King Eric XIV can be called the Swedish Ivan the Terrible. True, unlike the Russian monarch, he was unable to retain power and was overthrown by his rebellious subjects.
Having ascended the throne of Sweden in 1560, Eric XIV had every chance of a long and happy reign. The 27-year-old king was smart, handsome and well educated. With him, the “provincial” Swedish court was filled with unprecedented luxury items. But expensive things were not the only passion of the young ruler. While still heir to the throne, he first approached the Queen of England with a marriage proposal. Since then, ships with expensive gifts sailed to the shores of Albion again and again, but Elizabeth was in no hurry to respond.
In 1561, the king made his military debut by declaring war on Poland. Luck was on the side of the Swedish army, and Eric decided to get involved in a new war, this time with Denmark. Now Eric hoped not only for luck - three Finnish witches went on a campaign with the army, who were supposed to send a hurricane to the enemy. However, the witches did not live up to the hopes placed on them. When it became clear that a quick victory would not be possible, the king entrusted command to more experienced commanders, and he himself returned to Stockholm to deal with state affairs.
Gradually, traits such as temper, suspicion, and cruelty became more and more apparent in the monarch. Only one person could melt his heart - Katarina Monsdotter. The 15-year-old daughter of a peasant woman and a soldier captivated the king with her beauty. He saw her either at the market, where the girl was selling nuts, or in the tavern, where she served visitors. Eric immediately brought Katharina closer to the court, and out of the kindness of her heart she often interceded with the patron on behalf of the offended members of the nobility. The king always listened to his favorite. True, even Katharina’s intercession could not save one of the most influential families in Sweden, which was almost completely eradicated by the cruel monarch.
Those same Finnish witches who threatened to send a storm against the Danish army predicted Eric XIV's overthrow by "people with golden hair." Almost all the men from the noble Sture family, whose representatives at one time were even regents of Sweden, fell under the description. The death sentences were not approved by parliament, but none of the courtiers dared to challenge them.
The king personally dealt with one red-haired “conspirator” in a prison cell. This incident left an indelible mark on the monarch’s psyche. Coming out of the prison building with bloody hands, Eric jumped on his horse and rushed off in an unknown direction. Three days later he was found in a semi-insane state. The breakdown that occurred in his personality turned out to be irreversible and earned him the nickname Mad.
Since then, the king has often taken unpredictable steps, sending innocent people to death or, conversely, giving life to sworn enemies. But the most unexpected act for the entire Swedish nobility was Eric’s marriage to the rootless Katharina. The lovers' happiness did not last long. A couple of months after the wedding, a coup took place in the country under the leadership of the Duke of Finland. Having overthrown his elder brother, he ascended the throne under the name of Johan III.
The further fate of the spouses was sad. In 1570, Eric and Katharina were placed under arrest, and soon they were completely separated, seated in towers on opposite banks of the river. Finding himself without his only outlet, Eric found solace in drawing. The main character of all his drawings was, of course, his beloved Katarina.
Despite numerous nervous shocks, Eric remained in excellent physical shape, which, naturally, did not suit the newly-crowned monarch. Johan III could not feel safe while his elder brother was alive. When the deposed king died in 1577, everyone whispered about poisoning. Only in the 20th century did examination reveal that arsenic was regularly added to his food.
What happened to Katarina? After the death of her husband, she posed no threat. She was given a small estate in Finland - modest for a former queen, but quite worthy for the daughter of a simple soldier. She outlived her beloved by 35 years and was buried with full honors.
The romantic love story of a king and a peasant woman formed the basis of many plays and novels. Modern Swedes and Finns have great respect for good Katarina. And her husband remained in history as Mad.
