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CHAPTER III.
Attempted Catholic Restoration in
Sweden.
The principal event during the life of Cardinal
Ippolito Aldobrandini had been his legation to Poland in the year 1588, and the
energy that he had then displayed had contributed not a little to his elevation
to the See of Peter. It is no wonder, then, that he should have taken a great
interest in, and shown a sincere sympathy for, the whole of the North, and
especially for the immense kingdom in the north-east and its king, Sigismund
III, a man of strictly Catholic sentiments. Clement fully realized the supreme
importance for the future of the Church in Europe of the way in which events
should develop there in that kingdom which extended from the Warta to the
Dnieper, and from the Baltic to the Carpathians.
The fact that the King of Poland intended to marry the
Archduchess Anna, of the Styrian branch of the Hapsburgs, who was a staunch
Catholic, was certain to win the sympathy of the Pope. He therefore at once, at
his first consistory on February 14th, 1592, appointed Cardinal Georg Radziwill
as legate for the marriage, and afterwards sent the new queen the Golden Rose.
At the beginning of June, 1592, the nunciature in Poland was entrusted to the
Bishop of San Severo, Germanico Malaspina, who had
already distinguished himself in other diplomatic missions under the
predecessors of Clement VIII.
Malaspina found a very difficult state of affairs in
Poland. King Sigismund was engaged in disputes with his nobles, and especially
in a violent altercation with the chancellor of the crown, Zamoiski.
The nuncio rightly looked upon a reconciliation between these two as his first
duty, and this he soon succeeded in bringing about, after the celebrated Diet
of Inquisition in the autumn of 1592. The Pope was alike gratified at this
first success of his nuncio and with his attitude at that celebrated diet. When
in the following year there arose another dispute between Sigismund and Zamoiski, it was once more Malaspina who, at the Diet of
Warsaw in 1593, succeeded in reconciling them. The nuncio enjoyed the complete
confidence of both the king and the chancellor, and during the course of both
Diets all important questions that were to be brought forward for discussion
were first examined in private by the nuncio, so that he was able to smooth
over all difficulties with the tact of a skilled diplomatist, and even settled
the disputes between Cardinals Radziwill and Bathory.
The most important question with which the Diet of
1593 was concerned was the journey of Sigismund III. to Sweden, his native
country, which he had already planned in the previous year. At that time, on
account of the difficult position of affairs in Poland, the Pope had
discouraged this. But when, on November 17th, 1592, Sigismund’s father, John
III, died, and the crown of Sweden fell to the King of Poland, the situation
was entirely altered, but from the first the greatest difficulties stood in the
way of his taking possession of his lawful inheritance. These difficulties came
above all from his uncle, Charles, Duke of Sodermanland,
who was determined at all costs to possess himself of the Swedish crown. This
unscrupulous politician, who was both far-seeing and a cold-blooded schemer,
set himself to his task with unparalleled astuteness ; he had an advantage in
the fact that he had already during the latter days of John III., practically
controlled the government of Sweden, and Sigismund III was unable for the time
being to prevent his uncle from continuing to direct the affairs of state.
On January 8th, 1593, Duke Charles obtained from the councillors of the kingdom a statement that they looked
upon him as the head of the government in the absence of the king. They further
bound themselves to uphold all that should be decided with the consent of
Charles without distinction, “ all for one and one for all.” Even though this
agreement did not actually do any wrong to their loyalty towards the lawful
king, Sigismund, it was not only contrary to the laws, but also the greatest
imaginable usurpation of his liberty of action. He found himself obliged to
give his assent to a form of government set up without his knowledge, and
should he disapprove of any measure taken by Charles and his councillors, this would at once have been the signal for a
schism.
It was easy to make use of the pretext of religion for
keeping out the lawful Catholic king, and this in fact Duke Charles did as soon
as possible. Its religion and its freedom, he said to the councillors,
were the benefits which my father bestowed upon his country, and it was in
recognition of this that the States declared the crown to be hereditary in the
house of Gustavus ; therefore, only one who will maintain this in the kingdom,
can be the true hereditary King of Sweden. As the new king was subject in
conscience to the power and will of the Pope, it was all the more necessary to
lay down, in the interests both of religion and liberty, the conditions which
the Swedes of old had been accustomed to impose upon their kings from the
earliest times.
This was done at the ecclesiastical assembly held at
Upsala on February 25th, 1593, at which many persons assisted, nobles,
burgesses and peasants. This decided that the Holy Scriptures, understood in
themselves, were to be one rule of faith ; all accepted the articles of the
unreformed confession of Augsburg. It also prohibited in its entirety the
exercise of Catholic worship, closed to Catholics access to any office, and
banished all those who had studied abroad in the Jesuit Colleges. It is obvious
that these radical decrees abolished the liturgy of John III, which had never
been approved by the Holy See, and the Catholic usages still retained in it,
such as episcopal vestments, ciboriums, candles,
banners, and the blessing of dead bodies and graves. Prayers for the dead were
removed from the ritual. Duke Charles was highly pleased with all this, save
that he further wished for the abolition of the elevation of the host, and of
the exorcisms at baptism. The Lutheran pastors, however, were determined to retain
the exorcisms at baptism, as a mark of distinction from the Calvinists. It was
finally agreed to retain the exorcisms in a modified form, and as a
non-essential ceremony. It was harder for Charles to assent to the decree which
expressly declared as heretics, not only the Catholics and Sacramentarians, but
also the Calvinists and Zwinglians. But he gave way on this point, though he
scornfully remarked : “You had better join on to them all those that you know
of that kind, even the devil in hell, since he too is my enemy.”
On the whole Duke Charles had every reason to be
satisfied with the ecclesiastical assembly at Upsala, during the course of
which he had carefully kept in the background. He had accomplished all that he
could have hoped for in the matter of making it impossible for his nephew to
exercise the royal power fully, for he had induced men to look upon him, not as
their king, but rather as a foreign pretender to the crown, and as an apostate
against whom they must be on their guard as a danger to religion.
Duke Charles would very gladly have seen Sigismund
remain permanently in Poland. The king himself hesitated. It was said that he
had asked the advice of the Pope, but that the latter would not take the
responsibility of answering either in the affirmative or the negative. This is
easy to understand, as after recent events the hope of recovering Sweden had
become very doubtful, and there was no small danger of losing ground in Poland.
There was much to be said for those who advised Sigismund first to consolidate
his position in Poland, so that he might be able to face Duke Charles and his
other enemies in full strength in his attempt to recover the crown of Sweden ;
on the other hand Sigismund thought that he ought not to defer his journey to
his hereditary kingdom, or his taking possession of the Swedish crown which
belonged to him by right. Thereupon
Clement VIII did all that he could to help him.
Immediately after the death of John III the Pope had
appointed a congregation composed of Cardinals d’Aragona,
Galli, Bonelli, Salviati, Sforza and Montalto, in order to discuss what should
be done in view of the new state of affairs. In April, 1593, he reminded the
nobles and bishops of Poland of their duty to Sigismund ; at the beginning of
August he sent thither, in the person of Bartholomew Powsinski,
a special delegate, who was furnished with instructions and a subsidy of 20,000
scudi.
Powsinski was ordered to act in close conformity with Malaspina. After he had
congratulated the king on the recent confinement of the queen and the
successful issue of the Diet at Warsaw, he was to draw the attention of the
king to the opportunity that now offered itself for the restoration of the
Catholic religion in Sweden. The sum sent by the Pope was above all intended
for this purpose, and Clement VIII. would willingly have made it larger if his
financial circumstances had permitted. The king should avail himself of the
circumstance that the archdiocese of Upsala and the bishopric of Strengnäs were vacant, in order to appoint Catholic bishops
in both cases. In case the king should find himself in a position to fill other
dioceses Powsinski gave him a list of Catholic Swedes
who seemed fitted for such positions. Sigismund was especially urged to give
thought to the training of Catholic priests in Sweden, who could be educated,
partly at his court or with the Polish bishops, and partly in the colleges at
Riga, Dorpat and Braunsberg. Mention was also made of
the possibility of establishing a Jesuit college at Stockholm, and of the
importance of propagating good Catholic books in the Swedish language.
It was fatal when Sigismund, in order to avoid any
appearance of coming as an enemy, or with any hostile intentions towards his
new subjects who had thus invited him, or perhaps from a mistaken idea of
economy, decided to go without any armed force to his hereditary kingdom, which
had been thrown into confusion by the intrigues of Charles. Malaspina had
vainly urged him to take some troops with him.
