The Dalecarlian rebellions ( sv, Dalupproren) were a series of Swedish

rebellions Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

which took place in

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

in Sweden: the First Dalecarlian Rebellion in 1524-1525, the Second Dalecarlian Rebellion in 1527–1528, and the Third Dalecarlian Rebellion (also known as the Bell Rebellion) in 1531–1533. The rebellions were conducted by the peasantry of

against the Swedish monarch, King

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 ('' Riksför ...

. Mutual reasons for all three rebellions were loss of support of Gustav I among the Dalecarlian peasantry because of the economic crisis, the increased royal power, and the unpopular Swedish Reformation.

First Dalecarlian Rebellion

Economic crisis occurred after the Swedish war of liberation because of the trade monopoly the king had granted the Hanseatic Lübeck in exchange for their support in recapturing the capital during the war. The discontent was used by two Catholic priests, former Bishop Peder Jakobsson of Västerås, a follower of

Sten Sture the Younger Sten Sture the Younger ( sv, 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. Biography Sture was born in 1493, as the son of Svante Nilsson (reg ...

, and Knut Mickelsson, who opposed the inclinations of Lutheranism which the king had displayed as early as 1524, who stirred up the emotions against the king and for the Sture family in the province. In the spring of 1525, the Dalecarlians held a meeting and wrote a letter in which they complained of the foreign bailiffs and the imprisonment of Sten Sture's widow Christina Gyllenstierna, and stated that they would renounce their fealty unless their demands were met. They reportedly contacted

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 ...

, who offered Christina marriage. The king managed to subdue the discontent by promising to meet their demands in May 1525, and the leaders fled to Norway. They were extradited in 1526, and executed through

breaking wheel The breaking wheel or execution wheel, also known as the Wheel of Catherine or simply the Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages into the early modern period by breakin ...

in February 1527.

Second Dalecarlian Rebellion

In 1527, the continuing discontent over the economic crisis, a new tax on Lübeck, and the Swedish Reformation, which was launched that year, unleashed the second rebellion in Dalarna, centered around the so-called '' Daljunkern'' (The Youngster from Dalarna), who had come from Norway claiming to be

Nils Stensson Sture Nils Stensson Sture (1512 – 1526 or 1528), born 1512, was the eldest son and heir of Sten Sture the Younger. The so-called Daljunkern ('the Dale-Junker', i.e. the junker from Dalarna), the young leader of an unsuccessful rebellion against ...

, son of

and Christina Gyllenstierna. This resulted in a feud between the Dalecarlian parishes, which were divided between their loyalties toward the king and the Sture family. The king called representatives of the rebels to negotiations in Uppsala in May 1527, and kept ongoing contacts with them. The Daljunkern left for Norway, but continued to support the rebels from there. In February 1528, the king led an expedition to the Tuna parish, summoned the peasantry at the church, and declared them rebels and outlaws with no right to decide whom to be monarch, and gave them the choice to present all taking part of the rebellion, or else all in the parish were to be executed. This resulted in the rebels being brought forth and executed on the spot, until the king decided for the end of the bloodbath and accepted to show mercy to the remaining rebels. In April, one of the leaders, Peder Grym, was publicly executed in the capital.

Third Dalecarlian Rebellion

In 1531, the Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden of the ongoing Swedish Reformation and a new tax, where every parish were obliged to contribute with one of their church bells, resulted in a rebellion where rebels from several of the parishes killed and abused the kings bell collectors. In May, they offered to pay the worth of the bells in money, which the king accepted. At that point, Christian II of Denmark was attempting to regain his throne, and the king was occupied elsewhere. In January 1533, he was free to deal with the rebellion. He summoned the Dalecarlians to a meeting, where he met them with an army, threatened them, fined them, extradited the bell tax with force, and arrested several of the leaders, Måns Nilsson, Anders Persson, and Ingel Hansson, and took them to the capital, where they were executed in early 1534.

Sources

* Daluppror i Nordisk familjebok (andra upplagan, 1906) {{Catholic Church in Sweden Popular revolt in late-medieval Europe Peasant revolts Rebellions in Sweden Conflicts in 1524 1524 in Sweden Conflicts in 1525 1525 in Sweden Conflicts in 1527 1527 in Sweden Conflicts in 1528 1528 in Sweden 1531 in Sweden Conflicts in 1531 1532 in Sweden Conflicts in 1532 1533 in Sweden Conflicts in 1533 Counter-Reformation 16th-century rebellions Swedish Reformation Catholic rebellions Gustav I of Sweden

First Dalecarlian Rebellion

Second Dalecarlian Rebellion

Third Dalecarlian Rebellion

See also

Sources