Linköping Bloodbath
Encyclopedia
The Linköping Bloodbath (Swedish:
Linköpings blodbad) on Maundy Thursday
20 March 1600 was the public execution by beheading of five Swedish nobles in the aftermath of the Battle of Stångebro
(September 1598) and the de facto deposition of the Polish and Swedish
king Sigismund III Vasa
as king of Sweden. The five were advisors to Catholic Sigismund and/or political opponents of the latter's uncle and adversary, the Swedish regent Duke Charles
.
. He violated the agreement, setting off civil war in Sweden
. After trying to manage the Swedish situation from afar, Sigismund invaded with a mercenary army after receiving permission from the Polish legislature, and initially was successful. The turning point of his Swedish campaign was the Battle of Stångebro
on 25 September 1598, also known as the Battle of Linköping, where Sigismund got trapped in an unfavourable position and had to agree to a truce with Charles. One of Charles' conditions for the truce was the handing over of Swedish privy counsellors
from Sigismund's camp. Sigismund complied.
Most prominent among these Swedish senators was the Chancellor of Sweden, Erik Sparre. While Charles did not detain Sigismund as well, he forced him to agree to the Treaty of Linköping and to agree that their dispute would be settled by a future Riksdag of the Estates
in Stockholm
. Sigismund retreated to the port of Kalmar
, but instead of sailing to Stockholm, he took his sister Anna, left for Danzig in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
and never returned to Sweden again. Charles then crushed the remaining military opposition from forces loyal to Sigismund and those nobles who had previously taken control of Finland
in the Club War
. During these campaigns, some nobles were tried, executed or detained. Executions, including the so-called Åbo bloodbath
, were carried out through decapitation
or impalement
, Charles himself executed a son of his adversary Clas Fleming.
When in March 1600 a riksdag met in Linköping
, Charles, who was meanwhile created omnipotent ruler of Sweden and had repeatedly been offered the Swedish crown, set up a court to try his remaining prisoners. The court, headed by Axel Leijonhufvud
and Erik Brahe, consisted of 155 members, with Charles himself being the prosecutor. Tried were six nobles captured in Stångebro and two Finnish nobles captured later, including Arvid Stålarm, who in 1598 had intended to aid Sigismund in Stångebro, but aborted the action when his army had reached Stockholm from Finland only after Sigismund had accepted the beforementioned truce. The other Finnish noble, Axel Kurck, was sentenced to death along with Stålarm in Finland already, but the verdict had been suspended to again try them in Linköping. These eight noblemen were eventually sentenced to death, but three of them were pardoned.
The noblemen publicly executed on the Linköping market square on 20 March 1600 were:
, that culminated during the reign of his son, John II Casimir of Poland
, with the giant Swedish invasion of Poland known as the Deluge, ending the golden age of the Commonwealth. On 24 July 1599, the Riksens ständer (Riksdag
) in Stockholm officially dethroned Sigismund and named Charles IX Vasa as regent, and the Polish-Swedish union was dissolved after barely seven years of existence. Subsequently, Charles IX of Sweden was named by the Riksens ständer as the new King of Sweden in 1604, and the crown would pass to Gustavus the Great, who established his early military reputation as one of history's greatest generals in campaigns during the early years of the Polish-Swedish wars
. Indirectly, the religious conflict in Sweden lead to the Swedish Empire
as Gustavus and his generals became militant in the cause of Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
Linköpings blodbad) on Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...
20 March 1600 was the public execution by beheading of five Swedish nobles in the aftermath of the Battle of Stångebro
Battle of Stångebro
The Battle of Stångebro or Battle of Linköping took place at Linköping, Sweden on September 25, 1598, and effectively ended the personal union between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that had only existed since 1592...
(September 1598) and the de facto deposition of the Polish and Swedish
Polish-Swedish union
Polish–Swedish union was a short-lived personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Kingdom of Sweden, when Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, was crowned King of Sweden in 1592. In 1599, after a civil war, he lost this crown and returned to Warsaw.-Prelude:After the death of...
king Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
as king of Sweden. The five were advisors to Catholic Sigismund and/or political opponents of the latter's uncle and adversary, the Swedish regent Duke Charles
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...
.
Detention, trial and execution
King Sigismund had earlier been crowned the rightful king of Sweden after giving assurances that he would not act to aid the Catholic cause in Sweden during those late sixteenth century years of mounting religious turmoil during the counter-reformationCounter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
. He violated the agreement, setting off civil war in 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....
. After trying to manage the Swedish situation from afar, Sigismund invaded with a mercenary army after receiving permission from the Polish legislature, and initially was successful. The turning point of his Swedish campaign was the Battle of Stångebro
Battle of Stångebro
The Battle of Stångebro or Battle of Linköping took place at Linköping, Sweden on September 25, 1598, and effectively ended the personal union between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that had only existed since 1592...
on 25 September 1598, also known as the Battle of Linköping, where Sigismund got trapped in an unfavourable position and had to agree to a truce with Charles. One of Charles' conditions for the truce was the handing over of Swedish privy counsellors
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...
from Sigismund's camp. Sigismund complied.
Most prominent among these Swedish senators was the Chancellor of Sweden, Erik Sparre. While Charles did not detain Sigismund as well, he forced him to agree to the Treaty of Linköping and to agree that their dispute would be settled by a future Riksdag of the Estates
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 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...
