The Love Affairs Of King Erik
We have written much of war and bloodshed; a chapter devoted to the
lighter themes of courtship and marriage may here be of interest,
especially as it has to do with the love affairs of princes and
princesses, kings and queens, personages whose every movement are deemed
by many worthy the world's attention.
Prince Erik, the eldest son of King Gustavus, grew in due course of time
to marriageable age and, a
wife. His thoughts first turned towards the Princess Elizabeth, of
England, then in the height of her youthful charms, of which exaggerated
accounts were brought to the ardent young Swede.
When Erik sought his father's consent to the suit, saying that it might
bring him not only a lovely bride but the throne of two kingdoms, the
prudent old monarch threw cold water on the project, saying:
"Even if Erik should gain Elizabeth, which I do not think likely, in view
of her many suitors, it would be more to the harm than the profit of both
kingdoms."
But Erik, a high-tempered and passionate youth, with a tendency to
something like madness, became so violent and determined that his father
at length gave way and a lover's embassy was sent to England to ask for
the fair lady's hand. But Princess Elizabeth was too much beset with
lovers to accept any of them easily, and the embassy returned with the
answer that the royal English maiden was in no haste to marry and
considered an unmarried life the happier.
In 1558 Queen Mary died and Elizabeth mounted to the throne which she was
long to adorn. This added to Erik's passionate desire to win her. One of
his agents, Dionysius Beurreus, remained in London, where he lived in
great display, keeping open table at Erik's expense, and sending in all
haste to the ardent prince every kind word which the crafty Elizabeth let
fall. Credulous in his ardent passion, Erik now felt sure of winning the
queenly maiden's hand, and sent a second embassy to England, his brother
John going with it.
Prince John was sumptuously equipped for the journey, the expenses of the
courtship eating deeply into the king's revenues, and being added to by
Erik's lavishness, for he was now so sure of the success of his suit that
he ordered a hundred dresses of the most expensive and splendid kind to
be made for him at Antwerp.
When John reached London he was courteously received by the queen, but he
found it impossible to bring her to a definite answer. If she ever
married, of course she would be happy to win so charming a spouse as
Prince Erik, but it was hard to marry a man she had never seen, and the
idea of marriage was not to her taste. In the end Elizabeth wrote to
Gustavus begging him to seek another bride for his son, as she had
decided to live unmarried.
This should have ended the matter, but it did not. One of the lover's
agents had said that the queen of England would never consent unless Erik
in person were able to win her heart, and Prince John reported her as
saying that, "though she had no desire for marriage, she could not answer
what she might do if she saw Erik himself."
Fired by the baits held out to his eager heart, Erik determined to go
himself to England, but incognito, disguised as the servant of some
foreign lord. Thus he would see and conquer the coy maiden queen. The
warnings and expostulations of his friends failed to move him from this
romantic project, but at length it reached the king's ears, and he
strictly forbade the wild-goose project as hazardous and undignified.
Erik, however, finally got his father's permission to visit England and
make his suit to the queen in his own person. But there were many
postponements of the journey, and when finally he left Stockholm to begin
the voyage to England the shock of his departure threw the old king into
a serious illness. That afternoon Gustavus went to bed, never to rise
again, and before Erik had left the kingdom word was brought him that his
father was dead. This definitely changed the situation and thus it came
about that Erik never saw Elizabeth.
The fact of his being king, indeed, did not put an end to his desire to
possess the English queen. In 1561 he determined to visit her as a king,
and on the 1st of September set sail. But the elements were not
propitious to this love errand, a violent storm arising which forced the
captains to run back to harbor. Then he decided to go overland, through
Denmark, Holland, and France, but while he was laying his plans for this
journey, an effort was made by certain love emissaries to turn his
thoughts towards Mary Stuart, the widow of a French king and heiress of
the throne of Scotland. He listened to these representatives and was so
pleased with their description of Mary's charms that his single-minded
devotion to Elizabeth was shaken.
The loveliness of Mary Stuart was a strong inducement to the young king,
but the high estate of Elizabeth was a greater one, and he did not cease
his efforts to win her hand. Being told that the chief obstacle in his
way was the handsome Earl of Leicester, he grew violently jealous of this
favored courtier. He at first challenged him to mortal combat, but as
this could not conveniently be carried out, he secretly bade his agent in
London to hire an assassin to deal with the earl, promising protection
and a rich reward to the murderer. This villainy the agent refused to
perform, and Erik now, hoping to frighten Elizabeth to give him a
favorable answer, spread a report in England that he was courting the
Scottish queen. The effect was different from what he anticipated, for
Elizabeth at once positively rejected his suit and all seemed at an end.
