Battle of the Square

The idea of union with the old enemy Sweden was very unpopular in Norway, and so when news of the treaty reached the country, it prompted a groundswell of support for independence.

The peace terms offered by the Swedes were relatively generous - the Norwegian constitution was retained on condition that the clauses preventing a personal union with Sweden were excised.

Although the celebrations were outwardly loyalist - toasts were usually made to the royal family as well as to the constitution itself - the Swedish authorities were concerned that such events had a separatist subtext and served as a covert outlet for political agitation against the Swedish-Norwegian union; they instead tried to promote 'Union Day' on 4 November as an alternative focus for patriotic feeling.

In May 1828, King Charles John obliquely criticised such events during a speech before the Storting (Norwegian Parliament), which on 13 May voted not to hold any official celebrations that year.

As the ship docked, several men and boys began to cheer it; 20-year-old student Henrik Wergeland shouted "Long live the Constitution!"

[4] Faced with the gathering in Stortorvet, the police summoned the auxiliaries and requested the crowd to disperse, but people were curious and refused to leave.

A drunken man, wearing a hat with the inscription "Long live 17 May" was brought in for questioning, but was eventually released because he was unable to explain himself.

In response to the deteriorating situation, the Swedish Viceroy Baltzar von Platen and Major-General Baron Wedel-Jarlsberg, the Norwegian commandant of the garrison at Akershus Fortress, sought a legal justification to disperse the crowd.

Gjerdrum was sent to the square to read the relevant clauses of the Riot Act and order the crowd to disperse, but he had inadequate stature and was largely ignored.

Drawing of the 'battle' by Henrik Wergeland for his farcical play Phantasmer , published in August 1829.