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In 1434, led by Engelbrecht, the miner, they rose against the oppressive tyranny of the officers of Eric XIV. of Denmark, and in 1519-1523 it was among them that Gustavus Vasa found his staunchest supporters in his patriotic task of freeing Sweden from the yoke of the Danes.

The tension which had prevailed between the two kingdoms during the last years of Gustavus Vasa reached breaking point on the accession of Gustavus’s eldest son Eric XIV.

His mother, Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, was the elder sister of Catherine, the first wife of Gustavus Vasa and the mother of Eric XIV.

During the course of this Seven Years’ War Frederick II. had narrowly escaped the fate of his deposed cousin Eric XIV.

The dark tragedy, known as the Sture murders, began with Eric XIV.’s strange treatment of young Count Nils.