 | Gustav I of Sweden: Encyclopedia II - Gustav I of Sweden - Early life
Gustav I of Sweden - Early life
Gustav Eriksson (Vasa) descended from Birgitta Gustafsdotter (Sture), the sister of childless Regent Sten Sture the Elder who had died in 1503 when Gustav was a baby. According to genealogical research, Birgitta and Sten Sture (and consequently also Gustav Vasa) descended from King Sverker II of Sweden, through King Sverker's granddaughter Benedikte Sunesdotter (who was married to Svantepolk Knutsson, son of Duke of Reval). The Vasa family belonged to the highest level of hereditary Swedish nobility (högfrälse) and they possessed some wealth: several manors etc. As most Swedes at the time, he used no family name and was originally known by his given name and patronymic, but the name of the dynasty, derived from the main heraldic charge of the family, has often been given to him by later authors.
Gustav Vasa's father Erik Johansson (Vasa) was involved in the party of Sten Sture the Younger fighting against the Danes in the early 16th century. When the Danes under Christian II conquered Sweden and took the capital Stockholm in 1520, several members of the Sture party were executed in the Stockholm Bloodbath in October that year, among whom was Erik Johansson. The young Gustav survived by hiding.
He got involved in some of the revolts against the Danish king. At the battle of Brännkyrka on October 2, 1518, he was among those captured and taken prisoner in Denmark. But he managed to escape, and on May 31, 1520, he returned by ship to Kalmar, on the southeastern side of Sweden. From there, he travelled all the way up to the province of Dalarna, in (what was then) northwestern Sweden. He tried to gather troops to take down the Danish government, but had little success initially.
According to popular history, as depicted in the 19th century in Swedish schoolbooks, Gustav encountered many adventures while he was fleeing around Dalarna. Their historical validity is however questioned.
In 1521 he had managed to gather a small army in Dalarna and become its leader. He also received help by troops from Leipzig, Germany. By August 1521, the men of Dalarna had elected him regent of Sweden, whereafter two years of battle followed whereby the Danish troops were gradually defeated.
In 1523, Gustav was able to be crowned in Strängnäs, south of the capital Stockholm, on June 6. The date has later been celebrated as the Swedish national day. His troops had besieged the capital, and on June 24, they finally could march into Stockholm. The country was however in no way united in support of the king at that time.
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 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
