A King Elected ...
... and a King Abdicating
Quote of the week
“All power is God. “
The royal motto of Gustav Vasa.
“My father is from Bosnia, and my mother is from Croatia, but I was born in Sweden.” – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Hello,
This week we have celebrated our National Day on June 6. There are not really any big celebrations in Sweden, like in Norway for example. Why is that?
The Swedish National Day
It was only in the early 1890s that Sweden, inspired by such holidays in Norway (May 17) and Denmark (June 5) introduced a national day. There were several alternatives for the day, such as Midsummer Day, November 6 or 30. I imagine these dates refer to the death day of Gustavus II Adolphus at Lützen and the death day of Charles XII in 1718. Certainly more fun to have a more livelier or worthy cause for such a day.
The founder of the Nordic Museum, Artur Hazelius, arranged, in 1893, a spring party at Skansen in Stockholm (the world’s oldest out-door museum) on June 6, also the names day of Gustav. The party was held in honour of Gustav Vasa’s election as King of Sweden in 1523, and the 1809 constitution which was written on June 6.
This led to the day being an unofficial national day until 1916, when it became the “Day of the Swedish Flag”. It was not until 1983 it officially became our national day, and not an official holiday until 2005. The government took away Whit Monday as a holiday to compensate. So what is the main celebration on this day?
Gustav Vasa
Gustav I was born as Gustav Eriksson (1496-1560) of the Vasa family. After defeating his rivals he was elected King of Sweden on June 6, 1523 in Strängnäs. That was the beginning of independence for Sweden. He is mostly known in Sweden through the ski run Vasaloppet (The Vasa Race) which takes place on the first Sunday of March. It is 90 km (56 miles) long and ends in the town of Mora. The oldest cross-country ski race in the world, with the highest number of participants. It is inspired by Gustav own escape from Christian II’s (King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway during the Kalmar Union) soldiers during the winter of 1520-1521 in the beginning of the Swedish War of Liberation. The escape is more of a myth than real life, but still a good story.
Gustav Vasa has been called the founder of modern Sweden and is depicted as the “father of the nation”. Many rank him as Sweden’s greatest king. He was ruthless, had a bad temper, was sly and could outmanoeuvre and annihilate his opponents. He was fond of music and founded Kungliga Hovkapellet (Royal Court Orchestra), still working today, and one of the oldest orchestras in the world. It was unruly times and he spent a lot of time surpassing uprisings, he raised taxes and brought the Reformation to Sweden. He ruled for 37 years which is not a bad feat in those days. Only Gustav V (20th century) and our present king Carl XVI Gustav have ruled longer (50 years in 2023).
In 1544, Gustav Vasa abolished the elective monarchy and replaced it with a hereditary one. Gustav married three times. With his first wife Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535), he had one son, Eric, Duke of Kalmar. With his second wife, Margareta Leijonhufvud (1514–1551) he had ten children; five sons (two of them died in infancy), and five daughters. With his third wife, Katarina Stenbock (1535–1621) he had no children, but she became a beloved step mother to his children. The Vasa family held the Swedish throne until 1654 when Gustavus II Adolphus’s daughter Christina abdicated. Three of Gustav’s sons became kings; Eric XIV, Johan III and Charles IX. It is rumoured that Johan killed his brother Eric with a poisonous pea soup.
500 Years’ Anniversary
This year we are celebrating the 500 Anniversary of Gustav Vasa’s election to be king of Sweden. I have not noted too much of the celebration, and I am wondering whether there has not been too much, or I just missed it out. I should maybe not expect anything here, down south, since this part of Sweden belonged to Denmark in those days. It seems that “official Sweden” has not done a lot to commemorate the event, but there are private initatives, and the Royal family have commemorated the event.
I do read that an organisation called Svenska Kulturpärlor, (must admit my ignorance here, I have never heard of it) initiated the project “Sweden 500 years”. Through 70 pieces of works of art the history of Sweden, Strängnäs and Mariefred, very much the center of happenings in those days, will be depicted. The art will create a 140 meter long artist’s fence close to the Gripsholm Castle which history is closely connected to the Vasa family. The aim is that the work will remain on this site for the next 500 years. Something of a Swedish version of the Bayeux tapestry maybe? By now it will have been inaugurated, but I am not able to find any pictures on-line. Maybe, I have to travel to Mariefred to have a look?
Modern Times, Other Kings
In our modern times we have other kings and queens that we admire. One “King of Sweden” is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, our most successful football player ever. At the age of 41, he announced his retirement from the game this week. It was an emotional goodbye at the San Siro arena, in Milan.
Zlatan began his career here in Malmö where I am living. He has a style of his own, both on the football field as in his private life. No-one can take him for granted. He is controversial, but a guy who understands his own value. We are sorry to see him go, but, who knows, he might be visible within football in the future, in one way or the other. Wishing all the best for his future life.