In 1567, King Erik XIV went on a bloody rampage, but what was the story behind this tale of madness and murder?
Words CATHERINE CURZON
King Erik XIV of Sweden
b.1533-d.1577 Reigned 1560-1568
Ambitious, intelligent and showing promise as a King, Erik XIV’s reign was characterised by his mental instability. He was deposed in 1568 by his brother, who became John III, and died in prison.
On 24 May 1567, a king crept from his opulent chambers and made his way through the magnificent castle that was his home, a knife clutched in his hand. Hours later, six people lay dead, among them three members of one of Sweden’s most noble families and the deranged monarch’s loyal tutor. It was a day that changed the life of Erik XIV of Sweden, and the country he ruled, forever.
Erik was born in 1533 to Gustav I, the King of Sweden, and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, who died when her son was still in infancy. As heir to the throne Erik proved a popular and intelligent young man, but he was always wilful. He knew his own mind on all matters, even attempting without any success to court the future Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. Unsurprisingly, when he came to the throne in 1560, Erik had big plans for the land he had inherited.
In Erik’s ambitious expansion plans, he saw Sweden as a superpower, dominating the Scandinavian and Baltic states. Although he didn’t live to see his ambitions become a reality, the policies that Erik put in place were in fact instrumental in cementing the Swedish crown’s dominance for years after his death. At home, Erik’s domestic upheavals were to prove controversial and he came into conflict with the ruling classes of Sweden, including members of his own family.
Erik’s plans to expand the reach of Sweden’s territory were not achievable unless he was willing to go to war, and Erik confirmed his reputation as an iron fisted leader by leading his troops from the front. Established protocol in Sweden was for a Privy Council made up nobles to assume control of the country in the absence of the king, but the suspicious Erik didn’t like this idea at all. Instead, he dismissed the Privy Councillors and awarded controlling powers to his most trusted advisor and long-time secretary, Jöran Persson. Not content with this radical move, he dismissed all nobles who held positions in the high court and gave Persson the office of senior prosecutor too. This meant that Erik and Persson, who had once been his father’s secretary too, now held sole sway over the nation and between them, they went to war on the nobility.
Of course, war didn’t come cheap. As the country’s coffers began to feel the strain of paying for his pricey military forays, Erik turned to the nobility to meet the cost. Why should they, they asked, when he had dismissed them from office without a
