- War against Sigismund
The war against Sigismund was a war between Duke Charles, later King Charles IX and Sigismund, King of Sweden and Poland. It lasted
1598 -1599 and is also called The War of Deposition against Sigismund, since the focus of the conflicts was the attempt to depose Sigismund from the throne of Sweden. The war resulted in the deposition of Sigismund and that Duke Charles took over the government and later also acceded to the throne.Background
When King John III died in
1592 his son Sigismund, King of Poland since1587 , acceded to the Swedish throne. Then conflicts arose. Duke Charles, the oldest living son ofGustav Vasa , did not approve of the fact that Sigismund, being his nephew and a Catholic, assumed the government of a realm that could just as well be his.After Sigismund had been crowned King of Sweden
February 19 1594 , he decided that no Parliaments ("riksdagar") could be summoned without the King’s consent. Despite this, Charles summoned a Parliament atSöderköping autumn1595 , at which he managed to get his will through. The Duke was appointedRegent with “the advice of the Council”, which means that he was to govern Sweden together with the Privy Council during the King’s absence from the Realm. Soon afterwards, the nobility of Finland, led by the Sigismund-appointed Governor,Klaus Fleming , declared that they would not accept these decisions. They sympathised with the King and considered Charles a rebel. As a counterattack, Charles instigated a rebellion against Fleming, theCudgel War , among the farmers inOstrobothnia .Fleming managed to quell the revolt but died in April
1597 . Roughly at the same time, a letter arrived from Sigismund’s headquarters in Polen stating that Sigismund did not accept Charles as regent. The Duke then used a tactic which his father had employed, namely to resign from office. However, the response was not what Charles had been hoping for: the King accepted Charles’s resignation and invested complete power in the Privy Council.Despite the difficult situation, Charles summoned another illegal Parliament the same year, this time in
Arboga . Only one of the Privy Councillors showed up. The reason was that Charles’s goal of deposing Sigismund had now been revealed, and the men understood that a serious revolt was brewing. When Duke Charles threatened the absent men with severe punishment some of them lost courage. Erik and Arvid Stenbock, Erik Larsson Sparre, Erik Brahe and Sten Banér fled immediately to Sigismund.Thus, Duke Charles was able to assume control over a large share of the powerful castles in the country, and in this manner achieved control over almost all the Realm. The problem was Finland, where Klaus Fleming’s widow guarded
Turku Castle . But afterpsychological warfare , Charles and his followers managed to take the castle in Turku. It is said that when the Duke entered the castle chapel he saw Klaus Fleming’s body lying in a coffin. He is said to have said: “Hadst thou now been alive, thy head would not have been in great safety.” Then Fleming’s widow Ebba Stenbock is said to have approached the Duke and responded: “If my late husband had been alive, Your Grace would never have entered herein.”When Sigismund found out about what had happened in Finland he lost his patience. The King could not accept Duke Charles’s unrespectful actions. He decided to use force.
The Sausage Campaign and the Fall of Kalmar
In February
1598 Sigismund assembled an army consisting of merely 5,000 men. A larger army had been proposed, but had been dismissed since Sigismund expected Swedish forces to join him and didn’t want to come into conflict with them.The advisers and the King expected military support from Finland and Estonia. They also wanted help from
Denmark–Norway and pro-Sigismund parts of Sweden. The diplomat Laski was despatched, but Denmark didn’t show any interest.In May, Sigismund’s men started to advance northwards. The army gathered in Marienburg, where Livonian Jürgen Farensbach was appointed commander. It was planned that the army was to be transported from
Danzig to Sweden on Swedish ships. But the Swedish Estates declined. They refused to lend him ships as long as he stayed with a foreign army. There was widespread suspicion against Sigismund and his Catholic warriors. Thus the Estates promised to protect Duke Charles and the others who rebelled against the King.Since the Swedes refused to help with the transport, Sigismund had to buy and capture ships. When he had got hold of a hundred ships, the army was able to begin its journey to Sweden. Due to bad winds, the journey across the sea took a long time. Hence, a coordinated attack by the Finns and Sigismund’s Polish soldiers could not be undertaken. The Finnish soldiers, commanded by Governor Arvid Eriksson (Stålarm), landed in
