Stockholm Bloodbath
massacre
The Stockholm Bloodbath (Swedish: Stockholms 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 after the coronation of Christian II as the new king of Sweden, when guests in the crowning party were invited to a meeting at Tre Kronor castle. Archbishop Gustav Trolle, demanding economic compensation for things such as the demolition of Almarestäket's fortress, questioned whether the former Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger and his supporters had been guilty of heresy.
Supported by canon law, nearly 100 people were executed in the days following the meeting despite promises of amnesty. Among those killed were many people from the aristocracy who had been supporting the Sture party in the previous years. Thereafter King Christian II became known in Sweden as Kristian Tyrann ("Christian [the] Tyrant").
Background
Political factions in Sweden
The Stockholm Bloodbath was a consequence of conflict between Swedish pro-unionists (in favour of the Kalmar Union, then dominated by Denmark) and anti-unionists (supporters of Swedish independence), and also between the anti-unionists and the Danish aristocracy, which in other aspects was opposed to King Christian. The anti-unionist party was headed by Sten Sture the Younger, and the pro-unionist party by the Archbishop Gustavus Trolle.
Military interventions of King Christian
King Christian, who had already taken measures to isolate Sweden politically, intervened to help Archbishop Trolle, who was under siege in his fortress at Stäket.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stockholm Bloodbath” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.