Sture Murders
Encyclopedia
The Sture Murders in Uppsala
, Sweden
of 24 May 1567 were the murders of five incarcerated Swedish nobles by Erik XIV of Sweden, who at that time was in a state of serious mental disorder, and his guards. The nobles, among them three members of the influential Sture
family, had been charged with conspiracy against the king and some were previously sentenced to death. Erik's old tutor, who did not belong to this group, was also killed when he tried to calm the king after the initial murders.
and the Northern Seven Years' War
. Since he led many campaigns in person, his secretary Jöran Persson
was left in charge of the administration. The Privy Council of Sweden
, the board of nobles technically responsible for advising the king, was effectively replaced by Persson; also, nobles had been ousted from Erik's High Court (Konungens Nämnd) and replaced by loyal commoners, and Persson was made the king's chief prosecutor. The king and his secretary used the High Court not only to enforce their financial, war-related demands on the nobles, but also to torture nobles to reveal information about opposition groups. For the use of torture to be legal, the tortured had to be sentenced to death first - therefore, the High Court sentenced more than 300 people to death between 1562 and 1567, yet in most cases reduced the penalty later.
Though Erik distrusted the nobility as a whole, he became particularly suspicious of Nils Svantesson Sture
, who was arrested and tried. Despite his many illegitimate children, Erik lacked a legal heir and feared that Sture might claim his throne. The Sture
s were a very influential family, and Erik projected an astrological reading on Nils Sture saying that he would be succeeded by a "light-haired man". According to Peterson (2007),
According to Peterson (2007: 74), Nils Sture was sent to Lorraine to arrange the marriage to Renata's mother, Christina
; this is however contradicted by other English-language historians such as Bain (1905: 120) and Roberts (1968: 231) as well as the Swedish historians, who all agree that Erik courted Renata. Yet Christina played a vital role in the negotiations, cf. Roberts (1968: 230–231). to Erik (which would never materialize).
Secretary rule, reduction of the nobility's influence on politics, and the High Court's actions were not received well by the Swedish aristocrats. In July 1566, several influential nobles met near Stockholm
. According to Geijer
, this was a farewell party for Nils Sture, while Peterson refers to the meeting as a "secret gathering" where the magnates' "fear and hatred turned to organized resistance." The meeting was attended by Nils Sture, his father Svante Stensson Sture
, Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock
, Ivar Ivarsson Lillieörn, Hogenskild Nilsson Bielke, Clas Eriksson Fleming
, Sten Axelsson Banér, Sten Eriksson Leijonhufvud, Erik's brother Charles of Södermanland
and others. Erik feared a conspiracy against him, particularly by the Sture family and their relatives, and already on 22 July increased the number of his spies.
In January 1567, Erik's page
Gustaf Ribbing, who had been sentenced to death for desertion, under torture accused Svante Sture, Per Brahe, Gustaf Olsson Stenbock and Sten Erikson of sabotaging Erik's marriage plans. Svante Sture and Sten Erikson had to sign a document acknowledging that they had plotted against the king's marriage, and that they would not stand in the way of Erik's future marriage plans, even if this meant the king's marriage to his non-noble mistress Karin Månsdotter
. While Persson continued to collect evidence against Erik's perceived and real opponents, Erik summoned a riksdag
in Uppsala
in May 1567 to settle the quarrels.
On their way to the riksdag, several magnates were invited by Erik to Svartsjö Castle
, especially those who had met near Stockholm in July 1566. Erik was also present in Svartsjö, and though the invitation letters were written in an innocent style, the invited were to be arrested and tried before the High Court. Arrested at Svartsjö were, in order of their arrival, Nils Sture's brother Erik Svantesson Sture, Abraham Stenbock, Sten Banér, Ivar Ivarsson, Sten Eriksson and Svante Sture. When it was anounced that the riksdag would be postponed to 18 May and was to deal with an uncovered conspiracy against the king, the remaining suspected nobles refrained from following the king's invitation, namely Per Brahe, Gustaf Stenbock, Abraham Stenbock's brother Erik, Ture Bielke and his nephew Hogenskild Bielke, Clas Fleming, and Clas Åkesson Tott
.
