Vasa (formerly Vasa ; Swede. Vasa, Vasaätten , Polish. Wazowie ) is a Swedish clan whose representatives occupied the royal thrones of Sweden and the Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries . In Sweden, the Vasa dynasty ruled in 1523-1654, and in the Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668.
| Vasa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A country | Sweden , Poland , Lithuania |
| Founder | Gustav I Vasa |
| The last ruler | Jan II Casimir |
| Current chapter | The genus has stopped |
| Year of foundation | 1523 |
| Cessation | 1689 |
| Bias | 1668 |
| Nationality | Swedes |
| Titles | |
 Grand Duke of Lithuania | |
Content
Swedish line
In the Swedish region of Ruslagen already in the XIV century there were three genera that wore a coat of arms, which since the time of Gustav I, because of its shape, began to be called a “vase”. Probably, these births were related to each other. Two of them stopped in the Middle Ages , and did not rise above the level of a simple provincial nobility. The third, on the contrary, rose from the first half of the 15th century and became one of the most prominent families of Sweden. His first documented representative was Niels Chettilson, mentioned in 1361 - 1378 . His son Kristiern Nilsson was a Riksdrots . The descendants of the latter at the end of the Middle Ages occupied a high social position in Sweden.
Kristern Nilsson’s great-grandson Gustav Ericsson , who was the only male member of the family at that time , ascended the Swedish throne on June 6, 1523 under the name of Gustav I and became the founder of the royal Vasa dynasty. January 13, 1544, according to the Westoros decree, the crown of Sweden was assigned to his descendants.
After Christina abdicated the throne in favor of her cousin Karl-Gustav in 1654, the Palatinate dynasty took the Swedish throne. The family stopped the death of Christina in 1689.
Polish line
In 1587, the son of the Swedish king Johan III from the Polish princess Katarina Jagiellonki was elected to the Polish and Lithuanian throne under the name of Sigismund III (1587-1632). Due to the fact that he was also the heir to the Swedish throne, Sweden and the Commonwealth were under one scepter. After the death of Sigismund, the Polish and Lithuanian crowns were worn by his sons Vladislav (1632–1648) and Jan Casimir (1648–1668). With the death of the latter in 1672, the male line of the Vasa clan was cut short.
Genus name
In the Middle Ages, members of the clan did not have any kind of clan name. The name "Vasa" appeared in genealogy documents only in the second half of the 16th century. It is associated with the coat of arms, which initially had nothing to do with a vase ( Swede. Vas ), but then transformed and began to resemble this vessel.
List of Swedish kings of the Vasa dynasty
- Gustav I Vasa , 1523 - 1560 ;
- Eric XIV , 1560 - 1568 , son of the previous;
- Johan III , 1568 - 1592 , brother of the previous one;
- Sigismund , son of the previous 1592 - 1599 ;
- Charles IX , 1599 - 1611 (regent until 1604 ), the youngest son of Gustav I Vasa;
- Gustav II Adolf , 1611 - 1632 , son of the previous one;
- Christina , 1632 - 1654 (regency, 1632 - 1644 ), daughter of the previous one.
List of Polish Kings of the Vasa Dynasty
- Sigismund III (1587-1632)
- Vladislav IV (1632–1648), son of the previous
- Jan II Casimir (1648–1668), brother of the previous
Literature
- Vase, royal dynasty // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Gillingstam H. Ätterna Oxenstierna och Vasa under medeltiden. Stockholm, 1952.
- Hildebrand E. Vasanamnet och Vasavapnet // Svenska autografsällskapets tidskrift, 1889.
- Strinnholm AM Svenska Folkets Historia under Konungarne af Vasa Atten. Stockholm, 1823.
Sources
- Nordisk familjebok. - B. 13. - Stockholm, 1910.