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| Erik XIV. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
“Prince Gustav is the main character of the famous Polish novel "Broken star" by Jadwiga Żylińska.”
Hmmm…Being an avid reader, born and
educated in Poland, I should have heard about that “famous” novel and its
author, shouldn’t I? Only I didn’t. It piqued my curiosity though so I decided
to look for that book. I got lucky – a very reasonably priced paperback copy
(for a bit less than two dollars) was sent to me soon afterwards by one of
Internet bookshops. I am sure they thought they've got a great deal as well, getting rid of it. By the way the title is translated badly: it should be
“Falling star” or even “Meteorite” not “Broken star”. When I wanted to find an
English translation I faced a concrete wall of nothingness. Maybe it was
because that author was not as famous as Wikipedia wanted her to be (never,
never, never believe completely any statement by Wikipedia, not unless you check it twice) or maybe because Ms
Żylińska’s novel, written and published in 1985, belongs firmly to the era before e-books, Internet
bookshops and, indeed, democratic changes in the Central and Eastern Europe. I
bet its subject matter and its hero (a prince rejected by aristocracy who had
to work from time to time to make the ends meet) suited the communistic
propaganda only too well.
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| Queen Catherine (1568) of Sweden (1550-1612) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Anyway, what can be found about Gustav Eriksson Vasa? He was born in
January 28, 1568 and died in February 1607. He was an illegitimate son of Eric
14th , the king of Sweden, and Karin
Månsdotter (Kaarina Maununtytär in Finnish). The
career of his mother could have been written by a romance author. Karin, a
daughter of a prison guard, arrived at court as a maid to Princess Elizabeth,
the King’s sister.
The brilliant but unstable Erik soon fell for the lovely, gentle Karin, and made her his mistress. Like other rulers of the period, Erik had had many ladies in his life, but his passion for Karin was unique. He dismissed all his other mistresses and treated her with a generosity and devotion that baffled the court. The royal accounts state that she was given a new and expensive wardrobe and her own staff, among them her own former employer; Karin, the wife of Gert Cantor. Karin was even accused of using witchcraft and love potions to inspire this unique and single-minded attachment.
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| Stenrelief av Karin Månsdotter i Åbo domkyrka. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Princess Sigrid of Sweden (1566-1633), daughter of King Eric XIV (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The new king was afraid that the supporters of his older brother
would try to deprive him and his son of the crown so he wanted to assassinate
Gustav. That’s why in 1575 the
boy was secretly sent to Poland where he was placed in the household of a
Polish nobleman; for reasons unknown he ran away and for some period of time he
lived in poverty, allegedly working as a servant in an inn. Then he was found
by one of the most influential Polish aristocrats of that time, Count Albert
Laski (Olbracht Łaski) , an alchemist and a courtier during the reign of Stephen Batory.
Łaski was a very interesting personality - not only a nobleman but also
a well-educated, refined man of the world, a polyglot who was famous for his
international connections with different European rulers and courts. He knew
personally Elizabeth 1st and several Polish and Habsburg kings.
However he was also a man who didn’t
flinch from marrying a rich widow over twenty years his senior; then he
imprisoned her for 11 years, until her death, just to get hold of her
significant personal wealth. He was also accused of bigamy – while the said widow was
still alive in her prison he married a French lady, Sabina de Sève - this time, apparently, out of love. He really would feel perfectly at ease among the
ASOIAF series characters by George R.R. Martin. Shadowy doesn’t even
start to cover that gent.
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| Olbracht (Albert) Laski |
For example Ivan IV of
Russia attempted to persuade
Gustav to help him in his political ambitions around the Baltic. The orphaned and persecuted
prince was such a great pretext for meddling in internal affairs of Sweden and Russians have always loved meddling;
initially Gustav was quite unwilling to listen to the Tzars and profit from
their generosity; he preferred living in Prague and assisting the Czech king,
Rudolf, with his alchemical experiments. Great men’s favours are uncertain, though, especially when your own status is rather shadowy; after some peaceful years
Gustav was imprisoned by his former protector for some time and deemed as
insane as his father. After such an experience he decided to listen more closely to the Russians and
change the climate.