The trial in Svartsjö is not documented, but the verdict that the estates were to sign at Uppsala (see below) has survived. In the verdict, the following accounts are recorded as evidence:
Abraham Stenbock was forced to sign an incriminating letter to Josua Genewitz, which was later presented as evidence. From the diary of Erik XIV, it is known that Abraham Stenbock and Ivar Ivarsson were sentenced to death right away, and that on 14 May the court let Erik know that it was willing to also sentence Svante Sture to death. According to Peterson, Erik Sture was sentenced to death, too. All prisoners were then sent to Uppsala Castle
for further investigation.
he was "in a condition of incipient insanity". The riksdag had meanwhile assembled, but only twenty nobles were among the attendees. On 19 May, when the death sentences were supposed to be endorsed by the riksdag, Erik collapsed after losing his notes for his speech and failing to manage without them. Two days later, Nils Sture was arrested upon his return from Lorraine by Persson, who denied him a requested audience with the king. On 22 May, Erik wrote a letter to Svante Sture, rejecting the charges of treason brought up against the Sture family and announcing their reconciliation.
On 24 May, Erik XIV had Sten Eriksson accompany him to a visit to Svante Sture's cell. On his knees, the king begged Sture's forgiveness, admitting that he had done him wrong and promising full reconciliation. He then left the castle. Peterson says that on his way out, Erik had a conversation with Jöran Persson, while according to Geijer, Erik went for a walk with Petrus Caroli, ordinary
of Kalmar
, who told him that his brother John
had started a rebellion.
Erik returned to the castle a few hours after his first visit, drew his dagger, and stabbed Nils Sture in his chest or arm. According to Geijer, the murder was finished by Peder Welamsson, a nephew of Persson, whereupon Erik again entered the cell of Svante Sture, announcing to him on his knees that now he had to kill him as he could not expect Sture to forgive him. Before leaving the castle for the second time, he ordered the guards to kill everyone except for "Herr Sten." The guards, led by Per (Peder) Gadd, executed the order, but spared Sten Banér and Sten Eriksson as they did not know which Sten the king had just referred to.
While these two survived, Svante Sture, Nils Sture, Erik Sture, Abraham Stenbock and Ivar Ivarsson were killed. Outside the castle, Erik's tutor Dionysius Beurreusalso spelled Burreus, Beurraeus or Denis Burrey. Born in France, he received an estate in Sweden in 1547 and became Erik XIV's teacher in 1553; later, he became Privy Counsellor and rentmeister (master of the bursary), cf. Geijer (1834), pp. 137-8; Beurreus also furthered Erik's interest in astrology and Calvinism
, cf. Gejer (1834), p. 150. found the king in a state of madness. Beurreus' efforts to calm him were to no avail - instead, the king issued an order to kill Beurreus as well and vanished into a nearby forest. Eventually the guards stabbed Beurreus to death. The killings were not made public: the castle was locked, and at the gate Per Gadd's guards continued to accept food for the prisoners from their relatives as usual.
) and brought to Stockholm. Persson had meanwhile succeeded in obtaining the riksdag decree of 26 May endorsing all past and future sentences against the nobles detained in Svartsjö and Uppsala - it is unclear whether the riksdag attendees knew at this time that most of the prisoners in Uppsala were already dead.
Erik remained in a state of madness for half a year, cared for by Karin Månsdotter, whom he married in the summer. Until his recovery late in 1567, the Privy Council assumed control of the government and had Persson tried and sentenced to death, though the verdict was not carried out. Upon his recovery, Erik XIV restored his own and Persson's power. In February 1568, during a campaign in Småland
, Erik's secretary Mårten Helsingalso spelled Martin Helsing or Martinus Olavi Helsingus made a disparaging comment about Persson — the king was so outraged that he stabbed Helsing with a fire iron
, causing injuries of which the secretary died on 7 April.
