Well before his father’s death Erik had begun his quest for a suitable wife. From his stylish court at Kalmar, the heir to the Swedish throne surveyed the courts of Europe for a proper match. Marriage projects were begun with Poland, Hess and the Electorate of Saxony, but none came to fruition. Erik’s standards were high. To be eligible, a princess had to be of proper royal stature and provide political advantage, as well as be beautiful and charming. He demanded a portrait and reports on interviews from his negotiators on each potential candidate. Then a chain of events was started at the other end of the Baltic that would affect Erik’s marriage schemes, his royal reign and the destiny of Sweden.
For some time the power of the Livonian Knights (The Brothers of the Sword) had been disintegrating. They were still operating much as they had in the thirteenth century when they had Christianized the tribes of the eastern Baltic south of the Finland Gulf at the point of the sword. Their grand master still recruited new members only from Germany for this military-religious medieval state. But its crusading spirit had long since died and its organization was behind the times. Poland and Lithuania, united from time to time, were threatening from the south and Russia was steadily advancing from the east, conquering Ingria and taking Narva in 1558, giving Ivan IV a port city on the Baltic. The effect on Russian trade was immediate. Dutch, Danish, Hansa and English merchants could trade directly with Muscovy without passing their goods through the Livonian Knights’ ports, chiefly Reval. In retaliation, the order unleashed its merchantmen as privateers on ships passing through the Gulf of Finland. The Russian encroachment continued breaking the final resistance offered by the German order. Desperate, the knights, bishops and cities of this Baltic state appealed to the northern nations for help. In 1559, the grand master ceded his southern territories to Poland in the treaty of Vilna. Sigismund II Augustus sent in troops to garrison the important castles and cities of southern Livonia.
That same year, the bishop of Kurland and the regent of Ösel Island negotiated their protection with Denmark as a fief under the king’s brother. Frederick II was only too happy to get rid of a troublesome younger sibling to a distant land. Magnus landed on Ösel in 1560 and took over the fortress of Sönnenburg from the order’s commander.
Meanwhile, the city of Reval was petitioning Gustav for his protection. The old king had spurned these advances in the past, but by 1560 he was reconsidering because of the Russian advance through Ingria, Estonia and northern Livonia toward Reval. With Estonia and Ingria in the tsar’s hands, Finland, across the gulf, would be threatened. Besides, there were close ties between Reval and Finland. About a quarter of the city’s population was Swedish. However, by the time the city’s emissaries arrived, Gustav was on his deathbed and negotiations had to wait.
The fluid trade situation in the eastern Baltic was compounded by the discovery of the White Sea route north of Scandinavia to Russia by Richard Chancellor in 1553. As early as 1557, Gustav had sent a mission to the English queen Mary I encouraging that nation to use Viborg as the path to Muscovite trade and suggested an Anglo-Swedish commercial venture. The envoy accomplished nothing except to learn something of the state of English politics since Henry VIII’s death in 1547 and introduce a new candidate into Erik’s calculations.
Henry’s heir and only legitimate son was from his third wife, Jane Seymour. Edward VI took the throne at age nine and died seven years later of consumption. Mary, Henry’s daughter with Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, then ascended the throne in 1553 and tried to re-establish Catholicism, but met with resistance at every level of society. Almost 300 people, many prominent social members, were burned at the stake. It seemed quite possible that she would cause a civil war or be forced from the monarchy allowing Elizabeth, Henry’s daughter by Anne Boleyn, his second wife, to be crowned. Erik considered a marriage proposal to Elizabeth, but this would be a gamble. Mary could hang on and relegate Elizabeth to royal oblivion providing no advantage to Erik. Nevertheless, the idea struck Erik’s fancy and he sent his tutor, Dionysius Beurreus, to England in November 1557 to ask for Elizabeth’s hand. The mission failed, as did another in early 1559. A third embassy, headed by Prince Johan, left that year to carry the proposal to now Queen Elizabeth I (Mary having died), but was likewise fruitless and returned in 1560. Erik determined to go himself and received permission from his father and the Estates. He had preparations in full swing when Gustav’s death canceled the voyage.
