.sed by any prelate of the day. He was singularly acute in forming his conclusions. Rarely if ever did he express opinions that were not ultimately verified by facts. His versatility, moreover, was something marvellous. While weighted down with every sort of trouble and anxiety, he spent his leisure moments in writing perfectly delightful letters to his friends. These letters bear the marks of suffering, but are calm in spirit, charitable, and replete with thought. They treat of botany, of geographical experiments, and of various schemes to benefit the Swedish nation. As specimens of literature they are superior to any other doc.u.ments of the time; and the writer evidently took keen pleasure in their composition. "By means of letters," he declared, "we keep our friends; and I would rather keep the friends I have than make new ones." Brask's greatest fault was his hypocrisy; but even this was due more to his education than to any innate trait. He was a Romanist of the deepest dye, and along with Romanism he inherited a tendency to sacrifice the means in order to effect the end. His very earnestness impelled him to deceive. But his deception, if only we may judge him leniently, was of a very pardonable kind. Take him for all in all, he was an extremely interesting man; and when he left the country, Sweden lost a valuable son.

FOOTNOTES:

[135] Svart, _Gust. I.'s kron._, pp. 101-102; _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. ii. p. 138; and _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol.

xviii. pp. 295-303 and 315-316.

[136] _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol. xiv. pp. 48-53 and vol. xviii.

pp. 300-303; _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. ii. pp. 83-86; Linkoping, _Bibliotheks handl._, vol. i. pp. 179-183; and _Skrift. och handl._, vol. i. pp. 347-351.

[137] _Dipl. Dal._, vol. ii. pp. 62-63; _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol.

xxiii. pp. 59-60; _Handl. ror. Sver. inre forhll._, vol. i. pp. 5-8; and _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. ii. pp. 126-129.

[138] _Dipl. Dal._, vol. ii. pp. 86-88; _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol.

xv. pp. 14-17 and vol. xv. pp. 15-16; _Handl. ror. Sver. inre forhll._, vol. i. pp. 22, 25-29, 42-43 and 109-110; _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. iii. pp. 24-25, 101-104, 263-264, 385-386 and 416-417, and vol. iv. pp. 292-293, 321-322 and 357-358; and _Sml. archiv._, pp.

175-176.

[139] _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol. xiv. pp. 66-70, vol. xv. pp. 5-7, 13-15, 25-29 and 49-50, vol. xvi. pp. 11-14 and 59-62, and vol. xviii.

pp. 267-269, 276-282, 316-317, 320 and 341-342; _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. ii. pp. 29-31, 191-192, 214 and 277-278, and vol. iii.

pp. 166, 333-334, 406-408 and 425-428; and Linkoping, _Bibliotheks handl._, vol. i. pp. 199-201.

[140] _Skrift. och handl._, vol. i. p. 100.

[141] _Ibid._, pp. 19 and 118.

[142] _Christ. II.'s arkiv_, vol. iii. pp. 1075-1083; _Handl. ror.

Skand. hist._, vol. xvi. pp. 43-52, 59-62 and 76-78; _Handl. ror. Sver.

inre forhll._, vol. i. pp. 20-21 and 46-48; _Kon. Gust, den Forstes registrat._, vol. iii. pp. 100-101, 313-314, 331-333 and 421-426 and vol. iv. pp. 3-4; Linkoping, _Bibliotheks handl._, vol. i. pp. 192-201; and _Skrift. och handl._, vol. i. pp. 1-145.

[143] _Skrift. och handl._, vol. i. p. 71.

[144] _Ibid._, p. 28.

[145] _Ibid._, p. 33.

[146] _Ibid._, p. 76.

[147] _Ibid._, pp. 77-78.

[148] _Skrift. och handl._, vol. i. p. 87.

[149] _Ibid._, p. 96. Petri's book, ent.i.tled _Swar p tolff sporsml_, published in 1527, is printed in _Skrift. och handl._, vol. i. pp.

1-145.

[150] _Dipl. Dal._, vol. ii. pp. 95-96; _Handl. ror. Sver. inre forhll._, vol. i. pp. 33-36 and 53-56; and _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. iii. pp. 162-164 and vol. iv. pp. 18-20.

[151] Johannes Magni, _Hist. pont._, pp. 76-80; Svart, _Gust. I.'s kron._, pp. 100-104 and 120-121; _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol. xviii.

pp. 341-342; _Handl. ror. Sver. inre forhll._, vol. i. pp. 31-32; _Handl. till upplysn. af Finl. hafd._, vol. ii. pp. 193-195; _Kon. Gust.

den Forstes registrat._, vol. ii. pp. 185-186 and vol. iii. pp. 111-112, 193-194, 267-268, 287-289 and 378-379; and _Saml. til det Norske Folks Sprog og Hist._, vol. i. pp. 487-488.

[152] _Handl. ror. Sver. inre forhll._, vol. i. pp. 32-33, 40-42 and 53-54; _Handl. till upplysn. af Finl. hafd._, vol. ii. pp. 190-191; and _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. iii. pp. 124 and 260-261, and vol. iv. pp. 70-71, 80, 91 and 130-131.

[153] _Dipl. Dal._, vol. ii. pp. 102-104; _Handl. ror. Skand. hist._, vol. xvi. pp. 115-119; _Handl. ror. Sver. inre forhll._, vol. i. pp.

54-56 and 62-63; _Kon. Gust. den Forstes registrat._, vol. iv. pp.

74-76, 135-136, 138-140, 147-150, 159-163 and 166-167; and _Svenska riksdagsakt._, vol. i. pp. 56-59.