. Sigismund retreated to the port 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...
, but instead of sailing to Stockholm, he took his sister Anna, left for Danzig in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
and never returned to Sweden again. Charles then crushed the remaining military opposition from forces loyal to Sigismund and those nobles who had previously taken control of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
in the Club War
Cudgel War
The Club War was a 1596/97 peasant uprising in the kingdom of Sweden against exploitation by nobility and military in what is today Finland...
. During these campaigns, some nobles were tried, executed or detained. Executions, including the so-called Åbo bloodbath
Åbo bloodbath
The Åbo Bloodbath of 10 November 1599 was a public execution in the Finnish town of Åbo , then part of the Kingdom of Sweden, in the context of the War against Sigismund and the Club War...
, were carried out through decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
or impalement
Impalement
Impalement is the traumatic penetration of an organism by an elongated foreign object such as a stake, pole, or spear, and this usually implies complete perforation of the central mass of the impaled body...
, Charles himself executed a son of his adversary Clas Fleming.
When in March 1600 a riksdag met in Linköping
Linköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
, Charles, who was meanwhile created omnipotent ruler of Sweden and had repeatedly been offered the Swedish crown, set up a court to try his remaining prisoners. The court, headed by Axel Leijonhufvud
Axel Leijonhufvud
Axel Leijonhufvud is a Swedish economist, currently professor emeritus at the University of California Los Angeles and professor at the University of Trento, Italy....
and Erik Brahe, consisted of 155 members, with Charles himself being the prosecutor. Tried were six nobles captured in Stångebro and two Finnish nobles captured later, including Arvid Stålarm, who in 1598 had intended to aid Sigismund in Stångebro, but aborted the action when his army had reached Stockholm from Finland only after Sigismund had accepted the beforementioned truce. The other Finnish noble, Axel Kurck, was sentenced to death along with Stålarm in Finland already, but the verdict had been suspended to again try them in Linköping. These eight noblemen were eventually sentenced to death, but three of them were pardoned.
The noblemen publicly executed on the Linköping market square on 20 March 1600 were:
- Erik Sparre — the Chancellor of Sweden and a senator in the Riksens ständer
- Ture Nilsson Bielke — a senator in the Riksens ständer
- Gustaf BanérGustaf BanérGustaf Banér was a Swedish nobleman and member of the Privy Council of Sweden. Gustaf Axelsson Banér was born at Djursholm Castle, the son of the Privy Council Axel Nilsson and Margareta Pedersdotter...
— a senator in the Riksens ständer and father of Gustavus the Great'sGustavus Adolphus of SwedenGustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
Swedish Field MarshalField MarshalField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Johan BanérJohan BanérJohan Banér was a Swedish Field Marshal in the Thirty Years' War.-Biography:Johan Banér was born at Djursholm Castle in Uppland. As a four year old he was forced to witness how his father, the Privy Councillour Gustaf Banér, and uncle, Sten Axelsson Banér , were executed at the Linköping Bloodbath... - Sten Banér — a senator in the Riksens ständer
- Bengt Falck — a senator in the Riksens ständer
Aftermath
Sigismund, who was allowed to return to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, did not relinquish his desire to regain the throne of Sweden. This attitude led to a series of Polish-Swedish warsPolish-Swedish wars
The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers two particular wars between 1600 and 1629...
, that culminated during the reign of his son, John II Casimir of Poland
John II Casimir of Poland
John II Casimir was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania during the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Duke of Opole in Upper Silesia, and titular King of Sweden 1648–1660. In Poland, he is known and commonly referred as Jan Kazimierz. His parents were Sigismund III Vasa and...
, with the giant Swedish invasion of Poland known as the Deluge, ending the golden age of the Commonwealth. On 24 July 1599, the Riksens ständer (Riksdag
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
) in Stockholm officially dethroned Sigismund and named Charles IX Vasa as regent, and the Polish-Swedish union was dissolved after barely seven years of existence. Subsequently, Charles IX of Sweden was named by the Riksens ständer as the new King of Sweden in 1604, and the crown would pass to Gustavus the Great, who established his early military reputation as one of history's greatest generals in campaigns during the early years of the Polish-Swedish wars
Polish-Swedish wars
The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers two particular wars between 1600 and 1629...
. Indirectly, the religious conflict in Sweden lead to the Swedish Empire
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
as Gustavus and his generals became militant in the cause of Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire.
See also
- War against SigismundWar against SigismundThe war against Sigismund was a war between Duke Charles, later King Charles IX and Sigismund, King of Sweden and Poland. Lasting from 1598 to 1599, it is also called War of Deposition against Sigismund, since the focus of the conflicts was the attempt to depose the latter from the throne of Sweden...
- Charles IX of SwedenCharles IX of SwedenCharles 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...
- Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Polish-Swedish unionPolish-Swedish unionPolish–Swedish union was a short-lived personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Kingdom of Sweden, when Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, was crowned King of Sweden in 1592. In 1599, after a civil war, he lost this crown and returned to Warsaw.-Prelude:After the death of...
- Privy Council of SwedenPrivy Council of SwedenThe 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...
- Pacta ConventaPacta conventa (Poland)Pacta conventa was a contractual agreement, from 1573 to 1764 entered into between the "Polish nation" and a newly-elected king upon his "free election" to the throne.The pacta conventa affirmed the king-elect's pledge to respect the laws of the...