Early Adulthood

King Gustavus restored the city’s privileges & used the Protestant Reformation to curb the power of the church. In 1527 he persuaded the Riksdag of Västerås (comprising the nobles, clergy, burghers & freehold peasants) to confiscate church lands, which was then a 21% of the farmland. Protestant Reformation was quickly implemented & sermons in the church were held in Swedish, with Latin completely abolished by 1530. Old churches & chapels around the city were demolished. Sweden’s & Stockholm’s severance with the Papal church would be irreversible. Stockholm’s importance grew even more during Vasa’s era. The city’s fortifications were reinforced & defensive towers were added to the city walls. Vaxholm castle was created to the east as a main guardian of the archipelago.

Stockholm’s economy boomed, with the exports of iron, salmon & butter being 4 to 5 times more than the ones of other Swedish cities at the time. The modernization of the tax system & the expulsion of all Hanseatic merchants who up to that point held the monopoly of foreign trade proved to be crucial. Stockholm was the seat of the official royal residence during the years of Vasa’s sons as well. The Swedes continued to flock in the kingdom’s strongest bastion increasing the population (about 8000 people 1560-1580) that started to spread from the central island of Stadsholmen to Södermalm to the south & Normalm to the north.