page_title: Turku Castle
section_title: Medieval castellans
hierarchical_section_title: Turku Castle / Medieval castellans
context_page_description: Turku Castle is a medieval building in the city of Turku in Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use and the largest surviving medieval building in Finland. It was founded in the late 13th century and stands on the banks of the Aura River. The castle served as a bastion and administrative centre in Eastland, as Finland was known during its time as a province of Sweden. Only once did the castle figure in the defence of the realm, when Russian invaders from Novgorod destroyed Turku in 1318. It more frequently played a role in internal struggles for power within Sweden and the Kalmar Union. The castle's heyday was in the mid-16th century during the reign of Duke John of Finland and Catherine Jagellon. That was when the Renaissance Floor and King's and Queen's hall were built, along with other features. It lost its status as an administrative centre in the 17th century after Per Brahe's period as governor-general of Finland came to an end. Turku castle is today Finland's most visited museum, with attendance reaching 200,000 in some years. In addition, many of the larger rooms are used for municipal functions.
context_section_description: Various castellans, bailiffs, military commanders, governors who held Turku Castle in the Middle Ages:
  1280s Carolus Gustavi
  early 14th century Nils Andersson and Harald Torsteinsson
  1315–22 Lyder van Kyren, from Holstein
  1324–26 Matts Kettilmundsson (concentrated commerce in Turku, brought a courtly and knightly culture)
  1326 Karl Näskonungsson
  1340 Dan Nilsson
  c. 1348 Gerhard Skytte
  1358 Nils Turesson Bielke
  1359 King Magnus IV, represented by Bishop Hemming
  c. 1360 Narve Ingevaldsen from Norway
  1375 Bo Jonsson Grip, died 1386
  1387 Jeppe Abrahamsson Djäkn
  1395 Knut Bosson (Grip)
  1399 the Union monarchs (Margaret I of Denmark & Eric of Pomerania)
  1411 Klaus Lydekesson Djäkn
  1435 Hans Kröpelin
  1441 Karl Knutsson (the future Charles VIII of Sweden)
  1457–63: Kristofer Bengtsson Oxenstierna
  1465 Erik Axelsson Tott
  1469 Sten Sture the Elder
  1499 Magnus Frille (appointed by King Hans)
  1501 Sten Sture the Elder
  1503 Svante Nilsson
  1512 Kristofer Klasson Horn
caption: King's Hall inside the castle
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