Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - V. The Swedish Reformation under Gustaf Vasa and his sons Eric and John (1520—1592 A.D.)
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
4. FINANCIAL PRESSURE. 193
of voluntary help in the next years from the frequent assem
blies which he summoned in order to deal with the pressing
matter of his debts to the City of Lubeck, which had
assisted him with mercenary soldiers and supplies. He
also appealed for such help in person. Thus he made, as
we have seen, an appeal to Vadstena. He also made a
personal appeal to Hans Brask, Bishop of Linkoping.
Brask was a very able, and, up to a certain point, a resolute
man, who, like our own Tunstall, knew the need of reform,
and was a friend of the reforming pope, Adrian VI., who
was for too short a time on the Roman throne (2nd January,
1522 24th September, I523).
5
But he was a convinced
supporter of the old Church. In this appeal the king asked
Brask for a definite sum, and Brask seems to have done his
best to meet the demands made upon him. Each, I think,
tried at first to make the best of the other, but in time sus
picion of Brask s loyalty on the part of the king, and fear
on Brask s part that the king was bent on introducing a
new religion, separated two men who might between them
have done much to shape a policy of moderate reform for
Sweden. Their letters to one another still remain, and
present a vivid picture of the state of changing opinion at
this period.
Another source of wealth was to be found in the resump
tion of estates recently granted to monasteries. Gustaf
obtained the approval of the council of nobles for such a
resumption on his part of the estate of Gripsholm, the
Carthusian monastery of Mariefred, which had been
founded quite recently (in the year 1493) by Sten Sture
the elder. Gustaf, who was heir to the Sture property,
through his maternal grandmother, Birgitta, Sture s sister,
declared that his father had been forced into giving his con
sent to the foundation, and that he was, therefore, entitled
to resume the estate. The Vasas had inherited the neigh
bouring lands of Rafsnas, and, therefore, were naturally
desirous of recovering Gripsholm. The Carthusians were
5
Tunstall was provided to the Bishopric of London in 1522,
apparently by Adrian VI.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