About this time a third lady fair came into the game. Erik was told of
the charms and rare character of the Princess Renata of Lotringen,
granddaughter of the late Christian of Denmark, and at once opened
negotiations for the hand of this princess. At the same time the crafty
Elizabeth pretended to relent and Erik was again on fire for her hand.
Thus he had now three love projects under way, from two of which, those
for Mary Stuart and Princess Renata, favorable answers were returned.
But the volatile lover, before receiving these answers, had added a
fourth string to his bow of courtships, having decided to propose for the
Princess Christina of Hesse. By this time he had spent on his threefold
courtship vast sums of money and had gone far towards making himself the
laughing-stock of Europe.
Erik's new course of love did not run smooth. The fates seemed against
him in his marriage projects. His first proposal for Christina, indeed,
received a favorable reply and it was decided that the selected bride
should arrive at Stockholm in the following May, some eight months later.
But other emissaries whom he sent in February were detained in Denmark,
and on some weak pretence were seized and imprisoned, the whole being a
ruse of King Frederick to prevent a marriage between Erik and the
Princess of Hesse, of which for political reasons he did not approve.
There was peace at that time with Denmark, but these events presaged war.
May at length arrived and Erik equipped a fleet to meet the promised
bride. There were twelve men-of-war, which were got ready for fighting if
necessary, James Bagge, a famous seaman of those days, being admiral of
the Elephant, with command of the fleet. The assigned purpose of the
expedition was to bring the bride over from Luebeck, but it is said that
Admiral Bagge had secret orders to seek and attack the Danish fleet, and
thus punish King Frederick for his treachery.
The two fleets met on May 30 off Bornholm, and the Danish ship Hercules
immediately opened fire. This fire was at once returned and a fierce
fight ensued that lasted five hours, and resulted in the capture of the
Hercules and two other ships and the flight of the rest. The Swedes now
sailed on to Luebeck, whence ambassadors were sent to Hesse to bring back
the bride. They returned in two weeks without her, the excuse being that
her trousseau was not ready. The truth was that the landgrave of Hesse
was afraid to trust his daughter in the turbulent north, from which
tidings of the naval battle had just come.
This delay was fatal to Erik's hopes, mainly through his own fault. The
first succeeding step was a request from the landgrave for a safe conduct
for his daughter through Denmark. Frederick, who dreaded ill results
from the marriage, refused this, and also refused to let ambassadors to
Hesse pass through his kingdom.
And now Erik spoiled all by his faithless versatility. On the 11th of
October he sent an order to some agents of his in Germany to proceed to
Hesse with a betrothal ring, worth six thousand thalers, for the
princess. Four days later he wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth, saying
that his addresses at the court of Hesse had never been serious, and that
he still loved and hoped to win her.
Before this was sent actual war with Denmark had broken out, and to
prevent the discovery of the letter, he concealed it in a stick and sent
it by a secret messenger. This messenger was captured by a privateer and
carried to Copenhagen; in some way his mission was suspected and the
letter found; and the Danish king, in ecstasies at his discovery,
despatched the incriminating love-missive immediately to the landgrave of
Hesse.
All was going well there when the letter arrived. The landgrave had
favorably received Erik's emissaries and the prospects of their returning
with the bride seemed fair, when the unlucky letter was put into his
hands. It fell like a thunderbolt. In a rage at seeing himself and his
daughter thus made sport of, the landgrave ordered the Swedes to leave
the town before sunset, under peril of his high displeasure. This ended
the suit for the fair maiden's hand, later ambassadors sent by Erik were
dismissed with contempt, and through having too many irons in the fire
at once the love-sick lord of Sweden found himself without a bride.
His brother, Duke John, was more fortunate, though his courtship also led
to war and his marriage brought him into dismal misfortune. Before
completing the story of Erik's love affairs, the episode of John's
matrimonial venture, with its dire results, may fitly be told.
A marriage had long been arranged between Duke John and Princess
Catharine, sister of King Sigismund of Poland. But obstacles arose and
once more the course of true love did not run smooth. Sigismund had an
older sister Anna, whom he wished married first; but this impediment was
removed by an agreement that John's brother Magnus should marry Anna.
