Swedish King Gustav II Adolf, a member of the Vasa dynasty, a bold military leader and unique politician, was already known in his time by the nickname Lion of the North. Especially among Protestants, his reputation as a proud, determined, energetic, intelligent, and pious ruler gained recognition, disproportionate fame, and uncritical glorification. His ideological opponents and Catholic adversaries mercilessly accused him of insatiable ambition and arbitrariness; not least, he was often accused of usurpation and tyranny in a flood of pamphlets and satirical leaflets. Can this most famous and important Scandinavian monarch be unequivocally classified and objectively assessed? For historians, it remains difficult to adopt an unbiased stance towards this prominent figure and to overcome widely accepted opinions and some immutable judgments. Gustav II Adolf inherited three wars from his father Charles IX: with Denmark, the Moscow state, and the Polish-Lithuanian Union. Throughout his career, he had to restlessly travel from one European battlefield to another, addressing accumulated power-political problems and managing the aggressive behavior of neighboring rulers and their great power interests. However, he learned from many failures and as an outstanding military...