After the Diet of Warsaw had been brought to a happy
conclusion in June 1593, and Sigismund had been reconciled with Cardinal
Bathory, the king went first of all to Dantzig, where he was awaited by the
loyal governor of Finland, Admiral Kias Fleming, with the fleet and some ships
that had been sent by Duke Charles. Powsinski, who
reached Dantzig on August 28th, not only discharged all the tasks that had been
laid upon him by the Pope, but also gave to the nuncio Malaspina a cypher
letter from the Cardinal Secretary of State, dated July 27th, concerning the
manner in which Sigismund should act in Sweden. This letter contained no
definite reply to Malaspina’s question of January 28th, but only advice, as the
conferences in Rome had not as yet come to a definite conclusion. It was only
added that it would be well if the king deferred receiving the royal unction
until a more favourable moment, as the Protestants had no chrism nor holy oils
; if he found himself obliged to undergo any other civil ceremonial, he should
consent to this, without however giving any interior assent to anything that
was forbidden. As to his coronation, which pertained to the Archbishop of
Upsala, it was the wish of Rome that Sigismund should appoint a Catholic to
perform this ceremony, and it was agreed that should time be lacking to obtain
the confirmation of the Holy See, the nuncio should supply what was required.
During the celebrations of the obsequies of the dead king, Sigismund must take
care that no polemics against Catholic doctrines found their way into the
funeral oration. If the king should be asked to recognize the religious
constitution of Sweden, on the lines of the Confession of Augsburg, he must
temporize. If this could not be done without danger of a revolution, then he
must avoid coming to any decision which would render the exercise of Catholic
worship more difficult or impossible. If, however, the letter goes on to say,
it should happen that he found himself forced by necessity to take an oath in
this matter, then the formula which had been adopted in these sad times by the
German Emperor and the King of Poland would be less blameworthy than that other
“to treat Catholics and Protestants with a like affection,” a formula which was
impossible for an honourable prince. The text of the
oath should be furnished as far as possible with saving clauses, every care
being taken to avoid a formula prohibiting the exercise of the Catholic
religion. Malaspina must communicate these matters to the two Jesuits, Justus
Rabe of Cracow and Sigismund Ernhoffer of Bavaria,
who were accompanying the king and queen as their confessors.
Neither Sigismund nor Malaspina were under any
illusions as to the difficulties of the situation. The appointment of a
Catholic to Upsala was out of the question. The king, as well as the nuncio,
were agreed that Sigismund must in any case claim the free exercise of the
Catholic religion for himself in Sweden.
The king embarked on September 6th, 1593. He was
accompanied by the queen, his sister, the nuncio Malaspina, the two Jesuits,
the vice-chancellor, and a number of Polish nobles. The military escort of the
king only consisted of 400 men.
Sigismund intended first of all to go to Kalmar, but
serious storms prevented this, and at the end of September, after a long voyage
he safely arrived at Stockholm. There he was received by Duke Charles and
Abraham Angermann, the Archbishop of Upsala, who had been elected in the
meantime, and who was the most violent opponent of the liturgy of John III.
Charles feigned, it is true, reverence and submission, but soon disclosed his
true sentiments by forthwith demanding the dismissal of the Papal nuncio, a thing
which had already been demanded at Dantzig by the councillors who had been sent to meet Sigismund. The king refused this demand on the ground
that Malaspina had not been sent to the kingdom of Sweden, but to himself; he
had done no wrong to Sweden, but had done good service in promoting the king’s
journey ; if the envoys of the Tartars and Muscovites were admitted, why not he
as well?! Sigismund also refused to confirm the decrees of the ecclesiastical
assembly of Upsala, as well as to recognize Angermann as archbishop. The nuncio
encouraged him in this, reminding him not only of his duty as a Catholic, but
also pointing out to him how much opposed it was to his royal authority that he
should submit to decisions which had been arbitrarily taken during his absence.
It was said, however, that Sigismund was already personally pledged, in that,
as a youth, together with King John, at the request of the nobles and Duke
Charles, he had signed an undertaking that he would change nothing in Sweden as
far as religion was concerned, and would not admit Catholics to hold public
office. This undertaking, however, had been expressly revoked by King John in
1591, when he realized the danger it involved to his civil authority.