King Eric is a strange and eccentric figure, he is extremely suspicious and prone to unexpected decisions. Disturbing the court, he settled his mistress in his Stockholm palace - the soldier's daughter Karin, whom he sincerely loves and with whom he already has two children. But at the same time, as befits a monarch, he is making plans for a dynastic marriage with Elizabeth of England and awaiting the arrival of his envoy from England in the palace park. Below, on the lawn under the windows of the pavilion, Karin sits, embroidering, and guard ensign Max, her former boyfriend, to whom she preferred the king, hangs around her - but not out of vanity or self-interest: Karin feels sorry for Eric, without her, as it seems to her, he will be lost. The king notices a soldier from above and, in order to scare him away, throws nails down from the balcony. Max leaves, but his place is taken by another man - Göran Persson, a former adviser to the king, now in disgrace. Having overheard Karin's conversation with the ensign and convinced of her loyalty to Eric, he offers her friendship. In addition, he brought Karin good news - Eric's wedding embassy failed. The king, seeing Persson from above, continues his strange trick and throws down after the nails a hammer, a flower pot, pillows, a chair... Göran Persson runs. The king laughs and calls him back, but he does not return.
At that moment, Nils Sture, who had returned from England, appears on the lawn. He came to a reception with the king with his relatives - Svante and Erik Sture, which displeased the king. Who did this crowd appear as witnesses? Does Elizabeth refuse him? Where is the letter? The Queen ordered to answer him in words - and so rude that he couldn’t even move his tongue...
The king is angry. He chases those who came out, throwing after them the objects thrown earlier from the balcony. Marshal Yllenstierna appears near the king. He wants to sweeten the bitter pill: Elizabeth refused because she had a lover - the Earl of Leicester. Then we must kill Lester! - the king decides without hesitation. And he will kill Lester Yllenstiern! But he refuses this honor, Yllenstierna is a nobleman, not a murderer. The king also drives away Yllenstierna.
Göran Persson returns. The calmed Eric tells him: he just refused Elizabeth - after all, she took a lover. Although the malicious Stures, of course, will spread rumors that it was she who rejected Eric. Göran Persson calls on the king to be calm: let Eric not judge others too harshly and repeat the word “I love” more often, then they will love him too. Goodness is rewarded. He himself, for example, sheltered an abandoned woman with a three-year-old child. So what? His house was filled with joy.
So who will Göran Persson advise him to marry? Katarina Polskaya. But the king had just given permission to his half-brother Duke Johan to marry her! He has already sailed on the ship. So we need to catch up with him and judge him! Yllenstierna has just reported: Duke Johan has already secretly married the Polish princess. Thus, he violated the ban on relations with a foreign power without the permission of the king. Eric agrees. Why shouldn't Göran Persson become his advisor again? Goran agrees. But only if he has real power in his hands. He doesn’t need the post of Secretary of State, who is responsible for everything but doesn’t even dare to make a word in front of the king. He will not give up the post of royal procurator. Eric accepts his terms.
Göran Persson's house. His mother asks if the king really brought him back to court? And of course, you forgot to assign a salary? Yes, there was no talk about him. But Göran Persson is ready to serve the king without salary. He will not abandon the king. They were born under the same star. Besides Goran, Eric only has his Karin.
Svante Sture, Secretary of State, comes to Persson's house. He insults Yoran and his family, calling Magda, whom he warmed up, a whore, and the owner himself - a priest's brat. Göran is not afraid of the distinguished guest, for him he is a symbol of the hated nobles, predators dividing the king and the people. Persson reminds Sture that it is to him that he owes his title as the first Count of Sweden. But let him know: now the second official in the country after the king is he, Goran, so let Svante be careful! He leaves.
Max, called by Goran, enters. He receives a warning: let him leave Karin alone! He can be transferred to another city. Or eliminate it! Max is insolent to Jorana and leaves the house. But almost immediately a king appears on his doorstep. Does Göran Persson know that the Duke, having married Katarina, is now holed up with the rebel Finns in Abo Castle? Then Duke Johan, according to Persson, should be captured and executed. But only by decision of the Riksdag (Swedish parliament). Everything should be done, if possible, within the framework of the law. Does the king know that his worst enemy Svante Sture has just been here, insulting Goran and his family! Goran himself is to blame, the king believes, he has been offered any title of his choice more than once, but he refuses. Why? Because Goran wants to be judged only by his deeds! Yes, Eric understands him, he himself feels like a stranger among the Swedish nobility. Maybe because his roots are in Germany?