In August 1599 he officially
arrived in Moscow for a proposed marriage to another
Tsar’s, Boris Godunov's, daughter
Ksenia. He was showered with gifts and honours, given houses and servants, finally treated like a real
royalty. It must have gone straight to his head – according to Russian accounts he started to live a
self-indulgent life. He even dared to invite his old lover with children (we
don’t know her real name - I will elaborate in a moment) and showed her off
in public driving along in a carriage harnessed as though it was meant for the
tsarina. Either he didn’t understand the consequences of his move or he didn’t
trust the Tzar and his promises enough to behave. It was a major slight and the offended Tzar broke off
the engagement. He didn't give up his plans though - Gustav was still kept close and considered useful.
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| Gustav Eriksson Vasa (1568-1607) - unfortunately it is most likely not his real portrait (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As compensation for the broken word he received the principality of Uglich (some 194 kilometers north of Moscow), where he lived until the
beginning of the reign of the False
Dimitry (1605); Dimitry ordered his arrest by the demands of his ally — Sigismund III Vasa (the king of
Poland, cousin of Gustav and son of king John III) and sent him to Yaroslav jail - apparently some influential people
feared the prince deep down might still nourish some political ambitions. After the death of
the False Dmitry (1606), the new Tsar, Vasili
IV of Russia, released Gustav and sent him to live in the small city of Kashin (Russia) with his family. His lover’s
name is lost; some said it was a girl called Brita Karth; Ms Żylińska in her
book calls her Otillia (Tillia). I suppose both are fictional, especially the first.
The history about
Brita Karth and her alleged children with prince Gustav was almost for sure the
product of baron Adolf Ludvig Stierneld’s vivid imagination (1755-1835). The baron was a courtier and a well-known
collector of historical documents, whom historians have later found also to be
a ruthless forger of such documents. Wishing to claim a royal ancestry for his
own family Stierneld reported having found handwritten notes by Brita Karth
herself regarding her relation and family with Gustav in an old pious book that
was to have been given to her by Gustav's mother, Karin Månsdotter. Oh right, a man can dream.
Gustav Eriksson Vasa died in
February 1607 in Kashin and was buried there February 22. He
never managed to return to his country or play any significant role.
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| The coat of arms of Eric XIV of Sweden including the arms of Norway and Denmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Ms Żylińska in her book allows him
to speak for himself – in the first part the unfortunate exiled prince, brought
up among strangers and growing without any roots, presents his own version of events. I must say it was done
in a believable way – Gustav doesn’t know/understand much, blaming the stars
and fate for his lack of success. He runs around in circles from one more powerful protector to another and he sounds like an underdog – defeated even
before he thought about fighting back seriously. It is obvious he wasn't stupid - he could have been a good
scientist, painter, doctor or/and alchemist but never a prince or a king. He
was simply not a politician or a strategist.
Jean Allard, his father’s French mercenary
and the most faithful supporter, would be far better
suited for that role - the second part of the book consists of his memoirs. He tried to find Gustav and reinstate him as a king or a prince all his life.
He was also a kind of unofficial trustee to the treasure of king Eric – chests
of gold and jewellery he kept in a secret location hoping almost against the
hope that one day the prince would use them to return to Sweden and defeat all
his foes. Even historical records confirm Allard negotiated with Henry III of France to whom he offered a
significant sum of money – 2 millions ecus, not less – to help the Swedish
prince. He and adult Gustav never met although not for the lack of trying; Allard was definitely a determined man and he wanted to be faithful; if not to a
dead king’s son and heir then at least to an idea he’d fallen in love with.
Pity all his efforts were so pathetically fruitless.
Sources:
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