Hans, or sometimes called John (; 2 February 1455 – 20 February 1513) was a Scandinavian monarch who ruled under the Kalmar Union. He was King of Denmark from 1482 to 1513, King of Norway from 1483 to 1513, and King of Sweden (where he has also been called Johan II) from 1497 to 1501. Additionally, from 1482 to 1513, he held the titles of Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, which he governed jointly with his brother, Frederick.
The three most important political goals of King Hans were the restoration of the Kalmar Union, reduction of the dominance of the Hanseatic League, and the building of a strong Danish royal power.
Early life and accession
thumb|left|150px|Hans's parents, King Christian and Queen Dorothea
Hans was born on 2 February 1455, probably at Aalborg in Northern Jutland. He was the third son of King Christian I of Denmark and Dorothea of Brandenburg, but the eldest to survive infancy. Dorothea was the daughter of Margrave John of Brandenburg.
Negotiations on the union
right|thumb|Seal of King Hans of Denmark, Norway and Sweden
Christian had his son Hans proclaimed as future ruler in the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. However, a rebellion in 1464 forced Christian to relinquish the Swedish crown. Christian attempted to retake Sweden in 1470, but his forces were defeated by Sten Sture the Elder at the Battle of Brunkeberg in October 1471.
Upon King Christian's death in May 1481, there was no dispute over the order of succession in the kingdoms, but the accession nevertheless proved difficult. Negotiations on the terms of Hans's accession started between the councils of the realms and an interregnum ensued. It was hoped that Sweden would later accept the same terms and thereby acknowledge Hans as king. and Erik Axelsson Tott had founded the Olavinlinna Castle on the Russian side of the border in 1475. Hans promised Ivan that he would restore the Russo-Swedish border to the line stipulated by the 1323 Treaty of Nöteborg. At the same time, tensions between Sten and the Swedish Council of the Realm intensified, particularly over his increasingly autocratic style and conflicts with the church hierarchy. These internal divisions created an opening for Hans.
In 1494, the Swedish and Danish councils met in Nya Lödöse and agreed to implement the 1483 Kalmar Recess. Although Sten Sture resisted, he was pressured into ratifying the agreement. A union summit was subsequently planned for Kalmar in 1495, and King Hans of Denmark arrived in person, expecting to meet with the Swedish Council alongside the Danish and Norwegian councils. On his way from Copenhagen to Kalmar in June 1495, Hans's premier vessel and flagship, the artillery-carrying carvel Gribshunden, exploded and sank at anchor near Ronneby. Hans himself had left the ship prior to the accident, and so was uninjured and able to continue to Kalmar by other means of conveyance. However, Sten repeatedly delayed his appearance by over a month, effectively sabotaging the negotiations.
In 1495, Russian forces attacked Viborg Castle, triggering the Russo-Swedish War of 1495–1497 and diverting Sten Sture's attention to Finland. Under pressure, he led a delayed and indecisive campaign, hampered by winter conditions and internal disputes. Although the immediate threat to Viborg was repelled before his arrival, Sten's cautious strategy and refusal to compensate departing nobles provoked criticism from powerful figures, including Archbishop Jakob Ulvsson. By early 1497, political support for Sten had eroded sharply, and upon returning to Stockholm, he was deposed by the council. In the spring of 1498, Ivan's envoys arrived in Stockholm to remind Hans of the agreement and request a formal border demarcation, but he responded evasively. Negotiations continued in 1499 and 1500. In a letter to Ivan III, King Hans stated that, according to the Swedish Privy Council, the territories claimed by Russia belonged to Sweden and could not be ceded.