Suddenly, Mons, Karin’s father, appears at the door. He is stunned to find the king in Yoran’s house, but sets out his case rudely and boldly. He will not tolerate his daughter living in debauchery! There is a man who is ready to cover up her sin and marry her. And here, in family matters, let no one stand in his way, Mons! Even the king himself! Eric explodes, but curbs his anger: in front of him is the grandfather of his children. Göran Persson refuses to accept the petition from Mons. Okay, then Mons will go to State Secretary Svanta Sture!
After Mons leaves, Goran promises the king that he will settle the matter. And he settles it in his own way, calling his nephew - the one-eyed giant Peder Wellamson. He should take six strapping fellows as backup, put the ensign in a sack and drown him. So that not a drop of blood is spilled!
Duke Johan, who rebelled Finland and Poland against Sweden, was captured. The Riksdag sentences him to death, but Erik grants him pardon. The dowager queen (his stepmother), intriguing against the king, prepares a triumphal meeting for the pardoned man. However, Göran Persson sets a trap for the conspirators: at the moment of the meeting and making welcoming speeches, everyone is arrested. Now they must be judged by the Riksdag assembled in Uppsala. Before delivering his indictment, Eric, at Karin’s request, lets the children in: they want to look at dad in a royal ermine robe (in the middle of summer!) and a golden crown. Little Sigrid, unnoticed by her father, wraps her doll in a scroll with a written speech. Of course, the king does not know how to speak without a piece of paper, and the Riksdag does not want to listen to witnesses from his side - they are of too low origin. The conspirators are acquitted. But this does not prevent Persson from judging them - now not according to the law, but, as he believes, according to justice. The talents of Peder Wellamson's one-eyed nephew are put to use again. He demands a small compensation - promotion to corporal. The conspirators were killed in the basement.
Neither Göran Persson nor King Erik know that by that time Karin and her children had been taken away by the Dowager Queen. She came to Karin to ask for her relatives, but, having learned that Karin had no influence on her husband’s decisions and was generally the last woman at court, she feigned pity on her and frightened her, saying that the only person Karin could turn to for help was namely, Ensign Max, did not disappear at all, but was killed on the vile orders of Göran Persson. After this, the queen easily takes Karin and the children away.
Royal Castle in Stockholm. Duke Johan (he is already free) negotiates the seizure of power with his brother Duke Karl. The execution of the minor nobility, arranged by Eric in Uppsala, does not particularly sadden them, it is only for the good of the country. But a madman cannot be left on the throne. Although is conscience, repentance, repentance - madness? The king was simply looking for the taken children in the forest, got lost, slept on the bare ground, in the rain. But it’s absolutely crazy to go to the soldier Mons and ask him for the hand of his returning daughter Karin! Both dukes are invited to the wedding, but they will not go to it - they realize the trap they have set.
The same festively decorated castle. Eric admits that the enemy turned out to be more generous than he thought: his and Karin’s children were spared, but he took the lives of the nobles... Yes, he, Eric, does not deserve his happy fate! Eric is also upset that he could not invite the faithful Göran Persson to the wedding; the nobility opposed this.
The master of ceremonies announces: Erica and the queen want to see the people! Eric orders people to be let in. Among them is Karin's father, the soldier Mons: he, as always, is rude and arrogant and almost drives the king out of patience. Eric would gladly kick this crowd out. But who is it? Göran Persson? Yes, he just came from Uppsala: he managed to persuade the Riksdag - Göran achieved the conviction of the executed nobles. But the king had already sent letters throughout the country with the news that those executed were innocent! Well, Yoran will no longer settle the king’s affairs! Eric destroys everything he builds. And now both dukes did not come to the wedding. Someone warned them. Most likely Karin. Yllensherna approaches the king: the nobles will not come to the festival - here is a stack of printed letters. Well, Eric decides, let the common people walk around the tables! Wellamson, the one-eyed companion of misfortune, enters the hall and reports: the castle is surrounded, and in the next hall are Dukes Karl and Johan. Marshal Yllenstierna falls to his knees before Eric: Lord, save and have mercy on the good king, friend of the people, Eric the intercessor!
The common people are feasting in the hall, but people are uneasy: are they glorifying the weak-minded? Or maybe he's not so weak-minded if they're sitting here at the tables! Eric is a good king, he took a simple girl as his wife.
