Gustav II

A portrait of Gustav II

**Gustav II Drake** was the third monarch of Sweden. He ascended to the throne on 6 June 1461, after the regency led by his mother Christina I ended. He died on 27 November 1520, after ruling for nearly 60 years.

## Rule

### Early Years

Gustav I, Gustav II's father, died in the Siege of Reval during the Estonian War. During his childhood his mother Christina I acted as regent for him.

Upon his official ascension to the throne on 6 June 1461, Gustav II had to oversee a very culturally diverse nation with a crumbling economy due to its army. His solution to this was to pursue a more ruthless stance in trading, and his first plan of action was to eliminate Swedish traders' greatest rival: Novgorod. The quick War of the Lakes made sure of that, even leading to Novgorod becoming a fief under Sweden.

The next issue was the Sound Toll, a tax imposed by Denmark for all ships passing through the Oresund. The long Conquest of Scania, which led to the death of more than 60,000 people total, led to all of Scania (including Bohuslan) being ceded to Sweden.

### National Development

Following the Conquest of Scania, Gustav II focused on developing the nation, turning the capital Stockholm into a world-class city. On 12 November 1477, Stockholm finally embraced the Renaissance, the first city in the country to do so. He also made the second reform to the government on 14 October 1478, decentralizing the bureaucracy and delegating slightly more power to the nobles.

He then declared the Rigan War on 14 March 1483 to secure the city, and it was won on 3 November 1488. While an "easy" war, Sweden became technologically disadvantaged due to it, and the country was basically forced into peace. During this time Noteborg became a powerful trading city, and Sweden finally embraced the Renaissance at the expense of a heavily debased currency.

Gustav II's plans on revitalizing the country were postponed with the outbreak of the Tambov War against Muscovy, in which Sweden fought fiercely but barely got any land. Due to his marriage (see below), Gustav II was hesitant to criticize the Polish government, but his brother and heir Sigismund became even more distrustful.

On 26 April 1496, with increasing cries for reformation of the church and despite his personal tolerance of other beliefs, King Gustav II sided with the clergymen and passed the De Heretico Comburendo Act. The law made it punishable by death through burning at the stake for producing or owning a translation of the Bible.

#### Fallout with Nobles

*Main article: Great Noble Revolt*
Gustav II fell ill due to an unknown sickness on 17 February 1502, during which his court agreed to designate more power to provincial governments - but not the nobles - for the time being. Noble support for Gustav II quickly fell, along with that of his brother and heir Sigismund. A few years after his recovery, on 9 August 1506, King Gustav II prioritized clergy for government positions to balance out the power of the nobles.

The nobles were extremely disgruntled with Gustav II in the following years, and while relations improved somewhat, on 4 October 1514 large scale noble revolts took place throughout the country. While these were crushed, the effect rippled throughout the country, as governmental functions began breaking down.

### Final Years

On 23 April 1516, Gustav II declared war on Muscovy and thus began the War of the Rivers against Muscovy. Despite being a formidable opponent before, Muscovy was a shadow of what it once was, and its forces were easily beaten. Two Muscovite Kings, Vasily III and Vasily IV, were slain during the war. The war ended on 7 August 1519 with the Treaty of Stockholm. Onega, Kholmogory, and Mezen were returned to Novgorod; Pskov was ceded to Estonia; lastly, Rzhev, Zubstov, and Moscow were ceded to Sweden. While the cessions were also tactical (the lands returned to Novgorod cut off Muscovy from the sea), the last three were certainly out of spite, as Moscow would be renamed to Nya Stockholm, while Rzhev and Zubstov were renamed Risjev and Drakestad respectively.

### Death

Gustav II died of old age on 27 November 1520. He was succeeded by his youngest brother Magnus, as Sigismund died before Gustav II had.

## Family

Gustav II was not married by the time he ascended to the throne, so Swedish nobles chose his brother Sigismund as the nation's heir. Some time during his rule, most likely after the War of the Lakes, King Gustav II married the Polish king's daughter Jadwiga Gneiwosz.

## Personality

Much like his father, he was a renowned militarist. Accounts from the era stated that he was an inspiring leader to his armies and a martial educator. A personality trait that very few people had at the time was his tolerance of heretic and heathen beliefs, which conflicted with the stance of local clergymen. Oftentimes the clergy won, such as with the De Heretico Comburendo Act.