Who governs when the king leaves?

Sigismund returns to Poland in 1594. In Sweden, he leaves authority divided among his uncle, the council and governors he has appointed. Charles wants wider powers as regent; the councillors seek to defend their own participation. Orders arriving from the king do not resolve these rivalries. The conflict involves appointments, revenues, fortresses and meetings of the estates. Religion also supplies a means of mobilising opposition to the Catholic monarch. Charles expands his political support, while part of the aristocracy continues to regard Sigismund as the legitimate sovereign. A dispute about government in the king’s absence becomes a struggle that may determine who keeps the crown.