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The Sture Murders, which took place in Uppsala Sweden (24th of May 1567), were the bizzare series of events which led to the deaths of five incarcerated nobles, three of which belonged to the House of Sture from which the event is named, at the hands of king Eric XIV of Sweden (1533-1577), who at the time found himself in a serious state of mental disorder, and his guards. (wow, that was a long sentance)

So, what the heck happened? Let's generally look at the kind of governing situation in Sweden at the time. King Eric started, during the 1560's, to involve himself in a whole lot of wars, such as the Livonian War (1558–1583) and the Northern Seven Years' War (1563–1570). Due to this, he left his secretary Jöran Persson (c. 1530–1568) to be in charge of the country's administration and soon enough the privy council of Sweden, the nobles that gave the king political advice and suggestions, were effectivly replaced due to Persson's growing authority. This pretty much built up to become something out of a cold war between Eric XIV with Jöran Persson against the high nobility. Of all the high nobles, king Eric distrusted a certain Nils Svantesson Sture (1543-1567) the most, who was one of the ones that were arrested and tried. The king feared that Nils Sture would try and seize the throne, an easy thing to do since as of yet king Eric didn't have any legal heirs. It was pretty much a mix between absolute paranoia, strain of war, personal and national pressures that started this whole spiral of events.

In 1566 the bad luck finally cought up with Nils Sture as he was sentanced to death for such weird causes as "neglect of duty". He was however instead later on sentanced to a humiliating drive through the streets of Stockholm where he, on the 15th of June had to ride through Stockholm on a wretched hack wearing a crown of straw, with some of his wounds suffered from prior torture still bleeding. This bad treatment for no apparent reason of a noble stirred up some ill feelings towards the king amongst Sweden's high nobility. In July, the same year, several members showed up for a meeting, the causes for which has been argued by historians wether it was a farewell party for Nils Sture or a secret meeting for potential resistance. Among the present members we find Nils Sture himself, his father Svante Stensson Sture (1517-1567), Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock (-1567), Hogenskild Bielke (1538-1605) Klaus Fleming (1535-1597), Sten Axelsson Banér (1546-1600) and several others, including Eric's own brother, the soon to be Charles IX (1550-1611). Naturally, Eric feared a conspiracy against him and therefor called a riksdag, political gathering, to settle the ever growing quarrels during the spring of 1567.

And now we come to the part where everything goes wrong. On their way to the riksdag several members who were called to it were invited to Svartsjö Castle shortly outside of Stockholm, many of the invited were present during the secret meeting in July of 1566. Eric was also present there, and that was what was the entire plan: Soon after he had the invited arrested and tried before the High Court. Among the arrested were Nils Sture's brother Eric Svantesson Sture (1546-1567) and Svante Sture the father, as well as some others. Two of the nobles put to trial, the previously mentioned Abraham Stenbock and a certain Ivar Ivarsson (unknown-died in 1567) were sentanced to death right away according to king Eric's diary. On 14 May the court let king Eric know that it was willing to also sentence Svante Sture and Eric Sture to death. After that whole thingy, the prisoners were sent right away to Uppsala castle, close to Uppsala city, for further investigations. During this whole nonsense Martha Leijonhufvud (1520-1584), wife of Svante Sture, had traveled to Svartsjö to talk to the king. Something she apparently was forbidden to do, for she was placed under guard in the village outside of the castle instead. Because of this, Martha sent letter to Karin Månsdotter (1550-1612), the love of king Eric's life and of non-noble birth (Which in itself was highly controversial by the way. People were very classist back then), to try and reason with the king and actually make him act less of a moron that he already was and actually try to show some mercy on his enemies. It was starting to become clear that king Eric was absolutely batshit insane at this point and willing to do anything to get rid of his foes. During this whole madness, Nils Sture had luckily been away in Lorraine so he was late for the party...but now when he returned on the 21st of May, he was directly sent to Uppsala and arrested he too. And so, king Eric XIV had all his enemies in his palms.

