Europe was seriously decimated.

The population (at same territory) did not reach the numbers of the
year 1348 again until the beginning of the 19th century. One third of the population died in the
triennium of 1349–1351. During this period, the Swedish cities began to acquire greater rights and
were strongly influenced by German merchants of the Hanseatic League, active especially at Visby.
In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson, and in 1397
Queen Margaret I of Denmark effected the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
through the Kalmar Union. However, Margaret's successors, whose rule was also centred in
Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility.

Gustav I liberated Sweden from Christian II of Denmark, ending the Kalmar Union. He established the House of

Vasa which ruled Sweden and Poland until the 17th century

Many times the Swedish crown was inherited by children kings over the course of the kingdom's
existence; consequently real power was held for long periods by regents (notably those of
the Sture family) chosen by the Swedish parliament. King Christian II of Denmark, who asserted his
claim to Sweden by force of arms, ordered a massacre of Swedish nobles in Stockholm in 1520.
This came to be known as the "Stockholm blood bath" and stirred the Swedish nobility to new
resistance and, on 6 June (now Sweden's national holiday) in 1523, they made Gustav Vasa their
king.[43] This is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly afterwards the
new king rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant Reformation.
The Hanseatic League had been officially formed at Lübeck on the Baltic coast of Northern
Germany in 1356. The League sought civil and commercial privileges from the princes and royalty of
the countries and cities along the coasts of the Baltic Sea. [44] In exchange, they offered a certain
amount of protection to the joining cities. Having their own navy, the Hansa were able to sweep the
Baltic Sea free of pirates.[45] The privileges obtained by the Hansa included assurances that only
Hansa citizens would be allowed to trade from the ports where they were located. They sought
agreement to be free of all customs and taxes. With these concessions, Lübeck merchants flocked
to Stockholm, where they soon came to dominate the city's economic life and made the port city of
Stockholm into the leading commercial and industrial city of Sweden. [46] Under the Hanseatic trade,
two-thirds of Stockholm's imports consisted of textiles, while the remaining third was salt. The main
exports from Sweden were iron and copper.[46]
However, the Swedes began to resent the monopoly trading position of the Hansa (mostly consisting
of German citizens), and to resent the income they felt they lost to the Hansa. Consequently, when
Gustav Vasa or Gustav I broke the monopoly power of the Hanseatic League he was regarded as a
hero by the Swedish people. [47] History now views Gustav I as the father of the modern Swedish
nation. The foundations laid by Gustav would take time to develop. Furthermore, when Sweden did
develop, freed itself from the Hanseatic League, and entered its golden era, the fact that the
peasantry had traditionally been free meant that more of the economic benefits flowed back to them
rather than going to a feudal landowning class.[48]
The end of the 16th century was marked by a final phase of rivalry between the remaining Catholics
and the new Protestant communities. In 1592, Gustav Vasa's Catholic grandson and king of
Poland, Sigismund, ascended the Swedish throne.[49] He pursued to strengthen Rome's influence by
initiating Counter-Reformation and created a dual monarchy, which temporarily became known as
the Polish-Swedish Union. His despotic rule, strongly characterized by intolerance towards the
Protestants, sparked a civil war that plunged Sweden into poverty.[50] In opposition, Sigismund's uncle
and successor, Charles Vasa, summoned the Uppsala Synod in 1593 which officially confirmed the
modern Church of Sweden as Lutheran. Following his deposition in 1599, Sigismund attempted to
reclaim the throne at every expense and hostilities between Poland and Sweden continued for the
next one hundred years.[51]