which they gave rise; and they were only carried out in their entirety by others after his downfall.
Christian had himself reconquered Norway for his father: at his own accession he found Sweden practically independent. On the death of the administrator Svante Sture in 1512 the Rigsraad had chosen the old Erik Trolle in his place and had decided in favour of union with Denmark. But a popular party led by Hemming Gadd, the Bishop of Linkœping, had risen against him and set up Sten Sture the younger in his stead; who, being a wise and statesmanlike leader, soon obtained the upper hand. There was still a strong party opposed to him however, under the leadership of Gustaf, the son of Erik Trolle and Archbishop of Upsala. In the course of the civil war which followed Gustaf was besieged in his castle of Staekeborg near Stockholm. He at once appealed to the Danes for help; and his assailants were excommunicated by Archbishop Berger of Lund, by virtue of the authority which he claimed as Primate of Scandinavia. Thereupon Sten Sture and the Rigsraad resolved that Trolle should be no longer recognised as Archbishop, and that he should be imprisoned and his castle razed to the ground. Gustaf at once appealed to Pope Leo X, who approved the excommunication of Sten Sture and called upon Christian to enforce it. From 1517 onwards, therefore, Christian was endeavouring by negotiation or otherwise to take possession of Sweden. At first he had little success, excepting that in 1518, after an attack on Stockholm which failed of its object, he suggested an interview with Sten Sture, demanded hostages for his own safety, and then carried them off to Denmark, Bishop Gadd and a young man named Gustaf Eriksson among them. In the following year he returned to Sweden with a large army of mercenaries. On January 18, 1520, Sten Sture was defeated in a battle fought on the ice on Lake Âsunden and so severely wounded that he died some weeks after. A second battle before Upsala left all Sweden in Gustafs hands except Stockholm, which was valiantly defended by Sten Sture's widow, Christina Gyllenstjerna; and the promise of a general amnesty made in Christian's name by his general, Otte Krumpen, together with the persuasions of Gadd, who had gone over to the King's side, at length prevailed upon her to open the gates. Christian entered Stockholm, and was crowned King of Sweden on Sunday, November 4, 1520.
The event that followed is the blackest in Christian's life. On the Wednesday, during the coronation festivities, the Swedish magnates and the authorities of Stockholm were suddenly summoned into the citadel. Then Diederik Slaghoek, a Westphalian follower of the King's, and Jens Andersen, surnamed Beldenak, the Bishop of Odense, stood forth in the name of Gustaf Trolle and demanded reparation for the wrongs which, as they alleged, had been inflicted on him. Christian at once called for the names of those who had signed the act of deposition and committed them to prison; the only exceptions being Bishop Brask of Linkœping,
