Nils Svantesson Sture

Nils Svantesson Sture (b. 20 July 1543 at Hörningsholm Castle, d. 24 May 1567 in the Sture Murders at Uppsala Castle) was a Swedish diplomat and soldier during the reign of Erik XIV of Sweden.[1] He was the son of Svante Stensson Sture and Märta ("King Martha") Erikdotter Leijonhufvud.

Nils Svantesson Sture, early 17th century portrait

His diplomatic missions included negotiations at the court of Elizabeth I of England in 1561, with John of Finland in 1562, and at the court of Lorraine in 1566/67.[1] As a soldier, he participated in the Nordic Seven Years War's battles of Varberg and Axtorna, where he was wounded, and in the Siege of Bohus.[1]

Sture fell into disgrace twice, due to Erik XIV's general distrust of the aristocracy[1] and his astrology-based fear that Sture might usurp his throne.[2] On 15 June 1566, after a death sentence Sture had received was commuted, he was publicly humiliated in Stockholm, where he was forced to ride a wretched hack through town with a straw crown on his head.[2] On 21 May 1567, returning from his final mission in Lorraine,[1] he was arrested again in Uppsala Castle. In what became known as the Sture Murders (Sturemorden), he was murdered in his cell three days later by Erik XIV in person.[3]

References
  1. Nordisk familjebok. Uggleupplagan. 27. Stockholm-Nynäs järnväg - Syrsor. 1918. p. 513.
  2. Bain, Robert Nisbet (2006) [1905]. Scandinavia: a Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900. Boston: Adamant Media Corp. p. 120. ISBN 0-543-93899-9.
  3. Bain, Robert Nisbet (2006) [1905]. Scandinavia: a Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900. Boston: Adamant Media Corp. p. 122. ISBN 0-543-93899-9.
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