In the meantime the seeds of suspicion of Sigismund
sown by Charles were bearing fruit, and the Protestant clergy eagerly
encouraged it. It seemed intolerable to them that the king should have sent a
Jesuit to the Castle of Drottningholm, where he could
give the Catholics of the neighbourhood the comforts
of their religion. One of the preachers hurled from the pulpit anathemas
against all who had any relations with the Papists ; when he was threatened
with imprisonment, however, he declared that he did not intend to include the
king in this. When two Catholics of the retinue of Sigismund died, the king had
to have recourse to force in order to obtain Catholic burial for them. The
preachers then spread the rumour that Sigismund
intended to restore all the churches of Sweden to Catholic worship by force ;
some 4,000 armed men gathered together and threatened the nuncio, against whom
quite absurd accusations were made, as for example that he had ordered stones
to be thrown from his house at some boys who were singing in church. Malaspina
defended himself against the accusations, but refused the guard offered to him
by Sigismund.
Duke Charles did all he could to fan the excitement,
and for this purpose deliberately made use of foolish fables, which, however,
had their effect upon the populace. Thus he spread the story that near
Linkoping two dragons had been seen fighting, one with a crown and the other
without ; the latter had been victorious over the one that was crowned. The
preachers spread the calumny that on the way to Sweden, the nuncio had been
guilty of profaning the consecrated hosts. However foolish these stories were,
they did not fail to produce their effect, and stirred up the people against
the Catholics. Some forty men and women who had intended to return to the
ancient Church, thereupon drew back.
Sigismund endeavoured to
calm the excitement by declaring that he would do no injury to anyone on
account of his religion. He also tried to sow dissensions between the
aristocracy and Charles, counting on the fact that the duke was hated by many
of them on account of his greed for money. In spite of this the king’s position
remained very difficult ; if he were to leave the government in the hands of
the aristocracy, it was easy to foresee a return to an elective monarchy ; if
he were to hand it over to Duke Charles, it was only to be expected that his
desire to be king would lead to a like result. “Of what use is it to us,” wrote
Malaspina to Rome, to fathom the evil
intentions of our adversaries? Our position is like to that of a ship without
oars which finds itself tossed about in a storm, and unable to count upon any
human help.” The fervour with which Sigismund
fulfilled his religious duties aroused among the Protestant population partly
hatred and partly contempt, while his great leniency was taken for weakness.
With all the greater insistence pressure was brought to bear upon him to
confirm the decrees of the ecclesiastical assembly of Upsala. Duke Charles
declared that if he would not do so he would not be present at the ceremonies
of the coronation. Against this both the nuncio and the queen pointed out that
he had no right to impose laws upon the consciences of his subjects, for they
too could claim liberty of conscience. The nuncio also advised the few
Catholics who still remained in Sweden to address complaints to the king on
account of the violations of the law which were imposed upon them, but they
could not find the necessary courage to take such a step.
In the reply which he made to the Council in January,
1594, Sigismund expressed his surprise at their wishing to impose conditions
for his coronation upon him, and hinted at the difference between an hereditary
and an elective monarchy. He was the hereditary king of a kingdom which
professed a different religion from his own; it was his intention to leave the
Protestants undisturbed as soon as they had told him what liberty they intended
to allow to his Catholic co-religionists.
A decision had to become to by the beginning of
February, 1594, when the king would go to Upsala, where the States were
assembled, in order to celebrate at the same time the obsequies of John III and
the coronation of King Sigismund. As this occasion might be made use of in
order to extort the desired concessions, Malaspina advised the king to defer
the latter ceremony, which was not absolutely necessary in the case of an
hereditary king, and as Sigismund’s predecessors had done on several occasions.
The king, however, pointed out the difference in his own position, which
obliged him to return to Poland. Duke Charles also attended the coronation, not
as Sigismund did, with a simple body-guard, but with a retinue of 3,000 armed
men, both infantry and cavalry2 This fact increased the boldness of the
Protestants. They had demanded that Malaspina should not appear at Upsala, but
Sigismund remained firm on this point, despite violent pressure that was put
upon him, and in answer to the threatening attitude of the Protestants, gave
Malaspina an armed escort. During the obsequies of his father in the cathedral
of Upsala, Sigismund tried to maintain, as far as was possible, his attitude as
a Catholic. He was obliged, however, to allow Archbishop Angermann to deliver a
funeral oration from the pulpit, which was not lacking in attacks upon the
ancient Church. After this a Catholic delivered a Latin discourse, but not from
the pulpit. The nuncio was satisfied with the ceremonial observed, in so far
that there was no ritual of a Protestant character.
