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26-506: During the Swedish invasion of the Danish province of Blekinge, the soldiers in the far back of the marching Swedish army were taken captive by the locals and hanged from the trees in the country side. In retaliation, King Eric XIV of Sweden gave the order that all lands between Lyckeby and Ronneby were free to pillage, killing and burning by the army. On 3 September 1564, the Swedish army reached

52-402: A Swedish noblewoman. Eric's first teacher was the learned German Georg Norman , whose services were shortly thereafter needed elsewhere within the Swedish state. He was replaced by French Calvinist Dionysius Beurraeus (1500–67). Dionysius taught both Eric and his half-brother John , and seems to have been appreciated by both. Eric was very successful in foreign languages and mathematics. He

78-586: A clash with his cousin, Frederick II of Denmark-Norway (1534–88). Most of Eric XIV's reign was then dominated by the Livonian War and the Scandinavian Seven Years' War against Denmark-Norway (1563–70), during which he successfully repelled most Danish-Norwegian attempts at conquest, but was unable to keep his own acquisitions. From 1563 onwards, his insanity became pronounced; his rule became even more arbitrary and marked by violence. His suspicion of

104-538: A close adviser Jöran Persson (1530–68), who had narrowly escaped execution under Eric's father. Persson was also opposed to the nobility and a determined opponent of Eric's half-brother, later John III of Sweden (1537–92). John was the Duke of Finland and was married to a Polish princess, against Eric's wishes, which made him friendly with Poland. John pursued an expansionist policy in Livonia (now Estonia and Latvia), in breach of

130-596: A condition that eventually led to insanity . Some scholars claim that his illness began early during his reign, while others believe that it first manifested with the Sture murders . Eric, having been imprisoned and deposed, was most likely murdered. An examination of his remains in 1958 confirmed that he probably died of arsenic poisoning . Eric XIV was born at Tre Kronor Castle , the morning of 13 December 1533. His mother died before his second year. In 1536, his father, Gustav Vasa , married Margaret Leijonhufvud (1516–1551),

156-454: A couple of months, he was given the task of reforming the Church of Sweden. On December 8, 1539, he was appointed king's "Ordinator and superintendent of bishops, prelates, and all clergymen in religious matters ." In 1540 he undertook an extensive visitation in Östergötland and Västergötland . In 1542 he was a member of the delegation that concluded Sweden's first treaty with France . He

182-400: A horde of wild boars , and spared no one but killed all that was there, so that in the city there were more than two thousand men killed by their throats aside for some women and children, whom the miserable Finns beat to death". A great fortune was taken as war price including silver and gold, household goods, wine and salt and many more goods stored by the city merchants, and much of the city

208-744: A tradition starting with Johannes Messenius , his final meal was a poisoned bowl of pea soup . A document signed by his brother, John III of Sweden, and a nobleman, Bengt Bengtsson Gylta (1514–74), gave Eric's guards in his last prison authorization to poison him if anyone tried to release him. His body was later exhumed and modern forensic analysis revealed evidence of lethal arsenic poisoning . Eric XIV had several relationships before his marriage. With Agda Persdotter : With Karin Jacobsdotter : Eric XIV finally married Karin Månsdotter (1550–1612) on 4 July 1568; their children were: The life of Eric XIV

234-399: Is the subject of an 1899 play by Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849–1912), which was later adapted into a film, Karin Månsdotter . The love story of Eric XIV and Karin Månsdotter is the subject of a 1942 historical novel Karin Månsdotter  [ fi ] by Mika Waltari . Georg Norman George Norman (died 1552 or 1553) was a civil servant of German origin who

260-636: The Arboga articles, which led to contention between the brothers. In 1563, John was seized by an army sent to Finland, and tried for high treason by Eric's order. Unlike his father, who had been satisfied with ruling an independent state, Eric tried to expand his influence in the Baltic region and in Estonia , beginning the process that resulted in Sweden becoming a great power in the 17th century. This expansionism resulted in

286-500: The Danish city of Ronneby, which was at that point a flourishing and wealthy merchant city. The city lacked proper defense fortifications or a garrison, but likely expected to be given assistance from the Danish troops, which were positioned some miles away. The city refused to surrender to the Swedes despite been given two opportunities to do so. When the Swedish army stormed the city early on the morning of 4 September, they quickly pulled down

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312-575: The Swedes among by pointing to the cruelty during the Ronneby Bloodbath. In practice, the bloodbath in Ronneby was not unusual in accordance with contemporary war custom, where a city taken by storm was left to be pillaged by the conquerors. Many leading citizens of the city are known to have survived, among them its mayor, Birger Jonsson. Eric XIV of Sweden Eric XIV ( Swedish : Erik XIV ; 13 December 1533 – 26 February 1577)

338-471: The city of Kalmar . Against his father's wishes, Eric entered into marriage negotiations with the future Queen Elizabeth I of England and pursued her for several years. Tensions between Eric and his father grew. Eric also made unsuccessful marriage proposals to, among others, Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), Renata of Lorraine (1544–1602), Anna of Saxony (1544–1577) and Christine of Hesse (1543–1604). The news of his father's death reached Eric as he

