Describe the characteristics of the Background in Vädersolstavlan's History.
In 1523, as the newly elected King of Sweden, Gustav Vasa had to unify a kingdom which, unlike a modern nation-state, was composed of separate provinces not necessarily happy with his reign. He also had to prepare for a potential Danish attack, and resist the influence of German states and merchants with an interest in reintroducing the hegemony of the Hanseatic League over the Baltic lands.  Facing these challenges, the king saw conspiracies everywhere — sometimes correctly — and started to thoroughly fortify his capital while purging it of potential enemies.Shortly after his coronation, Gustav Vasa heard of the reformatory sermons delivered by Olaus Petri in Strängnäs and called him to Stockholm to have him appointed councillor in 1524.  When Petri announced his marriage the following year, the solemnity of the celebration infuriated Catholic prelates to the extent Petri was excommunicated, while the king, in contrast, gave his unreserved support. Although the king and the reformer collaborated initially, they started to pull in different directions within a few years.  As the king carried out the Reformation from 1527, Catholic churches and monasteries were demolished or used for other purposes.  Petri strongly opposed the king's methods of depriving the church of its assets and in his sermons he began to criticize the king's actions. While both the king and Petri were thus devoted to both establishing what was to become the Swedish state and the new religious doctrine, they were also involved in domestic struggle for power, a situation fuelled by various enemies and Counter Reformation propaganda.
Counter Reformation Stockholm Olaus Petri provinces Catholic church propaganda Catholic Strängnäs German church Reformation Hanseatic League Gustav Vasa nation-state