l, _Swensk. Kyrk. hist._, vol. iii. pt. ii. pp. 558-559,
are two letters, dated at Rydboholm, from Erik and his wife to the
regent, Svante Sture.

[10] Svart, _Gust. I.'s kroen._, p. 2.

[11] Svart, _Gust. I.'s kroen._, p. 2, and _Aehrapred._, pp. 50-51. Tegel,
_Then stoormecht._, p. 3, agrees that it was in 1509 that Gustavus was
sent to Upsala, but seems to assert that he was admitted at once to the
University.

[12] C. A. Oernhjelm's _Diplomatarium_, a manuscript preserved in the
Vitterh., Hist., och Antiq. Akad. at Stockholm.

[13] Svart, _Gust. I.'s kroen._, p. 2, and _Aehrapred._, pp. 50-51.

CHAPTER II.

FIRST MILITARY ADVENTURES OF GUSTAVUS; A PRISONER IN DENMARK. 1514-1519.

Description of Stockholm.--Christina Gyllenstjerna.--Hemming
Gad.--Christiern II.--Gustaf Trolle.--Dissension between Sten Sture
and Gustaf Trolle.--Siege of Staeket.--First Expedition of Christiern
II. against Sweden.--Trial of the Archbishop.--Arcimboldo.--Second
Expedition of Christiern II. against Sweden.--Capture of Gustavus
Vasa.--Resignation of the Archbishop.--Hostilities of Christiern
II.--Farewell of Arcimboldo.

The old town of Stockholm was beyond all doubt the most picturesque
capital in Europe. Perched on an isle of rock at the eastern extremity
of Lake Maelar, it stood forth like a sentinel guarding the entrance to
the heart of Sweden. Around its base on north and south dashed the
foaming waters of the Maelar, seeking their outlet through a narrow
winding channel to the Baltic. Across this channel on the south, and
connected with the city by a bridge, the towering cliffs of Soedermalm
gazed calmly down upon the busy traffic of the city's streets; and far
away beyond the channel on the north stretched an undulating plain,
dotted with little patches of green shrubbery and forest. On the west
the city commanded a wide view over an enchanting lake studded with
darkly wooded isles, above whose trees peeped here and there some grim
turret or lofty spire. Finally, in the east, the burgher standing on
the city's walls could trace for several miles the current of a silver
stream, glittering in the sunlight, and twisting in and out among the
islands along the coast until at last it lost itself in the mighty
waters of the Baltic.

The town itself was small. The main isle, on which "the city," so
called, was built, stretched scarce a quarter of a mile from east to
west and but little more from north