Erik Turesson Bielke (died 1511) was a Swedish knight, royal councillor, and a fiefholder of Viborg and Olavinlinna Castles. He is sometimes referred to as Erik Turesson the Younger to distinguish him from .

Biography

He was the son of Ture Turesson of Kråkerum and Rävelsta, Lord High Constable of Sweden, and Ingegärd Kyrningsdotter, the daughter of Kyrning Kjeldsen of Färlöv and Karen Björnsdotter. He belonged to the highest nobility of his country and was a descendant of the Bååt clan. At a young age, he was appointed as bailiff of the castle of Stockholm (realm's capital) by Regent

Sten Sture the elder Sten Sture the Elder (; 1440 – 14 December 1503) was a Swedish statesman and regent of Sweden from 1470 to 1497 and again from 1501 to 1503. As the leader of the victorious Swedish separatist forces against the royal unionist forces led by De ...

in 1487, serving until 1490. At the beginning of 1495 he was installed as bailiff of

Stegeborg Castle Stegeborg Castle is a ruined castle in St Anna parish, Söderköping, Östergötland, located on an island in a narrow Sound (geography), sound at the bay of Slätbaken, Sweden. Brief history The oldest part of the castle is a square brick tow ...

. In Summer 1499 he was given the extraordinary governorship of Viborg (present-day

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

) and Olofsborg (present-day

Olavinlinna Olavinlinna (), also known as St. Olaf's Castle, is a 15th-century three-tower castle located in Savonlinna, Finland. It is built on an island in the Kyrönsalmi strait that connects the lakes Haukivesi and Pihlajavesi (Saimaa), Pihlajavesi. It is ...

), meaning the margraviate of Sweden's eastern border. From 1504, he was holder of all royal castles of Finland, which meant a general-governorship. During this time, Bielke first imported the

hyrax Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, stout, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the family Procaviidae within the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Modern hyraxes are typically between in length a ...

to Finland in an attempt to introduce a new type of game animal to the area.Isaacs, Anne Katherine. ''Immigration and emigration in historical perspective''. Pisa University Press, 2007. Contrary to his late father's sympathies, lord Eric was anti-unionist (which meant he opposed Danish attempts to have kingship in Sweden) and supported the

Sture Sture () was a name borne by three distinct but interrelated noble families in Sweden in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. It was originally a nickname, meaning 'haughty, proud' (compare the Swedish word ''stursk'' and the Old Norse ...

party. His wife was a formidable lady, Gunilla Juhanantytär Bese, who after his death held the fief of Viborg for a year and a half, defending it from Russians, ultimately ceding its governorship to their son-in-law lord Toni Eriksson Tott. Their eldest daughter

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

acted rather similarly at

Kalmar Castle Kalmar Castle () is a castle in the city Kalmar in the province of Småland in Sweden. History During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteenth century King M ...

in 1520 as did her mother in Viborg almost a decade earlier: when her husband, the governor, died, the widow continued to rule the castle and fief and led the war efforts (in that case, against the Danish). Their son Axel's descendant became queen

Gunilla Bielke Gunilla Bielke; Swedish: ''Gunilla Johansdotter Bielke af Åkerö'' (25 June 1568 – 19 July 1597) was Queen of Sweden as the second wife of King John III. Queen Gunilla is acknowledged to have acted as the political adviser to John III and to ...

, second wife of

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 ...

References

External links

"Erik Turesson"
in ''

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

'' (1905) (in Swedish) *Carlsson, G. (1924
"Ture Stensson (Bielke)"
''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', vol. 4, p. 148, Riksarkivet urn:sbl:18190 (in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bielke, Eric People from Vyborg 15th-century Swedish nobility Swedish knights 16th-century Swedish politicians 16th-century Finnish nobility 15th-century births 1511 deaths Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown