e issue could not
long be doubtful. At a general diet held in 1471, Sten Sture was chosen
regent of the kingdom. It is impossible to overrate the significance of
this event. This was the first time that the burgher element played an
important part in the election of Sweden's ruler. The peasantry had once
before been prominent, but so long as the oligarchy held firmly
together, their actual influence had been slight. Now the ranks of the
oligarchy were broken. One party looked for supporters in Denmark and in
the Church; the other, now gaining the upper hand, was distinctly the
party of the people. The very name of regent, which was granted to Sten
Sture, bears witness to the popular character of the movement. And this
was destined to be the tendency of the current during the next
half-century. There were many difficulties, however, with which the
patriot party had to contend. In the first place, the Swedish party was
in lack of funds. An enormous proportion of the kingdom was exempt from
taxes, being held by magnates, who by this time claimed the right to
inherit their fathers' fiefs with all the ancient privileges, but
without the ancient duty to render military service. In this juncture
war broke out with Russia, at the same time that the kingdom was
continually harassed by Christiern, king of Denmark. It was clear that
some new mode must be discovered for raising money. The peasantry were
already groaning under a heavier load than they could bear. Sten
therefore turned to some of the magnates, and demanded of them that they
should give up a portion of their fiefs. They of course resisted, and
his whole reign was occupied with a struggle to make them yield. In 1481
Christiern, king of Denmark, died, and was succeeded by his son Hans.
The efforts of Sten Sture to curb the magnates had rendered him so
unpopular among them, that the Swedish Cabinet now opened negotiations
with the new king of Denmark. These negotiations resulted in a meeting
of the Cabinets of the three Northern kingdoms, held at Kalmar in 1483.
This body promulgated a decree, known in history as the Kalmar Recess,
accepting Hans as king of Sweden. To this decree Sten Sture reluctantly
affixed his seal. The main clauses of the decree were these: No one in
Sweden was to be held accountable for past opposition to King Hans; the
king was to live one year alternately in each kingdom; the high posts as
well as the fiefs of Sweden should be granted to none but S