However, an uprising of nobles started in the summer of 1568, led by his brothers Charles and John
, which led to Erik's being deposed in January 1569. Sten Eriksson, who had survived the Sture Murders because of his name, was killed in the final battle of the uprising.The other Sten who had survived the murders, Sten Axelsson Banér, lived almost another 33 years before he was publicly executed on the order of Charles IX
in the Linköping Bloodbath
of 20 March 1600. Jöran Persson was killed by the insurgents in the same uprising when the Stockholm garrison deserted Erik XIV and turned Persson in. Erik died in 1577 from arsenic supposedly mixed in pea soup; until his death, according to Scott (1992), he "was taken from one castle prison to another, first with his family then alone, occasionally sane, sometimes lapsing into insanity." Already on 10 March 1575, the Privy Council had issued a document calling for the murder of Erik in case he could not be kept safely in prison; among the signatories were several nobles whom Erik had failed to capture at Svartsjö in 1567, namely Per Brahe, Ture Bielke, Hogenskild Bielke and Erik Gustafsson Stenbock, and also Sten Banér's brother, Gustaf.Gustaf Banér, Per Brahe and Ture Bielke later shared the fate of Sten Banér: they were likewise executed in the "Linköping Bloodbath."
The clothes worn by Svante, Nils and Erik Sture at the time of their deaths were kept by Märta (Martha)
, Svante's wife and the mother of Nils and Erik, and are now on display in Uppsala Cathedral
's northern tower.
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
of 24 May 1567 were the murders of five incarcerated Swedish nobles by Erik XIV of Sweden, who at that time was in a state of serious mental disorder, and his guards. The nobles, among them three members of the influential Sture
Sture
Sture was the name of two influential families in Sweden from the late 15th century to the early 16th century. One member of one of these families and two members of the other served as Regents of Sweden in the Kalmar Union between 1470 and 1520...
family, had been charged with conspiracy against the king and some were previously sentenced to death. Erik's old tutor, who did not belong to this group, was also killed when he tried to calm the king after the initial murders.
Conflict between Erik XIV and the aristocracy
In the 1560s, Erik XIV of Sweden was involved in the Livonian WarLivonian War
The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,...
and the Northern Seven Years' War
Northern Seven Years' War
The Northern Seven Years' War was the war between Kingdom of Sweden and a coalition of Denmark–Norway, Lübeck and the Polish–Lithuanian union, fought between 1563 and 1570...
. Since he led many campaigns in person, his secretary Jöran Persson
Jöran Persson
Jöran Persson, alternatively Göran Persson , was King Eric XIV of Sweden's favorite, most trusted, counsellor and head of the King's network of spies. He was widely seen as a Machiavellian figure, and of holding too much influence over Eric...
was left in charge of the administration. The Privy Council of Sweden
Privy Council of Sweden
The High Council of Sweden or Council of the Realm consisted originally of those men of noble, common and clergical background, that the king saw fit for advisory service...
, the board of nobles technically responsible for advising the king, was effectively replaced by Persson; also, nobles had been ousted from Erik's High Court (Konungens Nämnd) and replaced by loyal commoners, and Persson was made the king's chief prosecutor. The king and his secretary used the High Court not only to enforce their financial, war-related demands on the nobles, but also to torture nobles to reveal information about opposition groups. For the use of torture to be legal, the tortured had to be sentenced to death first - therefore, the High Court sentenced more than 300 people to death between 1562 and 1567, yet in most cases reduced the penalty later.
Though Erik distrusted the nobility as a whole, he became particularly suspicious of Nils Svantesson Sture
Nils Svantesson Sture
Nils Svantesson Sture was a Swedish diplomat and soldier during the reign of Erik XIV of Sweden...
, who was arrested and tried. Despite his many illegitimate children, Erik lacked a legal heir and feared that Sture might claim his throne. The Sture
Sture
Sture was the name of two influential families in Sweden from the late 15th century to the early 16th century. One member of one of these families and two members of the other served as Regents of Sweden in the Kalmar Union between 1470 and 1520...
s were a very influential family, and Erik projected an astrological reading on Nils Sture saying that he would be succeeded by a "light-haired man". According to Peterson (2007),
"the strain of war, paranoia toward just about everybody, especially the aristocracy, personal and national pressures to provide an heir, and his own mercurial personality were steadily crowding Erik to the edge of mental collapse. His frustrations and anxieties gradually began to center on one person."On the basis of unsubstantiated charges like "neglect of duty," Nils Sture was sentenced to death, but the verdict was commuted to a humiliating drive through the streets of the capital: on 15 June 1566, he had to ride through Stockholm on a wretched hack wearing a crown of straw, with some of his wounds suffered from prior torture still bleeding. Thereafter, Erik sent Nils Sture to Lorraine, where he was to arrange the marriage of princess Renata
Renata of Lorraine
Renata of Lorraine was the daughter of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine and Christina of Denmark. Her maternal grandparents were Christian II of Denmark and Isabella of Burgundy...
