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2. ENGELBREKT, KARL KNUTSSON AND THOMAS. 151
who was chosen by the chapter, and tried to force on them
his own man, Arend, or Arnoldus, Bishop of Bergen, a per
son of bad character. On Arnoldus death the king pressed
another man of his own choice, Thorlak, a Norwegian ;
but
the quarrel was suspended on account of the peasant rising
under Engelbrekt, which, in the end, caused the king s
downfall.
2. ENGELBREKT S RISING (1433 1436). ITS PERMANENT
RESULTS. KARL KNUTSSON AND THOMAS OF
STRENGNAS.
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson,
4
the leader of this rising
(1433), is the William Tell of Sweden. He was a true
patriot, and a worthy national hero. He was just the sort
of leader whom the people needed, a wealthy mine owner,
and a member of one of the lesser noble families or gentry
of the province of Nerike, in the chief town of which,
Orebro, he was born. His heart was stirred by the treat
ment of the free Swedish peasants, as if
they were dogs or
cattle, rather than human beings, on the part of the foreign
bailiffs, and in particular the treatment of the Dalesmen of
the neighbouring province by a Danish nobleman, Josse
Ericsson. Josse lived at Vesteras, but had authority over
great parts of Vestmanland, Bergslagen and Dalarne. He
was accused^ apparently truly, of forcing the peasants into
obedience by hanging them up in the smoke of a fire and
yoking their wives to their own hay-carts (for holass).
The rising, though it began in Dalarne, soon extended over
the whole country, and it was remarkable for the rapidity of
its success and the good conduct of the insurgents. It was
said that not a housewife lost a fowl. It seemed a move
ment inspired by God, so that Bishop Thomas of
4
There is a good popular account of Engelbrekt by Professor
S. J. Boethius in Heimdal s Folkskrifter, 1893. The poem,
Engelbrekt och Karl Knutsson, attributed to Bishop Thomas
of Strengnas, may be found in full in Medeltids Dikter och jRira,
published by the Sv. Fornskrift Sallskapet, pp. 385-390, Stkh.,
18811882.
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