The Estates listened with great emotion to the words of the old monarch. After the king had ceased speaking and his will had been sanctioned, Gustavus left the assembly supported by his sons and nodding his farewell to those standing near. Three months later he was taken ill, and September 29, 1560, the great liberator, revolutionist and organizer of his country expired.
_Reformation and Reaction--The Sons of Gustavus I._
Eric XIV. succeeded his father in 1560, commencing his reign under the most brilliant of auspices. But the old King Gustavus had foreseen that his sons would cause danger to the realm which he with infinite care had built up. After his forty years’ work of construction followed forty years of destruction which his elder sons brought to bear upon it. Fortunately, that work was so solid that it withstood this bravely, to rise rejuvenated when loving hands anew were laid to it.
King Eric was one of the most gifted monarchs of his time, handsome, eloquent, learned, a fine linguist, a musician and artist. But his sharp reason carried him to the excess of suspicion, his artistic temperament into hysterics, and he was vain, overbearing, quick-tempered, licentious and cruel. His leaning toward mysticism made him devoted to astrology.
Eric’s first ambition was to reduce the power of the dukes, convoking a Riksdag at Arboga, in 1561, where the “Arboga Articles” were formulated for such purpose, the dukes being forced to acquiesce. In order to reduce the distance between the dukes and the nobility, King Eric, at his coronation--celebrated with a lavish display of pomp at Upsala in June of the same year--instituted hereditary dignities of counts and barons. Svante Sture, Peter Brahe the Elder and Gustavus Johnsson Tre Rosor were created counts, the first and third one the sons of Christine Gyllenstierna, Peter Brahe being a cousin of Gustavus Vasa. Among the barons were Sten Leijonhufvud, Gustavus Stenbock, relatives of the dukes, and Clas Kristersson Horn (of Aminne). Only small fiefs were given with the new dignities, which were nothing but an outward sign of the distinction existing between a higher aristocracy already extant and the lower nobility. In order to strengthen his connection with the nobles, Eric made the estate on which a noble fixed his domicile exempt from _russtjenst_. He was jealous of his power and dignity, for which reasons he held sharp supervision over his officials. He instituted a supreme court, consisting of twelve men of low birth, who every three years made a tour of the country to hold court in the name of the king. These justices were the creatures of Eric, and soon brought on themselves discredit and hatred through their servile and cruel acts. Among these justices was Gœran Persson, an able and powerful man, revengeful and cruel, who soon rose to be the favorite and influential adviser of his master.