o persuade
the people of Dalarne to come. "We should be glad," he urged, "if you
would write to the people of Dalarne, and ask them to lay their
complaints before the diet to be held in Vesteras. We shall there
explain our conduct, and if our people are not satisfied, shall gladly
resign the throne. The German envoys will be present, and the Dalesmen
can then adopt some means to quiet their incessant demands." All efforts
to persuade the Dalesmen failed. They despatched a long list of their
grievances to Stockholm, but they did not attend the diet. When the
other delegates came together, Gustavus laid these grievances before
them. The Dalesmen had complained, he said, that they were burdened with
heavy taxes. If they had been more obedient, a smaller army would have
been sufficient, and the taxes would not have been so heavy. He told
them, further, that the whole debt occasioned by the war amounted to
about one hundred thousand marks, of which sum a large portion was still
unpaid.[130] The outcome of the matter was that the delegates voted to
quell the insurrection in Dalarne, and if enough money could not now be
raised to pay the debt, to levy further taxes. These stringent measures
were not, however, put into effect at once. Gustavus was busy, in the
autumn of 1527, with other things; and furthermore a dispute had arisen
between himself and Lubeck as to the exact total of the debt. The year
closed, therefore, with the debt still hanging over Sweden's head. The
Lubeck envoys accepted all the goods and money they could get, the whole
amount thus paid in 1527 being in the neighborhood of 22,800 Swedish
marks.[131]

All through this period Gustavus was in constant negotiation with
Fredrik. Christiern's efforts to recover the crown had been brought to a
halt by the sudden collapse of Norby, and Fredrik had assumed in
consequence a more aggressive attitude toward Sweden. By the treaty
signed at Malmoe each monarch promised to protect the interests which
citizens of the other held within his realm. But the ink was scarcely
dry when complaints were heard that Fredrik had failed to substantiate
this clause. The most flagrant breach occurred in the case of property
owned in Denmark by Margaret, sister of the king of Sweden. So great
difficulty was experienced by Margaret in protecting this estate, that
early in 1526 the monarch counselled her to sell it. He wrote also to
certain Danish officers, and begged them to defend her ri