Siege of Åbo (1563)
| Siege of Åbo | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Conflicts between Eric XIV and John III | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Forces under Eric XIV |
 Forces under John III | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Eric XIV Klaus Fleming |
John III (POW) Catherine Jagiellon (POW) Klas Andersson  | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
 Swedish Army | Åbo garrison | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Several thousands |
1,200 in the beginning 350 in the end | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 850 killed or deserted | ||||||||
The Siege of Åbo (1563) was a siege of Åbo by the royal army under Eric XIV against his brother, John III, in 1563.
Background[edit]
Tensions between Eric XIV and John III[edit]
In Stockholm, the brothers, Eric XIV and John III, were competing in who could have most prestigious court. In the end, the court in Åbo had a more international atmosphere. Catherine Jagiellon, John III's wife, had proven to be a threat to the Swedish government, since she was a Catholic and from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Swedish government had begun seeing the Commonwealth as a Swedish enemy and had forbidden John from marrying her, however, this had been refused by John, which led to the parliament announcing him as a traitor and sentenced him to death.[1][2][3]
Siege[edit]
In the spring of 1563, open conflict broke out between Eric XIV and John III, with Eric beginning the siege in the summer.[4][5] Erics royal army, which consisted of a few thousand,[2] besieged Åbo with all its "court ladies, monks, and dwarves".[1] John's army, which consisted of around 1,200 men,[2] defended the castle with firebombs, which were sacks filled with burning tar,[1] and the royal army finished surrounding the castle on August 3 when it occupied Korpolaisberget with a storm. The cannon fire from the royal army also heavily damaged the castle walls, leading to the defenders quickly being forced to surrender on August 12.[2] Johns army had been reduced to a mere 350 soldiers after a majority of it had been killed or deserted.[2]
Aftermath[edit]
Plundering[edit]
After the capitulation, both John and Catherine were taken prisoner.[6] The royal troops also plundered the already damaged Åbo, with more soldiers doing the same to gardens belonging to John III's family.[2]
Conspiracy[edit]
A contemporary report from the time says that one of the royal officers, Anders Nilsson, received an order to murder John. When Hogenskild Bielke and other higher ranking officers entered John's room, Anders was standing among them with a secret blade in his hand, however, before he had a chance to carry out the murder, he was taken out of the room by Klas Boije.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Chrispinsson, John (2011). Den glömda historien : om svenska öden och äventyr i öster under tusen år [The forgotten history: Swedish fates and adventures in the east for a thousand years] (in Swedish). Norstedts förlag. pp. 25–26. ISBN 9789113025247.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wolke, Lars Ericson (2015-02-03). Johan III: En biografi (in Swedish). Svenska Historiska Media Förlag AB. ISBN 978-91-87031-93-9.
- ^ "BLF". www.blf.fi. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ Lahtinen, Anu (2018), "Tough Times, Tough Measures: Widows as Heroic Entrepreneurs", Women in Business Families, Routledge, doi:10.4324/9781315206295-3, ISBN 978-1-315-20629-5, retrieved 2024-04-13
- ^ "I ett stycke svensk historia". Fotosidan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-04-13.
- ^ clipboard, Text-Lars Ericson Wolke 23 maj 2019 URL copied to (2019-05-23). "Krigarkung med religiösa grubblerier". Populär Historia (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-04-13.
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