364-511: The family in the so-called Sture Murders , Eric himself stabbing Nils Svantesson Sture . The king probably thought of the killing as an execution rather than murder. After the Sture homicides, John was imprisoned and Eric's conflict with the nobility came to its climax. Early in 1568, Eric seemed to recover his reason, and attempted to reconcile with John on the condition that the latter recognized Eric's marriage with Karin Månsdotter . This marriage

390-509: The nobility led him to suspicions of the Sture family, then headed by Svante Stensson Sture , who was married to Gustav's sister-in-law. He first acted against the family in 1566, accusing Svante's son Nils of treason, but commuted the sentence and instead sent Nils to Lorraine , supposedly to arrange a marriage with the princess Renata . However, Eric had determined to marry his mistress Karin Månsdotter and in 1567, on Nils's return and suspicious of high treason, he killed several members of

416-465: The temporary palisade which was its only defense and, with no soldiers defending it, pillaged the city and massacred its inhabitants in accordance with the order of scorched earth issued by Eric XIV. Eric XIV wrote of the storming of the city: "The water in the Ronneby [river] was red by the blood from dead bodies. And were the enemies so meek, that one did not bother much with them, but cut them down as

442-494: Was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was captured in a rebellion led by his brother John in 1568 and formally deposed 26 January 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Estonia , after it placed itself under Swedish protection in 1561. While he has been regarded as intelligent and artistically skilled, as well as politically ambitious, early in his reign he showed signs of mental instability,

468-497: Was actually present in Ronneby during the bloodbath is unknown; the day after, he is known to have been in Lyckå , and the day after that, he was already on his way back to Kalmar. The Ronneby Bloodbath was frequently used as propaganda by both Sweden and Denmark-Norway during the war: the Swedes to demonstrate a well deserved victory by Eric XIV, and the Danes to gather more resistance toward

494-462: Was also an informed historian, a good writer and familiar with astrology . When Eric started to appear in public, he was referred to as "chosen king" ( Swedish : utvald konung ) and after the meeting of parliament in Stockholm in 1560, he received the title of "hereditary king" ( Swedish : arvkonung ). In 1557, Eric was assigned the fiefdoms of Kalmar, Kronoberg and Öland. He took up residence in

520-434: Was burned down during the pillage. When the pillage was over, Eric XIV gave the order that the surviving inhabitants were to be gathered and resettled in Sweden proper. This has been interpreted that he intended to keep the province of Blekinge, and populate it with loyal Swedish and Finnish colonists. This plan, however, was never put in action because of the swift change of the war situation shortly after. Whether Eric XIV

546-645: Was executed shortly after John III had incarcerated Eric, who was legally dethroned in January 1569 by the Riksdag . For the next eight years the ex-king was a source of anxiety to the new government. Three rebellions – the 1569 Plot , the Mornay Plot and the 1576 Plot – with the object of releasing and reinstating him, had to be suppressed, and Eric was held as a prisoner in many different castles in both Sweden and Finland. He died in prison in Örbyhus Castle . According to

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572-621: Was in Swedish service from 1539. He was a teacher of Johan III and Erik XIV . Norman studied at Rostock University , at Greifswald University and at Wittenberg University under Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchton , where he earned a master's degree. Nils Månsson, who was staying at the university, suggested to Gustav Vasa that Norman should take over the upbringing of his sons Johan and Erik. Upon his arrival, he brought with him letters of recommendation from Melanchthon and Luther. Already after

598-409: Was not necessarily the 14th king of Sweden named Eric. He and his brother Charles adopted regnal numbers according to Johannes Magnus 's partly fictitious history of Sweden . There had, however, been at least six earlier Swedish kings with the name of Eric, as well as pretenders about whom very little is known. From the start of his reign, Eric was in opposition to the Swedish nobility . He chose as

624-416: Was on the point of embarking for England to press his suit for the hand of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland. Back in Stockholm he summoned a Riksdag , which met at Arboga on 15 April 1561. There he adopted the royal propositions known as the "Arboga articles", considerably curtailing the authority of the royal dukes, John and Charles , in their respective provinces. He was crowned as Eric XIV, but

650-465: Was solemnized in July, Karin crowned Queen, and their infant son Gustav pronounced Prince-royal. However, in the fall of 1568, asserting Eric's insanity, the dukes and the nobles rebelled, and after some resistance, Eric was imprisoned by his brother Duke John, who took power on 30 September. Jöran Persson was assigned much of the blame for the actions directed against the nobility during Eric XIV's reign and

676-507: Was then sent on a new mission to Denmark and Pomerania . After Conrad von Pyhy fell into disfavor, he was allowed to take over his duties. He was a member of the Riksrådet , served as chancellor and also had diplomatic assignments, among other things he participated in the negotiations with Lübeck in Kalmar in 1546. He handled the foreign correspondence. Most government documents issued during

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