page_title: Ture Turesson (Bielke)
section_title: Under King Christian I
hierarchical_section_title: Ture Turesson (Bielke) / Biography / Under King Christian I
context_page_description: Ture Turesson (Bielke) was a Swedish statesman and military commander and a prominent leader of the unionist party during the Kalmar Union period. He was a Privy Councillor and Castellan of Axvall Castle during the reign of separatist King Charles Canutesson, before defecting to the unionist side in 1452, spending several years in exile in Denmark. He was appointed Lord High Constable of Sweden, Castellan of Stockholm and Kalmar and Captain-General during the reign of King Christian I, and commanded the unionist forces during several major battles during the turbulent 1460s, before surrendering to Sten Sture the Elder's separatists in 1472. During his later years he was Lawspeaker of the province of Öland.
context_section_description: Charles Canutesson was deposed as King in 1457 and Christian I was crowned King of Sweden. As one of the leading Swedish nobles in Christian's service, Ture Turesson was amply rewarded for his unionist loyalties and was made Lord High Constable of Sweden, Captain-General and Castellan of Stockholm Castle and Kalmar Castle, with his Swedish possessions and inheritance claims restored to him.
  In 1463, during rising opposition to Christian I's taxation policies, the King arrived in Stockholm to repress the rebel sentiments and to prevent the return of Charles Canutesson from exile. The King replaced Ture Turesson with Jöns Bengtsson (Oxenstierna), Archbishop of Uppsala, as the King's highest-ranking representative and Castellan in Stockholm, in order to better appease the growing resentment. Ture Turesson accompanied the King to Finland in July. On their return in August, the Archbishop was imprisoned and brought to Denmark by the King, with Ture Turesson reinstated as Castellan of Stockholm. The King ruled that the Archbishop had exceeded the boundaries of his authority as regent by making large concessions to the opposition regarding the contended taxation policies.
  The resulting uprising among the Archbishop's relatives and the populace of the Archbishop's province of Uppland led to the Battle of Helgeandsholmen on 21 August. Ture Turesson's royal army crushed the Uppland militia before the northern gates of Stockholm, cutting down the militia almost to the last man, including those who had fled into sanctuary in the Church of the Holy Ghost. The battle earned Ture Turesson a reputation as a ruthless commander and "butcher of peasants" among his opponents.
  After the capture of the Archbishop, his relative Kettil Karlsson (Vasa), Bishop of Linköping, took up arms against the King, organising a major uprising in the provinces of Småland and Östergötland. Ture Turesson's garrison in Stockholm successfully resisted a siege by the rebels, who retreated upon the arrival of King Christian with reinforcements in the spring of 1464. However, King Christian's royal army was lured into an ambush at the Battle of Haraker north of Västerås on 17 April, suffering a decisive defeat. A subsequent attempt by Ture Turesson to land an army from Lake Mälaren was repelled by the separatists at Kvicksund. The royal army was forced to retreat to Stockholm Castle, and by Midsummer Stockholm was surrounded by the separatist army, making Bishop Kettil Karlsson the effective ruler of most of Sweden apart from the few remaining royal garrisons. King Christian left Stockholm Castle in Ture Turesson's command and returned to Denmark to raise additional reinforcements.
  In August 1464, the burghers of Stockholm opened the city gates for Charles Canutesson, who had returned from his exile in Danzig after receiving word of the uprising and was hailed as King. Ture Turesson's garrison remained in control of the strongly fortified Stockholm Castle. However, the return of Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson caused friction between the Bishops' party and King Charles Canutesson, eventually escalating into open warfare. Ture Turesson exploited the split by allying himself with the bishops which made Charles Canutesson's position in the city of Stockholm indefensible; Charles was forced to abdicate on 30 January 1465. Bishop Kettil Karlsson died in 1465, leaving the Archbishop as Regent of Sweden.
  Ture Turesson gave up control of Stockholm to the Archbishop, leaving for Kalmar Castle which he still held as Castellan. This brought him away from the centre of Swedish politics; he continued to fight Charles Canutesson's supporters in Småland and remained loyal to King Christian. In 1466 the Archbishop was replaced by Erik Axelsson Tott as Regent of Sweden, who openly aligned himself with Charles Canutesson's supporters, and in 1467 Charles Canutesson returned as King for a third time.
  The death of Charles Canutesson in 1470 did not bring an end to the conflict. The new separatist leader Sten Sture the Elder besieged Kalmar Castle briefly in 1471, but was forced to abandon 
caption: Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
exif: {}