ear, however, that the scheme was from a financial point of view
successful, and that a vast number of the "klippings" were absorbed
before the public detected their inferiority.[67]

Unquestionably the marvellous progress made by Gustavus in this first
year of the revolution was owing in great measure to the critical state
of things in Denmark. Christiern had by this time made enemies all over
Europe. Lubeck, always a latent enemy, was particularly imbittered by
Christiern's favoritism of the market towns of the Netherlands and his
avowed intention of making Copenhagen the staple market for his kingdom;
France hated him because he was the brother-in-law of her enemy, Charles
V.; Fredrik, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, opposed him because he had laid
claim to those dominions; and his own clergy opposed him because of his
rumored leaning towards Lutheranism and his efforts to check their
power. All these things prevented his return to Sweden, and conspired
against his credit so that he was unable to raise an army of any
strength. Didrik Slagheck, too, whom he had placed at the head of
affairs in Sweden, had fallen into disgrace, and, to appease the public
clamor, had been beheaded. Even Gustavus Trolle, after several attempts
to exert his papal authority in Sweden, had found the land too hot for
him, and for the present had withdrawn to Denmark.[68]

Norby was at this time the most valuable officer that Christiern had. He
infested the shores of the Baltic with his fleet, making frequent
incursions on the land to plunder; and at length became so obnoxious
that Gustavus sent to Lubeck for a fleet. On the 7th of June it came,
ten ships of war, laden with all sorts of merchandise, and fully
equipped with powder, shot, and men. For this aid Gustavus is said to
have paid an enormous figure, giving his promissory note for the amount.
Picking out a battalion of five hundred men, he sent them down to
Kalmar, to which castle Vestgoete had just laid siege. The rest of the
reinforcements he despatched to Stockholm, quartering them in his
different camps, and then discharged all of the Swedish peasants except
the young unmarried men. Shortly after this change the commandant of Abo
Castle crossed the Baltic with a powerful fleet, and sought to break the
siege of Stockholm. But the Swedish fleet met him outside the harbor,
captured or burnt his vessels, and took him prisoner. In October, seeing
that the garrison was losing strength, Gusta