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Article: Vasa Dynasty (Sweden)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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VASA DYNASTY (SWEDEN)
VASA DYNASTY (SWEDEN).
The Vasa Dynasty, which ruled Sweden from 1523 to 1654, included Gustav I Vasa (Gustav Eriksson), Erik XIV, John III, Sigismund I Vasa, Charles IX, Gustavus II Adolphus, and Christina. During their reigns, Sweden left the Kalmar Union and became an independent state, adopted Lutheranism, developed a more complex economy, built a Baltic empire and a place of importance in European affairs, and became increasingly European culturally. (The Vasa name derives from the
vase,
a sheaf of grain in the family's insignia or shield. The family's noble roots lie in the fourteenth century.)
Gustav I Vasa (ruled 1523
–
1560) established the dynasty. ...