Stockholm Bloodbath

The Stockholm Bloodbath was the execution of around 80 people in November 1520 after Danish forces conquered Sweden. Ordered by King Christian II, it intensified Swedish resistance to Danish rule.

Christian II of Denmark: King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from 1520, whose rule in Sweden ended with the Stockholm executions. He ordered the executions after promising a general amnesty.
Danish invasion of Sweden (1520): The campaign by Christian II’s forces that defeated Swedish resistance and secured his coronation. Military victory made the mass arrests possible.
Gustav Vasa: A Swedish nobleman who led the revolt against Christian II and became king of Sweden in 1523. His father was executed, and the bloodbath strengthened his case for rebellion.
Swedish War of Liberation: The revolt led by Gustav Vasa that broke Danish rule and established an independent Swedish kingdom. The bloodbath helped rally support for the uprising that followed.
Kalmar Union: A dynastic union linking Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a common monarch from 1397 to 1523. The bloodbath unfolded during Denmark’s effort to restore control over the union.
Heretic: A religious offense involving beliefs judged contrary to established Christian doctrine. The archbishop framed the dispute as heresy, bypassing the amnesty promised for political offenses.
Erik Johansson Vasa: A Swedish nobleman and father of Gustav Vasa, executed in Stockholm in November 1520. His death linked the executions directly to the future king’s personal and political struggle.
Swedish independence: Sweden’s emergence as a sovereign kingdom separate from the Kalmar Union in the 1520s. The executions became a turning point in the struggle that ended Danish rule.
Siege of Stockholm (1520): The Danish siege that ended with Stockholm’s surrender in September 1520. Its conclusion gave Christian II control of the capital before the executions.
Gustav Trolle: The archbishop of Uppsala who accused Christian II’s opponents of heresy after his restoration to office. His complaint supplied the ecclesiastical basis for the executions.

Linked from 7 pages