Next the czar of Russia proposed for Catharine, but some dispute about
the marriage contract brought about a refusal. The result was typical of
the rudeness of the times. The Poles had always hated the Russians, and
to show their contempt for them Sigismund had a white figure dressed in
splendid garments and sent to the Russian court, in lieu of the
looked-for bride. Mad with rage at this bitter insult, the czar invaded
and cruelly ravaged Poland, the people, as is so often the case, being
made to suffer for the quarrels and the folly of the kings. From that
time forward the czar hated Sigismund and John, his fortunate rival.
John also had difficulty in getting his brother's consent to go to
Sigismund's court, and after he had set out an envoy was sent after him
ordering him to return. But in disregard of this he went on, and was
favorably received at the Polish court, being a handsome, courteous and
cultivated prince. Catharine was highly pleased with him, but King
Sigismund now repeated his demand that he should marry the elder sister.
Finally, after many efforts to change the king's mind, he asked Catharine
if she really desired to marry John. The princess blushed and was silent;
but her sister spoke for her and implored their brother not to prevent
her marriage with the man she loved.
At this appeal he gave way and the marriage was quickly solemnized, for
there was imminent peril of war between Sweden and Poland unless the
affair was consummated. A body of Polish troops escorted the newly wedded
couple into Livonia, lest the angry czar should seek to carry them off,
and John reached Sweden with his bride.
He was very ill received, by Erik's orders, and hastened to his own
duchy, whence he sent an invitation to the king to attend his wedding
banquet. The king came in another fashion.
Angry at John for disobeying his orders, and fearing him as a possible
aspirant for the throne, Erik cherished evil intentions against his
brother. Suspicious and superstitious by nature, he had read in the stars
the prediction that a light-haired man would deprive him of the throne,
and this man he believed to be his newly married brother. He also
fancied that John had secretly allied himself with Denmark and Poland,
and there was soon open enmity between the brothers.
The whole story of what followed is too long to be told here, but seeming
evidence against John was obtained by the torture of some of his friends
and he was attacked in his castle and taken prisoner after a two months'
defence. Erik ordered his incarceration in a dungeon, but his wife was
offered a residence with her ladies in one of the king's castles. If she
wished to accompany him to prison she could take only two of her maids
with her.
When Catharine heard this she fervently exclaimed:
"I would rather die than be separated from my husband," and fainted away.
When she recovered she was asked what she intended to do. Taking her
betrothal ring from her finger and holding it up, she said:
"Read what stands there."
They saw engraved on it, "Nemo nisi mors" (none but death).
"I will stand by it," said Catharine. And she did.
The imprisoned dependents of John, all of whom had shared in his
resistance to the king, were nearly all condemned to death and executed,
more than a hundred bodies being exposed at once at the place of
execution. That John would suffer the same fate was highly probable. His
brothers, sisters, and other relatives implored Erik to let him live;
his enemies advised his execution; the king hesitated, and postponed his
decision, finally deciding that John might live, but in perpetual
imprisonment. He was mildly and kindly treated, however, and four years
later, during a spasm of fraternal feeling in Erik, was released.
We shall not tell the remaining story of King Erik, of his wars, his
temporary madness, his violence and cruelty to some of the noblest of the
sons of Denmark, his ruthless persecution and final murder of the Stures,
descendants of one of the most famous families of Sweden and men who had
played a great part in its history. It was the story of his love episodes
with which we set out and these were not yet ended. Erik finally got a
wife and a queen, though not a queen or a princess for a wife. Love
instead of policy lay at the basis of his final courtship.
This is the story of the final and real love affair of this suitor of
princesses and queens. A soldier named Magnus, of peasant birth, who rose
to the rank of corporal in Erik's life-guard, had a daughter named
Katrina or Catherine, shortened to Karin, who as a child sat selling nuts
in the market-place at Stockholm. Here Erik one day saw her, then about
thirteen, and was so struck by her great beauty that he had her placed
among the maids-of-honor of his sister Elizabeth.
The pretty little Karin was quick to learn her duties, and in deportment
was modest and very loveable. Her beauty also grew with her age, until
she became looked upon as the fairest of the fair. Erik thought her such
and grew greatly attached to her, showing her much attention and winning
her regard by his handsome face and kindly manner. In fact she grew to
love him dearly and gave herself up entirely to him, a warm affection
existing between them.