Erik assumed the reins of state at twenty-seven years of age in 1561 confident, but wary of his brothers and the aristocracy. He immediately set about consolidating his position. The sharing of power as set forth in Gustav’s testament would have to be changed. At his coronation in July—ostentatious to say the least—Erik created the first hereditary noble titles in Swedish history, three counts (one of these was Svante Sture) and nine barons. There had been for some time, a difference in the lesser nobility and the great magnates, but this difference was economic and to some extent social. The titles of steward and martial, et cetera had existed, but these were earned by the individual and not passed on. The new titles, however, were hereditary and later would be given special privileges and status under the law. Erik’s purpose may have been to elevate Sweden’s position among European nations by recognizing its noble class or elevating his own situation or simply currying favor with the aristocracy. In any case he set in motion a movement with lasting effects.
Within only a few months of his coronation, Erik called the 1561 Riksdag of Arboga, the first meeting of the Estates to actually be called a Riksdag. Here, Erik had an amended Gustav’s Testament approved. By the new terms the dukes would forfeit their inheritance if found guilty of any conspiracy against the king, all duchy military forces were placed under direct command of the king, all ecclesiastic appointments and policy were reserved to the crown, ducal court decisions could be appealed to the king’s courts, and all high government official appointments had to have crown approval. The dukes were forbidden from calling local meetings of the Estates and conducting foreign policy except for arrangements of marriage—an important exception as it turned out.
Finally, Erik initiated a legal process by which the nobles, particularly the great magnates, could recover land lost to Gustav and the Vasa family. During the old king’s reign, Gustav had built up his family’s holdings through litigation, confiscation, bargaining and forced sales. These lands had been split between the four sons providing each with large estates. Much of the nobility was bitter about the loss of these holdings and Erik now gave them the opportunity to sue in an attempt to recover titles of questionable validity. Out of 5,000 manors, over 2,600 were judged to have been improperly acquired by the old king. Erik lost little in these proceedings as the crown was one of the major plaintiffs acquiring not only Vasa lands, but also some church property the nobles had taken when the church estates were broken up. The aristocracy was happy at recovering lands they thought lost forever. The real losers were the dukes who saw much of the family property melt away in litigation.
Through a series of actions Erik had strengthened his position immeasurably vis-à-vis his brothers. He now felt reasonably secure. He was generally popular with the masses of the people as he had interceded in their behalf against both the nobility and government servants. His actions to gain favor with the nobility, especially the magnates, had paid off with at least outward support. Duke Magnus would be no problem. He was already showing signs of the insanity that would eventually completely overtake him. Karl, at ten years of age, was not a threat for the present. Only Johan remained as a major concern and the king’s brother was about to use the one avenue Erik had left open to him to cause the new monarch problems.
After Erik’s acquisition of the throne, the Reval emissaries approached the new king petitioning for protection from the Muscovite Empire practically at their gates. In addition to the advantages Gustav had seen, the city would put Erik in a position to oppose any ideas his brother might have about expanding across the Finland Gulf. In
January 1561 he accepted the emissaries’ offer. By March Klas Kristersson Horn was in Reval negotiating terms. In June the city burghers swore fealty to the Swedish crown as did the nobles of Harrien, Wierland and later Jerwen. Reval was now Swedish, but other areas would have to be secured. This was surely a major turning point in Swedish history. With this one move, the country could lay claim to central and western Estonia, the first territory outside traditional Swedish-Finnish lands, placing her irrevocably on the path to empire.
King Erik XIV ruled not only Sweden and Finland, but had his own waterway as the Danish kings had their Sound. Could he make it pay the way the Danish monarchs did? First Erik tried to induce foreign merchants to trade at Reval or Viborg instead of the Russian Narva. Both were better ports, but Narva offered direct access to the Russian trade and therefore received a great deal of traffic from the western merchants. Next he threatened to charge a toll on cargoes bound for or returning from Narva—ships trading at Reval or Viborg would be exempt. In April 1562, with Russia and Poland at war, Erik informed Denmark and the Hansa that he would enforce his demands for shipping tolls with his navy. In June his warships captured a merchant fleet of 32 ships returning from Narva. Danish and Dutch merchantmen were released once they had paid the toll, but the eleven Lübeck ships were detained and harassed. The blockade antagonized not only these nations, but also England and the emperor, all of whom felt they had a right to free and open trade with Muscovy through Narva.