Yllenstierna enters the hall. He announces: His Majesty King Johan III of Sweden! Duke Karl, walking next to Johan, moves away from him as he walks and makes a sign to his entourage. Johan betrayed him: they agreed that they would share the throne. Yllenstierna exclaims: “It seems the world has gone mad! Eric thought so too!
A little girl at the table asks her mother: “Will this all end soon?” Duke Charles turns to her with a smile: “No, dear child, the fight never ends—never!”
king of Sweden from the Vasa dynasty, reigning from 1560 to 1568
Son of the Swedish king Gustav I and Katharina, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (September 24, 1513 - September 23, 1535, Swedish: Katarina av Sachsen-Lauenburg). He was also the ruler of Estland after it came under Swedish rule in 1561. Eric was an educated man with artistic inclinations who aspired to political power, but already in the early years of his reign signs of mental illness were revealed, which eventually developed into schizophrenia.
Years of reign
In foreign policy, Eric's efforts were aimed at strengthening Sweden, turning it into a great power. Unlike his father, who was satisfied with the status of an independent kingdom, he sought to expand his influence into the Baltic countries and Estland. The expansionist policy led to a clash with his cousin, King Frederick II of Denmark. Seeking to form advantageous political alliances, Eric made unsuccessful marriage proposals to Queen Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots. In 1567 (officially July 4, 1568) he married a girl of humble origin, Katharina Månsdotter (November 6, 1550 - September 13, 1612, Swedish Karin Månsdotter).
In domestic politics, Eric's ambitions encountered opposition from the Swedish nobility, among his opponents was his half-brother Johan, who later became king of Sweden under the name Johan III. Dissatisfied with his brother's policies, Johan married Katherine Jagiellonka, the sister of the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus, with whom Sweden was at war, and received several fortresses from him. Eric reduced the power of the nobility and set about conquering Estland, thereby finding himself at odds with his brother, the Duke of Finland. Johan was accused of treason and in 1563 the Riksdag sentenced him to death. Erik captured Johan and imprisoned him in Gripsholm Castle (Swedish: Gripsholm).
For most of Eric's reign, Sweden participated in the so-called. The Northern Seven Years' War (1563–1570) against Denmark, Poland and Lübeck. In the first years of the war, Denmark, taking advantage of the confrontation between Erik and Johan, carried out successful operations in Sweden, and only towards the end of the reign did the Swedes manage to recapture the captured territories. Sweden also took part in the Livonian War against Russia, capturing the northern part of Estonia with Revel in 1561 after the collapse of the Livonian Order.
All these years, Eric's mental state gradually deteriorated, his actions became more and more willful and subject to sudden exacerbations of the disease. In 1567, he massacred the Sture family in Uppsala. In 1568, he was dethroned by Johan and another brother, Charles, and imprisoned, losing "all royal rights over Sweden." His trusted secretary Göran Persson (1530-1568, Swedish: J?ran Persson) took most of the blame for Eric's actions against the nobility and was executed shortly after the accession of Johan III.
Years in prison
From Stockholm Castle, Eric was sent to Abo Castle (Turku) in Finland, where he arrived on July 15, 1570 with his family: his wife Karin Monsdotter and children - four-year-old Sigrid, two-year-old Gustav and six-month-old Henrik.
The family was given several rooms at their disposal; one of the castle's kitchens was entirely dedicated to the royal family. The service staff included, among others, four cooks, the king's personal servant Buvik Tattare, a nanny, a hairdresser, a trapper, guards Olof Olofsson and Mikael Mikaelsson, waitress Joen Perinson and cellar servant Lasse Perinson. Daily meals included highly spiced meats, fish, bread and eggs, and drinks included wine and beer. Since the king did not like Rhine wine, they brought him wines from the Mediterranean countries, golden yellow sweet wine flavored with saffron.
Eric XIV (Erik)(December 13, 1533, Stockholm Castle - February 26, 1577, Erbyhus, Uppland, Sweden), king of Sweden (1560-1568) of the Vasa dynasty.
During the Civil War he served in the Red Army and worked in the Cheka. Ermler joined the ranks of the Bolshevik Party in 1919. After the end of the Civil War, in 1923-1924 he studied at the acting department of the Leningrad Institute of Screen Art. At the same time he starred in episodic roles in films.
