shed a new
spiritual kingdom at Muehlhausen." The name of the great Anabaptist
"prophet" was Thomas Muenzer, and the place where he established his
brief reign was Muenster. Strindberg's habit was to fill his head with
the facts to be used, and then to rely on his memory. Marvellous as his
memory was, it sometimes deceived him, and checking off names or dates
seems to have been utterly beyond him. Thus it is quite probable that
the passage in question represents an unconscious error. At the same
time it is barely possible that the mistake may have been purposely laid
in the mouth of a fanatic, from whom exactness of statement could hardly
be expected. Thus, in the first act, Gert remarks that "Luther is
dead." We understand, of course, that this expression is metaphorical,
signifying that Luther has done all that can be expected of him, but it
is nevertheless characteristically ambiguous.

The second scene of the third act is apparently laid in Olof's house
at Stockholm, although the location of the building is not definitely
indicated. We find him waiting for a messenger who is to announce the
results of the Riksdag then in session. But the Riksdag was held at
Vesteras, and we know that Olof was one of two delegates sent by the
burghers and the peasants to the King, whom they implored "on their
knees and with tears" to withdraw his abdication. The Courtier's
reference to Olof's debate with Galle renders it still more uncertain
whether we are in Stockholm or in Vesteras. The Courtier also informs
Olof of his appointment as pastor of Greatchurch, the facts being that
Olof was not ordained until 1539 and received his appointment a year
after the events described in the last act of the play. In the metrical
version, Strindberg makes his most radical departure from the historical
course of events by letting Luther's marriage precede and influence
that of Olof, although in reality Olof's anticipated that of Luther by
several months.

The complaints of the Man from Smaland in the first scene of the second
act could scarcely have been warranted in 1524, when that act takes
place. The hold of the young King was far too precarious at that
early date to permit any regulations of the kind referred to. The
establishment of a maximum price on oxen does not seem to have occurred
until 1532, and a prohibition against the shooting of deer by the
peasants was actually issued in 1538, both measures helping to provoke
the widespread upr