promised the fugitives they should be
tried by prelates of the Church, one of them was surrendered.
Sunnanvaeder would likewise have been handed over but that he was ill.
The archbishop closed by urging Gustavus to show mercy. It is to be
noted that the king had never promised that the tribunal should consist
of prelates. What he had said was that they should be tried before a
"proper tribunal." Doubtless it was customary that priests should not be
tried by laymen, but the practice was not invariably followed, and the
language of the passport was enough to throw the conspirators on their
guard. In a case of conspiracy against the crown, the Swedish Cabinet
would seem to be a proper tribunal, and as a matter of fact it was
before the Cabinet that this case was tried. The Cabinet consisted of
the archbishop of Upsala, three bishops, and eight laymen. Their decree
was, in the first place, that the passport did not protect Knut from
trial, and secondly, that he was guilty of conspiracy against the crown.
The decree was dated August 9. On that very day the king of Denmark
wrote Gustavus that he had ordered the archbishop of Trondhem to give no
shelter to the traitors, and added: "We are told that you are ready to
promise them a trial before yourself and the Swedish Cabinet, after
which they shall be permitted to go free." Gustavus had never promised
that they should go free, and it was preposterous for anybody to expect
it. The only object of the trial was to give the traitors an opportunity
to prove their innocence, and if they failed to do so, it was only fair
that they should suffer. As soon as the decree was signed, Gustavus
wrote the archbishop of Trondhem that Knut had been found guilty, but
that his life should be spared to satisfy the archbishop, at any rate
until Gustavus could learn what the archbishop proposed to do with the
other refugees. A similar letter was sent also by the Cabinet, declaring
that "many serious charges were made against Knut, which he was in no
way able to disprove." One of the Cabinet members, who had been asked by
the archbishop to intercede for Knut, wrote back: "His crime is so
enormous and so clearly proved by his own handwriting, that there is no
hope for him unless by the grace of God or through your intercession."
Even Brask wrote: "He has won the king's ill-favor in many ways, for
which he can offer no defence." Against such a pressure of public
opinion the archbishop of Trondhem dared