Gustav Eriksson was born in 1496 in Lindholmen, Sweden, and was educated at the University of Uppsala. As a young man he entered the army, and from 1518 to 1519 he fought against Christian II, King of Denmark, who had invaded Sweden to regain the throne that the Danes had lost in 1501.
Gustav was taken hostage but managed to escape. He was still a fugitive when he heard of Christian's massacre of his father and other nationalist Swedish nobles in 1520. With an army of peasants, Gustav led a successful revolt and drove the Danes out of Sweden. His victory resulted in the dissolution of the Union of Kalmar, which in 1397 had placed Sweden and Norway under the Danish crown.
Gustav was administrator of the kingdom from 1521 to 1523, when the Riksdag (the National Assembly) elected him King. He strengthened his political hold and restored order by introducing the Reformation to Sweden. The Roman Catholic Church had supported Christian II, and Gustav used this as an excuse for stripping the church of political power and confiscating its property. In 1527 he made Swedish bishops subject to Royal power, and in 1529 he proclaimed Lutherism the state religion. He joined with Norway in 1537 to defeat the German city of Lubeck, making Sweden economically independent of the Hanseatic League.
Gustav was an enigmatic person who has been referred to as both a liberator of the country and as a tyrannical ruler, which has made him the subject of many books. When he came to power in 1523, he was largely unknown, and he became the ruler of a still divided country without a central government. Though not as famous as most of his continental contemporaries, he became the first truly autocratic native Swedish sovereign and was a skilled propagandist andbureaucrat who laid the foundations for a more efficient centralized government. During his reign protestentism was introduced in the country.
In traditional Swedish history he has been labelled the founder of modern Sweden, and the "father of the nation". Gustav liked to compare himself to Moses, whom he believed to have also liberated his people and established a state. As a person, Gustav was known for ruthless methods and a bad temperament, but he also loved music, and had a certain sly wit.[
Gustav created a strongly united state by introducing a sound financial administration, strengthening manufacturing, the military, trade, and agricultural interests. In 1544 he made the Swedish crown hereditary through his line, the House of Vasa. On his death in Stockholm on September 29, 1560, Gustav was succeeded by his son, Charles IX.
From: Internet
