@King of Danes @Milites @Jürgen @Atterdag @Zulfurium @Bastiram @Gabingston my attempt to write for Denmark
Soundtrack:
Niels Gade - Gefion, op. 54 [1]
11 October 1471
*Brunkeberg* *we see the battlefield strewn with corpses of the slain* *Danish soldiers are moving among the bodies and putting any enemy combattants out of their misery*
*cut to a tent* *King Christian of Denmark, Norway, and sometimes, Sweden, is sitting there when a man with pale blond hair is brought in*
Christian: *looks at the blond man* *we see he's missing his front teeth [2]* well, Herr Nils, your cousin is dead, and you are soon to join him...do you wish to depart this life with such a stain as rebelling against your king on your immortal soul? Or do you wish to depart it in peace? I don't need my chaplain to tell you where your brother has already ended up.
Nils Bosson Sture: *grimacing in pain* there is no stain on my soul, sir. I shall depart this life in peace, knowing that I have done my duty to both my nation and my people.
Christian: *half amused* what nation is that that I do not rule? You are a rebel, and you have incited rebellion against your lawful king-
Sture: by no Swedish law.
Christian: we agreed with the late King Carl that whosoever of us lives longer, he shall succeed [3]
Sture: but King Carl had no son when he made that agreement
Christian: and what makes you believe that King Carl's son will survive any longer than his brothers [4]? Nevertheless...perhaps...had you lived...you should've gone to England. No doubt they would've appreciated your...stubborness and defiance...there. After all, you have killed more Swedes in your quest to remove me than you have killed Danes.
Sture: Sweden will not remain at heel, Christian. We are not Holstein or Schleswig that yip at your heels like dogs and come when you call-
Christian: nor will I treat you like dogs that have bitten me, as you so rightly deserve.
December 1471
*Stockholm* *King Christian rides in triumphal procession through the streets, followed by his nobles and knights* *penants with the three crowns flutter on the tips of lances*
*cut to the Storkyrkan where we see the Archbishop of Uppsala, Jakob Ulfsson [5], placing the crown on a kneeling Christian's head [6]*
*cut to the coronation banquet at the Stockholm City Hall [7]*
Christian: *raises his hand for silence* we are much warmed by your reception of us after this most...unhappy time. We are touched by the displays of loyalty to us and ours. However...it has come to our attention that things are not as they should be.
*murmuring*
Christian: we do not mean the urgings and conspirings of the Totts and the Bondes and, dare we say, the Stures. But rather, that we have heard complaints that not only fair Stockholm, but also the great market towns of our kingdom, are obliged to choose such men as are inimical to not only our rule, but to good governance. We speak of that these...evil councillors...are loyal to the Hansa, to the emperor, even to our brother [7] rather than being of good, loyal, local stock.
*few hasty glances around the hall* *murmuring intensifies*
Christian: The mayors and aldermen would never wish for Sweden's lords and councils to come to the aid or rescue of the cities, since for such a thing to happen would jeopardize the power they have wrongfully obtained and the corruption that they are so mired in- like pigs swimming in their own filth. This is not only an insult to us but also an insult to our most beloved realm of Sweden [9] since they will gladly risk the lives and property of our most loyal citizens in order to prevent themselves from being removed.
*several nods from the murmuring hall* *several worried glances*
Christian: it is our hope, that, now that we are able to put this...unhappy tumult behind us, and that no more will they stand in the way of either our expression of love for this favoured kingdom of ours, or that they will continue to endeavour at such foreign schemes against us.
*pan out as we see several men cheering* *others are more reserved at the speech*
*cut to Copenhagen* *Christian I steps ashore on the quayside to be met by a man in black*
Man: *bows* sire, I am sorry to trouble you with such unfortunate news.
Christian: what is it?
Man: His Highness...your newborn son...he *swallows* has died.
Christian: *looks up at sky* God has granted me a great victory and taken my son from me before I ever met him...I should gladly exchange the former to keep the latter
*fade to black*
[1] admittedly not contemporary, but I struggled to find any works from the period (or even associated with the period), and Gefjon/Gefjun is associated with the whole Kalmar Union apparently.
[2] Christian I sustained this injury at Bunkeberg OTL
[3] this was agreed at Halmstadt in 1450 already
[4] Carl II/VIII Bonde had four sons who died in infancy
[5] he was opposed to the Stures and his appointment saw the passing over of a Bonde candidate. So...while this would not necessarily equal that he's a Christian-loyalist, he has no reason to object to the creation.
[6] I have no idea if Christian was crowned as king of Sweden at any point. But I could see him going for it- if a pared down ceremony cobbled together in haste to emphasize his position.
[7] no idea where the official residence was, since Tre Kronor was only from Gustav Vasa's time
[8] Christian II had removed his brother, Gerhard the Pugnacious, from his duties as count of Oldenburg for conspiring against him in 1469
[9] these were complaints that were levelled OTL as well- that most city councils/mayors in Sweden were foreigners- Christian's use of the rhetoric questioning their loyalty to the crown (describing them as agents of the Hansa, the emperor or his brother) as well as making them "agents provacateurs" of enemy powers is him appealing to the "patriotic" streak of some rebels (like Sture had). It makes them feel as though they've been "heard", even if he doesn't necessarily plan to do anything about them [10]
[10] ISTR reading that even by the time of Gustaf Vasa, most government posts were entrusted to Germans simply because there were no Swedes capable of running the bureaucracy.