Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/343

Rh was the archbishop (1488-1544), whose patriotic enthusiasm led him in his "Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sveorumque regibus" to carry the genealogy of the kings even as far back as to the deluge.

Chronicles of Gustav Vasa were written by (died 1562), by  (about 1580-1636) under the superintendence and by the encouragement of King Karl IX, and by  (about 1580-1639), the last of whom also wrote chronicles of Erik XIV and Johann III. King Gustavus Adolphus wrote in pure, beautiful Swedish a history of his father Karl IX, and the chancellor Axel Oxenstjerna (1583-1654) began a history of Gustavus Adolphus, which did not, however, extend beyond the introduction.

The versatile and fertile writer, Messenius, deserves a special mention. , whose chief department was history, was the son of a miller near Vadstena, and was born in 1579. When sixteen years old he was carried off by the Jesuits, who wished to make a Catholic apostle of him, and accordingly gave him a careful education in the Jesuit college in Braunsberg. After a number of years he returned to Sweden with the title of "Poeta cæsareus," which he had received from the Emperor for his Latin poems, and his learning soon gained him the favor of Karl IX. He was appointed professor of jurisprudence in Upsala, where he soon became popular with his students, but being haughty and quarrelsome, he spent his time in incessant wranglings with his colleagues. After a very stormy scene, when his adherents assailed the consistorium, he was for a time transferred to another position. It afterward appeared that he was engaged in a treasonable conspiracy, and was working for the restoration of Catholicism. He was sentenced to death, but