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SURVEY OF ITS HISTORY.
79
this success, the people also rid themselves of an old dependency of the Germans,
by repealing the stipulation which had hitherto held good: that one half of the
governing body in every town should consist of Germans. That such a condition
of things could ever have come into existence, clearly shows how undeveloped
the economical life of Sweden still was. In this matter Sweden followed the lead
of Germany during the whole of the Middle Ages, and it was Gustavus Vasa who
first created, in this as in almost all other respects, a perfectly independent Sweden.
The exterior boundaries of the country remained unchanged during the whole
of this disturbed period. The island of Gotland, however, repeatedly fell into the
power of Denmark, and was formally surrendered to that country during the next
period (in the year 1570).
Modern Times
(from 1523 onwards).
The Period of Sweden’s Re-birth (1523/1611). The line of the Vasas,
which now ascended the throne of Sweden, is one of the most gifted and one of
the most illustrious and celebrated families known to history, and Gustavus Vasa
(1523/60) is one of the foremost figures amongst the great rulers of the world.
His services to Sweden may be very briefly expressed by the word given
above — Re-birth. He rallied once more our half annihilated nation, he
freed it from its political dependence upon Denmark, its economical dependence
upon the Hanse-towns, and its ecclesiastical dependence upon the papal power.
The traces of nearly a century of warfare were obliterated by newly awakened,
peaceful industry, and under Gustavus Vasa Sweden, for the first time, assumed its
position as a distinguished member of the European political system.
Vadstena Castle. At Lake Vettern.
Photo. PR. Klemming,
Stockholm.
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