Regent of Sweden (1493?1520)
Portrayal on the altar of
Vasteras Cathedral
Sten Sture the Younger
(
Swedish
:
Sten Sture den yngre
) (1493 ? 3 February 1520), was a Swedish nobleman who served as the regent of
Sweden
, during the era of the
Kalmar Union
.
[1]
Death of Sten Sture the Younger on the ice of Lake
Malaren
as imagined by
Carl Gustaf Hellqvist
in 1880
Biography
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Sture was born in 1493, as the son of
Svante Nilsson (regent of Sweden)
and Iliana Gisladotter Gadda, heiress of
Ulvasa
.
At the death of his father, regent Svante, Sture was only 18 years old. High Councillor
Eric Trolle
was chosen as regent by the High Council. He supported the union with Denmark. However, Sture utilized the castles and troops fiefed to him by his late father and executed a coup. After Sture promised to continue union negotiations with Denmark, the High Council accepted him as regent replacing Eric Trolle.
[2]
[3]
In reality, Sture's purpose was to keep Sweden independent from Denmark. He adopted the Sture surname, heritage from his great-grandmother, because it symbolized independence from Denmark and as a reminder of
Sten Sture the Elder
, his father's third cousin.
[4]
Conflict soon arose between Sture as regent and
Gustav Trolle
, Archbishop of Uppsala, and son of
Eric Trolle
. The archbishop claimed more autonomy for the church. Sture had Trolle removed from his office and imprisoned.
[5]
Sture knew that sooner or later, a war with King
Hans of Denmark
(died 1513) or his son and successor King
Christian II
would be inevitable. Therefore, in 1513 he agreed to a truce with Russia.
When Christian II started an invasion of Sweden, Sture was mortally wounded at the
battle of Bogesund
on 19 January 1520 and died on the ice of lake
Malaren
on his way back to
Stockholm
. This was during the later part of
Christian II of Denmark
's war against Sweden.
Christian II was enthroned in Sweden in November 1520 and archbishop Gustav had his revenge against supporters of Sture and against those who deposed the archbishop: he listed those enemies and accusations against them, denouncing them as heretics. King Christian had those accused executed at the
Stockholm Bloodbath
(
Stockholms blodbad
) in November 1520, including Sten Sture's corpse which was desecrated as that of a
heretic
by being burnt at the stake.
[6]
Personal life
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His marriage in 1511 to
Christina Gyllenstierna
, great-granddaughter of King
Charles VIII
, produced the son
Svante Stensson Sture
, later elevated to Riksmarsk and Count of
Stegeholm
. In the 20th century, his distant direct descendant,
Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
married the hereditary
Prince Gustaf Adolf
. Their son was King
Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden
.
[7]
[8]
[9]
References
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Other sources
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External links
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]