The settlement between Hans and Sten reflected a shared interest in avoiding a drawn-out conflict. While Sten was forced to surrender Västerås Castle and Dalarna, he retained strategically important holdings such as Nyköping, Rekarne, and Svartsjö. In Finland, he was granted the entire Diocese of Turku along with Norrbotten<!--Not the present-day Norrbotten, probably some combination of historical Västerbotten and Ostrobothnia--> as a lifetime fief, while his wife, Ingeborg Tott, was promised Häme Castle after his death. These favorable terms highlighted Hans's tactical pragmatism: Sten Sture continued to serve as a counterweight to the influence of the high council, while the king avoided placing Finland under direct royal control, instead entrusting the militarily precarious eastern frontier to Sture. In 1499, the peasants of Dithmarschen refused to accept Danish conditions in a dispute over fishing rights around the island of Heligoland, and King Hans and Duke Frederick decided to use this opportunity to definitively resolve the Dithmarschen question in their favor.
Hans mobilized the nobility from Schleswig and Holstein and hired the so-called "Black Guard", a Landsknecht formation composed largely of ruthless Dutch and East Frisian mercenaries, to support his campaign. Altogether, the army numbered around 12,000 men: approximately 4,000 mercenaries, 2,000 cavalry, 1,000 artillerymen with 4 heavy and at least 23 field guns, and 5,000 foot soldiers. The Dithmarschen forces numbered perhaps 6,000 to 7,000 armed men. They were not professional soldiers but the region had a strong tradition of collective self-defense, and all men were required to perform military service from age 14 until elderly age. Wendish Hanseatic towns supplied Dithmarschen with money, gunpowder, and a small number of mercenaries. The increasingly more bitter war against the Swedes caused friction with both the Danish nobility and the Hanseatic cities, especially Lübeck.
Sten Sture the Elder served as a regent from November 1502 until his death in 1503.
After a series of negotiations between 1507 and 1509, Swedish envoys, under pressure from a trade blockade, accepted Hans's harsh terms. According to the treaty, Sweden was to pay an annual tribute of 12,000 marks to Hans, and 1,000 marks to Queen Christina until either Hans or his son, Prince Christian (later King Christian II), was accepted as King of Sweden. However, the treaty was never implemented, and Hans was never allowed into Stockholm as long as he lived. Lübeck soon turned against Denmark, allied with Sweden, and helped break the blockade. partly turned the tables with a naval offensive. The conflict ended with a peace that dealt Lübeck both political and economic setbacks. In early 1513, a summit was scheduled to take place in Copenhagen, where Sweden would have been forced to choose between accepting Hans or his son Christian as king, or agreeing to pay annual tribute. However, Hans died before the meeting could occur.
In his own age, and partly to posterity, Hans has often appeared a "commoner's king", a jolly and plain man with a folksy manner. Behind the surface, however, he seems to have been a hard realist and a zealous political calculator. In many ways he is a Scandinavian parallel of Louis XI of France and Henry VII of England.
Full title
Hans's full title as King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway was:
King of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Wends and the Goths, Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn and Dithmarschen, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst
Issue
In 1478, Hans married Christina of Saxony, daughter of Elector Ernst of Saxony and Elisabeth of Bavaria. After Christina was released from the Swedish captivity in 1503, she undertook a pilgrimage and then settled permanently at Næsbyhoved Castle near Odense, living separately from Hans. Christina died in 1521.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name!!Birth!!Death!!Notes
|-
|Hans||1479||1480||died as a child
|-
|Ernst||1480||1480||died as a child
|-
|Christian II||1 July 1481||25 January 1559||King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Had issue.
|-
|Elizabeth||24 June 1485||10 June 1555||Married Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg in 1502. Had issue.
|-
|Francis||15 July 1497||1 April 1511||
|}
The Oldenburgisch Chronicon from 1599 cites sources that mention an additional son named Jacob. Jørgen Nybo Rasmussen has argued that he was Jacobus de Dacia (1484–1566), a Franciscan friar who served as a missionary in Mexico.
See also
- List of Danish monarchs
- List of Norwegian monarchs
- List of Swedish monarchs
- Danish monarch's family tree
References
Bibliography
|-
|-