&c., for which he was in no way answerable. Year after year the Council of State threatened to call in King Hans of Denmark, and in 1497 they carried out their threats by proclaiming him king in Stockholm and Upsala, when Sten Sture, after having for a short time been supported by the peasants of Dalekarlia, had to submit and to receive the Danish king as his master. Hans made his solemn entry into Stockholm, leaning on the arm of Sture, who, when the king asked him jocosely, "If he, like a faithful steward, had prepared all things for his coming," answered, pointing with his finger to the Swedish nobles gathered round them, "They can answer that best, for they have done all the baking and brewing here to their own liking!" At these words King Hans seemed suddenly to be seized with one of the attacks of rage to which he sometimes gave way, and answered angrily, "And you, Sten Sture, have in the meanwhile left me an evil heritage in Sweden, for the peasants, whom God made to be our slaves, you have raised into masters, and those who ought to be lords, you have tried to enslave."

When Hans was crowned king of Sweden, at Stockholm, in 1499, he conferred knighthood on all the nobles who had taken part in his proclamation, and it was said that his success had been mainly due to the eagerness with which the wives of these nobles had sought to obtain for their husbands the gold chain, which was the badge of their knightly rank, and could only be given by the hands of the sovereign.

The Stures rule Sweden.-Sten Sture, who was hated by the nobles and supported by the peasants, was at the head of every outbreak which disturbed the rule of Hans, and when the Danish king was defeated by the Ditmarshers in 1500, it was he who, in the name of the people, declared Sweden to be independent of Denmark. At the death of Sten Sture in 1503, his adopted heir, Svante Sture, was in accordance with his wishes, made marshal and regent of the kingdom. This knight was of a daring, frank nature, and it was said of him, that he would take no man into his service who winked his eyes at the stroke of a battle-axe, and that he would rather strip his coat off his back than leave a friend and brother-warrior unrewarded. He cared more for his soldiers than for any other

Р

class of the nation, and as long as he governed Sweden there was nothing but war. He and his learned friend Hemming Gade, Bishop of Linköping, who may be said to have ruled the land between them, seemed only to think how they might show their hatred to Denmark, and although during this time there were constant meetings between the nobles of the two countries to settle their differences, neither people had any rest from the hostile and piratical attacks of the other. The Hanse traders sided sometimes with the one, and sometimes with the other party, and there was neither peace nor safety to the poor in any one of the three northern kingdoms.

On the sudden death of Svante Sture in 1512, his son, Sten Sture "the Younger," was chosen to fill his place. This Sten was the noblest and best of the Sture race, and his efforts to relieve the people as far as he could from the taxes which weighed so heavily upon them, and his gallant attempts to secure the freedom of the country, endeared him very greatly to the Swedes. He had, however, a rival and foe in the archbishop, Gustaf Trolle, who through hatred of the Stures, proved himself a traitor to his country, and brought about worse troubles than any that had yet fallen upon the unhappy land. In 1518, Sten Sture defeated the army which Christian II. of Denmark had brought before the walls of Stockholm in the hope of forcing the Swedes to acknowledge his claim to the Swedish throne. After the battle Christian sought an interview with the regent, and demanded, in proof of his good faith, that several Swedish hostages should be sent on board a Danish ship of war to remain there until he had returned in safety from the meeting. The regent agreed to this, and made choice by their own consent of the bishop, Hemming Gade, and five other persons of noble birth, one of whom was young Gustaf Ericksson Vasa, the future King of Sweden, who had served in the recent war and borne the royal standard of Sweden in the battle of Stockholm. While the meeting between the king and regent was taking place, the Danish ship, according to the king's orders, weighed anchor and sailed to Denmark, where the hostages were kept in prison on pretence that they were rebels. Christian, on his return to Copenhagen, obtained a bull from the Pope to lay Sweden under

an interdict, and to excommunicate Sten Sture and all who had taken part with him, and thus ended Christian's pretended wish to be reconciled with the regent. A Danish army under the command of Otte Krumpe, was sent into Sweden with orders to affix to all church doors through the land copies of these papal decrees; and although the Danes were defeated with much loss by the Swedes on the Aase Sound, their greater forces prevailed after a time, until Sten Sture's death in 1520 placed the kingdom completely at the mercy of Christian II. of Denmark.

