Sten Sture the Elder

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Sten Sture, den äldre
Statue of Sten Sture
Reign	1470-1497, 1501-December 14, 1503
Born	1440
Died	December 14, 1503
Buried	Katarina Church, Stockholm
Predecessor	Charles VIII
Successor	Svante Nilsson
Consort	Ingeborg Tott
Issue	None
Royal House	Sture
Father	Gunnar Anundsson
Mother	Birgitta Stensdotter Bielke

Sten Sture the Elder (Sten Sture den äldre; 1440–December 14, 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden during the Union of Kalmar (1470–1497 and 1501–1503).

[edit] Biography

He was born around 1440, the son of Gustav Anundsson of the Sture family and Birgitta Stensdotter Bielke, half-sister of the future Charles VIII. He was married to Ingeborg Tott in 1467; she was a renaissance personality interested in theology and science and seemed to have had some importance in the intellectual development during his reign, but the marriage remained childless. According to genealogical research, Sten Sture's father descended from King Sverker II of Sweden (both through family of Vinga and through family of Aspenäs).

Sten Sture the Elder enters Stockholm. Painting by Georg von Rosen in 1864.

At the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471, he triumphed against Swedish and Danish forces in the support of Christian I. This victory elevated Sture to the position of a national savior. The sculpture St. George and the Dragon created by the German sculptor Bernt Notke in Storkyrkan in Stockholm was raised to commemorate the battle.

He came to power after the death of Charles VIII and consolidated his position through the victory of Brunkeberg. For a quarter of a century he ruled Sweden making the regency almost an office in its own right. He was supported by the peasantry and the lower nobility, wisely playing them out against the high-ranked nobility and managing a clever act of balance towards the Danish demands of reunion. He was forced to resign upon King John’s rapid conquest of Sweden in 1497 and was pardoned. However, during the next rebellion against the Danes in 1501, he again took office, leading the Swedish struggle for independence until his death.

His closest relatives and heirs were his deceased sister's, the House of Vasa. His great-nephew the future King Gustav I of Sweden had been born a few years before Sten's death. At the time, however, none of them were members of the experienced political elite of Sweden. Regent Sten was succeeded by his colleague from the Privy Council of Sweden and former enemy Svante Nilsson as regent.

[edit] Trivia

An underground restaurant in Stockholm, close to the Royal Palace is named after Sten Sture. In 1792 it was a prison, where the murderer of King Gustav III of Sweden was jailed before his execution.