Editing Gustav Vasa (section)

==Further reign==
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[[Image:Gustav I Vasa by Martin Rota.jpg|thumb|200px|Gustav, engraved by [[Martin Rota]] ]]
[[File:Raha; markka - ANT2-324 (musketti.M012-ANT2-324 1).jpg|thumb|One of King Gustav's coins in 1556]]
Gustav encountered resistance from some areas of the country. People from [[Dalarna]] rebelled three times in the first ten years of Gustav's reign, as they considered the king to have been too harsh on everyone he perceived as a supporter of the Danish, and as they resented his introduction of Protestantism. Many of those who had helped Gustav in his war against the Danes became involved in these rebellions and paid for this, several of them with their lives.

Peasants in [[Småland]] [[Dacke War|rebelled in 1542]], fuelled by grievances over taxes, church reform and confiscation of church bells and vestments. For several months this uprising caused Gustav severe difficulties in the dense forests. The king sent a letter to the people of the province of Dalarna, requesting that they should circulate letters to every Swedish province, stating their support for the king with their troops, and urging every other province to do the same. Gustav got his troops, with whose help – and, not least, with paid German mercenaries – he managed to defeat the rebels in the spring of 1543.

The leader of the rebels, [[Nils Dacke]], has traditionally been seen as a [[traitor]] to Sweden. His own letters and proclamations to fellow peasants focused on the suppression of Roman Catholic customs of piety, the King's requisitions of church bells and church plate to be smelted down for money and the general discontent with Gustav's autocratic measures, and the King's letters indicate that Dacke had considerable military success for several months. Historical records state that Nils was seriously wounded during a battle, taking bullet wounds to both legs; if this is true, his survival may have been surprising in view of contemporary medical techniques. Some sources state that Nils was executed by [[Hanged, drawn and quartered|quartering]];<ref>Dackeland/Gustav Vasa – Landsfader eller tyrann? by Lars-Olof Larsson.</ref> others that he was reduced to the state of an outlaw after recovering from his wounds, and killed while trying to escape through the woods on the border between [[Småland]] and then Danish [[Blekinge]]. It is said that his body parts were displayed throughout Sweden as a warning to other would-be rebels; this is uncertain though his head was likely mounted on a pole at [[Kalmar]]. Modern Swedish scholarship has toned down criticism of Nils Dacke, sometimes making him into a hero in the vein of [[Robin Hood]], particularly in Småland.

Difficulties with the continuation of the Church also troubled Gustav Vasa. The 1540s saw him imposing death sentences upon both the Petri brothers, as well as his former chancellor [[Laurentius Andreae]]. All of them were however granted amnesty, after spending several months in jail. In 1554–1557, he waged [[Russo-Swedish War, 1554-1557|an inconclusive war]] against [[Ivan the Terrible]] of Russia.

===End of reign===
[[Image:Gustav Vasa tomb.jpg|thumb|left|The grave monument to King Gustav and his first two queens over their crypt in [[Uppsala Cathedral]]]]
[[File:Gustav I, 1497-1560, konung av Sverige - Nationalmuseum - 15137.tif|thumb|Gustav Vasa in his old age]]
<!--[[Image:SEK 2 1921.jpg|thumb|right|Commemorative coin on the 4th centennial of Gustav Vasa's regency (1921)]]-->
In the late 1550s, Gustav's health declined. When his grave was opened in 1945, an examination of his corpse revealed that he had suffered chronic infections of a leg and in his jaw.

[[File:Gustav_I_of_Sweden_c_1550.jpg|thumb|left|Gustav c. 1550]]

Gustav gave a so-called "last speech" in 1560 to the chancellors, his children and other noblemen, whereby he encouraged them to remain united. On 29 September 1560, Gustav died and was buried (together with three of his wives, while only two are engraved) in the [[Uppsala Cathedral|Cathedral of Uppsala]].