Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - VIII. Reigns of the Sons of Gustavus Vasa, 1560–1611 - D. Regency and Reign of Charles IX, 1599–1611 - E. Wars with Neighboring Countries during the Period
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Wars with Neighboring Countries 141
suit the king was made to feel the sting of his hasty
temper. He would at times inflict corporal punishment
even on men of note. He never learned self-control.
But when his outburst of anger was over, everything
was pleasant again.
His Administration of Justice. Charles was espe-
cially devoted to the administration of justice. Many
anecdotes bear testimony to this fact. A poor widow
had suffered a wrong and had appealed in vain to the
court. She then went to the king to plead her cause.
He read all the papers in the case and found that her
cause was just. He then wrote on the back of the batch
of papers to the judges : "Unless you secure justice for
this poor widow be assured that my cane shall dance
a polka on your backs."
There are not many princes that the commons have
so highly admired as Charles IX. Every peasant felt
assured that he had protection in his king. The nobles
called him the Peasant King. But the miners and peas-
ants called him "Store Karl" (Great Charles), and it
is said that "while the bells tolled the knell of ’Store
Karl’ both old and young wept, and it seemed as if
everything were empty and dead throughout the land."
E. WARS WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES DURING
THE PERIOD
Wars with Poland. At the close of the Crusades
there were organized in various European lands orders
of knighthood for the special purpose of defending
Christian lands against pagan inroads. One of these
was the Order of Teutonic Knights, which since the
time of the Crusades had held Esthonia, Livonia, and
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