Gustaf Banér (May 19, 1547 – March 20, 1600) was a Swedish nobleman who served as a member of the

Privy Council of Sweden The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council ( or : sometimes in ), was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates () which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the King of Sweden. The 1634 Instrument of Government, Sweden's fir ...

Life

Gustaf Axelsson Banér was born at

Djursholm Castle Djursholm Castle (''Djursholms slott'') is a castle in Sweden. Djursholm is located in Danderyd Municipality, within Stockholm urban area. The castle includes building components from the late Middle Ages. It was the main building on the Estate ...

, the son of the Privy Counselor Axel Nilsson Banér and Margareta Pedersdotter Bielke. Gustaf Banér studied at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock () is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Se ...

, took part in the insurgency against King

Eric XIV Erik XIV or Eric XIV (13 December 153326 February 1577) became King of Sweden following the death of his father, Gustav I, on 29 September 1560. During a 1568 rebellion against him, Erik was incarcerated by his half-brother John III. He ...

and was appointed as a member of the Privy Council in 1569 by King John III. He was implicated in the

Mornay plot The Mornay plot was a plot in 1574 to assassinate John III of Sweden, free the imprisoned Eric XIV of Sweden and place him or Charles IX of Sweden upon the Swedish throne.Charles de Mornay, urn:sbl:17458, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Ingvar ...

but not investigated for it. He remained favoured by John III for a long time and was entrusted with several diplomatic missions, such as the 1587 royal election in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in which John III's son

Sigismund III Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Relig ...

was elected king.''Gustaf Axelsson Banér'' (Bild på svenska)
/ref> He was a

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

Reval Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju ''maakond'' (co ...

between 1588 and 1590, where there was a meeting in 1589 during which there was a rupture between Banér and the members of the Privy Council on the one side and John III on the other. In 1592, when Sigismund III succeeded John III as

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

, Banér initially supported Duke Charles in his power struggle against Sigismund. Banér's ambition was to ensure more power for the

high nobility Traditional rank amongst European imperiality, royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to anothe ...

in the government. When the duke's actions had led to a rupture with most of the members of the Privy Council, Banér escaped to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, from where he tried to incite a Swedish rebellion. He joined King Sigismund III upon his arrival in Sweden in 1598, but after the

Battle of Stångebro The Battle of Stångebro, or the Battle of Linköping, took place at Linköping, Sweden, on 25 September 1598 (O.S.) and effectively ended the personal union between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, that had existed since 1592. ...

, Banér was handed over to King Charles. Banér was one of five noblemen sentenced to death and executed in

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

. This event, which took place in the main square of Linköping on March 20, 1600, became known as the

Linköping Bloodbath The Linköping Bloodbath () on 20 March 1600 was the public execution by beheading of five Swedish nobles in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599), which resulted in the '' de facto'' deposition of the Polish and Swedish Ki ...

Personal life

Gustaf Banér was married on October 8, 1581, to Kristina Svantesdotter Sture (1559–1619), a daughter of the Privy Councilor and Riksmarsalken Svante Sture the Younger (1517–1567). Her mother was Märta Erikdotter Leijonhufvud, so Kristina was a first cousin of the kings Eric XIV, John III and

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl (; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric XIV and of ...

. Like her mother, she was constantly pregnant during much of her marriage, giving birth to a total of 14 children in just 16 years. However, four of them died before reaching adulthood: # Margareta Gustafsdotter Banér (1582–1618) # Svante Gustafsson Banér (1584–1628), Privy Councilor and Governor of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

# Anna Gustafsdotter Banér (1585–1656) # Martha Gustafsdotter Banér (1586–1586), died in infancy # Axel Gustafsson Banér (1587–1594), died in childhood # Per (Peder) Gustafsson Banér (1588–1644) # Nils Gustafsson Banér (1589–1614) # A daughter who died at birth (1590) #

Sigrid Gustafsdotter Banér Sigrid is a Scandinavian given name for women from Old Norse ''Sigríðr'', composed of the elements ''sigr'' "victory" and ''fríðr'' "beautiful". Common short forms include Siri, Sigga, Sig, and Sigi. An Estonian and Finnish variant is Siir ...

(1592–1669) # Martha Gustafsdotter Banér (1593–1638) # Axel Gustafsson Banér (1594–1642), Privy Councilor and Reichsmarshal # Johan Gustafsson Banér (1596–1641), Privy Councilor and

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

# Erik Gustafsson Banér (1597–1597), died in infancy # Karl Gustafsson Banér (1598–1632), State Secretary and Deputy Governor of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

References

Other sources

* The article ''Banér, Gustaf'' in ''

Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...

'' (1990) {{DEFAULTSORT:Baner, Gustaf 1547 births 1600 deaths People executed by Sweden by decapitation Swedish nobility 16th-century Swedish politicians 17th-century executions by Sweden People from Danderyd Municipality Executed Swedish people People of the War against Sigismund