Duke Charles once again declared that he would not
allow the coronation unless Sigismund first gave his assent to the decrees of
Upsala. Charles also declared himself opposed to the cession of a few churches
to the Catholics, or even of one in Stockholm. Some of the royal councillors were in favour of
this concession, but ultimately agreed with the duke. The latter declared to
the States : “I will not separate myself from you ; if Sigismund desires to be
your king, he must assent to your demands.”
Sigismund was attached with all his heart to the
Catholic religion ; it is no wonder, then, that he resisted to the end giving
his consent to demands which would not only seriously injure his royal
authority, but which would also weigh heavily upon his conscience. He declared
that he would rather lose his crown than condemn the Catholics to forfeit all
their rights. They must at any rate be allowed the free exercise of their own
religion. The Protestant States, led by Duke Charles and the Archbishop of Upsala,
wished on the other hand only to allow the king to have the Catholic mass
celebrated in private, in his own chapel, during his sojourn in the kingdom. At
his departure he was to be accompanied by all the priests, and the two Jesuits.
Subsequently the States insisted absolutely on the prohibition of all public
Catholic worship ; moreover, no Catholic must hold any public office in Sweden,
and anyone who passed over to the Catholic religion, or caused his sons to be
educated therein, was to lose his civil rights. Lastly, the States declared to
their king, in openly threatening terms, that if he would not agree to their
demands, they would not pay him homage.
One who was well informed as to the events of the time
reports that Sigismund’s sister, who was a zealous Protestant, and the
Protestant Swedes of her household, urged their co-religionists not to desist
from continuing to attack the king, make him consent to their demands, saying
that even though at first he showed himself resolute and firm, he would end,
according to his wont, by giving way.1 This policy of annoyance was adopted,
and an attempt was further made to deprive the king of the support of the Papal
nuncio. Six Swedish noblemen presented themselves before the latter and asked
him to leave the country. Malaspina replied that he had come openly and had
been received as the envoy of his sovereign ; he could not, and did not intend
to go away, as he had done nothing to deserve that the rights of nations should
be violated in his case. Finally the Protestants openly told the king that they
would have recourse to revolution if he did not consent to their demands ; they
even went so far, Sigismund reported to the Pope, “as to threaten me with
imprisonment, my Polish retinue with destruction, and the Swedish Catholics
with death.’’ The nuncio was in obvious danger of death, as an assault by
violence upon his house was in preparation.
Sigismund warned Malaspina that his life was in
danger, and that there was no time to be lost, for the attack would be made
within three hours. The Pope’s representative calmly replied that the king must
in that case wait quietly for those three hours, when it would be seen whether
the threats of the Protestants were really serious. He, the nuncio, did not
fear death, and would never consent to the king’s giving way to the Protestant
demands. The king’s Polish councillors were of the
opinion that he should give way. But Malaspina remained inflexible : the king
must not yield to the demands of the Protestants.
As the threats became more and more alarming, the king
turned in panic to Rabe and Ernhoffer, the two
Jesuits who had come with him from Poland. Rabe was of the opinion that in the
circumstances, and in view of the difficulties and dangers to which Sigismund
was exposing himself by his refusal, he might yield to the Protestant demands ; Ernhoffer, who had hitherto been of the same opinion
as Malaspina, did not dare to oppose this definite decision. Sigismund made
public this decision in writing, and then, without notifying Malaspina, gave
the assent which the Protestants demanded as to their religion, reserving to
himself, however, the right to grant later on, in accordance with the advice of
the States, more favourable conditions to his own co-religionists. It was only
with great difficulty that Sigismund brought himself to recognize Angermann as
Archbishop of Upsala, as the latter’s appointment had undoubtedly been an
unheard of usurpation of his royal prerogatives. In the end, however, he gave
way on this point as well; he only insisted that not Angermann, but the
Protestant bishop of Vesteras should place the crown
upon his head.
The nuncio Malaspina had reported to Rome as early as
the last days of January, 1593, concerning the question of the unction and
coronation. At that time Sigismund as well was resolved not to allow this
ceremony to be performed by a Protestant bishop, who, as he rightly thought,
was only a layman. As the Swedes, on national grounds, refused a Polish bishop,
the king for a time thought of Malaspina. The point of view of the Holy See had
by the Pope’s orders been sent to the nuncio in a long cypher letter from Cinzio Aldobrandini of August 1st, 1593. They had reason to
hope in Rome that Sigismund would take these observations into account, as
Malaspina again reported in September concerning the firm intentions of the
king, and his unwillingness to receive the crown from the hands of an heretical
archbishop. But the circumstances were stronger than his good will, for Duke
Charles threatened to declare any other form of coronation than this invalid.