Early years
The son of the Swedish King Gustav Vasa and Katharina, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg, Eric lost his mother at the age of 2. Received an excellent education. His first teacher was Georg Norman, who came to Sweden with recommendations. Eric studied French, German and Latin, history, geography, political and military arts, medicine, elements of logic, rhetoric and theology, with a special interest in music, drawing and architecture. One of his teachers, Burreus, instilled in Eric an interest in astrology, so that Eric consulted what the stars promised him in important matters.
Eric, who constantly replenished his library and surrounded himself with foreigners, gradually moved away from his father. In 1557 he took full control of Kalmar Castle. Relations with his father were tense due to Eric's independent behavior. Therefore, he became close to his brother Johan, Duke of Finland, and supported his plans to expand his possessions to the south. He also went to England to negotiate Eric's marriage with.
Skillful maneuvering
After his father's death in 1560, Eric became king. He began implementing a plan to turn Sweden into an intermediary in trade between Russia and the West. He sought to bring under control the ports (Revel and Narva), through which trade took place. With the help of skillful diplomacy, Eric managed to obtain Revel, bypassing Denmark, Lubeck and Johan. He also banned trade in Narva, which was contrary to Russian interests, but since Poland was the main rival of both states, relations remained outwardly friendly.
Enhancing Personal Power
Eric also took measures to strengthen his power. In 1561 a magnificent coronation took place, and the titles of count and baron, new for Sweden, were introduced. At the Riksdag of 1561, the Arbug Articles were adopted, according to which the privileges of Eric's younger brothers, Dukes Johan and Charles, which they had according to their father's will, were seriously limited. Eric established the Supreme Court - the so-called. the “royal jury,” which became primarily an instrument of control and suppression of the opposition. To strengthen the army, Eric doubled the number of troops, modernized weapons and training. In management, Eric relied on secretaries personally devoted to him, primarily Eran Persson. Eric did not trust his brothers (more precisely, his half-brothers) and their aristocratic relatives and suspected them of intrigue.
War and fight with brother
In 1563 Sweden was drawn into war with Denmark, Poland and Lübeck. (Northern Seven Years' War), which, among other things, forced Eric to soften the blockade of Narva. The difficulties of the war, especially the actions of the Danes in southern Sweden, negatively affected the already difficult situation within the country. Duke Johan married the sister of the Polish king, Katharina Jagiellonka, and received from him several fortresses in southern Estonia. At the Riksdag 1563 he was sentenced to death. Erik captured Johan and imprisoned him in Gripsholm Castle. The aristocracy was unhappy that the king tried to do without them in decision-making. Erik's hostility towards the aristocracy turned against Nils Svantesson of the famous Sture family. Nils was accused of omissions during military operations and sentenced to death, which was replaced by a humiliating ceremony - he was carried along the street on a skinny horse in the presence of a mob specially assembled for this purpose by Eric's secretaries. Eric preferred to use Niels as a hostage and sent him to Lorraine to negotiate Eric's marriage.
Beating of Sture. Disease
In 1567, Goran Persson presented evidence of the existence of a conspiracy against Eric. Several noble gentlemen were sentenced to death. At this time, Nils Sture returned from a trip that ended in vain, and was again imprisoned. Erik killed Nils in the prison of Uppsala Castle, and his companions killed his father and brother - Svante and Erik Sture. After this, Eric's previously silent mental illness worsened, allowing Rickrod to take control. E. Persson was thrown into prison, Duke Johan was released. In June 1567, Eric married his mistress Karin Monsdotter, who the following year gave birth to his son Gustav.
CONSPIRACY
By 1568, Eric began to recover, return control to his own hands, and again brought Persson closer, thereby showing that he did not intend to change the way of government. The patience of the aristocrats was overflowing with Karina’s coronation, at which they had to stand next to her peasant relatives. They formed a conspiracy, led by Dukes Johan and Karl, which had probably existed only in Eric's imagination. Eric was captured, Persson put to death. In 1575, Johan, proclaimed king, obtained from the Riksrod the right, if necessary, to take the lives of his brothers. Eric died two years later (perhaps he was poisoned). He was buried in the cathedral in Westeros.
