1503-1520: The Union Wars
Part 17: From Vikings to Modern Sweden: A Chronological Journey through Swedish History
This painting shows how the Swedish leader, head of the nation Sten Sture the Younger, was shot and then died during the transport home across the ice on Lake Mälaren.
But Sten Sture the Yngre, who today is celebrated with memorial stones as a national hero, was at this time - 1520 - both excommunicated by the Pope and hated, not least by the church.
Here is the story of the time in history that went by the name of the Union Wars.
One of the most dramatic periods in Swedish history is the one that led to Sweden in 1523 leaving the union with Denmark and Norway, the so-called Kalmar Union, electing its own king Gustav Eriksson Vasa, and setting out its own independent path. It all started in 1503 with the death of the Swedish leader Sten Sture the elder. Sten Sture had been the head of the nation for more than 30 years, except for a few years when the Kalmar Union had been resurrected and the Danish king Hans had been recognized as king in Sweden as well. King Hans' Swedish throne was lost in 1501, and when Sten Sture the elder died in 1503, the post of superintendent was taken over by Svante Nilsson, another man that was in opposition of the union. Svante was the son of another military leader from the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471, Nils Sture, but he did not call himself "Sture" because he actually belonged to the Natt och Dag family. His son, on the other hand, would become known as Sten Sture the Younger. For him, it was obvious to try to ride on the Sture name, because it was the surname that, ever since the Battle of Brunkeberg, had stood for the opposition in Sweden who wanted to move away from the Kalmar Union, and avoid having to accept Danish kings in Sweden. Svante Nilsson worked purposefully to make his son Sten the heir, this Sten became known as Sten Sture the Younger.
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