Gustav Adolf Vasa KG (1594 - 1632)

Born 9 Dec 1594 in Castle Tre Kronor, Stockholm, Sweden

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 16 Nov 1632 at age 37 in Lützen, Kurfürstentum Sachsen, Heiliges Römisches Reich

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Biography

Gustav II Adolf Vasa KG is a member of the House of Vasa.

Gustav II Adolf Vasa was a member of the aristocracy in Europe.

He was the King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632 and is credited as the founder of Sweden as a Great Power (Swedish: Stormaktstiden). He led Sweden to military supremacy during the Thirty Years War, helping to determine the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe.

At this time Sweden controlled much of Germany. ^[1]

Gustav II Adolf commissioned the construction of the ship Wasa. On its maiden voyage in August 1628 it sank only a few hundred meters from the shipyard in a light squall (wind force 3, a light wind).^[2][3][4]

Birth

Gustav Adolf was born December 9, 1594 at Stockholm Castle as the seventh child of Karl IX Vasa. His mother was Kristina af Holstein Gottorp who was the second wife of Karl.

Duchies

March 15, 1607, Gustaf Adolf was given the title Duke of Estonia and Grand Duke of Finland. In 1610 he also got the title Duke of Västmanland.

Love, Mistress, Wife and Children

In 1613, Gustav proposed to Ebba Brahe whom he had loved since he was a teenager but his mother strongly opposed the marriage.

Gustav had at least one mistress, Margareta Slots. They had one son:

1. Gustaf Gustafsson (1616-1653), count of Vasaborg.

November 25, 1620, Gustav II Adolf marries Maria Eleonora, the daughter of the electoral prince Johan Sigismund of Brandenburg and Anna of Preussen. The marriage was not a happy one and the couple only had one daughter:

1. Kristina (1626-1689)

Death and Burial

Gustaf II Adolf died November 6, 1632, during the battle of Lützen in the Thirty Years' War. He was buried at Riddarholm Church in Stockholm.^[5]

See also Riddarholmskyrkan

Titles

• March 22, 1604, Hereditary Prince and Successor to the throne.
• March 15, 1607, Grand Duke of Finland and Duke of Estonia.
• 1610 Duke of Västmanland
• 1611-1632 King of Sweden

Motto

Honour to the Great, the refuge of his people.

Sources

1. ↑ Page 132 "Reprobates, The Cavaliers of the English Civil War", John Stubbs, Viking-Penquin, 2011, London.
2. ↑ IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 19, No. 4, 1997, pages 6 and 7.
3. ↑ C. Borgenstam and A. Sandström, Why Wasa Capsized, Wasa Studies 13, Statens sjöhistoriska museum, Stockholm, no date given (1984?)
4. ↑ http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/War/SE/Wasa(1627).html
5. ↑ Gustav II Adolph Original name: Gustaf Adolf den Store on Find A Grave: Memorial #8508950 Retrieved 23:45, 6 January 2017 (EST).

See also;

• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Wikipedia
• Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon: #13316 , Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Sven A Nilsson), hämtad 2016-04-20.
• Lützen, Encyclopedia Britannica
• Battle of Lützen, November 16, 1632. History of War
• Svensson, Alex. Sveriges regenter under 1000 år. Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Biblioteks Förlag, 2010. [ ]
• Larsson, Lars-Ove. Vem är vem i svensk historia - Från forntid till år 1900. Rabeén & Sjögren, 1993. [ ]