Albert Edelfelt - Duke Karl Insulting the Corpse of Klas Fleming

Ebba Gustavsdotter Stenbock ( – 8 March 1614, in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

) was a Swedish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

. She led the defense of the stronghold

Turku Castle Turku Castle (, ) is a medieval structure in the city of Turku, Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use in Finland. It is also the largest surviving medieval building in Finland. It was found ...

for the loyalists of

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

during the siege by

Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl (; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric XIV and of ...

in succession of her spouse Clas Eriksson Fleming (1530–1597), governor of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The sister of Queen

Katarina Stenbock Catherine Stenbock (Swedish: ''Katarina Gustavsdotter Stenbock''; 22 July 1535 – 13 December 1621) was Queen of Sweden from 1552 to 1560 as the third and last wife of King Gustav I. Early life Catherine Stenbock was born on 22 July 1535 ...

, she married Clas Eriksson Fleming (1530–1597), governor of

, in 1573.

Life

Ebba Stenbock was the daughter of

riksråd Riksrådet (in Norwegian and Swedish) or Rigsrådet (in Danish or English: the Council of the Realm and the Council of the State – sometimes translated as the "Privy Council") is the name of the councils of the Scandinavian countries that ...

Gustaf Olofsson Stenbock and Brita Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud, and the sister of Queen

Catherine Stenbock Catherine Stenbock (Swedish: ''Katarina Gustavsdotter Stenbock''; 22 July 1535 – 13 December 1621) was Queen of Sweden from 1552 to 1560 as the third and last wife of King Gustav I. Early life Catherine Stenbock was born on 22 July 1535 i ...

. She was the niece of Queen Margareta Leijonhufvud, and thereby the cousin of the royal children of that marriage, including the future

John III of Sweden John III (; 20 December 1537 – 17 November 1592) was King of Sweden from 1569 until his death. He attained the Swedish throne after a rebellion against his half-brother Erik XIV. He is mainly remembered for his attempts to close the gap bet ...

and

. In 1573, she married Clas Eriksson Fleming in the house of her sister, the Queen Dowager in Stockholm, and moved with him to Finland. She had three children during her marriage: the daughters Katarina, Hebla and Margareta, and her son Johan Fleming. In 1594, her spouse was appointed Governor-General of Finland. Ebba Stenbock was noted for her fearless conduct toward Duke Charles. In the civil war the erupted in 1595 when

was challenged by his uncle, the future

, her spouse was one of the strongest supporters of

and opposed to

, and held the Swedish province of Finland against Duke Charles. In parallel, the

Cudgel War The Cudgel War (also known as the Club War; ; ) was a 1596–1597 peasant uprising in Finland, which was then part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The name of the uprising derives from the fact that the peasants armed themselves with various blunt wea ...

erupted in Finland in 1596.

Cudgel War

In April 1597, after having subdued the

and preparing to resist the expected invasion of Duke Charles, Fleming died. He was succeeded as governor by

Arvid Stålarm the Younger Arvid Stålarm, actually Arvid Eriksson (Stålarm) till Lindö i Tenala (c. 1540 or 1549 – May 1620, Gripsholm Castle) was a Swedish noble and soldier from the Finland-based Stålarm family. He is sometimes called "the Younger" to distingu ...

, but Ebba took over the moral leadership and decided to continue the line of her spouse and defend

against the army of Duke Charles with the help of two noble officers, who took the military leadership by her side. She prepared the castle for a siege awaiting relief from King Sigismund in Poland. In August 1597, Duke Charles and his army invaded Finland, took

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

, which was the fief of her sister Queen Dowager Catherine, and besieged Turku Castle. He offered the women of the Castle safe passage through the lines, including Ebba, but was given no reply. During the siege, he fired through the windows of the castle to frighten the female entourage of Ebba, but: "They would not allow themselves to be afraid, as Lady Ebba spoke to them both nobility and the rest, who were there with her, that they should keep themselves manly", that is to say, that they should show courage. Ebba was eventually forced to surrender, as no help from Poland arrived. Fleming was still not buried, and, according to

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

, Charles had the coffin opened to reassure himself that Fleming was indeed dead. After having identified the face of Fleming, he was to have pulled Fleming's beard with the words, "If you had been alive, your head would not have been safe", upon which Ebba Stenbock replied, "If my late husband was alive, Your Grace would never have been here."Warburg, Karl (1881)
''Från vår konstverld: Taflor och skulpturer af svenska och finska konstärer i vår tid.''
Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm.

Later life

Ebba and her daughters were taken prisoner and brought to Stockholm, where they were separated and placed in house arrest. Ebba was placed in a house belonging to Welam de Wijk, captain of Duke Charles' fleet, and in 1598, de Wijk was arrested for attempt to start a mutiny, encouraged by Ebba, who had promised him marriage to one of her daughters.Falkdalen, Tegenborg: ''Karin, Vasadrottningen: En biografi över Katarina Stenbock 1535–1621'' he Vasa Queen: A biography of Catherine Stenbock, 1535–1621 Historiska media, Lund, 2015. In 1599, a messenger of Sigismund from Finland was arrested in Stockholm, with Ebba as one of the loyalists he had delivered letters to. Her son was executed in the

Åbo Bloodbath The Åbo Bloodbath (; ) of 10 November 1599 was a public execution in the town of Turku (Åbo), Finland, then part of the Kingdom of Sweden, in the context of the war against Sigismund. Sweden was by then in the final phase of a civil war, wit ...

the same year. No formal accusation was brought against her, and she and her daughters were released after the

Linköping Bloodbath The Linköping Bloodbath () on 20 March 1600 was the public execution by beheading of five Swedish nobles in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599), which resulted in the '' de facto'' deposition of the Polish and Swedish Ki ...

. Like many other wives and daughters of the exiled loyalists to Sigismund, whose estates had been confiscated by Charles, they took refuge with Queen Dowager

at Strömsholm.

References

Sources

Profile, Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor

Notes