Gustav Eriksson Trolle (1488-1535) was
Archbishop of UppsalaThe Archbishop of Uppsala has been the primate in Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church.- Historical overview :...
, Sweden, in two sessions, during the turbulent
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
events.
After returning from studies abroad, in
CologneThe University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
and
RomeSapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza - Università di Roma, commonly known as Università di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy. It is the largest European university and the oldest of Rome's three state-funded universities; Sapienza was...
, he was in 1513 elected
vicarIn the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant, literally the "place-holder"...
in
LinköpingLinköping [ˈlɪnɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in southern Sweden, with 97,428 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 140,367 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
. One year later he became Archbishop of Uppsala. In 1515 he got into an argument with the Swedish regent
Sten Sture the YoungerSten Sture the Younger , Lord of Ekesiö , was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden, under the era of the Kalmar Union.-Life:...
, who spread the rumour that he was allied with the King
Christian II of DenmarkChristian II was a Danish monarch and King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union...
. True or not, it resulted in Trolle being removed from his office and put under siege in the archbishops mansion
AlmarestäketAlmarestäket, or Stäket, is a strait at the inlet of Lake Mälaren in mid-east Sweden. A fortress existed there between about 1370 and 1517, also named Almarestäket....
at the lake
MälarenLake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. The lake drains, from southwest to northeast, into the Baltic Sea through Södertälje kanal, Hammarbyslussen, Karl Johanslussen and Norrström...
.
Gustav Eriksson Trolle (1488-1535) was
Archbishop of UppsalaThe Archbishop of Uppsala has been the primate in Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church.- Historical overview :...
, Sweden, in two sessions, during the turbulent
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
events.
After returning from studies abroad, in
CologneThe University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
and
RomeSapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza - Università di Roma, commonly known as Università di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy. It is the largest European university and the oldest of Rome's three state-funded universities; Sapienza was...
, he was in 1513 elected
vicarIn the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant, literally the "place-holder"...
in
LinköpingLinköping [ˈlɪnɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in southern Sweden, with 97,428 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 140,367 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
. One year later he became Archbishop of Uppsala. In 1515 he got into an argument with the Swedish regent
Sten Sture the YoungerSten Sture the Younger , Lord of Ekesiö , was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden, under the era of the Kalmar Union.-Life:...
, who spread the rumour that he was allied with the King
Christian II of DenmarkChristian II was a Danish monarch and King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union...
. True or not, it resulted in Trolle being removed from his office and put under siege in the archbishops mansion
AlmarestäketAlmarestäket, or Stäket, is a strait at the inlet of Lake Mälaren in mid-east Sweden. A fortress existed there between about 1370 and 1517, also named Almarestäket....
at the lake
MälarenLake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. The lake drains, from southwest to northeast, into the Baltic Sea through Södertälje kanal, Hammarbyslussen, Karl Johanslussen and Norrström...
. In the winter of 1517, Almarestäket was demolished by orders from the Swedish government.
The Danish threat grew stronger, and Trolle was among those who spoke in favour of the Danish King. In 1520,
Christian II of DenmarkChristian II was a Danish monarch and King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union...
entered Sweden, and Trolle was rewarded by being reappointed Archbishop of Uppsala. He crowned Christian King of Sweden on November 4, 1520. This, and subsequent events, supports the notion of the two having made a deal previous to Christian's conquest of Sweden.
Stockholm Bloodbath
Gustav Trolle presented a list of antagonists who had caused him to suffer and who had ordered the demolition of Almarestäket. King Christian gathered several people (some sources say 100, other say 20), and had them executed at the so called
Bloodbath of StockholmThe Stockholm Bloodbath, or the Stockholm Massacre , took place as the result of a successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces under the command of Christian II...
on November 10, 1520. The details and death toll are uncertain, for Christian himself wanted the public execution to have as strong effect as possible, and later, King
Gustav I of SwedenGustav I, born Gustav Eriksson and later known as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Vasa, an influential noble family which came to be the royal house of Sweden for much of the 16th and 17th centuries...
is likely to have boosted the figures to support his Danish War.
Christian returned home a few months later and Trolle was one of those put in charge of the government. But he was unpopular, and in September the following year he was forced to leave Sweden, and move to Denmark where he lived for several years. In 1526 he then met with Christian in the Netherlands. Christian had been dethroned from Denmark, but was eager to get back in power. He renounced his Lutheran faith so that he could gain the support of the Catholic Church. He gathered an army and marched to conquer Norway in 1530.
After a few years of feuds, Trolle was mortally wounded in a battle at Øksnebjerg, on
FynFunen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163
rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 447,000 people . The main city is Odense, connected...
, Denmark, 1535. He was buried at the cathedral in Schleswig.
He was described by
Olaus PetriOlof Persson , better known under the Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri , was a clergyman, writer, and a major contibutor to the Protestant Reformation in Sweden. His brother, Laurentius Petri, became the first Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop of Sweden...
as a stiff and obstinate man. For a long time after his death, he was regarded as a traitor to the Swedish people. This was also the prevailing view among the Swedish 19th century historians such as
Anders FryxellAnders Fryxell was a Swedish historian.Fryxell was born at Edsleskog, Dalsland, on the 7th of February 1795...
.