On February 19th, in the magnificent cathedral of Upsala, Sigismund had the
crown placed upon his head by the Bishop of Vesteras.
His consort did not receive the unction, for this descendant of the Hapsburgs,
in her strong faith, refused to make any compromise.
Malaspina was quite in agreement with her. He had
threatened to enter a protest, and it was for that reason that Sigismund had
concealed from him the reply of the two Jesuits. When two days later the nuncio
learned the truth,1 he wished to set out for Denmark, where the king had
resolved to prepare for him a courteous welcome, so as to show, as he said, the
barbarous Swedes, how the envoys of sovereigns should be treated. But Sigismund
succeeded in holding the nuncio back. The latter sought to profit by the
complaisance which the king had shown before his coronation, persuading him to
put into writing a protest that the oath had been extorted from him by force,
for according to the universally accepted doctrine an oath that is thus
extorted is void. Taking his stand upon this, Malaspina persuaded the king to
make adequate concessions to the Catholics, since, as had been the case with
himself in Poland, and with the Emperor in Germany, he was bound by oath to favour the Catholic party. In conformity with this, before
his departure, the king conferred offices and titles upon Catholics as well,
and obliged the four lieutenants, although they were Protestants, to swear to
protect the Catholics and their religion. Sigismund acquired two houses in
Stockholm and Upsala, in which he established chapels for the Catholics who
still remained, and installed a priest. Two other Catholic priests were sent by
him to the ancient and celebrated convent of Vadstena, which had almost
miraculously survived all the storms.
Even before this change of attitude, of which
Sigismund sent a report to the Pope, had become generally known, the Lutheran
preachers, exulting in the victory which they had won over the king at Upsala,
had become guilty of grave excesses. They openly deplored the fact that
Sigismund had allowed himself to be blinded by the tricks of Papistry, as they
called it. When the king and queen, in accordance with ancient usage, had
washed the feet of twelve beggars, the Lutheran pastor, Eric Schepjerus, delivered a discourse on Easter Sunday against
this work of charity, and forbade anyone to give alms to those beggars, so that
these unfortunates almost died of hunger. Again, the circumstance that
Sigismund asked the Pope to act as sponsor to his daughter, who was born in
May, gave rise to fresh attacks upon the king. Moreover, disgraceful disputes
broke out between Poland and Sweden. We cannot wonder then that Sigismund felt
the ground giving way under his feet when he saw everyone in a state of
irritation against him in his Swedish kingdom.
The news from Poland was such as to make the return of
the king appear to be urgently necessary, and when Sigismund had provided, as
far as he could, for the security of his sovereignty in Sweden, he embarked
once more in the middle of July, 1594. Malaspina took his place in the
principal ship, so that the standard of the Holy See once more floated over the
waters of the Baltic. While on the high seas the nuncio wrote a report to Rome,
in which he drew a retrospective picture of the events of which he had been a
witness. In this the nuncio makes it appear that the complaisance shown by
Sigismund towards the religious problem at the advice of the Polish “
politicians ” of his retinue had not silenced the political aims of the
Protestants, but had rather encouraged them. Sigismund was opposed by his
powerful uncle, who was ambitious and unscrupulous, and by the undisciplined
aristocracy, while the people, instigated by the Protestant preachers, only
recognized the new king in word. The Polish chancellor was of the opinion that
Sigismund, by residing in Poland, would be far more respected than if he
remained where he was. This may be the will of God, says Malaspina, but many
are of quite another opinion ; Sigismund is to be counted among the optimists,
but how, concludes the nuncio, can one have confidence in men who have been
found wanting in their loyalty to God ?
This fear was only too well founded. Sigismund had
given Duke Charles, who had solemnly sworn fealty to him at Upsala, full powers
to govern the kingdom in conjunction with all the councillors,
though he had expressly forbidden him to hold Diets or to introduce new
ordinances. In open defiance of this order, and in spite of the protest of the
council of the kingdom, with which the aristocracy associated themselves,
Charles convoked a Diet at Soderkoping in the autumn
of 1595, which ventured upon the greatest usurpations of the rights of
Sigismund, and issued decrees for the extermination of the Catholics who still
remained in Sweden. All “ sectaries,” so the ordinance ran, who are opposed to
the Protestant religion, must leave the kingdom within six weeks.
