Hemming Gadh

Hemming Gadh (c. 1450 – 16 December 1520) was a Swedish bishop and politician. He was a staunch ally of Sten Sture and a fierce opponent of Denmark and the Kalmar Union.

Biography

Seal of Hemming Gadh as bishop, 1501

Hemming was born around 1450 in Hossmo, Kalmar County, Sweden. He studied at the University of Rostock.

In 1479 he became chancellor and secretary for Henrik Tideman, bishop in the Diocese of Linköping. Hemming was later that year promoted to envoy of Sture in Rome.

He was a master in gaining well paid posts, which he did not take up, but rather sold for a good price. He did however choose to take up his new position when he, at the request of Sture, was elected as bishop of the diocese after his predecessor Tideman died in 1501. It has been suspected that either he or Sture might have killed Henrik as they both visited him at the time of his death.

His new post came to cause him problems as he did not manage to get the post confirmed by the pope within the statuted three months. This had as a consequence the Spanish cardinal Jacoubs Serra appointed as administrator. In 1506 Gadh was excommunicated by the pope and in 1513 Hans Brask gained the position as bishop.

During the Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512) he led troops against Kalmar and worked as a Swedish ambassador in Lübeck between 1510 and 1512.

The Danes captured him in 1518. He was on Christian II's fleet to Stockholm in 1520 and played a role in allowing the Danes entrance to the city. Afterwards he was taken to Raseborg Castle in Finland where he was beheaded on 16 December by order of Christian II.

Letters written by Hemming prove that he did not take the Ten Commandments very seriously as he uses foul language and mentions visits to pubs and brothels. His lifestyle resulted in a rather negative profusion of rumours.

Sources

• Wennerholm, Ove (1998). Vem var Bockstensmannen? Fjärås: Bokförlaget Carse. ISBN 91-971061-7-8} (Swedish)