Uppland one week ahead of Sigismund’s landing. Duke Charles was on his way toKalmar when the Finns invaded Uppland. He immediately rode towardsStockholm to defend the city.Meanwhile, three professors,
Nicolaus Olai Bothniensis ,Laurentius Paulinius , and Ericus Jacobi Skinnerus, attempted to stop the Finnish Sigismund loyalists. They were able to get the support of the farmers of Uppland, and after some minor fighting, Stålarm’s men withdrew. They felt threatened by Duke Charles’s navy, and were ordered not to get involved in any major battles. This event has been somewhat peculiarly named “The Sausage Campaign”, because the farmers captured the Finns’ bags, containing sausages. The Sausage Campaign was a minor victory for Duke Charles. The greatest threat was coming from the south.At the end of May
1598 Sigismund landed on Swedish soil at Avaskär. The King opened peacefully by sending the diplomat Laski toKalmar for negotiations. His task was to convince the city’s commanders to open the gates. However, the negotiations led nowhere. Instead, the King took his soldiers and marched on Kalmar. The army halted just outside of the city. The plan was to frighten the commanders into opening the gates. To make his message even more terrifying, Sigismund threatened the city with severe punishments and to withdraw the nobility of all children in the city. The propaganda worked well and Sigismund was able to make his long-desired entry onAugust 1 .The Crucial Period of the War
After the fall of Kalmar, Duke Charles found himself with major trouble on his hands. The Polish army attracted Swedish followers. Stockholm was easily taken with the help of the nobility and officers of
Götaland . This was because the capital lacked military defence. After that, the cavalry ofUppland joined up, and new forces were mobilised inFinland and Estonia.A group of envoys from Brandenburg, Prussia and Mecklenburg shuttled back and forth between Duke Charles’s and Sigismund’s camps for three weeks, trying to rescue the peace. Despite their great efforts, they failed, since neither the King nor the Duke were willing to give in. Sigismund sailed with his infantry to
Stegeborg onAugust 11 . The cavalry went to the same place by land. Charles’s situation was hardly optimal. The only bright spots were that Johan Nilsson Gyllenstierna, the ex-commander of Stockholm, had managed to escape from the city, and that the Swedish navy refused to join forces with the Poles.Sigismund now had control over Stockholm, the key to Sweden. To Charles’s relief, a third bright spot appeared shortly, however. Bad luck befell Sigismund and his fleet sailed into a violent storm. Hundreds of men were thrown overboard and perished. This incident dramatically changed the situation. Suddenly, the King was in an exposed position. On
August 22 he landed atStegeborg with merely 100 men. Their position wasn’t improved by the fact that Charles’s rested army was nearby. A small comfort for Sigismund was that his men had taken the fortresses ofÄlvsborg and Gullberg in other parts of the country. In the area aroundStegeborg , Duke Charles had withdrawn toLinköping . From there, he could block the troop supply to Sigismund. The King was surrounded by in all 5,000 men.On
August 28 , Duke Charles and his men set out fromLinköping . They camped at Mem, a few kilometres northwest ofStegeborg . At the same time, negotiations between the parties were ongoing. The Duke requested clear-cut answers from Sigismund, which the King interpreted as indicating that an assault was impending. His own army was in a trap, but there were forces elsewhere that might help him. Hans Vejer was ordered to attack the Swedes in the back, from the west. Another commander, Farensbach, drew up his forces in order of battle in front of the enemy. Charles immediately responded.At the morning of
September 8 , the Swedes attacked Sigismund in theBattle of Stegeborg . The Swedes got off to a real nightmare start, and after a few hours, Sigismund’s victory was clear. Being magnanimous, the King ordered the killing to stop.The losing Swedes quickly withdrew to their camp at Mem. The losses amounted to 300 men, but the loss of prestige hurt Charles the most. He felt himself extra humiliated by Sigismund’s magnanimous behaviour. The strain grew so big that the normally stubborn Charles wanted to abdicate and escape the country with his family. A few senior officers managed to persuade Charles to stay, however.
