Hisrory. 



A'b Tt 

 ikken pri- 



. 



Eric elecN 

 ed the »u: 

 ces«cr of 

 M irgaret 

 i.; the 

 crown of 

 Sweden. 



Union of 



l'.<lm<;r 

 passed 

 A. D. 139' 



soon as he saw the fate of the day, he fled from the 

 field of battle, but was taken prisoner in the pursuit, 

 along with his son Eric, and several of the German 

 princes who had supported him. He was immediately 

 confined in a strong fortress on the borders of Nor- 

 way, where he remained seven years. Although this 

 victory was great and splendid, it was not decisive. 

 The Swedes, who still adhered to Albert, were soon 

 joined by fresh German forces, and made themselves 

 masters of Stockholm ; Avhile the Prince of Mecklen- 

 burg ravaged the coasts with a powerful fleet, and took 

 possession of the Isle of Gothland. These events, how- 

 ever, only retarded the accomplishment of Margaret's 

 designs and hopes. The Swedish and Pomeranian ci- 

 ties came over to her.; and, in 1391 5 she ruled over 

 the whole of the kingdom, with the exception of Stock- 

 holm, which city did not yield to her till the year 

 l;syi, _ 



Having now completely succeeded in her favourite 

 project of uniting the three kingdoms of the north 

 under one head, she resolved, if possible, to procure the 

 election of Eric of Pomerania, to be her successor to 

 the throne of Sweden, as he had been already declared 

 to the thrones of Denmark and Norway ; for this pur- 

 pose she assembled the Swedish states at Upsal, and in 

 a long and eloquent speech, pointed out the numerous 



. and great advantages that would result from the union 

 of the northern kingdoms ; and promised them, if they 

 would accede to her wishes, the security of their pri- 

 vileges, the abolition of extraordinary taxes, and the re- 

 dress of all their grievances. No opposition was made 

 to her request, and Eric was elected her successor to 

 the throne of Sweden. 



In the month of June 1397, Margaret convoked the 

 states of the three kingdoms at Calmar, where the law, 

 called the union of Calmar, was passed. As this law 



• was the cause of a long war between Denmark and 

 Sweden, it will be proper to notice its principal clauses. 

 The grand and leading proposition laid down in this 

 law, was, that the union of the three kingdoms under 

 one monarch, should be a fundamental and irrevocable 

 law. In order, however, to secure to each kingdom 

 its peculiar rights and privileges, it was expressly de- 

 clared, that " the sovereign should govern the king- 

 dom of Denmark according to the laws and customs of 

 Denmark ; and those of Sweden and Norway accord- 

 ing to their respective laws and customs." If any per- 

 son is justly banished from one of the kingdoms, he 

 shall be equally so from the two others ; and no person 

 shall assist or defend him; but, wherever he shall be 

 followed and cited, they shall proceed to judgment 

 against him, according to law." " If our lord the king 

 shall enter into any agreement or treaty with any fo- 

 reign power, in which of the kingdoms soever he shall 

 then res de, he, and the senate who are then with him, 

 or some deputies from each kingdom, shall have the 

 power to contract, in the name of the three kingdoms, 

 every thing which shall be judged the most honourable 

 and advantageous for the king and the three kingdoms." 

 iX was likewise ordained, that if any sovereign had 

 more than one son, one only should be declared and 

 elected king of the three kingdoms, and the others 

 should hold fiefs ; and if the king should die without 

 any children, then the senators and the states-deputies 

 of the three kingdoms, in concert, should elect him 

 whom they believed before God most worthy and most 

 capable. Such are the principal articles of the famous 

 union of Calmar ; by accomplishing which, as well as 

 .by the whole of her political conduct, Margaret has ob- 



DENMAR K. 



tained from posterity the appellation of the '•' Semiramis 

 of the North." This great princess died suddenly in 

 1412, and left Eric in peaceable possession of the three 

 northern crowns. 



Soon after his accession to the throne, he was en- 

 gaged in a war with the Count of Holstein, and with 

 the Hanse Towns. Not being a sovereign of much 

 talent or enterprise, he was totally unable to cany on 

 these wars, and attend to the affairs of Sweden at the 

 same time. The Swedes soon manifested symptoms 

 of discontent ; they justly regarded themselves as in- 

 ferior, in the treatment they received from the king, to 

 his Danish and Norwegian subjects. Their disaffection 

 and discontent were soon evident to all but Eric, whose 

 inattention or obstinacy were such, that he could not be 

 persuaded to adopt such measures as would have en- 

 sured the tranquillity of Sweden. The Swedes were 

 still farther exasperated by the taxes he levied on them, 

 in order to prosecute his war with the Hanse Towns. 

 In this war they conceived themselves to have no inte- 

 rest or concern; and therefore they thought, they shoidd 

 not to be taxed to support it. They had still another 

 source of discontent: Eric had appointed Danish or 

 German governors to nearly all the provinces and for- 

 tresses of Sweden. This of itself gave them umbrage, 

 and was expressly contrary to the spirit of the union of 

 Calmar. These foreign governors oppressed and ty- 

 rannized over the people ; and, when complaints against 

 them were laid before the king, he treated them with 

 neglect or contempt. After patiently enduring their 

 grievances for some time, the Swedes broke out into 

 open rebellion. Eric was now seriously alarmed, and, 

 having made peace with the Hanse Towns, he request- 

 ed their intercession with his rebellious subjects ; this 

 they granted, on condition that a diet, composed of the 

 deputies of the three Estates, should be held at Calmar. 

 The diet was accordingly held on the 27th of July 1436, 

 when the Swedes agreed solemnly to renew the union ; 

 the king, on his part, binding himself to respect their 

 privileges, and not to entrust any of their strong places 

 in. future to the care of foreigners. Eric, however, was 

 either not sincere, or he had not talents sufficient to per- 

 ceive and follow his real interests ; for, soon after the 

 renewal of the union, he exercised a most tyrannical 

 sway, not only over Sweden, but even over the Danes 

 and Norwegians. This conduct united them all against 

 him ; and he was soon compelled by the Danes to sur- 

 render the crown. During the reign of this sovereign, 

 the famous fortress of Elsinore was built. The princi- 

 pal object in erecting it was to check the commercial 

 and maritime power of the Hanse Towns, with whom 

 Eric was then at war. These towns soon felt the re- 

 strictions which this fortress, commanding the passage 

 of the Sound, laid on their commerce ; and, in revenge, 

 they ravaged the coasts of Denmark and Norway. When 

 peace, however, was concluded, they agreed to pay the 



History. 



Riic suc- 

 ceeds to 

 .lie crowai 

 ot Den- 

 mark, Nor . 

 way, 2nd 

 Sweden, 

 A. I). 141C. 



DietofCaU 



mar, 



A. D. 1436. 



Eric com- 

 pelled K> 

 surrender 

 the Danish 

 crown. 



tribute which Eric fixed for the passage of the Sound. 



The Danes, having compelled Eric to abandon the 

 throne, elected Christopher of Bavaria, his sister's son, 

 to be their king. After he had taken possession of 

 the crowns of Denmark and of Norway, lie directed his 

 attention and his schemes towards Sweden. The 

 Swedes, at first, appeared unwilling to elect him ; but 

 at last, partly by intrigues, and partly by the privileges 

 granted or extended to them, they chose Christopher 

 king. He was crowned at Copenhagen, which city he 

 made the royal residence, and the capital of Denmark, 

 instead of Roschild, which had previously enjoyed those 

 privileges. The first object with this sovereign, after 



Christo- 

 pher of ffij 

 varia elect 

 ed king of 

 DemnarlsJ 



and of Swc 

 den. 



