Stockholm Bloodbath: Danish King Executes Swedish Nobles
Three days of executions. King Christian II of Denmark had promised amnesty — then ordered the killings anyway. Around 100 Swedish nobles, bishops, and burghers were hanged or beheaded in Stockholm's main square, their bodies burned to erase the evidence. Christian thought it would crush Swedish resistance forever. But one man escaped: Gustav Vasa. He'd rally the Swedes, drive out the Danes within three years, and found a dynasty that lasted centuries. The bloodbath didn't end Swedish independence. It guaranteed it.
November 8, 1520
506 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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