Meanwhile, Erik’s general in Estonia, Klas Kristersson Horn, had taken Padis in September 1561 and had pushed on to attack Leal, securing eastern Estonia. However, this territory was claimed by Magnus as his Danish fief. To make matters worse, Erik conspired with factions in Riga to have that city turned over to him as Reval had been. The attempt failed and served only to antagonize Poland, which held the city.
In November 1561 the Livonian Knights finally dissolved their order, turning their territory over to Poland which could then lay claim to all of Livonia, Estonia and Ingria putting Sigismund II Augustus in direct competition with Erik. The young Swedish king’s adventures in the Baltics were creating more enemies for him than he could possibly handle. Erik needed some allies.
In spite of their differences, Sigismund had made overtures to the Swedish king. In January 1561 and again in the spring of 1562, Polish emissaries had been sent to Stockholm offering an alliance in return for Sweden’s suspension of military actions in Estonia. Erik agreed to a truce only to learn that on June 2 his army had taken Pernau, a fortified city deep in Polish Livonia. Sigismund was furious over the betrayal and immediately sent an emissary to Denmark proposing joint action against Sweden in the Baltics. As the storm of war gathered strength in the eastern Baltic, Erik would have one more act of treachery to deal with.
Soon after Gustav’s death, his son Johan had become interested in marriage to Polish royalty. Overtures by the duke of Finland were reciprocated by an offer of proposal to Katarina Jagiellonica, one of Sigismund’s sisters, all perfectly legal under the Articles of Arboga. Erik raised no objections, but as relations between Sweden and Poland became more and more strained, the wedding seemed more and more in jeopardy. In spite of this situation, or because of it, Johan loaned his prospective father-in-law 30,000 dalers in January 1562 without telling his sovereign. Eventually, Erik found out about his brother’s loan to a foreign monarch which should have put him on guard.
As Swedish-Polish relations deteriorated, Johan resolved to hurry the wedding along. In June of 1562 he left for Danzig and on October 4, he married Katarina in Vilna. He promised his aid in Sigismund’s war with Russia, loaning Sigismund another 120,000 dalers. In return Johan received seven castles in Livonia and Estonia. One of these, Weissenstein, was just coming under attack by the Swedish army. So Swedish forces laid siege to a fortress garrisoned by Polish troops fighting for Erik’s brother. It fell in November 1562.
These acts of treachery were too much for the Swedish king. The duke had at least violated the Articles of Arboga if not committed outright treason. Erik called a Riksdag to try Johan in absentia. On June 7 a guilty verdict was rendered and Johan was to forfeit property, hereditary rights and his life. Johan, holed up at Åbo Castle, surrendered August 12. The prince and his Polish wife were imprisoned at Gripsholm Castle for the next four years.
On August 13, 1563, Frederick declared war on Sweden. In addition to the incidents in the Baltics and the Finland Gulf, three events finally brought about the Seven Year Northern War (the First Northern War). First, Frederick II adopted the Three Crown symbol of the old Kalmar Union. The device stirred up all the old hatreds felt by the Swedes toward the Danes. A Swedish embassy on its way to Hesse was captured in Copenhagen and thrown in prison. Finally, a Swedish-Danish naval engagement was fought off Bornholm.
On May 30 a Danish war fleet met a Swedish naval fleet and demanded the Swedes provide the traditional salute of respect to the Danes in their waters. The Swedes refused. A four hour battle ensued. The Swedish ships armed with “coppers” outgunned the Danes mounting the old wrought-iron breechloaders. The Danish admiral, his flagship and two others were captured. Two more ships were damaged. Two months later the two countries were at war.
