A young Swedish nobleman, Gustavus Eriksson Vasa, who had been treacherously carried off to Denmark as hostage and prisoner, in 1519 made his escape to Lubeck, where he won good friends. At the end of May 1520 he landed again in Sweden near Kalmar, and quickly learnt of the massacre in Stockholm, in which his father and brother-in-law had perished. He made his way up to Dalarna where he raised his first peasant troops. He had neither arms nor money, but one province after another came to his sup port. Archbishop Gustav Trolle was his foremost opponent but had to take flight from Sweden. Gustavus formed an engagement with Liibeck, which sent ships with arms and soldiers. In June 1523 Gustavus was elected king of Sweden by an assembly in Strangras, and Stockholm surrendered to him.
But it was not easy to guard what had been won. Lubeck had secured for herself a monopoly of Sweden's foreign trade as well as exemption from tolls and bonds for very considerable sums in payment for services rendered. Drastic taxation had to be imposed, and the churches and monasteries also were requisi tioned for help. Archbishop Gustavus Trolle was a fugitive and the Swedish Church found itself in a state of dissolution. Gusta vus Vasa's first appeals to the pope were for bishops of Swedish birth, a new archbishop, and church reformation. No favourable response came from Rome and in these circumstances the king was influenced by Lutherans. The New Testament was translated into Swedish. At the Riksdag held in Vesteras in 1527 the church settlement decreed that the bishops had to hand over their castles to the king, and the chapters and canons, moreover, their super fluous incomes; that Peter's Pence should no longer be paid to the pope and that the pope's authority should not be invoked for the election of bishops. The year afterwards the king was crowned in the cathedral of Uppsala.
Gustavus Vasa had to defend the interests of the kingdom against the individual claims of the provinces. The peasants had become disturbed by the novelties of the Reformation, and an ad venturer came upon the scene, declaring he was Sten Sture's son. Disturbances broke out but the king put them down with severity. Christian II. had been driven out of Denmark, also and this produced a rapprochement between Sweden and Denmark. Finally Christian was incarcerated in a Danish prison in 1532. Liibeck's privileges had come to be intolerable; on one occasion every church was called upon to hand over its largest bell to supply means for meeting the Li.ibeck liabilities. This caused a rising in
Dalarna, and Liibeck declared war on Denmark and Sweden. They and their German allies took Copenhagen and Malmo. They could not hold out, however, and in 1536 peace was declared. In the following year a treaty was framed between Sweden and Lubeck regarding certain exemptions from tolls but without trade monopoly. Sweden's debts were declared to be settled.
King Gustavus had now to organize administration. He heard talk about Roman law as the basis of all law. He conse quently called in a great number of Germans, so that the years 1538-44 came to be known as "the German period"; but the Germans were for the most part adventurers and the results were not satisfactory. The newcomers caused the king to distrust his earlier helpers. There was a dangerous outbreak in Smaland, which was led by a peasant, Nils Dacke, who was killed in The influence of the Germans then ceased, and Gustavus ruled alone. He devoted great attention to mining, trade and agriculture. An influential landed nobility was restrained. At the Riksdag meeting of 156o the king presented his testament. He died on Sept. 3o of that year, aged 63. He was the founder of the new Sweden.
When the Teutonic Knights of Estonia and Livonia ceased to be, the town of Reval and the neighbouring region went over of their own accord to Sweden. This was the first step towards a Swedish sovereignty over the Baltic south of the Bay of Fin land. The situation pointed ominously to coming conflicts, for Russia took Narva, the Danish Duke Magnus took osel, and Poland took a large portion of the Teutonic Knights' country.