The man-of-war Vasa sinks 1628

The war ship Vasa was built in 1626-1628. The king, Gustav II Adolf, had ordered five ships to be built that would be the largest and  most powerful ships of their time. They would be symbols of the military and political strength Sweden had.

But something went wrong with the construction of Vasa. She was too instable to be able to sail in rougher winds and she was wrecked on her maiden voyage. The ship had not more than left the harbour when a gust of wind filled the sails and the ship was forced to the baboard side. The wind passed and the ship sailed straight again but it was not long until a new gust of wind filled the sails and the ship went so far down on its side that it started taking in water through the portholes. Vasa capsized and sank at a depth of 32 meters, 120 meters from the shore.

Attempts to salvage the ship were made in the 1600's but all fail and the ship was forgotten. Its exact location was determined in 1956 and in 1961 the ship was salvaged. Since 1990 it has its own museum in Stockholm and is really worth a visit.

For more information in English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

Picture: Vasa's stern
Under CC BY-SA 2.0 license

Souce: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regalskeppet_Vasa


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Crowning of Erick XIV June 29, 1561

Erik XIV was born December 13, 1533, as the oldest son of king Gustav Vasa and his mother was Katarina of Sachsen-Lauenburg. He was crowned king in the cathedral of Uppsala. His actions as king did not make his brothers or his nation happy and it led to Erik capulating to his brothers July 12, 1568. He was kept prisoner in different castles in Sweden and Finland until he died February 26, 1577, after eating pea soup. It is believed that he was poisoned by his brother Johan who had become king and research of his remains has shown that he had a high level of arsenic in his body when he died.

During his youth Eric spent a lot of time in Kalmar at the castle and it is worth a visit. There is a room that Erik partly decorated himself and he did the intarsia for the door. It was also here that he kept his mistress Agda Persdotter, which she was 1558-1561 and possibly 1563-1565. Their daughter Virginia was born in Kalmar January 1, 1559. Virginia had all the benefits of a legal child and was married to the nobleman Håkan Knutsson Hand. They lived in the parish of Odensjö in western Småland where their seven children were born and grew up. A lot of people in Sweden and all over the world are through these children related to Sweden's most famous king, Gustav Vasa. When I started with genealogy I learned about Virginia because Odensjö is where my father's father was born and grew up as a farmer's son. I thought that  maybe this would be my connection to royalty. It was not. I was very surprised when I found a connection through my mother's father who grew up in Södermanland. He came from a line of iron and marble workers and there was no knowledge about royal blood.

Erik and Agda's second daughter Constantia was born in Stockholm. Erik proposed to the queen of England, Elisabeth I but was turned down. Agda married Joakim Eriksson Frlemming but probably became Erik's mistress once again when she became a widow. All his mistresses were set aside once he met Karin Månsdotter. She was fifteen when she became his mistress and they got married July 4, 1568. They had a small quiet wedding and she was crowned queen the day after. The couple had however already gotten married in secret July 13, 1567. A lot of people were displeased with Erik's interest in Karin since she was not of noble birth but the daughter of a simple prison guard. Karin followed her husband in captivity and were freed after his death. She was given the farm Liuksiala in Finland and lived there the rest of her life.

Picture: Eric XIV of Sweden
Public Domain
By: Domenicus Verwilt
http://nationalmuseum.se/

Sources:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_XIV
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agda_Persdotter
http://odensjohistoria.se/

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This day 1520 - Gustav Vasa

On this day in 1520 the nobleman Gustav Eriksson Vasa set foot on Swedish land after being imprisoned in Denmark for a year. Two years earlier, in 1518, the Danish king Kristian II had demanded hostages in exchange for making negotiations with the head of the Swedish nation, Sten Sture, in Stockholm. Instead of holding his word he sailed home to Denmark with the five hostages, Gustav Vasa beinge the youngest of them. Gustav spent a year in prison at Kalö castle before escaping to Lübeck where he stayed for eight months.

King Kristian beat Sten Sture at the battle on the ice of Åsunden in January 1520. The Swedish resistance stood without a leader. What really happened when Gustav set foot south of Kalmar has been debated. He was still very young, only 24 years old, and maybe leader of the resistance and becoming king was not on top of his agenda.

Negotiations between Swedes and Kristian II took place from June until a deal was made in early September. Everything would be forgotten and nobody would be harmed because of their actions. The king entered Stockholm 7 September and the church bells were ringing to honor the new ruler.

Gustav was at the time visiting his brother-in-law, Joakim Brahe, near Nyköping when he heard the news. Brahe was called to Stockholm and would not listen to Gustav's warnings. Kristian was crowned King of Sweden 4 November and 8-9 November over 80 Swedish noblemen were executed, there among Joakim Brahe and Gustav's father, Erik Johansson Vasa. Gustav became a fugitiv, wanted by the Danes, and now his war against Kristian II really took off.

Source:  http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Vasa

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