Lübeck and Poland joined Denmark in a coalition. Lübeck hoped to regain her dominance of Baltic shipping and free access to Narva. Poland looked to expel Sweden from Livonia altogether, but Denmark wanted to conquer Sweden, canceling Gustav’s achievements and his country’s independence. Erik and Sweden were quite literally fighting for their lives.
Though vastly outnumbered, Sweden was not unprepared for the coming struggle. Her successes in the Baltics and at sea owed much to Erik’s military innovations. Since he had taken office, he had worked hard to strengthen his three key fortifications: Älvsborg, to protect his western outlet to the North Sea; Viborg, the key to holding Finland and one side of the Finland Gulf waterway; and Reval, to secure the opposite side of the gulf.
He reformed the army drawing inspiration from the Roman model, especially Caesar and Vegetius. The infantry was divided into a basic unit called the fänikor corresponding to the Roman cohort. This was an extension of the military organization his father had started. A number of fänikors were grouped into a tactical division corresponding to a legion. He armed the infantry with pikes, halberds, body armor and the latest in firearms, the last being the matchlock arquebus. Erik agreed with the latest military thinking, in that the day of heavy cavalry on the battlefield was over—though the Poles would prove this wrong—and concentrated on his infantry as the centerpiece of his army. They were trained to fight in combined formations, arquebus with pikemen, halberds with pikes, etc. These combinations were deployed in a linear fashion instead of the block formations (the tercio) generally used in Europe at that time. He continued his father’s practice of purging the army of mercenaries, relying as much as possible on native troops.
He reorganized the artillery, standardizing the calibers of his coppers. He expanded the royal foundries for the production of these bronze cannon for use in both the army and the navy. Here Sweden had the advantage of being able to produce all of its own copper for its artillery.
Erik was no less an innovator with his navy. Beginning with a powerful fleet left to him by his father, he added to it, especially large warships. He is credited with introducing the tumblehome hull design and double hull type of construction to the Swedish navy. This innovation solved a couple of problems created by the new style of naval warfare. Small arms, hand to hand combat by boarding parties had given way to shipboard artillery which meant mounting cannon on the decks above the waterline. More cannon and more decks led to the great ships of 500 to 700 tons displacement or even larger. But more weight placed higher and higher in the ship’s structure above the waterline along with the tall masts moved the center of gravity of the vessel well above the waterline making the ship inherently unstable. Secondly, the powerful new bronze and iron cannon fired a ball with a relatively flat trajec
tory instead of lobbing a large stone onto the enemy ship as the old wrought-iron stave type guns had done. Now hulls could be pierced at or near the waterline, sinking a ship in minutes.
To mitigate both these problems the tumblehome construction featured an expanded lower hull with narrowing sides above the water line. In addition, large ships were built with double hulls. Erik had the space between the hulls filled with iron ore for added ballast. Swedish great warships were reputed to be the most stable in northern waters. The new Baltic maritime power was building some of the largest warships in the world.
Erik completed the conversion from wrought-iron naval artillery to coppers begun by his father. Further, he introduced new tactics. Early shelling between gun mounted sailing ships proved surprisingly ineffective. Several hours of fighting might see few hits because so few shots were actually fired. Maneuvering the ships into a position so the guns could be trained on the enemy vessel was proving difficult. Swedish battle fleets were divided into squadrons of one great ship and two smaller ships. The great ships formed the forward line followed by a second line of smaller vessels. The leading large ships were to engage the enemy then the two smaller vessels would move in to support each great ship. All these reforms were possible only because of the huge treasury Gustav Vasa had accumulated. Thus, the Swedish army and navy had been effective in both Estonia and the Baltic. Erik’s main deficiency was in experienced officers, generals and seamen. In some cases he would turn to professional mercenaries for generals and the results were not always favorable.
The Seven Years Northern War or First Northern War opened auspiciously for the coalition. Frederick, having close contact with Germany, could quickly build an army of professional mercenaries. By August 1563, he had assembled 27,000 men and twenty-seven warships which were sent against Älvsborg, the fortress guarding Sweden’s only western port. The strong fortification was manned by 700 troops with two months’ provisions and 148 guns. Nevertheless, its walls were breached after only three days of shelling and the garrison surrendered in early September.
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