b o o k b e e n f o r h im f e l f a n d h i s p e o p l e , i f h e h a d c o n t in u e d his* vrn, . 4
..... ' , rpjgn u p o n t h e f am e p r in c ip le s .
At firft all his enterprizes were crowned with fuccefs : he
abridged the power of the Daniih nobility, and exalted the regal
prerogatives he obtained the crown of Sweden by conqueft,.
and was even proclaimed hereditary fovereign of that kingdom.
A prudent and temporate ufe of thefe advantages-
might have enfured to him a long and undifturbed poffeffion.
o f the throne;, i f his natural difpoiition, now freed from all:
reftraint by profperity, had not hurried him to the perpetration
o f the rpoft flagrant a ¿Is. o f tyranny.. The dreadful
maflacre of, Stockholm, in which fix, hundred: o f the principal
nobility were put to. the fword,.under the femblance o f
law, and amid the rejoicings o f his- coronation, exhibited fuch a.
ftriking inftance o f his malignant and implacable character;-
that, upon the revolt o f Guftavus Vafa, the fpirit o f refiftance
diffufed itfelf rapidly from Sweden to Denmark,, where he
had exafperated his fubjedts by repeated cruelties and op-,
preflions, and the foie confidence which he placed in the
loweft and. moft, unworthy favourites-:*» In 15.2.3 he- was-.
publiekly.
* T r ie firibof.-th efe, favouri-tes w a s th e p u k r - fu r y * file w a s .c o n v e y ed in a c h e f t on-
ioj'aropus Sigreb.it, m o th er o f the k in g ’ s" b o a rd to f thè veffel wh'fph ca rried C hrifiian .
miftrefs D iv e k e . T h is a r t fu l woman, w h o . from, D enma rk.. H o lb e rg adds, th a t ilie .
was-a native o f Ho llan d , and- had* k ep t an. confoled*the k in g fo r the lofs o f.h is, c r o w n ,,.
inn at B e r g h e iv in N o rw a y , even after--her .• b y .all u rin g him, th a t , thtough<the em p e r o rV -
daughter*« death retained, fu ch p ow er , that.' in te re ft, he conlcL-not fa.il o f b eing chofen:-,
fb e m igh t even be ftyled prime.-minifter : b u rg om a fte r -o f Amfterdam. T h e further»-
flie was the on ly chanpel o f his favours.; pa rticulars o f this woman’ s”life.fubfequent,-
{ ranfa&ed all affair« o f importance ; hadythe to her .efcape from Denma rk:are n o t known.
ca re o f the finances; fuperintended the cu f- . T h e oth e r fa v o u r ite , o f Ch riftian IT. no 1
toms o f the Sound-; and. had, in a w o rd , lefs. infamous th an the forme r, vvas N ich o la s -
acquired, fijch-a wonderful afceniflancy.over • SI age) b e c k , o rig in a lly a b arber o f W eftpha - _
th e infatua ted monarch, th a t her influence Iia-,- and -recommended to th e k in g by his--,
was a ttr ib u ted to fafcination-, U pon th e , re la tion 1 S ig re b it, H e rendered h im fe lf fo*.
k in g ’ s depofition, Sig reb it was fo mu ch de - ufe fui to C h r iftian b y his fanguinary advice .
ie fie à , th a t , from apprehen.fipns, o f th e .p o - at-.tb^maiiacre^of Sto ck h o lm , and b y beingpubliekly
depofed by the fiâtes o f Denmark ; and the crown CI-rA1’-
transferred to his uncle Frederick duke o f Holftejn. This^— v—>
depofition was neither the confequence o f Frederick’s intrigues.,
nor o f the fpirit o f party; but was occafioned by
-the juft and univerfal deteftation which pervaded all ranks
-of people ; and as it was the general lenfe o f the nation, it
had more the appearance o f a new eledtion upon the demife
o f the crown, than o f a révolution which deprived a defpot
•of his throne. Chriftian himfelf was indeed fo fenfible o f
the general odium, that, though by no means deficient in
perfonal courage, he yet made not the leaft effort to retain
pofielfion of that throne which he had fo often diihonoured.
Upon quitting Copenhagen he repaired to Antwerp, under
•the proteâion o f Charles V. whofe After Ifabella he had
married. After many delays and folicitations at the different
-courts o f Europe., he at length collected, by the emperor’s
affiftance, a fleet and army, with which he invaded the Dari
i ill dominions his attempts, however, proving unfuccefs-
ful, he fell, in 1532, into the hands o f Frederick I. and was
'configned a prifoner to the caftle o f Sunderborg, a ftrong for-
-trefs in the Ifle of Alfen.
The place o f his confinement was a dungeon, with a fmaïl
■window, admitting only a few rays o f light, and through
which his praviiions were conveyed. Having'entered this
gloomy cell -with a favourite dwarf, the foie companion of
his mifery, the door was inftantly walled up. Even the horrors
o f this fituation were aggravated by the death o f his
-only fon John, who expired -at itatiibon in the 15th year of
»the in fin im en t o f his c ru e lty , ¡that he-was ' th e . pu b lick v en g e a n c e : th e u nfortunate
rewajded wirh the arch b ifiioprick o f L u n - v if t im was fir ft ra cked, and then burnt alive^
»den. N o t lo n g afte rwa rds, however, th e e xh ib itin g a melan choly -example, what lit t le
‘k in g threw upon this 'favourite all the odi- confidence-is to ‘be -repofed in the favou r o f
11111 o f «the -mariaere, an d ia crificed him to a tyran t.
4 F a his