Machiavelli: The Price of Freedom
Erik Petersson
Today it was time for Erik to come to one of Christian II’s favorite places, Malmö and more specifically Malmöhus, the early 16th century fortress that in our days lie in the middle of the lively city. Christian had one of his main pillars of support in the inhabitants of Malmö, and especially in his loyal mint coiner, Jörgen Kock, who also served several years as the city’s Mayor.
A REMARK ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSPECTIVE
I was talking about my book on Kristian II, “Prince of the North”, and how the union in the north trembled and fell during his reign.
One of the questions concerned if the fall of the union could have been avoided, had Kristian done something different. My reply was that history often looks like a necessity, that somethings were bound to happen, but that it is only the case when we look at it in hindsight. For people living in the days of Kristian this was certainly not the case. They had no idea what direction the political situation would develop in, and only for us it looks like the union in the north was “doomed” to fall.
A big thanks to all who came out to make this lecture a night to remember, and especially to “Clio’s friends” who arranged everything splendidly.
AN EVENING AT KALMAR CASTLE: Today marked a special happening, I was lucky enough to get to lecture on the fantastic castle of Kalmar, a medieval fortress turned into a Renaissance palace in the 16th century by two of Gustav Vasa’s sons, Erik XIV and Johan III.
But my lecture was of course about a well-known enemy of Gustav Vasa – Christian II. He was dethroned by Gustav Vasa and deemed a tyrant by him.
And yes, despite being the first month of Spring, it was still a bit chilly when I was posing for this picture.
Every spring, a special occasion takes place for history lovers in Copenhagen called ”Historiske dage”, the History days. It’s a full weekend of seminars, talks, discussions and history books in the old Meatpacking district (Kødbyn). This year I was invited to talk about Christian II and my book ”Prince of the North” (Furste av Norden). Thank you all who came and listened, I hope you enjoyed the event as much as I did.
Today my book on Christian II, in Sweden more well-known as Christian “the tyrant”, the last monarch of the Nordic Union in the 16th century, is published in Danish by Politiken Forlag.
In Sweden, the title “Prince of the North: Christian the Tyrant” is used, but in Danish the subtitle was not surprisingly changed to “A biography of Christian II”.
Today my new book “Prince of the North” (in Swedish: “Furste av Norden: Kristian Tyrann”) is published. It is a biography on the last monarch of the Nordic Union, Kristian II (1481–1559), as well as a portrait of some unruly decades in the early 16th century that changed the North radically on the brink to the modern era.