I continue the story about the legends of Stockholm, which I started in the last post...
The wise King Gustav I, seeing the cruel temper of his eldest son Eric, decided to change his will and transfer the crown to his youngest son Johan. Having learned about this, Eric went to the local sorcerer, whom the townspeople called the “Lapland dwarf,” trying to avoid his home.
Monument to King Gustav I, Liberator of Sweden
They said that the dwarf cast a spell on the old king; according to another version, the magician prepared a strong poison, which Eric personally added to his father’s drink. Whether this is true or the slander of enemies, King Gustav I soon died without having time to change his will.
The crown was given to Prince Eric, who dreamed of finding the hammer of the god Thor, which would grant world domination, was in panic fear of the conspirators, and once, in a fit of madness, he stabbed to death a blind old man, mistaking him for a sorcerer who had cast a curse on him. Being a contemporary of Ivan the Terrible, King Eric created his own “oprichnina”.
King Eric XIV (1533 - 1577)
Details of the streets of the Strictly city of Stockholm, coats of arms on house numbers
These streets of the old town remember the games of the Swedish throne
King Eric XIV dreamed of conquering nations. He believed that the hammer of the Scandinavian god Thor was hidden in Stockholm, and whoever found it would gain power over the world.
Eric stated: “I will find Thor's sacred weapon. I will raise his hammer over the world. And the world will shake. And the world will humbly bow its head..."
By Eric's will, wars began with neighbors: Denmark, Poland, Estland, Russia. Prince Johan did not approve of his brother's policies, for which he was accused of treason and imprisoned.
And the mad king married his favorite, the Finnish commoner Katerina Mane (Monsdotter), for love, which caused discontent among the nobility. “...He humiliated his Majesty with a shameful marriage”- they whispered at court.
Being a tyrant in politics, the king turned out to be a caring husband and father, as is often the case with maniacs.
The historian Kobbe writes in his book The History of Sweden: “...Eric’s savagery, his depraved life aroused strong indignation among the people. Seeing the futility of repeated attempts to get the hand of a foreign princess, Eric married his favorite, Catherine Mana, the daughter of a simple peasant from Madelgad.”
King Eric's wife as imagined by illustrators
The king's wife in life, she did not remain queen for long - 87 days
While fighting external enemies, the king was especially wary of enemies within the state; he saw conspirators everywhere. Based on false denunciations and suspicions, the “enemies of the king” were executed by their families. Once again, the central square of the city became a place for mass protests.
If a subject refused to carry out the king's order to punish the traitor, he would be punished. This is how the king dealt with the military leader Nils Stura, whom he sent to the estate of his vassals suspected of treason. Stura learned that the vassal's family had been slandered, and did not carry out the royal order.
The Love Play of the Mad King
Gustav I looks at the old town
The angry king ordered the willful commander to be dressed in rags, a straw wreath to be placed on his head, and in this form he was driven around Stockholm. The townspeople were ordered to throw pieces of dirt at the condemned man.
Having humiliated the proud commander, the king calmed down for a while, but Stur's public humiliation aroused more sympathy among the townspeople than contempt. The king again became worried about the conspiracy.
Nils Stura and his family were arrested. Eric ordered the commander to confess to treason and ask for mercy, but Stura insisted on his innocence and swore allegiance to the Swedish crown. “There was no conspiracy, king! None of my loved ones betrayed you! I am ready to repeat this at the Last Judgment! I have kept my oath of allegiance to the Swedish crown.”
The king wanted to arrange a public repentance for the traitors in the main square of the city, and then execute them. Nils Stura maintained his innocence.
In a fit of madness, the king pulled out a dagger and plunged it into the commander's chest. Nils Stura took the dagger out of the wound, kissed the blade and said: "Even now I remain loyal to the Swedish crown". After these words he fell to his knees...
Eric ordered the commander to be executed and his family to be strangled in prison. Among Stur's relatives was a blind old man, who in his youth fought for the freedom of Sweden in the army of the late Gustav I. The old man asked to fulfill his last wish, to touch the king's shoulder. Eric graciously agreed.