Finally, on the 24th of May, Karin Månsdotter responded to mother Martha Leijonhufvud and told her that the king had promised he would not hurt anyone...which quickly turned out to be a broken promise because now we get right into the news. The king visited the old father Svante Sture, fell to his knees and started to beg for forgivness like some...thing. He then left the castle, but was later told by the previously mentioned royal secretary Jöran Persson that warned of uprising rebellion. Totally twisted by rage, king Eric changed his mind totally, stormed into the prisoner cell of Nils Sture followed by his guards. If you've paid attention to the picture's description so far, then good. Because now we enter the events that happens in the picture. Pay attention, mates!
In this moment, Nils Sture was seated on his bed praying for his life. Then, king Eric XIV stormed in with his guards and exclaimed "Ah, there you are, you traitor!" Nils Sture became absolutely terrified and fell to his knees and said "Kindest and good majesty, my king, I am not a traitor and serve noone else but you, my lord!" These praisings did little else but upset the king even more who took his dagger and litteraly stabbed Nils Sture in the arm. Legend says that Nils Sture then pulled out the knife and exclaimed in absolute terror "Please, your majesty, spare me my life!". King Eric then told his guards to absolutely massacre Nils, which they did. And so Nils Sture died a horrible death at the litteral hands of the king himself. Martha Leijonhufvud, Nils' mother, has another version where Eric stabs the man in the eyeball but what the heck...
King Eric then returned to Svante Sture and told him that he would have to kill him too because...well...traitors and stuff. He then ordered his guards to kill every single prisoner. He then left the castle and, as legends say, ran into the woods like an absolute madman. All in all, Svante Sture, his sons Nils and Eric Sture and Abraham Stenbock were killed in this shitstorm.

King Eric XIV did not return after these following events. He was found in the woods first on the 27th of May dressed as a peasant and still in mental disorder, at the village of Odensala and brought to Stockholm. After having been brought back to the capital, Erik was initially left isolated, as no one dared to seek audience in fear of him having another fit. Erik remained in a state of madness for half a year, cared for by his beloved (ugh...) Karin Månsdotter. He would first recover in late 1567.

-----------------------------------------------------
For those who want a summarized version:
During the 1560's, king Eric XIV of Sweden feared that the high nobility were conspiring against him. Especially suspicious was he of the House of Sture. In May of 1567 he had several nobles, including members of the House of Sture, invited to Svartsjö castle and had them arrested and put to trial. The prisoners were then transferred to Uppsala. On the 24th of May, the king was close to release them until he changed his mind, went batshit insane, stabbed Nils Sture to death and sentanced Nils' brother Eric and father Svante to death together with nobleman Abraham Stenbock. He then ran off to the woods and was brought back to the capital a few days later in a state of grave insanity.

...he was not sent to Arkham Asylum, if you wonder.

Fun fact: We know for a fact what the prisoners wore at the time of their deaths, since we have their clothing reserved.
www.myheritageimages.com/C/sto…
The shirt and pants in the middle belong to Nils Sture, who is depicted in the image.

Now I'll go and have a pancake.

Description
The Sture Murders, which took place in Uppsala Sweden (24th of May 1567), were the bizzare series of events which led to the deaths of five incarcerated nobles, three of which belonged to the House of Sture from which the event is named, at the hands of king Eric XIV of Sweden (1533-1577), who at the time found himself in a serious state of mental disorder, and his guards. (wow, that was a long sentance)

So, what the heck happened? Let's generally look at the kind of governing situation in Sweden at the time. King Eric started, during the 1560's, to involve himself in a whole lot of wars, such as the Livonian War (1558–1583) and the Northern Seven Years' War (1563–1570). Due to this, he left his secretary Jöran Persson (c. 1530–1568) to be in charge of the country's administration and soon enough the privy council of Sweden, the nobles that gave the king political advice and suggestions, were effectivly replaced due to Persson's growing authority. This pretty much built up to become something out of a cold war between Eric XIV with Jöran Persson against the high nobility. Of all the high nobles, king Eric distrusted a certain Nils Svantesson Sture (1543-1567) the most, who was one of the ones that were arrested and tried. The king feared that Nils Sture would try and seize the throne, an easy thing to do since as of yet king Eric didn't have any legal heirs. It was pretty much a mix between absolute paranoia, strain of war, personal and national pressures that started this whole spiral of events.

In 1566 the bad luck finally cought up with Nils Sture as he was sentanced to death for such weird causes as "neglect of duty". He was however instead later on sentanced to a humiliating drive through the streets of Stockholm where he, on the 15th of June had to ride through Stockholm on a wretched hack wearing a crown of straw, with some of his wounds suffered from prior torture still bleeding. This bad treatment for no apparent reason of a noble stirred up some ill feelings towards the king amongst Sweden's high nobility. In July, the same year, several members showed up for a meeting, the causes for which has been argued by historians wether it was a farewell party for Nils Sture or a secret meeting for potential resistance. Among the present members we find Nils Sture himself, his father Svante Stensson Sture (1517-1567), Abraham Gustafsson Stenbock (-1567), Hogenskild Bielke (1538-1605) Klaus Fleming (1535-1597), Sten Axelsson Banér (1546-1600) and several others, including Eric's own brother, the soon to be Charles IX (1550-1611). Naturally, Eric feared a conspiracy against him and therefor called a riksdag, political gathering, to settle the ever growing quarrels during the spring of 1567.

