have this matter brought to peace
and friendship according to the counsel of good men or will you have it
judged by the law?"

Archbishop Trolle answered, "The offence being one against the Church,
the cause of the accused should be judged by the Pope."

This was a mode of settling the matter which by no means conformed with
the king's intention, and he answered:

"This is a matter not to be referred to the Pope, but to be terminated at
home in the kingdom, without troubling his Holiness."

In this decision he was not to be shaken, knowing well that if the
archbishop's proposal to refer the matter to the Pope were carried out
his secret sanguinary purpose would be defeated. What he proposed was the
murder of the lords, and he had no intention of letting the matter escape
from his control.

Lord Sten Sture, against whom the accusation had been chiefly directed,
was dead, but his widow, the Lady Christina, was present, and was asked
what defence she had to offer for herself and her husband. She replied
that the offences against the archbishop were not due to Lord Sten alone,
but were done with the approbation of the senate and the kingdom and she
produced a parchment in proof of her words, signed by many of the persons
present. Christian eagerly seized upon the incriminating document, as
giving him a warrant for his proceedings and evidence against those whom
he most hated and feared.

All whose names were attached to it were brought up, one after another,
there being among them several bishops, who had taken part in the matter
on patriotic and political grounds, and a number of senators. Every one
tried to excuse himself, but of the whole number Bishop Otto was the only
one whose excuse was accepted. At the end of the examination all those
accused were seized and taken from the hall, the whole number, senators,
prelates, noblemen, priests and burghers, being locked up together in a
tower, the two bishops among them being alone given a better prison. The
true reason for proceeding against the churchmen was that they had been
the friends of Sten Sture and might prefer their country to the king. The
wicked tyrant, who in this illegal manner had sought to make the Church
responsible for his bloodthirsty schemes, hesitated not to condemn clergy
and laity alike, and ended the session by the arbitrary decision that all
the accused were heretics and as such should die.

Irreligious, illegal, and ruthless as had been this