Gustav Vasa, kung av Sverige, född 12 maj 1496 på Lindholmens gård i Vallentuna, son till Erik Johansson Vasa och Cecilia Månsdotter Eka
Som medlem av den högadliga ätten Vasa anslöt sig Gustav Vasa tidigt till kretsen runt Sten Sture den yngre i kampen mot Kristian II av Danmark. 1518 fördes han genom svek till fängsligt förvar i Danmark. Han lyckades dock fly och återkom till Sverige just när Kristian II hade besegrat Sten Sture. Genom att inte delta i Kristian II:s kröningsfest slapp Gustav Vasa att bli ett av offren för Stockholms blodbad. Istället försökte han uppvigla allmogen i Dalarna att göra uppror, vilket han till slut lyckades med när han valdes till deras hövitsman i januari 1521. Ett drygt halvår senare valdes han till riksföreståndare och blev då ledare för alla svenska styrkor som under befrielsekriget 1521-23 bekämpade Kristian II. Med hjälp av Sveriges första flotta, köpt på kredit från Lübeck, fick Gustav Vasa de resurser han behövde för att inta de viktiga slotten och föra kriget till ett lyckligt slut. När Kristian II avsattes även från Danmarks tron blev Gustav Vasa hastigt vald till svensk kung i Strängnäs den 6 juni 1523. Valet markerade den definitiva brytningen med Kalmarunionen.
Gustav Vasa är kanske den mest betydelsefulla kungen i Sveriges historia och han har fått äran för att reformationen infördes och att Sverige förvandlades till en stark centralstyrd nationalstat.
Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death. He was the first monarch of the House of Vasa, an influential noble family which came to be the royal house of Sweden for much of the 16th and 17th centuries. Gustav I was elected regent in 1521 after leading a rebellion against Christian II of Denmark, the leader of the Kalmar Union who controlled most of Sweden at the time.
The memory of Gustav has been honored greatly, resulting in embroidered history books, memory coins, and the annual ski event Vasaloppet (the largest ski event in the world with 15,000 participants). The city of Vaasa in Finland was named after the royal house of Vasa in 1606.
Kalmar Castle and Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: Kalmarunionen) is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions (1397–1523) that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including some of Finland) under a single monarch, though intermittently. The union was the work of Queen Margaret of Denmark (1353–1412).
The Nordic union was in a way formalized on June 17, 1397 by the Treaty of Kalmar, signed in the Swedish castle of Kalmar, on Sweden's south-east coast, in medieval times close to the Danish border. The treaty stipulated an eternal union of the three realms under one king, who was to be chosen among the sons of the deceased king.
After the temporarily successful reconquest of Sweden by Christian II and the subsequent Stockholm bloodbath in 1520, the Swedes started yet another rebellion which ousted the Danish forces once again in 1521. While independence had been reclaimed, the election of King Gustav of the Vasa on June 6, 1523, restored forever the independence and also practical sovereignty for Sweden and dissolved the informal union. The day of Gustav Vasa's coronation is since 1983 the National Day of Sweden, but was only recently made a national holiday, in 2005 (482 years later).
Family..
Gustav's first wife was Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535), whom he married on September 24, 1531. They had a son:
Eric XIV (1533–1577), Duke of Kalmar
On October 1, 1536, he married his second wife, Margareta Leijonhufvud (1514–1551). Their children were:
John III (Johan III) (1537–1592), Duke of Finland
Katarina (1539–1610), wife of Edzard II, Count of Ostfriesland. A grandmother of Anna Maria of Ostfriesland (and thereby an ancestor of Queen Victoria) and great-grandmother of Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Cecilia (1540–1627), wife of Christopher II, Margrave of Baden
Magnus (1542–1595), Duke of Östergötland
Carl (1544)
Anna Maria (1545–1610), wife of George John, Count Palatine of Veldenz
Sten (1546–1549)
Sofia (1547–1611), wife of Magnus II, Duke of Lauenburg
Elisabet (1549–1598), wife of Christopher, Duke of Mecklenburg
Charles IX (Carl IX) (1550–1611), Duke of Södermanland
At Vadstena Castle on August 22, 1552 he married his third wife, Katarina Stenbock (1535–1621).