Sten Sture the Younger ( sv, Sten Sture den yngre) (1493 – 3 February 1520), was a Swedish nobleman who served as the regent 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 countries, Nordic c ...

, during the era of the

Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union ( Danish, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under a single monarch the three kingdo ...

Biography

Sture was born in 1493, as the son of Svante Nilsson (regent of Sweden) and Iliana Gisladotter Gädda, heiress of

Ulvåsa Ulvåsa, or Ulfåsa, is a mansion by lake Boren outside Motala in Östergötland, Sweden. The construction of the present mansion began in the 16th century. In the early 19th century a third floor was added and it obtained its present architectu ...

. At the death of his father, regent Svante, Sture was only 18 years old. High Councillor Eric Trolle was chosen as regent by the High Council. He supported the union with Denmark. However, Sture utilized the castles and troops fiefed to him by his late father and executed a coup. After Sture promised to continue union negotiations with Denmark, the High Council accepted him as regent replacing Eric Trolle. In reality, Sture's purpose was to keep Sweden independent from Denmark. He adopted the Sture surname, heritage from his great-grandmother, because it symbolized independence from Denmark and as a reminder of

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 ...

, his father's third cousin. Conflict soon arose between Sture as regent and Gustav Trolle, Archbishop of Uppsala, and son of Eric Trolle. The archbishop claimed more autonomy for the church. Sture had Trolle removed from his office and imprisoned. Sture knew that sooner or later, a war with King

Hans of Denmark John ( Danish, Norwegian and sv, Hans; né ''Johannes'') (2 February 1455 – 20 February 1513) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1481–1513), Norway (1483–1513) and as John II ( sv, Johan II) ...

(died 1513) or his son and successor King Christian II would be inevitable. Therefore, in 1513 he agreed to a truce with Russia. When Christian II started an invasion of Sweden, Sture was mortally wounded at the

battle of Bogesund The Battle of Bogesund was an important conflict in the campaign of Christian II to gain power over Sweden. In 1520, Christian's army of mercenaries had landed in Sweden, seeking to consolidate Christian's powers over Sweden within the Kalmar U ...

on 19 January 1520 and died on the ice of lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from e ...

on his way back to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. This was during the later part of

Christian II of Denmark Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Duke ...

's war against Sweden. Christian II was enthroned in Sweden in November 1520 and archbishop Gustav had his revenge against supporters of Sture and against those who deposed the archbishop: he listed those enemies and accusations against them, denouncing them as heretics. King Christian had those accused executed at the

Stockholm Bloodbath The Stockholm Bloodbath ( sv, Stockholms blodbad; da, Det Stockholmske Blodbad) was a trial that led to a series of executions in Stockholm between 7 and 9 November 1520. The event is also known as the Stockholm massacre. The events occurred af ...

(''Stockholms blodbad'') in November 1520, including Sten Sture's corpse which was desecrated as that of a

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

by being burnt at the stake.

Personal life

His marriage in 1511 to

Christina Gyllenstierna Christina Nilsdotter Gyllenstierna of Fogelvik (Swedish: ''Kristina'' or ''Kerstin'': 1494 – January 1559, Hörningsholm Castle) was a Swedish noblewoman. She was married to the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger, and led the Swedish ...

, great-granddaughter of King Charles VIII, produced the son Svante Stensson Sture, later elevated to Riksmarsk and Count of Stegeholm. In the 20th century, his distant direct descendant, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha married the hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf. Their son was King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden.

References

Other sources

* * *Greta Wieselgren (1949) ''Sten Sture d.y. och Gustav Trolle '' (Stockholm: Gleerup,)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sture, Sten, Younger 1493 births 1520 deaths 15th-century Swedish people 16th-century Swedish politicians 16th-century viceregal rulers Rulers of Finland Regents of Sweden Swedish nobility Stockholm Bloodbath Swedish military personnel killed in action