According to Peterson (2007: 74), Nils Sture was sent to Lorraine to arrange the marriage to Renata's mother, Christina
Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark was a Danish princess who became Duchess-consort of Milan, then Duchess-consort of Lorraine...
; this is however contradicted by other English-language historians such as Bain (1905: 120) and Roberts (1968: 231) as well as the Swedish historians, who all agree that Erik courted Renata. Yet Christina played a vital role in the negotiations, cf. Roberts (1968: 230–231). to Erik (which would never materialize).
Secretary rule, reduction of the nobility's influence on politics, and the High Court's actions were not received well by the Swedish aristocrats. In July 1566, several influential nobles met near Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. According to Geijer
Erik Gustaf Geijer
Erik Gustaf Geijer was a Swedish writer, historian, poet, philosopher, and composer. His writings served to promote Swedish National Romanticism. He also was an influential advocate of Liberalism.-Biography:...
, this was a farewell party for Nils Sture, while Peterson refers to the meeting as a "secret gathering" where the magnates' "fear and hatred turned to organized resistance." The meeting was attended by Nils Sture, his father Svante Stensson Sture
Svante Stensson Sture
Svante Stensson Sture or Svante Sture the Younger was a Swedish count, riksmarsk and statesman. From 1562 to 1564, during the Livonian War, he was governor of Estonia....
, Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock
Stenbock (family)
The Stenbock family is one of the families of the Swedish and Baltic German nobility.Members include:*Ebba Stenbock *Katarina Stenbock *Gustaf Otto Stenbock *Magnus Stenbock *Eric Stenbock...
, Ivar Ivarsson Lillieörn, Hogenskild Nilsson Bielke, Clas Eriksson Fleming
Klaus Fleming
Baron Clas Eriksson Fleming was a Finnish-born member of the Swedish nobility and admiral, who played an important role in Finnish and Swedish history during the rise of Sweden as a Great Power...
, Sten Axelsson Banér, Sten Eriksson Leijonhufvud, Erik's brother Charles of Södermanland
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
and others. Erik feared a conspiracy against him, particularly by the Sture family and their relatives, and already on 22 July increased the number of his spies.
In January 1567, Erik's page
Page (servant)
A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
Gustaf Ribbing, who had been sentenced to death for desertion, under torture accused Svante Sture, Per Brahe, Gustaf Olsson Stenbock and Sten Erikson of sabotaging Erik's marriage plans. Svante Sture and Sten Erikson had to sign a document acknowledging that they had plotted against the king's marriage, and that they would not stand in the way of Erik's future marriage plans, even if this meant the king's marriage to his non-noble mistress Karin Månsdotter
Karin Månsdotter
Karin Månsdotter was Queen of Sweden, first a mistress and then the spouse of King Eric XIV of Sweden...
. While Persson continued to collect evidence against Erik's perceived and real opponents, Erik summoned a riksdag
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
in Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
in May 1567 to settle the quarrels.
Svartsjö trials
Svartsjö Palace
Svartsjö Palace is a palace situated in Svartsjö on the island of Färingsö in lake Mälaren. It is a 30 minute car ride from Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.-History:...
, especially those who had met near Stockholm in July 1566. Erik was also present in Svartsjö, and though the invitation letters were written in an innocent style, the invited were to be arrested and tried before the High Court. Arrested at Svartsjö were, in order of their arrival, Nils Sture's brother Erik Svantesson Sture, Abraham Stenbock, Sten Banér, Ivar Ivarsson, Sten Eriksson and Svante Sture. When it was anounced that the riksdag would be postponed to 18 May and was to deal with an uncovered conspiracy against the king, the remaining suspected nobles refrained from following the king's invitation, namely Per Brahe, Gustaf Stenbock, Abraham Stenbock's brother Erik, Ture Bielke and his nephew Hogenskild Bielke, Clas Fleming, and Clas Åkesson Tott
Clas Åkesson Tott
Clas Åkesson Tott was a military Field Marshal and member of the Privy Council of Sweden .In the Russo-Swedish War , he was the rittmeister of the cavalry squadron Upplandsfanan. He became responsible for the enlistment of army personnel in Finland, in 1563...
