The Conquest of Uppsala ( sv, Erövringen av Uppsala) was a part of the

Swedish War of Liberation The Swedish War of Liberation (1521–23; sv, Befrielsekriget, lit=The Liberation War), also known as Gustav Vasa's Rebellion and the Swedish War of Secession, was a rebellion and a civil war in which the nobleman Gustav Vasa deposed King Chri ...

that took place on 19 May 1521. After defeating a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

counter-attack outside

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

, Vasa sent two of his military commanders, Jöns Olofsson and Lars Eriksson, to take control of the eastern province of

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

. After passing through the hundreds of Simtuna and Torstuna, Jöns Olofsson was met by local Danish commander Bengt Bjugg and his forces, who defeated the rebels and killed Olofsson. Lars Eriksson had by then reached

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of Swedi ...

, where he met Bjugg, and forced his troops on a retreat to Uppsala. The Danes had yet no clear view of the rebellion's full scope, and did not believe that Uppsala would be attacked any time soon. The Swedish peasant army attacked on the night between the 18th and 19 May, after the mass of

Eric the Saint Eric IX, (Swedish: ''Erik Jedvardsson; Erik den helige; Sankt Erik''; d. 18 May 1160) also called Eric the Holy, Saint Eric, and Eric the Lawgiver, was a Swedish king in the 12th century, 1156–1160. The ''Roman Martyrology'' of the Catholic C ...

had been celebrated in the city, catching the Danish forces by surprise. The archbishop's residence was attacked and soon taken. Bengt Bjugg managed to escape to Stockholm, but within soon died of an infected arrow wound. The peasant army's victory was only temporary. Shortly after

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

left his camp outside Västerås and headed to Uppsala, three weeks after the city's conquest, the local archbishop attacked, forcing Gustav to flee. He was almost captured by the pursuing enemy by Läby ford. However, he managed to rally more troops and by the time of

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...

the same year he had pushed back the Danish governmental forces.

References

* 1521 in Europe

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

1521 in Sweden 1521 in Denmark

History of Uppsala {{Sweden-battle-stub