rch came to Brask, that prelate did not readily comply. One
of the nobility addressed the king, and begged him to allow the aged
bishop to retain his castle during the few short years that yet remained
to him of life. This reasonable request, however, the monarch would not
grant; and Brask persisting in his right to hold the castle, Gustavus
deprived him of his retinue and held him prisoner till he furnished bail
conditioned for his good behavior as well as for the surrender of his
castle. The diet then adjourned, Gustavus sending forth a body of men
who entered the bishop's castle by main force, and placed it under the
supremacy of the king.[169]

The ground of this barbaric treatment appears in a negotiation between
the king and Brask some five weeks later. By the Vesteras Recess
Gustavus was given a claim to all the income not needed by the bishops,
cathedrals, and chapters for their support. But since the sum required
for the prelates was not named, the field thus left for argument was
wide. The prelates took a much higher view of their necessities than was
taken by the king. Brask especially found it hard to do without his
ancient pomp and circumstance. Gustavus therefore put the screws upon
him to bring the lordly bishop to the ground. How well this plan
succeeded is shown in a document of the 2d of August--about five weeks
after the seizure of Brask's castle--in which the bishop is declared to
have come to an understanding, and to have promised the king fifteen
hundred marks a year beside some other tribute. In reward for this
concession, Gustavus declared himself contented, and received the bishop
once more into royal favor.[170]

There is now but little more to chronicle about the aged bishop. Beaten
at every point, and practically a prisoner at the monarch's mercy, he
had at last capitulated and granted to Gustavus all that he had asked.
The surrender, furthermore, was but the prelude to the bishop's flight.
Conscious that every hope was crushed forever, he craved permission to
visit Gotland and perform the sacred duties of his office. This request
was granted, and the venerable prelate set forth never to return. On
pretext of consulting eminent physicians, he sailed across the Baltic,
and watched the monarch's movements from afar. Gustavus, when he learned
of this escape, confiscated all the property of Brask that he could
find, and, worse than all, he issued a letter, filled with venom,
denouncing the perfi