Since 1506, Christian had held the title in Norway as vice king for his father Kong Hans, a strong king known for his kind politics towards the Danish peasants. When Kong Hans died in 1513, Christian was crowned king of Denmark and Norway under the condition of signing an treaty, lessening the power of the king and giving the nobles more say in the governing of the country.
Dyveke
During his years in Norway, Christian was involved with a peasant girl named Dyveke. After his anointment as king of Denmark, he brought Dyveke and her mother Sigbrit, with him to Copenhagen.
In 1515 he married Elisabeth of Habsburg but kept Dyveke as his mistress, providing her with a house close by in Copenhagen.
When Dyveke suddenly died under suspicious circumstances in 1517, the king was devastated and charged nobleman Torben Oxe with the murder, claiming he had killed Dyveke with poisoned cherries. Oxe was by the state council, with support of the queen, at first acquitted for the crime but the king, unsatisfied with the verdict, had him tried in front of a jury of 12 commoners, who deemed Oxe guilty with the statement “It is not us but your deeds that convict you.”
Following the execution of Oxe, King Christian chose Dyveke’s mother Sigbrit as his chief adviser much to the regret of the nobility, who thought Christian wasn’t holding up his end of the treaty as he was lessening the power of the nobles by handing it over to commoners.
Sweden
King Christian could not let go of the thought of conquering Sweden and restoring the union between Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
In 1520 he managed to defeat and mortally wound Sten Sture the Younger, king of Sweden. The Swedish state council agreed to pay homage to Christian under the condition that all former feuds were to be forgotten and forgiven.
But during the celebrations following Christian’s anointment as king of Sweden, Danish soldiers entered the great halls and led out carefully selected people.
Less than 24 hours later, 82 people had been executed and their bodies burned on Stortorget in Stockholm. Christian furthermore ordered Stures body dug up and burnt along with the rest of the bodies. The Mass executions were later to be referred to as the Stockholm Bloodbath and earned the king the name of Christian the Tyrant in Sweden. In 1521 the Swedes rebelled against the king in a rebellion led by Gustav Vasa. The rebellion resulted in Sweden’s liberation from the Danish king.
The End of the Reign
In Denmark, Nobles were showing growing discontent towards King Christian. He had raised taxes unreasonable and spent an enormous amount of their taxes on the battles in Sweden.
In 1523 he made a last unsuccessful attempt to conquer Sweden, which resulted in the Danes complete loss of faith in their king. They instead offered the crown to Christian’s uncle Frederik I.
Christian fled the country to live in exile in the Netherlands.
In 1531, he attempted to take back Denmark but was quickly defeated and surrendered to King Frederik. Christian lived out his life as a royal prisoner in the town of Kalunborg, where he was allowed to wander freely as long as he didn’t cross the town borders.
Christian II died 77 years old in 1559.
For more on the history of the Danish Monarchy read: The Danish Monarchy-The Beginning
Sources:
www.kongehuset.dk
www.danskekonger.dk
www.kongernesjelling.dk
