The Dano-Swedish War from 1501 to 1512 was a military conflict between

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and Sweden within the Kalmar Union. The war began with a Swedish and a Norwegian revolt against

King Hans John (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian and sv, Hans; né ''Johannes'') (2 February 1455 – 20 February 1513) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Kingdom of Denmark, Denmark (1481–1513 ...

and the siege of Queen Christina in her castle in Danish-held Stockholm.

1501 to 1504

On 1 January 1501, Swedish Regent

Sten Sture the Elder Sten Sture the Elder ( sv, Sten Sture den äldre; 1440 – 14 December 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden from 1470–1497 and 1501–1503. As the leader of the victorious Swedish separatist forces against the royal unionist fo ...

and the Swedish National Council met in

Vadstena Castle Vadstena Castle ( sv, Vadstena slott) is a former Royal Castle in Vadstena, the province of Östergötland, Sweden. History Vadstena Castle was originally built by King Gustav I in 1545 as a fortress to protect Stockholm from enemies approach ...

, at which the council approved the revolt against King Hans, and declared the deposition of the king. Norwegian nobel Knut Alvsson was also there and directed harsh accusations against King Hans' control in Norway and was provided Swedish support for his return to Norway. Sten Sture besieged Tre Kronor Castle in Stockholm from September 1501 until 6 May 1502. The kings wife, Queen Christina was the commander of the castle. This was one of the hardest sieges known during the Kalmar Union, during which a garrison of 1000 men was reduced to 70 out of plague and starvation. In August 1501 a Swedish army took

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

. Knut Alvsson led at the same time Swedish forces in an attack on

Båhus Fortress Bohus Fortress (also known as ''Baahus'' or ''Båhus'', originally: ''Bágahús'') lies along the old Norwegian–Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches ( north of G ...

on the Swedish-Norwegian border. The fort was commanded by

Henrich Krummedige Henrich Krummedige (also recorded as Hinrik, Henrik or Henry with surname variations including Krummedike and Krummendiek), was born circa 1464 in Norway and died in 1530. He was a Danish-Norwegian nobleman and a member of both the Norwegian and ...

. Krummedige was able to hold Båhus, but Alvsson captured

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress ...

and

Tønsberg Fortress Tønsberg Fortress (''Tunsberghus festning'') was a medieval fortress and castle, located in Tønsberg, Norway which was defended by the fortress for over 300 years. It includes ruins from ''Castrum Tunsbergis'', Norway's largest castle in the 1 ...

in March 1502. King Hans dispatched his son Christian (later crowned King Christian II of Denmark and Norway) at the head of Danish forces; they relieved the siege of Båhus Fortress, and also captured

Älvsborg Fortress Älvsborg Fortress ( sv, Älvsborgs fästning), with its main facility Oscar II's Fort ( sv, Oscar II:s fort) built 1899–1907, is a now-defunct Swedish fortification located at the mouth of the Göta River in the Älvsborg district of Gothen ...

across the river from Båhus Fortress. Krummedige then led forces north to finish off the rebellion by recapturing Tønsberg Fortress and investing Akershus Fortress, which Alvsson was defending. When it became clear that the rebellion was stalemated, Alvsson came on board one of Krummedige's ships under a safe conduct. Krummedige's men killed Alvsson on 18 August 1502, either by treachery or, as alleged by Krummedige's men, in response to Alvsson's own violence. Breaking the rules of safe conduct was considered a grave treachery after the old Norse laws, which were still used in Norway at the time. However, the court in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

deemed Krummedige to have acted justly. The conditions for this judgement have been discussed by historians for years. Sten Sture invaded Norway in 1503, but failed to accomplish anything of importance. Nils Ravaldsson became the new leader of the rebellion, but it was crushed in December 1504, at Olsborg Castle.

1504 to 1509

14 December 1503, Sten Sture died, and in 1504, Svante Nilsson became the new Regent of Sweden. The war continued, and the Danes and Swedes fought over the Danish-held city of

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 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 ...