And now we come to the part where everything goes wrong. On their way to the riksdag several members who were called to it were invited to Svartsjö Castle shortly outside of Stockholm, many of the invited were present during the secret meeting in July of 1566. Eric was also present there, and that was what was the entire plan: Soon after he had the invited arrested and tried before the High Court. Among the arrested were Nils Sture's brother Eric Svantesson Sture (1546-1567) and Svante Sture the father, as well as some others. Two of the nobles put to trial, the previously mentioned Abraham Stenbock and a certain Ivar Ivarsson (unknown-died in 1567) were sentanced to death right away according to king Eric's diary. On 14 May the court let king Eric know that it was willing to also sentence Svante Sture and Eric Sture to death. After that whole thingy, the prisoners were sent right away to Uppsala castle, close to Uppsala city, for further investigations. During this whole nonsense Martha Leijonhufvud (1520-1584), wife of Svante Sture, had traveled to Svartsjö to talk to the king. Something she apparently was forbidden to do, for she was placed under guard in the village outside of the castle instead. Because of this, Martha sent letter to Karin Månsdotter (1550-1612), the love of king Eric's life and of non-noble birth (Which in itself was highly controversial by the way. People were very classist back then), to try and reason with the king and actually make him act less of a moron that he already was and actually try to show some mercy on his enemies. It was starting to become clear that king Eric was absolutely batshit insane at this point and willing to do anything to get rid of his foes. During this whole madness, Nils Sture had luckily been away in Lorraine so he was late for the party...but now when he returned on the 21st of May, he was directly sent to Uppsala and arrested he too. And so, king Eric XIV had all his enemies in his palms.

Finally, on the 24th of May, Karin Månsdotter responded to mother Martha Leijonhufvud and told her that the king had promised he would not hurt anyone...which quickly turned out to be a broken promise because now we get right into the news. The king visited the old father Svante Sture, fell to his knees and started to beg for forgivness like some...thing. He then left the castle, but was later told by the previously mentioned royal secretary Jöran Persson that warned of uprising rebellion. Totally twisted by rage, king Eric changed his mind totally, stormed into the prisoner cell of Nils Sture followed by his guards. If you've paid attention to the picture's description so far, then good. Because now we enter the events that happens in the picture. Pay attention, mates!
In this moment, Nils Sture was seated on his bed praying for his life. Then, king Eric XIV stormed in with his guards and exclaimed "Ah, there you are, you traitor!" Nils Sture became absolutely terrified and fell to his knees and said "Kindest and good majesty, my king, I am not a traitor and serve noone else but you, my lord!" These praisings did little else but upset the king even more who took his dagger and litteraly stabbed Nils Sture in the arm. Legend says that Nils Sture then pulled out the knife and exclaimed in absolute terror "Please, your majesty, spare me my life!". King Eric then told his guards to absolutely massacre Nils, which they did. And so Nils Sture died a horrible death at the litteral hands of the king himself. Martha Leijonhufvud, Nils' mother, has another version where Eric stabs the man in the eyeball but what the heck...
King Eric then returned to Svante Sture and told him that he would have to kill him too because...well...traitors and stuff. He then ordered his guards to kill every single prisoner. He then left the castle and, as legends say, ran into the woods like an absolute madman. All in all, Svante Sture, his sons Nils and Eric Sture and Abraham Stenbock were killed in this shitstorm.

King Eric XIV did not return after these following events. He was found in the woods first on the 27th of May dressed as a peasant and still in mental disorder, at the village of Odensala and brought to Stockholm. After having been brought back to the capital, Erik was initially left isolated, as no one dared to seek audience in fear of him having another fit. Erik remained in a state of madness for half a year, cared for by his beloved (ugh...) Karin Månsdotter. He would first recover in late 1567.

-----------------------------------------------------
For those who want a summarized version:
During the 1560's, king Eric XIV of Sweden feared that the high nobility were conspiring against him. Especially suspicious was he of the House of Sture. In May of 1567 he had several nobles, including members of the House of Sture, invited to Svartsjö castle and had them arrested and put to trial. The prisoners were then transferred to Uppsala. On the 24th of May, the king was close to release them until he changed his mind, went batshit insane, stabbed Nils Sture to death and sentanced Nils' brother Eric and father Svante to death together with nobleman Abraham Stenbock. He then ran off to the woods and was brought back to the capital a few days later in a state of grave insanity.

...he was not sent to Arkham Asylum, if you wonder.

Fun fact: We know for a fact what the prisoners wore at the time of their deaths, since we have their clothing reserved.
www.myheritageimages.com/C/sto…
The shirt and pants in the middle belong to Nils Sture, who is depicted in the image.

Now I'll go and have a pancake.