This ordinance was at once enforced with a rigour that often was indistinguishable from cruelty.
This time the death knell had struck for one of the
most venerated places in Sweden. After ten years of martyrdoms, there still
remained at Vadstena eleven virgins consecrated to God, who with prayer and
contemplation faithfully watched over the tomb of one of the greatest of
Swedish women, Saint Bridget. In the eyes of the Lutheran preachers this was an
abuse that could no longer be tolerated, and the nuns were driven out, after
they had been submitted to disgraceful tortures in the presence of Duke Charles,
in order to make them apostatize from their religious convictions. The church
of the convent was despoiled and the library dispersed. With the help of
Sigismund eight of the exiled nuns found an asylum in Dantzig, while three
remained in Sweden ; only one was faithless to her vows and religion.
After the few Catholic priests who were still carrying
on their work in Sweden had been banished from the kingdom, Archbishop
Angermann of Upsala undertook a great visitation of the churches, in the
course of which all traces of the ancient faith were destroyed with violence. “
With unrelenting fury,” says a Protestant historian, “all the sacred images
were destroyed, and all the monuments of the past, which had for long been the
objects of deep veneration, were broken down.” The people were forcibly compelled
to assist at Protestant worship, and those who failed to do so were scourged.
Angermann had this chastisement carried out under his own supervision. All
Catholic ceremonial which had remained in use since 1593 onwards was abolished.
It was then made manifest how little the Swedish people had understood
Protestant doctrines in their true significance. Above all the country folk
murmured against these proceedings, and attributed the bad harvests to the
abolition of the remains of the ancient faith, which had always been dear to
them. How enduring was the attachment of the people to the ecclesiastical
usages of their fathers was shown by the fact that even in 1602 the peasants of
Svintuna remonstrated with their parish priest because he had refused to
celebrate mass on the feast of St. Lawrence. Highly significant too was the
fact that the people would not hear above all of the abolition of the elevation
of the host. One who wrote from Sweden was of the opinion that many of the
country folk would once again become Catholics, if they could be allowed to
have the mass in their native tongue. The brutality with which the destruction
of Catholic memories was carried out was bound to scandalize the minds of such
people. It sounds incredible, but is vouched for by credible witnesses, that a
Lutheran preacher, who had taught a crow to babble a few words, made it express
its sorrow at being excluded from heaven, whereupon he baptized the bird
according to the Catholic rite.
Just as had been the case at Vadstena, where the
splendid silver reliquaries of St. Eric, St. Bridget and St. Catherine were
destroyed, no consideration was shown for the precious memorials of the early
history of the country, so was it in other places as well. The statue of the
saintly king, Eric of Sweden, was dragged from a parish church into the open
air, and a soldier was ordered to fire his musket at it : the ball came back
and killed the man, an occurrence which made a profound impression on the
people.
Sigismund was not blind to the attachment of the
common people to the ancient faith, nor to the indignation which the despotic
rule of Charles aroused among the nobles. But Sigismund could not bring himself
to the point of making a fresh attempt to recover his kingdom, which his
perjured uncle had stolen from him by revolutionary methods, for he was
temperamentally averse to any resolute action. He constantly thought of
returning to Sweden, and felt remorse for the weakness which he had shown in
order to bring about his coronation. He once confessed to the nuncio Malaspina
that he saw the chastisements of God in the various calamities which had fallen
upon him since then, above all the death of. his wife. For the future, he told
the nuncio, he would at all costs do nothing further to burden his conscience.
This news revived in Rome the hope of the recovery of
Sweden for the Catholic faith. A memorial which was drawn up in the Eternal
City at that time by one who was well acquainted with affairs in Sweden,
brought out, among other things, the European importance of such an event.
Finland, in the hands of a Catholic prince, would become of decisive importance
in the relations of the Church with Russia. From thence the Muscovite kingdom
could be successfully attacked, and that province could also furnish the infantry
which was lacking in Poland. Even if it should not come to war with Russia, the
possession of Finland would always exercise a decisive pressure upon the
Muscovites. The author of the memorial enlarges in detail upon the importance
of the ports of Kalmar and Elfsborg in Westgothland.