.
The trial in Svartsjö is not documented, but the verdict that the estates were to sign at Uppsala (see below) has survived. In the verdict, the following accounts are recorded as evidence:
- German merchant Peter Gastorp said that in Germany, he had heard from Josua Genewitz that when Nils Sture left Stockholm for Lorraine, Clas Åkesson Tott, Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock, Ivar Ivarsson and said Josua Genewitz had met on Sture's vessel and conspired to take the king's life and crown;
- the king's organist Alexander said that he had heard the same in the German town of "Ryvold";
- a Paulus Schmied swore that Nils Sture and Josua Genewitz had started machinations against the king upon their arrival in StralsundStralsund- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
, and rumors about the intrigue were heard across Germany; - two servants of Abraham Gustafsson and Ivar Ivarsson, Hans Wolf and Christopher, said that they had heard how the servant of Svante Sture, Hans Ellers, had said that their masters had talked behind closed doors, and that from what he had heard, they were out to avenge Nils Sture's mistreatment;
- Magnus II, Duke of Saxe-LauenburgMagnus II, Duke of Saxe-LauenburgMagnus II of Saxe-Lauenburg was the eldest surviving son of Duke Francis I of Saxe-Lauenburg and Sybille of Saxe-Freiberg , daughter of Duke Henry IV the Pious. In 1571 Magnus II ascended the throne after his father Francis I resigned due to indebtedness...
, cousin of Erik XIV and future husband of Erik's half-sister SophiaPrincess Sophia of SwedenPrincess Sophia of Sweden also Sofia Gustavsdotter Vasa , was a Swedish princess, daughter of King Gustav Vasa of Sweden and Margareta Leijonhufvud, a Swedish noble...
, said that Sten Eriksson, Abraham Gustafsson and Ivar Ivarsson had had an outraged conversation in his presence about Nils Sture's humiliation and called for revenge; the accused confirmed this, but said that they had talked about revenge against Persson and Jacob Teit of the High Court, not against the king.
Abraham Stenbock was forced to sign an incriminating letter to Josua Genewitz, which was later presented as evidence. From the diary of Erik XIV, it is known that Abraham Stenbock and Ivar Ivarsson were sentenced to death right away, and that on 14 May the court let Erik know that it was willing to also sentence Svante Sture to death. According to Peterson, Erik Sture was sentenced to death, too. All prisoners were then sent to Uppsala Castle
Uppsala Castle
Uppsala Castle is a 16th century royal castle in the historical city of Uppsala, Sweden. Throughout much of its early history, the castle played a major role in the history of Sweden....
for further investigation.
Riksdag at Uppsala
When Erik XIV arrived at Uppsala on 16 May 1567, according to Robert Nisbet BainRobert Nisbet Bain
Robert Nisbet Bain was a British historian and linguist who worked for the British Museum.-Biography:Bain was a fluent linguist who could use over twenty languages. Besides translating a number of books he also used his skills to write learned books on foreign people and folklore. Bain was a...
he was "in a condition of incipient insanity". The riksdag had meanwhile assembled, but only twenty nobles were among the attendees. On 19 May, when the death sentences were supposed to be endorsed by the riksdag, Erik collapsed after losing his notes for his speech and failing to manage without them. Two days later, Nils Sture was arrested upon his return from Lorraine by Persson, who denied him a requested audience with the king. On 22 May, Erik wrote a letter to Svante Sture, rejecting the charges of treason brought up against the Sture family and announcing their reconciliation.
Killings
Ordinary
In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...
of Kalmar
Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the...
, who told him that his brother John
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
had started a rebellion.
Erik returned to the castle a few hours after his first visit, drew his dagger, and stabbed Nils Sture in his chest or arm. According to Geijer, the murder was finished by Peder Welamsson, a nephew of Persson, whereupon Erik again entered the cell of Svante Sture, announcing to him on his knees that now he had to kill him as he could not expect Sture to forgive him. Before leaving the castle for the second time, he ordered the guards to kill everyone except for "Herr Sten." The guards, led by Per (Peder) Gadd, executed the order, but spared Sten Banér and Sten Eriksson as they did not know which Sten the king had just referred to.