Karin in time became everything to the king. He no longer sought for a
bride in foreign courts, no other women had attraction for him, and at
length, when the charming peasant girl had borne him a son, he determined
to find a way to make her his queen. Those were days when it was not safe
to meddle with the love affairs of a king. One unfortunate young man
named Maximilian, who had loved Karin and sought her hand in marriage,
one day intruded into the women's apartment of the palace, where he was
seized. Erik, burning with jealousy, had him condemned on a false
pretence, sewed up in a bag, and cast into the lake.
After that no one dared interfere with the love episode of Erik and
Karin. Men said she had bewitched him by a love-philter. Some of the
courtiers who feared her influence upon the king sought to disgrace her,
with the result that her intercession alone saved their lives from the
incensed monarch.
Erik's love for Karin never seemed to change. On beautiful summer
afternoons, when he would sail with a merry party on Lake Malar, Karin
was always of the party and the object of his tender attention. As they
rowed home at night he would sit beside her, contemplating the beauty of
the starry northern skies and listening to the songs from the shore or
from distant boats. These were executed by his orders, the words and
music often being his. One of these songs, in which he praises his
"Shepherdess," promises to love her forever, and bids her a "thousand
good-nights," is still extant.
The time at length came--this was after the period of his foreign wars
and his insanity--that he asked permission of the legislative body to
marry whom he pleased, at home or abroad. After this was given he
privately married Karin, and subsequently determined upon a public
celebration of his marriage and her coronation as queen. The chief
families of the country were invited to the ceremony, but they neither
came nor sent excuses. The coronation went on, notwithstanding, and the
peasant's daughter Karin became queen of Sweden as Queen Catherine.
Not alone by this marriage, but in a dozen other ways King Erik had made
enemies and he was now near the end of his career. A rebellion soon broke
out against him, headed by Duke John, who had some time before been
liberated, and by his younger brother Duke Charles. Though Erik fought
with skill and courage, the insurrection was successful, he being taken
prisoner and losing the throne. John was chosen to succeed him as king.
Erik spent the remainder of his life in prison, where he was far more
harshly treated than John had been by him, his greatest consolation being
when his wife and children were permitted to visit him. After eight years
of this close confinement John, fearful of an attempt at the release of
the captive, had him poisoned in his cell. Thus ended the career of the
elder son of Gustavus Vasa. It was a fate which he had brought upon
himself by the cruelties of his career.
A few well-deserved words may well be given to Queen Catherine. She had
never interfered in Erik's government, except to restrain him from
cruelty. Her mildness of disposition won her favor on all sides, which
was increased by her loving devotion to him while in prison. After his
death she was granted an estate in Finland, and there she lived, loved
and esteemed by all who knew her and winning the warm devotion of her
children and grandchildren. She survived to a good old age, withdrawn but
happy, and the memory of her virtues and benevolence still lives among
the peasantry of the neighborhood of her abode.
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On the 8th of July, 1853, the Japanese were treated to a genuine surprise. Off Cape Idsu, the outer extremity of the Bay of Yedo, appeared a squadron of war-vessels bound inward under full sail, in bold disregard of the lines of prohibition which Ja... The Palace Of Kublai Khan
In the middle of the thirteenth century two eminent Venetian merchants, Nicolo and Matteo Polo, of noble birth and adventurous spirit, left their native city for a long journey to the East, their purposes being those of ordinary travel and also of b... The Parliament Of Paris
In the streets of Paris all was tumult and fiery indignation. Never had there been a more sudden or violent outbreak. The whole city seemed to have turned into the streets. Not until the era of the Revolution, a century and a half later, was the cap... The Peasants And The Anabaptists
Germany, in great part, under the leadership of Martin Luther, had broken loose from the Church of Rome, the ball which he had set rolling being kept in motion by other hands. The ideas of many of those who followed him were full of the spirit of ... The Perils Of The Wilderness
On the 31st day of October, in the year 1753, a young man, whose name was as yet unknown outside the colony of Virginia, though it was destined to attain world-wide fame, set out from Williamsburg, in that colony, on a momentous errand. It was th... The Pirates Of Barataria Bay