The negotiations were resumed and they led to a two day ceasefire. During these days, there was plenty of manoeuvring among the forces. Sigismund summoned more soldiers from Poland, at the same time as the Swedish navy sailed towards the coast. The King was in charge of the situation until the Swedish navy, commanded by Joachim Scheel, anchored outside
Stegeborg . Because of unfavourable winds, they had not been able to do this before. But once they had got there, the tables turned again. Since Scheel brought with him new forces, Charles could raise the stakes in the negotiations. The navy also blocked any reinforcements to Sigismund from Poland.Sigismund immediately felt threatened and treated the blockade as a declaration of war. For this reason, he and the Poles left
Stegeborg onSeptember 20 to march on Linköping. Duke Charles’s army immediately followed. The night toSeptember 25 minor detachments skirmished with each other.The morning of
September 25 1598 the armies clashed in a major engagement at theBattle of Stångebro . Duke Charles won a decisive victory which forced Sigismund to agree to harsh terms. Charles demanded that the King send home his entire army, but that he himself was to stay and await a Parliament. Also, a number of Swedes who had sided with Sigismund were captured. These were later executed in theLinköping Bloodbath of1600 .The agreement was sealed with a dinner between Charles and Sigismund on
Linköping Castle . The King, who was under pressure, fearing for his life without his army and having realised that he had lost the political battle, fled during the coming days to Poland. At the same time as the peace treaty was being signed in Linköping, conflicts were taking place inDalarna . There, a pro-Sigismund bailiff, Jacob Neaf, had tried to raise up the Dalecarlians against Duke Charles. Chaos ensued. Neaf was executed, and the Dalecarlians set out on the so-called Neaf Campaign (1598), burning and killing down to Brunnbäck ferry. InVästergötland ,Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm , a supporter of Duke Charles, defeated the rebellion.Year 1599
The King had planned to return to Sweden, which raised morale among his followers. However, these plans were never put into action. But the war had not ended. It continued for a few months, as Charles tried to reclaim the cities that were still in Sigismund’s hands.
He started by appointing a new city government in Stockholm. Then he scolded the burghers, who he claimed hadn’t defended the city enough. It all finished with a lot of people being jailed, among them Archbishop
Abraham Angermannus , who had supported Sigismund.Then Swedish forces, led by Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm, marched towards Kalmar to lay siege to the city. Johan Larsson Sparre defended the walls and the castle in the hope that the King would return to Sweden. But he never got any assistance and the night between
March 1 andMarch 2 the city was assaulted. Gyllenhielm and Samuel Nilsson were ordered to attack the north gate. Duke Charles himself led the attack on the western gate. After a short and sharp fight, Charles’s men managed to scale the walls. Since the soldiers began looting the city, however, the opportunity to captureKalmar Castle in the same stroke was lost.The coming days, the castle proved more tenacious than expected. Johan Larsson Sparre kept the Swedes away, and finally six Polish ships arrived. These, however, were driven back by four smaller Swedish ships and Swedish artillery fire from within the city. When the Polish ships were unable to do anything, hope disappeared for the defenders inside the castle. On
May 12 , they surrendered. After that, Johan Larsson Sparre and his closest men, such as Christoffer Andersson Stråle and Lars Rålamb, were captured.After the assault and capture of Kalmar, the focus of the war moved to Finland. Stronghold after stronghold began to be captured in July. At first, Hans Klasson Bielkenstierna and Peder Stolpe commanded the battle against Sigismund’s followers, but on
August 19 , Duke Charles personally assumed command. With the help of the navy, he crushed the last remnants, and by September all of Sigismund’s followers were gone.Aftermath and Consequences
Sigismund was officially deposed from the throne of Sweden by a Parliament in Stockholm on
July 24 1599 . He was given six months to say whether he wanted to send his son Vladislav to Sweden as his successor. The condition was that the boy be brought up in the Evangelical faith. If Sigismund did not accept these conditions, the Estates were going to look for a new king.In February
1600 , Duke Charles summoned the Estates of the Realm to Linköping. Since Sigismund hadn’t provided a reply, the Estates assumed that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the succession. Therefore, Duke Charles was elected KingCharles IX of Sweden . The consequences for those who had supported Sigismund were devastating. The most prominent among them were killed by the new King at the Linköping Bloodbath.During the winter and spring of
1600 , Charles also occupied the Swedish part of Estonia. The reason was that the castle commanders had shown sympathies towards Sigismund. This occupation led to the Second Polish-Swedish War.ee also
*
Cudgel War
*Polish-Swedish union
*Polish–Swedish wars
**Polish-Swedish War of 1600–1611 "This article is a translation of [http://sv.wikipedia.org/Kriget_mot_Sigismund the equivalent article] at Swedish Wikipedia."
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