Sture Fjäder

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 and Icelandic personal name ''Sturla''), but later became a surname. Particularly famous are the three regents ( sv, riksföreståndare) from these families who ruled Sweden in succession during the fifty-year period between 1470 and 1520, namely:

*Sten Sture the Elder, regent 1470–1497 and 1501–1503
* Svante Nilsson, regent 1504–1512
*Sten Sture the Younger, regent 1512–1520

The Sture families are remembered in the names of Sturegatan ('Sture Street') and Stureplan ('Sture Square') in central Stockholm, and by the in Uppsala, as well as , which is produced by a dairy in Sävsjö, close to the main seat of the 'Younger Sture' family at .

Sture (Sjöblad) Family

The first Sture line to emerge is known in Swedish historiography as the Sjöblad Family ( sv, Sjöbladsätten/Sjöbladssläkten) to differentiate it from later kin-groups with the name Sture, as its coat of arms bore three '' seeblätter'' (stylised water lilies), known in Swedish as ''sjöblad''.

The earliest known member of the family was , a landowner from Västergötland who is first attested in 1310. He seems at the time to have been a loyalist of King Birger, but later defected to his brother and rival Erik Magnusson. After Erik's death, Anund served his son, King Magnus Eriksson.

Anund's great-great-grandson, Gustaf Algotsson Sture, lived a century later. Around 1438 he married Birgitta Stensdotter, a member of the Bielke family and half-sister to the powerful Marshal of the Realm, Karl Knutsson Bonde, who ten years later declared himself King of Sweden as Karl VIII.

Gustaf and Birgitta had a single son, Sten Gustafsson Sture, known retrospectively as Sten Sture the Elder to distinguish him from a later Sten Sture (for whom see below). He was one of his uncle King Karl's strongest supporters, and upon Karl's death in 1470 he was named regent ( sv, riksföreståndare) and guardian to the king's infant son Karl Karlsson. Sten's position was initially shaky, but he quickly established his authority by defeating a Danish invasion at the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471. He made no attempt to have Karl Karlsson crowned king, but nor did he seize the throne himself, and instead continued to rule the kingdom as regent for the next thirty-two years, albeit with an interruption in the period 1497-1501. He did not have any children, and so the Sjöblad line died with him when he died in 1503.

Danish Sture Family

The second Sture family is usually known as the Danish Sture Family ( sv, Danska Stureätten/Sturesläkten), as it originated from Halland, then part of Denmark; it is also sometimes referred to as ''Sture (Spets Nedifrån)'', i.e. 'Sture (tip up)', as its coat of arms resembles a spearhead pointing upwards. The earliest known member of the family was the knight Nils Sture, who is first attested in 1377 and 1392.

Nils's son, , was appointed by Queen Margaret to command her forces on Gotland in either 1395 or 1396. However, soon afterward he betrayed her and turned the island over to Erik Albrektsson, son of her archenemy Albert of Mecklenburg. Gotland subsequently became the principal base for the '' Vitalienbrüder'', German privateers hired by the Mecklenburgers to harass Scandinavian shipping. In 1398 the Teutonic Order, frustrated that their ships were also being attacked by the pirates, decided to deal with the problem by invading Gotland. Sven Sture escaped with a group of ''Vitalienbrüder'' and established a new pirate base at in Hälsingland, but later that year he accepted a pardon from Queen Margaret and settled peacefully at in Småland. Sven does not seem to have had any sons, and so the Danish Sture line died with him. However, he did leave a daughter, Katarina, who married Bo Stensson of the Natt och Dag family.

Younger Sture Family (Natt och Dag)

After Sven Sture's death, his castle at was inherited first by his son-in-law Bo Stensson (Natt och Dag), and then by Bo's son Nils. Nils subsequently adopted his grandfather's surname, calling himself Nils Bosson Sture, and thus founded a third Sture line, traditionally referred to as the 'Younger Sture Family' ( sv, Yngre Stureätten/Sturesläkten), though he nevertheless continued to use the same Natt och Dag arms as his father and other paternal relatives. As a result, the Younger Sture Family is usually considered an offshoot of the Natt och Dag rather than a continuation of the Danish Sture line.

To make matters even more confusing, Nils's Natt och Dag ancestors were linked by marriage to the Sture (Sjöblad) family. Thus Nils Bosson Sture and Sten Sture the Elder were distant cousins (Sten's great-grandmother Märta Bosdotter was also Nils's great-aunt), but their shared surname of Sture came from ''unrelated'' ancestors. Nils was initially one of Sten's most prominent supporters, but the two men later became estranged, and by the time of his death Nils was a leading member of the unionist opposition to Sten's regency.

Nils's son Svante