Gustav Vasa

Gustav Eriksson Vasa, known as Gustav I, lived from 12 May 1496 to 29 September 1560 and ruled as Sweden’s king from 1523 until his death. Before that, from 1521, he called himself Protector of the Realm during the Swedish War of Liberation, which he led after the Stockholm Bloodbath—an event where his own father was executed. When he was chosen king on 6 June 1523 (now Sweden’s National Day) and marched into Stockholm eleven days later, it ended Sweden’s place in the Kalmar Union for good. As king, he pushed through the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, turned the monarchy from an elected one into a hereditary one, and built a permanent army and navy.

Gustav was born in 1496, probably at Rydboholm Castle northeast of Stockholm, the manor of his father, Erik Johansson Vasa. His mother was Cecilia Månsdotter Eka. He was named Gustav after his father’s grandfather, Gustav Anundsson. Both sides of his family were high nobility: his father’s parents were Johan Kristersson and Birgitta Gustafsdotter of the Vasa and Sture dynasties. Birgitta was the sister of Sten Sture the Elder, Sweden’s regent, and their mother was a half-sister of King Charles VIII of Sweden. When Sten Sture died in 1503, Erik—his relative and ally—inherited the regent’s estates in Uppland and Södermanland. Though Gustav grew up with considerable family property, he would later control far larger holdings. Both his parents traced their line back to Gregers, an illegitimate son of Birger Jarl: his father through his maternal great-grandmother Margareta Karlsdotter, his mother through her father Magnus Karlsson Eka. Birgitta Gustafsdotter and Sten Sture (and thus Gustav) also descended from King Sverker II of Sweden through his granddaughter Benedikte Sunesdotter, who married Svantepolk Knutsson, son of the Duke of Reval.

Sweden had been part of the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Norway since the late 1300s, but Danish dominance sparked periodic revolts. During Gustav’s childhood, some Swedish nobles pushed for independence. Gustav and his father backed Sten Sture the Younger, regent from 1512, in his fight against King Christian II of Denmark. After Sten Sture’s forces beat the Danes at the Battle of Brännkyrka in 1518, the two sides agreed to negotiate in Österhaninge. To keep the king safe, the Swedes sent six hostages to the Danes for the talks’ duration. But Christian never showed up, brok