CHAPTER XVI.

DENMARK FROM 1500.

Christian II. of Denmark-His birth-Nearly killed by an ape-Strange mode of bringing up-Placed with Metzenheim Bogbinder-His tutorsHis singing in the choirs of Copenhagen-His knowledge of LatinHis father's use of the rod-Christian sent into Norway--His mode of ruling that kingdom-His love of the poorer classes-Death of Sten Sture in 1520 makes Christian master of Sweden-His cruel massacre of ninety Swedish nobles-Swedes give him the name of "Tyrant"Some of his good works, as the opening of poor-schools, post-offices, inns, &c.-Puts down Strand rights-Tells the bishops to read their Catechism-Favours the cultivation of flowers and fruits--Amager Island peopled by Flemings-Encourages Reformed faith for a time-Danish nobles alarmed for their safety-King's Dutch favourite, Mother Sigbrit -Dyveke the Dove -The dish of cherries-Torbe Oxe put to deathNobles send in paper announcing that they depose Christian; he goes to Holland in haste-The war with the new king Frederick I.-Christian taken prisoner; put in a dungeon with a dwarf-His death 17 years later-Frederick I.; his conduct and reign-The Reformers' first Danish versions of Scriptures-Persecutions, struggles-Counts' Feud for three years after Frederick's death-Christian III. succeeds to thrones of Denmark and Norway-Puts down Catholic Church in DenmarkEstablishes the Lutheran faith-Persecutions of Calvinists-Christian's death-Progress of country during his reign.

PART I.

CHRISTIAN'S BRINGING UP.

Christian II., 1513-1523.--CHRISTIAN II. of Denmark, who was the only son of King Hans and his queen, Christina of Saxony, was born at Nyborg in 1481. This prince, whose capacity was as great as his cruelty, and whose learning and knowledge of business far exceeded those of most men of his rank and times, was brought up in a strange manner, considering that

he had been early crowned joint king with, and successor to his father, and was looked upon by most Danes as the rightful heir to the thrones of Norway and Sweden, as well as to that of Denmark. We are told that one day when he was sleeping in his cradle, a tame ape lifted him up and ran with him to the flat roof of the castle, where the creature was seen dangling and tossing the infant up and down. The royal servants were in great alarm, but they dared not call out or follow the animal lest he might throw the child to the ground, and so they waited till the ape of its own accord brought him within reach of his

nurse.

The king and queen were often absent on long journeys, going from place to place to visit the different provinces of their kingdoms; and in order to provide for their little son during their frequent absences from the Danish capital, theystrange to say-removed him from the court and the care of their own attendants, and placed him in the house of a tradesman of Copenhagen, named Hans Metzenheim Bogbinder. The latter name is thought by some writers to have been only a surname, and by others to have been used to show that Metzenheim's business was that of a book-binder. He was, however, a man of standing in the city, a burgomaster and councillor of state, and he and his wife, who had no children of their own, showed great love for their charge.

They took care that his learning should be well attended to by engaging the services of a good scholar, the Canon George Hinze, under whom Christian studied daily for several hours. When he grew older, the king placed him altogether under the care of Hinze, who, finding that he could not trust the wild little prince when he was absent, thought it would be best never to let him out of his sight, and he therefore took him with him into church whenever he was doing duty. As Christian had a good ear for music, and a fine voice, he was made to sing among the choristers at matins and vespers. But when King Hans was told that the heir to the three northern kingdoms was singing in every choir of Copenhagen, he flew into a great rage, and said very bad things of and to the canon. The poor man pleaded in his excuse, that being only a low-born peasant and a priest, he did not know what was the right thing