it was seriously perilled by the efforts of the Swedes under the leadership of Engelbert, a patriotic Dalecarlian miner, and but for his assassination by the treachery of a Swedish noble in 1436 would have been overthrown. In 1439 Eric was deposed, and his nephew Christopher of Bavaria chosen king; and on his death in 1448 Karl Knudsson, who had been regent at the deposition of Eric, suc- ceeded him. Anarchy ensued under him and his successors till 1520, when Christian II. of Denmark became king. He exasperated the people by his cruelty, and they found a leader in Gustavus Ericsson, a noble of high rank, better known as Gustavus Vasa. (See GUSTA- VUS I.) Christian had executed as traitors and heretics many of the principal nobles, among them the father of Gustavus, and a great num- ber of peasants. The resistance of the Swedes under Gustavus to the government of the Da- nish king was successful, and in 1523 they elected their leader king. In 1529 he intro- duced the reformation. At his death in 1560 he was succeeded by his son Eric XIV., who was deposed on account of alleged insanity in 1568 by his brother John III. (See ERIC XIV.) John reigned till his death in 1592, when his son Sigismund, who had been elected king of Poland and had become a Roman Catholic, succeeded him, the late king's brother, Duke Charles, being regent till he could leave his kingdom of Poland. Sigismund determined to establish Romanism in the kingdom, against the will of the people, and showed himself so reckless and unscrupulous, that in 1599 he was deposed, and in 1604 his uncle Charles IX., who had acted as regent, was raised to the throne. (See CHARLES IX.) His reign was one of tranquillity in the kingdom, and in 1611 he died, leaving the throne to his son Gusta- vus Adolphus. (See GUSTAVUS II.) After a reign of 21 years, the greater part of which was spent in wars with Poland and Russia for the possession of Ingria, Livonia, and other territories on the Baltic, and in the defence of Protestantism in Germany, while his affairs at home were managed successfully by the wise Oxenstiern, Gustavus closed his glorious career at the battle of Ltitzen in 1632, and his daugh- ter Christina, then six years of age, succeeded him. (See CHRISTINA.) Oxenstiern was in- vested with the chief management of affairs ; Baner, Torstenson, and other Swedish generals won new victories ; and the kingdom for a time prospered, and by the peace of Westpha- lia in 1648 received western Pomerania and other accessions of territory. After Chris- tina's coming of age, her want of fixed prin- ciples and the violence of her disposition soon plunged the country into debt and trouble, and in 1654 she abdicated in favor of her .cousin Charles X. His reign of six years was marked by brilliant campaigns against the Danes and in Poland, and acts of great personal bravery ; but his victories brought no advantage to Sweden, and only wasted her resources. (See SWEDEN 509 CHARLES X.) He died in 1660, and was suc- ceeded by his young son Charles XL, during whose minority a peace was concluded by which the kingdom had 10 or 12 years of tran- quillity. In 1676 began a war with the elec- tor of Brandenburg and the Danes, which was continued with varying success, though for the most part with disaster, till 1679, when the peace of St. Germain, leaving the Danes at the mercy of the Swedes, enabled the latter to regain more than they had lost. An advan- tageous peace was concluded between the two kingdoms, and confirmed by the marriage of Charles to Ulrica, the daughter of the Danish king. During the remainder of his life he devoted his attention assiduously to the set- tlement of the troubles existing between the nobles and the peasants, and in 1693 prevailed upon both parties to give him the power to alter the constitution as he pleased. He died in 1697, bequeathing to his son Charles XII. this absolute power. (See CHARLES XII.) The warlike career of this remarkable but reckless king, who humbled Frederick IV. of Denmark and Peter the Great of Russia, and dethroned Augustus II. in Poland, but succumbed at Pol- tava, well nigh reduced his country to ruin. At his death in 1718, his sister Ulrica Eleo- nora, wife of Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, after renouncing absolute authority and accepting a constitution from the nobles which restored their power, was elected by the diet to the succession. She soon surrendered the govern- ment to her husband, whose reign was a pe- riod of humiliation, during which Sweden made peace with her enemies on most disadvanta- geous terms, and gave up most of her Trans- baltic possessions, including Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria, which had been occupied by Peter the Great. War with Russia in 1741 resulted in defeat, and the cession in 1748 of eastern Finland. Frederick died childless in 1751, and was succeeded by Adolphus Frederick of Hol- stein-Eutin, bishop of Ltibeck, whose election as successor had been made by the empress Elizabeth of Russia a condition of the peace of 1743. French influence corrupted the sen- ate during his administration, and involved the country in a disastrous war with Prussia. After a turbulent reign of 20 years he died in 1771, and was succeeded by his son Gustavus. (See GUSTAVUS III.) The revolution of Au- gust, 1772, by which Gustavus attained abso- lute power, and the wars which followed with Russia and Denmark in 1787, and the act of safety of 1789, which abolished the senate, were the most marked events in the Swedish history of that time. He was assassinated in 1792, and his son Gustavus IV. (see GUSTAVUS IV.) ascended the throne ; but as he was a minor, his uncle the duke of Sodermanland (Sudermania) was appointed regent. In 1809 the king's imprudence and tendency to insanity led to his compulsory abdication, and his uncle was declared king under the title of Charles XIII. (See CHARLES XIII.) The peace made
