Sten Sture, the Elder

Sten Sture, the Elder (born c. 1440, Sweden—died 1503, Sweden) was the regent of Sweden (1470–97, 1501–03) who resisted Danish domination and built up a strong central administration.

Sten, a member of a powerful noble family, led forces that ended an attempt by the Danish king Christian I to gain control over Sweden in 1471, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Danish ruler in the Battle of Brunkeberg. He helped the Swedish king Charles VIII regain the throne (1467) and was appointed regent on Charles’s death (1470). He soon gained passage of measures that reduced German influence in Swedish municipal governments, and he strengthened the nation’s legal institutions. In 1477 he obtained permission from Pope Sixtus IV to found a university at Uppsala, the first Scandinavian university and still a source of national pride.

Sten contended throughout his reign with a noble faction led by the Oxenstierna family, which wanted a union with Denmark headed by the Danish king, and a weaker royal government. By the mid-1490s Sten had reduced the power of the state council controlled by dissident nobles, strengthened his control of the government, and expanded his landholdings. Although the Danish king John was accepted as king of Sweden by the state council in 1483, Sten was able to delay his coronation.

Sten’s position was weakened, however, when Ivan III, grand prince of Moscow, allied with the Danish king and invaded the Swedish territory of Finland (1495). After being defeated by Danish forces in 1497, Sten was forced to accept John as king of Sweden (1497), but Sten later overthrew the Danish king (1501) and served as regent until his own death. His efforts laid the foundation for the stability of the Swedish monarchy in the 16th century.