While these two survived, Svante Sture, Nils Sture, Erik Sture, Abraham Stenbock and Ivar Ivarsson were killed. Outside the castle, Erik's tutor Dionysius Beurreusalso spelled Burreus, Beurraeus or Denis Burrey. Born in France, he received an estate in Sweden in 1547 and became Erik XIV's teacher in 1553; later, he became Privy Counsellor and rentmeister (master of the bursary), cf. Geijer (1834), pp. 137-8; Beurreus also furthered Erik's interest in astrology and Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, cf. Gejer (1834), p. 150. found the king in a state of madness. Beurreus' efforts to calm him were to no avail - instead, the king issued an order to kill Beurreus as well and vanished into a nearby forest. Eventually the guards stabbed Beurreus to death. The killings were not made public: the castle was locked, and at the gate Per Gadd's guards continued to accept food for the prisoners from their relatives as usual.
Aftermath
Erik did not return, but spent the following days wandering about the woods on his own. Only on 27 May was he found, dressed as a peasant and still in mental disorder, at the village of Odensala (now in Östersunds kommunÖstersund
Östersund is an urban area in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth largest lake, Storsjön, opposite the island Frösön, and is the only city in Jämtland. Östersund is the...
) and brought to Stockholm. Persson had meanwhile succeeded in obtaining the riksdag decree of 26 May endorsing all past and future sentences against the nobles detained in Svartsjö and Uppsala - it is unclear whether the riksdag attendees knew at this time that most of the prisoners in Uppsala were already dead.
Erik remained in a state of madness for half a year, cared for by Karin Månsdotter, whom he married in the summer. Until his recovery late in 1567, the Privy Council assumed control of the government and had Persson tried and sentenced to death, though the verdict was not carried out. Upon his recovery, Erik XIV restored his own and Persson's power. In February 1568, during a campaign in Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...
, Erik's secretary Mårten Helsingalso spelled Martin Helsing or Martinus Olavi Helsingus made a disparaging comment about Persson — the king was so outraged that he stabbed Helsing with a fire iron
Fire iron
A fire iron is any metal instrument for tending to a fire.-Types of fire irons:There are three types of tools commonly used to tend a small fire, such as an indoor fireplace fire, or yule log: the spade, the tongs and the poker itself...
, causing injuries of which the secretary died on 7 April.
However, an uprising of nobles started in the summer of 1568, led by his brothers Charles and John
John III of Sweden
-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
, which led to Erik's being deposed in January 1569. Sten Eriksson, who had survived the Sture Murders because of his name, was killed in the final battle of the uprising.The other Sten who had survived the murders, Sten Axelsson Banér, lived almost another 33 years before he was publicly executed on the order of Charles IX
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
in the Linköping Bloodbath
Linköping Bloodbath
The Linköping Bloodbath on Maundy Thursday 20 March 1600 was the public execution by beheading of five Swedish nobles in the aftermath of the Battle of Stångebro and the de facto deposition of the Polish and Swedish king Sigismund III Vasa as king of Sweden...
of 20 March 1600. Jöran Persson was killed by the insurgents in the same uprising when the Stockholm garrison deserted Erik XIV and turned Persson in. Erik died in 1577 from arsenic supposedly mixed in pea soup; until his death, according to Scott (1992), he "was taken from one castle prison to another, first with his family then alone, occasionally sane, sometimes lapsing into insanity." Already on 10 March 1575, the Privy Council had issued a document calling for the murder of Erik in case he could not be kept safely in prison; among the signatories were several nobles whom Erik had failed to capture at Svartsjö in 1567, namely Per Brahe, Ture Bielke, Hogenskild Bielke and Erik Gustafsson Stenbock, and also Sten Banér's brother, Gustaf.Gustaf Banér, Per Brahe and Ture Bielke later shared the fate of Sten Banér: they were likewise executed in the "Linköping Bloodbath."
The clothes worn by Svante, Nils and Erik Sture at the time of their deaths were kept by Märta (Martha)
King Martha (Swedish noblewoman)
Märta Erikdotter Leijonhufvud, known as King Märta , was a Swedish noble...
, Svante's wife and the mother of Nils and Erik, and are now on display in Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral
Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located centrally in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. It dates back to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 m is the tallest church building in Scandinavia. Originally built under Roman Catholicism and used for coronations of the Swedish monarch, since the...
's northern tower.