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| Kettil Karlsson (Vasa) | |
|---|---|
 Vasa coat of arms in the 15th century. | |
| Regent of Sweden | |
| Reign | February 1464 - August 1464 |
| Predecessor | Christian I of Sweden |
| Successor | Charles VIII of Sweden |
| Reign | 26 December 1464 - 11 August 1465 |
| Predecessor | Charles VIII of Sweden |
| Successor | Jöns Bengtsson (Oxenstierna) |
| Born | c. 1433 |
| Died | 11 August 1465 |
| House | House of Vasa |
| Bishop of Linköping | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Uppsala |
| Diocese | Linköping |
| Elected | 1458 |
| Installed | 1460 |
| Predecessor | Nils König |
| Successor | Henrik Tidemansson |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Residence | Linköping Castle |
| Parents | Karl Kristiernsson (Vasa) Ebba Eriksdotter (Krummedige) |
| Alma mater | |
Kettil Karlsson (Vasa) (c. 1433 – 11 August 1465) was aSwedish clergyman, diplomat, military leader and statesman during theKalmar Union era. He was a member of thehouse of Vasa. At age 25, he was electedBishop of Linköping. He rebelled against KingChristian I in 1463, wasCaptain General(rikshövitsman) andde facto regent of Sweden from February to August 1464, stepping down during the brief return of KingCharles Canutesson from exile. After falling out with King Charles, Kettil Karlsson was subsequently elected Lord Protector andRegent(riksföreståndare) ofSweden from 26 December 1464 to his death.
Kettil Karlsson[1] was the son ofKarl Kristiernsson (Vasa),Swedish Privy Councillor(riksråd) andCastellan(hövitsman) ofRaseborg Castle, and Ebba Eriksdotter (Krummedige), daughter of theDanishSteward of the Realm andPrivy CouncillorErik Segebodsen Krummedige, giving him family connections in the high nobility of both kingdoms. He was given an ecclesiastical education and was enrolled on 19 August 1454 at theUniversity of Rostock, later also at theUniversity of Leuven on 16 June 1455.[2]
After obtaining a master's degree he returned to Sweden and served ascanon inUppsala, where his cousinJöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna was Archbishop. Through his family connections he fell in favour with KingChristian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, shortly after Christian became King of Sweden in 1457. King Christian recommended him asCoadjutor Bishop ofLinköping, to serve under the aging Bishop Nils König, in a letter toPope Callixtus III in February 1458. Nils König died just two months later, in April 1458, and thecathedral chapter chose Kettil Karlsson as his successor. Kettil Karlsson travelled to Rome to seek papal confirmation for his appointment. However, the approval was not given at first, seemingly due to Kettil Karlsson's young age (25) which required a papal dispensation. On a subsequent journey toMantua, where the Bishop-elect also served as diplomat to the Holy See on behalf of King Christian,Pope Pius II granted the confirmation and dispensation on 24 September 1459. Kettil Karlsson was then received formally as Bishop of Linköping in 1460.[3]
The deposed KingCharles Canutesson had been in exile in Danzig since 1457. In the early 1460s, rumours about Charles' imminent return caused Christian I to attempt to increase his political control over Sweden.
In 1463, ArchbishopJöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, who had been governing Sweden during King Christian's stay in Finland, was imprisoned by the King on his return and brought toCopenhagen, over the Archbishop's refusal to carry out the King's tax policies. The Archbishop'sOxenstierna and Vasa relatives, among them Kettil Karlsson, took up arms against the King, gathering a peasant militia and noble supporters. Kettil Karlsson became leader of the uprising inÖstergötland and northernSmåland, laying siege to the unionist-controlled royal castles. His relatives gathered their forces in the northern provinces ofVästmanland,Dalecarlia andUppland, where resistance among the farmers and miners against Christian's tax and foreign trade policies was strong. In February 1464 Kettil Karlsson was elected inVästerås asCaptain general of the Swedish separatists. He briefly laid siege toStockholm but broke off the siege on receiving news of Christian I's Danish army approaching from the south, plundering Kettil Karlsson's residence atLinköping Castle on their way.
Kettil Karlsson's separatist army won a decisive victory against King Christian's Danish unionist army on 17 April 1464 at theBattle of Haraker, north ofVästerås. A subsequent attempt by the unionistLord High ConstableTure Turesson Bielke to land troops inVästmanland was defeated by Kettil Karlsson's militia fromRekarne atKvicksund. However, Stockholm remained in the unionists' control, and the separatists lacked a fleet to blockade Stockholm harbour. ARiksmöte called by Bishop Kettil and the separatist party recalled the exiled King Charles Canutesson, who brought a fleet and mercenary troops. The city of Stockholm was captured by the separatists, who hailed Charles Canutesson as King on 9 August 1464, butStockholm Castle remained in the hands of Ture Turesson's unionists.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson had been released from Danish captivity due to political pressure from the Church and abroad, reconciling with King Christian. The Archbishop's arrival in Stockholm caused a conflict between the bishops and King Charles Canutesson, which rapidly escalated into open warfare. Joining forces with Ture Turesson's garrison at Stockholm Castle, the bishops soon made King Charles' position untenable.
Kettil Karlsson was elected Lord Protector and Regent of Sweden on 26 December 1464, with Jöns Bengtsson as co-ruler, and on 30 January 1465 King Charles abdicated, instead receiving the castles of Raseborg andKorsholm in Finland. Bishop Kettil's rule was brief. He died from the plague on 11 August 1465 at Stockholm Castle and was buried below the altar ofLinköping Cathedral. On his death, Jöns Bengtsson became sole Regent of Sweden.
Jöns Bengtsson was deposed and replaced as Regent by the Privy CouncillorErik Axelsson Tott in 1466, who in 1467 brought Charles Canutesson back as King for a third regency. The conflict between the separatist party, led by theSture family, and unionists underErik Karlsson (Vasa), flared up in 1469, withSten Sture the Elder, one of the separatist noble leaders from Kettil Karlsson's 1464 uprising, commanding the separatist army. After King Charles' death in 1470, Sten Sture was elected Regent. Sten Sture defeated Christian I at theBattle of Brunkeberg in 1471, leaving the Sture separatist party in control of Sweden for another generation.Gustav Eriksson Vasa (1496–1560), Kettil Karlsson's half cousin once removed, would eventually rise to the leadership of the separatist party and was elected King of Sweden in 1523, marking the beginning of the house of Vasa as hereditary royal dynasty of Sweden.
Kettil Karlsson (Vasa) Born: 1433 Died: August 11 1465 | ||
| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Bishop of Linköping 1459–1465 | Succeeded by |