The Kalmar Bloodbath ( Swedish: ''Kalmar blodbad''), sometimes described as the Second Kalmar Bloodbath to distinguish it from an earlier massacre in the same place, was the public

mass execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

of 22 men in

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 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, on 16 May 1599. All of the victims were members of the

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

from

Kalmar Castle Kalmar Castle ( sv, Kalmar slott) is a castle in the city Kalmar in the province of Småland in Sweden. History During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteen ...

, and included three

noblemen Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

(Johan Larsson Sparre, Kristofer Andersson Grip and Lars Andersson Rålamb) and a priest (the garrison chaplain Birger), all four of whom were

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

. The other eighteen victims, comprising secretaries, garrison officers and

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

commanders, were all

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

. The executions took place during the

War against Sigismund The war against Sigismund ( sv, Kriget mot Sigismund) was a war between Duke Charles, later known as King Charles IX of Sweden, and Sigismund, who was at the time the King of both Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (that is, the ...

, in which Duke Charles of

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...

rebelled against his nephew

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 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 and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

, who was king both of

and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Charles decisively defeated Sigismund at the Battle of Stångebro (September 1598), near

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

, and Sigismund subsequently escaped to Poland. A garrison loyal to Sigismund continued to hold the strategically-located

, commanded by Johan Larsson Sparre, Kristofer Andersson Grip and Lars Andersson Rålamb. Charles therefore sent an army to lay siege to the fortress in March. The city of

was captured in April, and the castle itself surrendered on 12 May. Four days later, 22 senior members of the garrison, including the commanders Sparre, Grip and Rålamb, were executed without trial. The heads of the three noblemen were subsequently displayed on pikes above the city's western gate. The war ended in complete victory for Duke Charles. Sigismund was formally deposed in July 1599, and his uncle succeeded him, as King Charles IX.

References

Other sources

* * Massacres in Sweden 1599 in Sweden Conflicts in 1599 16th-century executions by Sweden War against Sigismund Early Modern history of Sweden Political history of Sweden 16th century in Sweden {{Sweden-hist-stub

See also

References

Other sources