Anyone who held Kalmar was the master of the Baltic, and could also take
possession of the Duchy of Prussia, as it might be taken for granted that the
house of Brandenburg would never consent to the restoration of the ancient
Church. It would perhaps be of even greater importance if the beautiful harbour of Elfsborg, which had such a splendid situation,
were in the hands of a Catholic. If the King of Spain were to be given a base
there for his fleet, he would be in a position to cause so much annoyance to
the kingdom of Elizabeth, which was only three days distant, that she would
have plenty to do without attacking the West Indies. An alliance between
Sigismund and Spain, on the express condition that the latter should bear the
expense of garrisoning Elfsborg, would greatly consolidate the power of the
king, both in Poland and in Sweden.
All these projects were frustrated by the energetic if
treacherous activity of Charles, for whom Sigismund was no match. From the time
of his departure from Sweden, said Malaspina in August, 1597, Sigismund, for
the protection of his rights, had confined himself to severe words, while
Charles in the meantime cleverly and astutely gathered all the power into his
own hands. As Sigismund’s adherents had no one to support them they could
easily be driven out. Charles also succeeded in getting possession of Elfsborg
and Kalmar, and successfully began a war against Finland. One after another the
important positions fell into the hands of Charles, and in proportion as the
lawful king showed himself inert did the duke seek to win popularity. The
preachers were already on his side, and he knew well how to win over the
country folk. Many were tricked by a report that he was acting in union with
Sigismund. He cleverly described the latter as not caring about the Swedes,
saying that he would never leave Poland to come to Sweden. Sigismund never
really fathomed his uncle, and it may be seen from the negotiations which he
carried on with Charles, by means of his ambassador, Samuel Lascy,
how he still hoped to come to terms with him.
The Diet which assembled at Arboga in February, 1597, had resolved that Sigismund must be invited by means of an
embassy to visit his kingdom; but this project remained on paper. Sigismund
realized that he would have to act with decision if he did not wish to lose
Sweden. He then made known his resolve to go thither at once, and for that
purpose summoned the fleet to Dantzig. Charles, in reply, obliged the States to
enact, at two further Diets, held in February and June, 1598, at Upsala and
Vadstena, that they pledged themselves, even at the cost of their lives and
property to the observation of the earlier decrees, saying that they were ready
to suffer anything rather than allow violence or persecution to be inflicted on
the duke or any of their number on that account. After Sigismund had waited in
vain for the Swedish fleet, and had failed to obtain ships from the Hanseatic League,
he had recourse to the desperate step of forcing English merchant vessels to
make the crossing, which was done from Dantzig in July, 1598. He took with him
5,000 Polish troops and a brilliant court, and on July 30th landed at Kalmar,
which at once opened its gates to him.
What were his prospects? Not over favourable,
according to the description of the Swedish exiles, but at the same time not
altogether hopeless, since many Swedes, and among them the majority of the councillors of the kingdom, even though they were
Protestant in their sympathies, did not approve of Charles governing the
kingdom against the express wishes of the lawful king, and who, throwing aside
the mask, would have raised the banner of revolt. Sigismund’s principal mistake
was that he had begun his enterprise too late, and with an insufficient number
of troops. An adversary so determined and cunning as Charles had to be opposed
by an overwhelming force
In spite of this, the undertaking, which was followed
with the greatest attention in Rome, opened favourably.
A great part of Finland remained loyal to the legitimate sovereign, while
Stockholm, the capital, declared for Sigismund. After having parleyed for a
month without any result, the army took the field. At first the fortunes of war
smiled upon Sigismund, but his generosity towards Charles after his first
victory and his unwillingness to shed Swedish blood, led to this initial
advantage being quickly lost, and the disastrous battle near Stangebro, not far from Linkoping, which was fought on
September 25th, 1598, obliged Sigismund to return to Poland. He continued
thence to carry on his struggle with Charles, but once again his plans, which
were supported by Spain, were shipwrecked owing to the passive resistance of
the Hanseatic cities. Charles, who was Sigismund’s superior in energy and
strength of will, thus remained the victor. In July, 1599, he caused Sigismund
to be deposed by the Diet, and then began a bloody persecution of all those who
wished to remain loyal to their lawful sovereign and the ancient religion.
Clement VIII lived long enough to see Charles, overbearing all opposition,
place on his own head the crown,6 which he had thus taken by violence from his
nephew.
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