On the coast of Louisiana, westward from the delta of the Mississippi, there lies a strange country, in which sea and land seem struggling for dominion, neither being victor in the endless contest. It is a low, flat, moist land, where countless wate... The Plague At Athens
During the period after the Persian war two great powers arose in Greece, which were destined to come into close and virulent conflict. These were the league of Delos, which developed into the empire of Athens, and the Peloponnesian confederacy, u... The Poisoning Of Sir Patrise
After the quest of the Sangreal was ended, and all the knights who were left alive had come again to Camelot, there was great joy in the court, with feasts and merrymakings, that this fortunate remnant might find a glad welcome. Above all, King Ar... The Progress Of Christianity In Japan
The fact that such a realm as that of Japan existed remained unknown in Europe until about six centuries ago, when Marco Polo, in his famous record of travel and adventure, first spoke of it. He knew of it, however, only by Chinese hearsay, and the ... The Proscription Of Sulla
While Marius and his friends were ruling and murdering in Rome, Sulla, their bitter enemy, was commanding and conquering in the East, biding his time for revenge. He drove the Asiatic foe out of Greece, taking and pillaging Athens as an episode. He ... The Prussian War And The Paris Commune
There have been two critical periods in the story of France in which history was made at a rate of rapidity rarely equalled in the history of the world. The first of these was the era of the Revolution and the Napoleonic regime, which has no paralle... The Raid Of The Goorkhas
During the past two and a half centuries the great empire of China has been under foreign rule, its emperors, its state officials, its generals and trusted battalions, being of Tartar blood, and the whole nation being forced to wear, in the shaved h... The Raids Of The Sea-rovers
While Central and Southern Europe was actively engaged in wars by land, Scandinavia, that nest of pirates, was as actively engaged in wars by sea, sending its armed galleys far to the south, to plunder and burn wherever they could find footing on ... The Railroad In Turkestan
On the 24th of January, 1881, Edward O'Donovan, a daring traveller who had journeyed far through the wastes and wilds of Turkestan, found himself on a mountain summit not far removed from the northern boundary of Persia, from which his startled ey... The Reign Of A Glutton
The death of Nero cut all the reins of order in Rome. Until now, as stated in a preceding tale, some form of hereditary succession had been followed, the emperors being of the family of Caesar, though not his direct descendants. Now confusion reigne... The Reign Of Otho Ii
Otho II., Emperor of Germany,--Otho the Red, as he was called, from his florid complexion,--succeeded to the Western Empire in 973, when in his eighteenth year of age. His reign was to be a short and active one, and attended by adventures and fluc... The Reign Of Taitsong The Great
The history of China differs remarkably from that of Japan in one particular. In the latter a single dynasty of emperors has, from the beginning, held the throne. In the former there have been numerous dynasties, most of them brief, some long extend... The Relief Of Londonderry
Frightful was the state of Londonderry. "No surrender" was the ultimatum of its inhabitants, "blockade and starvation" the threat of the besiegers; the town was surrounded, the river closed, relief seemed hopeless, life, should the furious besiege... The Rescue Of Thebes
On a certain cold and wet evening, in the month of December of the year 379 B.C., seven men, dressed as rustics or hunters, and to all appearance unarmed, though each man had a dagger concealed beneath his clothes, appeared at the gate of Thebes, ... The Retreat Of Napoleon's Grand Army
In the spring of 1812 Napoleon reached the frontiers of Russia at the head of the greatest army that had ever been under his command, it embracing half a million of men. It was not an army of Frenchmen, however, since much more than half the total... The Retreat Of The Ten Thousand
We have now to tell of one of the most remarkable events in Grecian history, to describe how ten thousand Greeks, who found themselves in the heart of the great Persian empire, without a leader and almost without food, marched through the land of ... The Return Of Columbus
In the spring succeeding the fall of Granada there came to Spain a glory and renown that made her the envy of all the nations of Europe. During the year before an Italian mariner, Christopher Columbus by name, after long haunting the camp and cour... The Revenge Of Coriolanus
Caius Marcius, a noble Roman youth, descended from the worthy king Ancus Marcius, fought valiantly when but seventeen years of age in the battle of Lake Regillus, and was there crowned with an oaken wreath, the Roman reward for saving the life of a ... The Revolt Of The Gladiators
At the beginning of the first Punic War, or war with Carthage, a new form of entertainment was introduced into Rome. This was the gladiatorial show, the fights of armed men in the arena, the first of which was given in the year 264 B.C., at the fune...