With the younger Lord Sten, other new actors appeared upon the stage of Scandinavian history. Christian II. succeeded his father upon the throne of Denmark and Norway. In Sweden, Archbishop Jacob Ulfsson retired and was succeeded by Gustavus Trolle, a son of Lord Eric. The new archbishop was of a hateful and jealous disposition. He resolved to avenge the treatment his father had received at the hands of Lord Sten and the Swedish people by placing Christian on the throne. The young regent made no less than four attempts to win over this formidable enemy, but all in vain. He opened up a court at Stæket, in Upland, more brilliant than that of Lord Sten, and accepted subsidies from Denmark. At last, fully aware of the secret deliberations going on, Lord Sten surrounded Stæket and called a Riksdag at Arboga, in 1517, where it was resolved that Christian should never become king of Sweden, and that the siege of Stæket should be continued. Christian sent a little army to support his ally, but Lord Sten met it at Ladugardsland, outside of Stockholm, completely routing it. A new Riksdag was called at Stockholm before which the archbishop appeared upon truce. His language was haughty and disdainful. He said he was in his full right to support King Christian’s claims with mitre and sword, the pope sanctioning his policy; and to the pope alone he was responsible. The indignant Riksdag resolved that the archbishop should be deprived of his seat, being guilty of high treason, and that his castle should be burned. The resolution was written down and signed by all the bishops, none daring to oppose the yeomanry. Bishop Brask, of Linkœping, managed to conceal in the wax of his seal a paper with the words: “To this I am forced by necessity.” The archbishop returned to defend Stæket, but soon had to flee with his followers. It was only by using all his authority that Lord Sten could save his enemy’s life from the irate people. Trolle was forced to resign his seat and was imprisoned in a convent at Westeros, while his castle was torn down. Lord Sten wanted to appoint a successor to Trolle, but Bishop Brask objected that the pope might not consent to his removal. To this Lord Sten uttered the following manly words, hardly in touch with the policy of Rome: “I think that our most holy father, the pope, and the canonic law should not tolerate as the leaders of the Church, and as the precepts or mirrors to the people, men who are infested by open treason, in particular against their own country.” The Church tried various means to gain a settled condition of things. When Sten refused the royal crown from its hand, he was at last placed under ban.