. It was also fighting in the border areas of Skåne,

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömseb ...

and

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's secon ...

. In July 1507, the Danish-Norwegian navy under the command of

Søren Norby Søren Norby, selfstyled as Severin Norbi (died 1530) was a Danish leading naval officer in the fleets of Danish kings Hans I and Christian II. He commandeered the greatest ship of the Danish fleet in naval wars against Sweden and Lübeck. Norby ...

attacked

Kastelholm Castle Kastelholm Castle ( sv, Kastelholms slott) is a Swedish people, Swedish-built medieval castle located off Road 2 in Sund, Åland, Sund, Åland, Finland, approximately northeast of Mariehamn, overlooking a fjord to the south of the village of Kas ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

and burned it down. Later the same year, Dano-Norwegian military forces under the command of Henrich Krummedige attacked Nya Lödöse and burned the city down. In February 1508, Swedish military forces attacked the Danish town Væ and burned it down. In 1509, Sweden agreed to a declaration which recognised Hans as king of Sweden in principle, but he was never allowed into Stockholm as long as he lived, nor crowned king of Sweden anew, and the war renewed shortly after.

1509 to 1512

Fighting intensified in 1509 and 1510 when the German city of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

and the Hanseatic League helped Sweden to conquer Danish-held

and

Borgholm Borgholm () is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 4,401 inhabitants in 2020. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea, at the Kalmar Strait-side of Öland, north of Färjestaden. Borgholm is on ...

. The recently established Danish-Norwegian Navy fought joint Hanseatic-Swedish naval forces at

Nakskov Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the L ...

and Bornholm in 1510 and 1511. In April 1512, a peace agreement was signed in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

Aftermath

The war did not end the fighting between the kingdoms of the Kalmar Union, the result concerning Sweden was status quo, and a new war between the Kalmar Union and Sweden erupted in 1517, but Lübeck suffered a real political and economic setback by the peace. Norwegian attempts at opposition against Denmark were strangled by King Hans's son Prince Christian (afterward King Christian II), who was the

viceroy of Norway The Viceroy of Norway ( Constitutional Danish: Vice-Konge) was the appointed head of the Norwegian Government in the absence of the King, during the era of the Union between Sweden and Norway. The role was essentially the same as that of the Gover ...

from 1506 until he became king of Denmark and Norway in 1513.Hannay, Mackie, Spilman, ed., ''Letters of James IV'', SHS (1953), p.xlii

Literature

*George Childs Kohn (Hrsg.): ''Dictionary of Wars''
page 142f
Routledge 2013 *Hanno Brand (ed.): ''Trade, Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange – Continuity and Change in the North Sea Area and the Baltic 1350–1750''
page 115ff
Uitgeverij Verloren, Hilversum 2005 *Franklin Daniel Scott: ''Sweden, the Nation's History''
page 99ff
SIU Press, 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dano-Swedish War (1501-12) 1501 in Europe 1502 in Europe 1503 in Europe 1504 in Europe 1505 in Europe 1506 in Europe 1507 in Europe 1509 in Europe 1510 in Europe 1511 in Europe 1512 in Europe Conflicts in 1501 Conflicts in 1502 Conflicts in 1503 Conflicts in 1504 Conflicts in 1505 Conflicts in 1506 Conflicts in 1507 Conflicts in 1508 Conflicts in 1509 Conflicts in 1510 Conflicts in 1511 Conflicts in 1512 Wars involving Denmark Wars involving Sweden Wars involving Norway Denmark–Sweden relations Kalmar Union 16th-century conflicts 16th-century rebellions History of Lübeck Wars involving the Hanseatic League 16th century in Sweden 16th century in Denmark 16th century in Norway 1501 in Sweden 1512 in Sweden 1501 in Denmark 1512 in Denmark 1501 in Norway 1504 in Norway