The king with his wife and the head of the royal intelligence service, Göran Persson
Plague Doctor of Stockholm
Approaching the king, the old man grabbed his shoulder and said:
“You are cursed, Eric Vasa!.. Today I communicated with the spirit of your father, the great ruler Gustav. He rewards you for your vile deeds in the next world, but here on earth he will soon punish you...”
Having uttered these words, the old man fell dead.
Frightened by the curse, the king, in a fit of madness, kicked the dead man and screamed.
“You’re lying!.. Don’t have it your way!.. I will rule for a long time!.. No one will dare raise a hand against me!..”
Having calmed down, the king ordered the executions to continue and retired to his chambers. It was said that the king kept muttering about the “hammer of Thor” that he wanted to find. One day, Eric secretly left the palace and disappeared. The guards who went in search of the king found the body of a naked, blind old man, next to whom lay royal clothes.
A frightened guide boy told how a noble gentleman beat an old man, shouting: “Bring back your curse!.. Tell me where Thor’s hammer is kept!..”
The boy hid nearby and watched in horror the madman, who, having received no answer, stabbed the old man, changed into his clothes and ran away.
King Eric was found in the forest, he refused to return to the city. Eric said that he was forced to attack the blind old man by a dwarf sorcerer who wants to take his soul in exchange for revealing the secret about Thor's hammer. The king insisted that he would soon remove the magic hammer of omnipotence from the ground.
Returning to the city, the king hid for a while, the executions stopped, Eric even ordered his hated brother Johan to be released from prison.
The townspeople did not believe in the royal mercy and whispered: “Our mad king is acting weird, as if his eccentricities wouldn’t make things worse!”
Fearing the mad Eric, the subjects went over to the side of Prince Johan, who was also supported by his younger brother Karl.
Johan's wife, Katherine Jagiellonka, insisted on the overthrow of King Eric. She hated Eric for the humiliation she had to endure - bowing before his queen wife, who was a commoner by birth. The proud princess of blood could not forgive such a thing. Only the crown of Sweden could console her.
Katherine Jagiellonka
German church with old town
Johan decided to act. The mad king was overthrown, and his associates, who executed and tortured the enemies of the crown, themselves ended up on the scaffold. The head of the “royal intelligence service,” Göran Persson, who was accused of most of the atrocities, was also executed. King Eric XIV reigned for only nine years.
“Indeed, I am a madman for giving you freedom!”- Eric said to his treacherous brother.
Johan did not want Eric to die; he imprisoned him and his family in a spacious castle and allowed him to leave his faithful servants. The former monarch was provided with royal living conditions. They even brought him the best wine from Mediterranean countries. Eric and his family lived like this for two years.
King Eric in custody
Finnish novelist Mika Valtari has a novel about Erik and Katarina, but I couldn’t find it in Russian
Eric did not want to accept his fate, he began to weave a plot to regain the throne. The efforts were unsuccessful, Eric's plans were revealed. King Johan III separated his brother from his family as punishment. Katarina and her children were transported to a Finnish estate; when the children grew up, she was separated from them. Eric was transferred from the spacious castle to the prisoner's room in the fortress tower. Those close to him persuaded Johan to kill Eric in order to avoid unrest.
King Johan III
German church tower
Tower of the Church of St. Nicholas
Church of St. Nicholas
“Eric suffers, but still lives, and as long as he lives, I will have no peace!”- the king agreed.
Succumbing to the arguments, Johan issued an order to “kill Eric if he tries to escape.” With Johan's approval, the arrested man was served poisoned soup for lunch... Eric died at the age of 43; he spent a total of 8 years in prison, six of them away from his family.
King Johan's murder of his own brother (albeit a mad tyrant) did not find approval among the people. People whispered that the fratricide would suffer hellish torment for Cain's sin. In the last years of his life, Johan began to be haunted by terrible visions, as if the hour of reckoning had come for a grave sin.
A rare meeting between Eric and Katarina in prison
According to legend, the spouses Eric and Katarina, separated in prison, were on opposite banks of the river. They yearned for each other, looking at the other shore. This romantic story is reflected in Scandinavian folklore.
“I will love you, dearest Queen Catherine...”- Eric wrote letters to his beloved.
The next post is about the knight's island and its alchemist.
