Kristian II 1481-1559
King of Denmark and Norway, and of Sweden

Born in Nyborg, Denmark, he succeeded his father, Johan I, as King of Norway and Denmark from 1513. He overthrew Sten Sture, the Regent of Sweden, and became King of Sweden (1520), but his treacherous massacre of the leading men of Sweden in the infamous Stockholm Bloodbath (1520) caused such hostility towards him that he was driven out by Gustav I Vasa (1523). He was also expelled from Denmark, largely because of his sweeping legal reforms in favour of the burghers and peasants, and fled to the Netherlands. An attempt to regain his lost territories (1531) was totally defeated, and he spent his remaining years in prison. His death marked the end of the Kalmar Union (1397-1523) of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.