Stockholm, November 1383
Royal Council - Anno Domini 1383
Part 2
Bo's head hurt and his stomach was rebelling against him as he walked up towards the king's royal study in the Tre Kronor fortress. It was like this every time, he thought, dejected by the pain. He always drank too much and fell asleep on the floor, just like all the members of the council. The difference between him and them was, however, that he as the viceroy had to request audience with the king early next morning and spend the day telling the king stuff he already knew. He was comissioned to tell the king everything that had been told at the meeting, and then bring the king's opinions back to the council the next day so that they would come to a final decision. And he hadn't got better with age, he still drank as much as when he first had entered the council, as a young man with great plans for the future. Oh well, he thought with irony, if he slept on the castle he didn't have a very far way to go at least.
He spoke to the herald and told him that he wanted to request an audience with the king. The herald had worked on the castle a long time and knew what it was all about, the request was only a formality. Bo knew that the hour long waiting that would now follow was it too. Of course Albrecht expected him but as he was king and it was up to him to decide whenever the time was good to grant the audience he enjoyed letting his guests wait. People knew that the king was supposed to be busy with the viceroy this day though so any other tasks that the king had were never done on this day, the day after the council. But even if it meant that he himself would spend the hours in a just as unentertaining and slow way as his guest he enjoyed it immensely and Bo always had had to put up with it. He was prepared though, in fact he'd need this break anyway. When the herald left he went away and found a chair where he sat down and unrolled the scrolls with the writer's notes from yesterday. The letters were untidy, but who could blame him? It was hard enough to keep track of what was said in there alone, not to mention write it all down. Bo had learned the hard way not to trust the scrolls blindly but together with his own memory he usually got a decent overview that didn't upset too many of the members who felt like just their thoughts hadn't been covered. With focused eyes he began to memorize the tiny letters.
***
The herald woke him up from his slumber, Bo had taken a nap when he thought he was finished memorizing them. He had hoped that there would be time to memorize them one more time before his audience but apparently the king seemed to grant him it faster than usual. I should know them anyway, he thought while he cursed the pain which went through his head like a lightning from an open sky as he rose. Groaning he sank back into the armchair.
"Do you need help, herr?" the messenger who obviously had misinterpreted him.
"No, no. I'm fine." Bo grunted and rose from the armchair with an effort from his elderly body but with his honour intact. His head beat like a drum but at least his feeling of sickness was gone.
He was lead into the royal study where the king awaited him like he used to. The blonde man sat on a throne even larger than the one he used during the royal council. With practiced gracefulness he bowed in front of the king, like so many times before.
"Rise, herr Jonsson" the king said with his dark voice.
"And tell me what has been said"
"Seine Majestät, Your Majesty" he began. He searched his memory carefully, since the king had been present it was of extreme importance that he remembered correctly. Something which he had found harder to do for every year that passed, he had gradually become more dependent on the writer's notes which he knew was a bad thing. He also sorted his memories, some things weren't really necessary to tell the king about eventhough he had been there to hear it himself. For example, Krister Nilsson from the Vasa dynasty and Ture Bengtsson Bielke had had a dispute about money that Krister Nilsson claimed he had loaned Ture without getting them back. Ture on the other hand claimed he had got them as a gift and that it was against God's will to demand money back that had been given as a gift. Besides, Ture didn't even have any money. It was a well-known fact that the Bielke dynasty was struggling economically. It all ended with Ture paying half of the money to Krister, quite a large sum anyway considering Tures Bielke's economy. The bishop of Strängnäs, most likely bribed by Ture, had been very upset about this fact.
"Unfortunately both Axel Pedersen Tott and the bishop of Skara were absent. First thing we did was to discuss how Sweden should manage its foreign policy in the future."
"Since when is that in the hands of the council to decide, herr Jonsson?" the king said obviously annoyed that the council seemed to gradually steal his power until he'd have nothing left.
"I thought that was my office, as the king of Sweden."
Bo bit his lip. He knew the king would get annoyed when he said it but luckily he had already worked on a reply.
"As chancellors of the realm we were discussing what we thought was best so that we could give you advices, we were by no means trying to undermine your well deserved power your Majesty."
Albrecht groaned.
"Very well then."
Bo went on. He knew that what he was going to say next would make up for their faults in his Majesty's eyes.
"We decided that the current foreign policy your Majesty has exercised.". As often was the case, the discussions had gone to waste and in the end everyone agreed that everything was okay and nothing needed to change, Bo thought.
"and that we would be happy if your Majesty decided to continue in that way."
Bo looked at the king to see if he had any response to make, but he just motioned Bo to continue with a quiet and almost unnoticable nod with his head. His head still hurt, and with a sigh and effort he forced his elderly lips to form words. He tried to keep it concise since he knew this was as boring to the king as it was to him.
"We touched the matter of the German bailiffs too, and reports are still coming in that they are oppressing the peasants. The population is on the edge of revolt in the western parts of the country"
"The Germans will stay, I trust them herr Jonsson." A definite answer that Bo couldn't argue with. Bo wondered how much the king knew though, if anything, about the murdering of German bailiffs that never were reported dead. They were usually replaced with Swedish people who were both accepted by the local population and acted in the former bailiff's name. A system which wouldn't work forever of course, but the king hopefully didn't have too long left to live. He was only eight years younger than Bo after all, the Swedes had perhaps ten years more of him... top.
"A new chancellor was appointed, herr Algot of the Sture dynasty. And Ulf Karlsson av Ulvåsa is the new marshal while I stay the chief judge of the council."
"That's alright, I will not meddle in the council's affairs despite them putting their nose in mine.". As if he hadn't tried to influence those elections
"We'd also like to express concern about your Majesty's repeated absence. We'd wish that you spend more time in your kingdom, rather than with your father in Lübeck.". A bold thing to say, but the council ws powerful. This was one of the few issues where the council had gone against Bo's will, Bo would rather see that he spent
more power outside Sweden so that the council could rule like they wanted to. A lot of the nobles found it inappropriate though and wanted a king who was strong and could solve the endless quarrels between the noble dynasties of Sweden and unite the country. He looked for a response from the king.
"I'll see what I can do" he said, swallowing his pride. Bo examined his memory again. He felt like a school boy in front of his teacher.
"Oh, and yes. Henrik Karlsson, the new archbishop, wanted more money to the church. He claimed that his predecessor had misruled the economy and that the church desperately needed extra funds."
"Misruled? Who was the last archbishop?"
"His name was Birger Gregersson I believe". Even Bo found it weird that the king didn't even know the name of the archbishop who had ruled the primate of his kingdom until two days ago, but so was the nature of a powerless king. He didn't care much about the internal politics of the country, and Birger hadn't done much except just that. Bo thought that the usage of 'misruled' by the archbishop was a grave exaggeration though.
"He spent most of his time trying to get Birgitta Birgersdotter canonized, which he failed with."
"Very well, I trust you can handle the treasury yourself. Anything else, herr Grip?"
Bo spent the following hour telling the rest of the issues discussed. The taxes that always came up on such meetings as this one, the Eastern raiders and the nobles internal quarrels that never seemed to end... only to name a few. Bo noticed Albrecht had exceptionally much to say and discussed, normally he just listened and let the council do what they pleased... when Bo finally went out of the castle the sun had begun to set and the stars appear on the darkening sky. He immediately went down to Stortorget and across it to reach his house. His maid gave him something against the headache and then he went to bed immediately, embracing himself into the warmth of the house and the sheet. It was only five hours after noon when Bo fell asleep and snored heavily.
