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House of Vasa
Vasaätten
Wazowie Vazos
Royal house
Royal canting coat of arms of Vasa, depicting a sheaf, the name Vasa is derived from the word "vase"[1]
Country
Sweden Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Founded
1523 (1523)
Founder
King Gustav I of Sweden
Final ruler
Sweden: Christina (1632–1654), Poland and Lithuania: John II Casimir (1648–1668)
Titles
King of Sweden (1523–1654)
King of Poland (1587–1668)
Grand Duke of Lithuania
Tsar of Russia (1610–1613, uncrowned) (1613-1634, titular)
Grand Duke of Finland
Dissolution
1672 (1672) (extinct in agnatic line)
Deposition
Sweden: 1654 (1654) (abdication), Poland and Lithuania: 1668 (1668) (abdication)
The House of Vasa or Wasa[2] (Swedish: Vasaätten, Polish: Wazowie, Lithuanian: Vazos) was an early modern royal house founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its members ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668; its agnatic line became extinct with the death of King John II Casimir of Poland in 1672.
The Vasa dynasty descended from a fourteenth century Swedish noble family, tracing agnatic kinship to Nils Kettilsson (Vasa) (died 1378), fogde of Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm. Several members held high offices during the 15th century. In 1523, after the Stockholm bloodbath and the abolition of the Kalmar Union, Gustav Eriksson (Vasa) became King Gustav I of Sweden and the royal house was founded. His reign is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the modern Swedish state, which included the King's break with the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation and the foundation of the Church of Sweden.[3]
However, his eldest son and successor Erik XIV of Sweden was overthrown by Gustav's younger son, King John III of Sweden. John III married a Catholic Polish princess, Catherine Jagiellon, leading to the House of Vasa becoming rulers of Poland.
Their Catholic son Sigismund III Vasa, then ruler of a short-lived Polish–Swedish union, was usurped in 1599 by John's Protestant brother King Charles IX of Sweden in the War against Sigismund. The dynasty was then split into a Protestant Swedish branch and a Catholic Polish one, which contended for crowns in subsequent wars.
The involvement of the famous Protestant general and King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the Thirty Years' War gave rise to the saying that he was the incarnation of "the Lion of the North" (German: Der Löwe von Mitternacht). Yet, notably, his daughter and heiress Queen Christina of Sweden (1632–1654) abdicated in 1654 after converting to Catholicism, and emigrated to Rome, where she was hosted by the Papacy. In Poland, John II Casimir of Poland abdicated in 1668. With his death, the royal House of Vasa became extinct in 1672, though the current King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, is descended from Gustav I through his paternal great-grandmother, Victoria of Baden, a descendant of Gustav I's great-great-grandson Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
^[a b c d] Larsson, Lars-Olof (2002). Gustav Vasa – landsfader eller tyrann?. Stockholm: Prisma. Libris länk. ISBN 91-518-3904-0
^Georg Starbäck in Berättelser ur Sweriges Medeltid, Tredje Bandet pp 264, 275, 278, 291–296 & 321
^"Gustav I Vasa | King of Sweden, Reformer & Founder of Modern Sweden | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
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is party per pale the arms for the HouseofVasa (Bendwise azure, argent and gules, a vasa Or); and the Houseof Bernadotte (Azure, issuant from a wavy...
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Vasa (Polish: Aleksander Karol Waza; 4 November 1614 – 19 November 1634) was the fifth son of King Sigismund III of Poland and his wife Constance of Austria...
representatives of the HouseofVasa exacerbated and radicalized the later actions of Europe's Catholic princes in the German states such as the Edict of Restitution...
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Vaasa (Finnish: [ˈʋɑːsɑ]; Swedish: Vasa, Finland Swedish: [ˈvɑːsɑ] , Sweden Swedish: [ˈvɑ̂ːsa] ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki, (Swedish:...
Constance Vasa (Polish: Anna Katarzyna Konstancja Waza; 7 August 1619 in Warsaw – 8 October 1651 in Cologne) was a Polish princess, daughter of Sigismund...
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The consorts of Finland were the spouses of the Finnish Monarchs. They used the titles Grand Duchess of Finland, briefly Queen of the Finns, and later...
Gustav's daughter Carola of Vasa (1833–1902), who died childless, was the last member of the Swedish branch of the Houseof Holstein-Gottorp. The modern...
Johansson Vasa (c. 1470 – 8 November 1520) was a Swedish noble and the Lord of Rydboholm Castle in Roslagen. His son would rule as King Gustav I of Sweden...
Anna Vasaof Sweden (also Anne, Polish: Anna Wazówna; 17 May 1568 – 26 February 1625) was a Swedish princess heavily involved in the politics of that...
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Catherine Vasaof Sweden (Swedish: Katarina Gustavsdotter Vasa; 6 June 1539 – 21 December 1610) was a Swedish princess, and the Countess consort of East Frisia...
Charles Ferdinand Vasa (Polish: Karol Ferdynand Waza; 13 October 1613 in Warsaw – 9 May 1655 in Wyszków), was a Polish prince, priest, Bishop of Wrocław from...
son of Duke Charles of the HouseofVasa and his second wife, Christina of Holstein-Gottorp. At the time, his cousin Sigismund was both King of Sweden...
Global Information
Sweden
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth