Gustav Vasa

Gustav Vasa
Portrait by Jakob Binck, 1542
King of Sweden
Reign6 June 1523 – 29 September 1560
Coronation12 January 1528
PredecessorChristian II
SuccessorEric XIV
BornGustav Eriksson
12 May 1496
Rydboholm Castle, Uppland or
Lindholmen, Uppland, Sweden
Died29 September 1560(1560-09-29) (aged 64)
Tre Kronor, Stockholm, Sweden
Burial21 December 1560
Spouses
(m. 1531; died 1535)
(m. 1536; died 1551)
(m. 1552)
Issue
HouseVasa
FatherErik Johansson Vasa
MotherCecilia Månsdotter
ReligionLutheran (1523–1560)
prev. Catholic (1496–1523)
SignatureGustav Vasa's signature

Gustav I (born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family;[1] 12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), commonly known as Gustav Vasa, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560,[2] previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Riksföreståndare) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Gustav rose to lead the Swedish War of Liberation following the Stockholm Bloodbath, where his father was executed. Gustav's election as king on 6 June 1523 (the National Day of Sweden) and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later marked Sweden's final secession from the Kalmar Union.[3]

  1. ^ Gustav's gravestone gives his year of birth as 1485, although according to his son Charles IX he had been born in 1488. His nephew Per Brahe gives 1495 as Gustav's year of birth, and historian Erik Göransson Tegel the year 1490. Brahe and Tegel agree that Gustav was born on Ascension Thursday, 12 May, with this match occurring in 1491 and 1496.
  2. ^ "Sweden". World Statesmen. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  3. ^ Anastacia Sampson. "Swedish Monarchy – Gustav Vasa". sweden.org.za. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.