This is the story of one of the most famous and – initially – succesful peasants’ revolts in Nordic History – The Engelbrekt Rebellion in the 1430s.
In the 15th century, the Nordic countries were united in the Kalmar Union, but the Swedes were dissatisfied with the king, Erik of Pomerania, and the foreign bailiffs and lords he installed at important positions. People were unhappy with the high taxes and the brutal methods used to collect them. The king’s war against the Hanseatic League had led to a trade blockade against the country which affected, among other things, the mining industry.
In the early 1430s the discontent reached its boiling point. It began in Bergslagen, where free farmers and the lower nobility worked and owned shares in the mines. They elected a minor noble, Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, as their spokesperson.
Engelbrekt’s family had migrated to Sweden from Germany in the 1360’s, and he belonged to a small group of lower nobility that worked and owned shares in the mines in Bergslagen.
The military skill and leadership abilities he showed during the uprising suggests he had military experience, maybe from the Danish-Schleswig war.
He must have had an ability to get along both with the peasants, who accepted him as their leader, and with the Swedish Privy Council, who also (at least to some extent) accepted his leadership role.
There are some contemporary descriptions of him. A bishop called him ”litzla man” in a song, which can be interpreted as him either being small in stature, or being of low birth.
There is also a contemporary sketch that might be of Engelbrekt, where he is portrayed as a cripple, walking with the help of a cane. This is also how he is described towards the end of his life in the Engelbrekt Chronicle, perhaps due to war injuries.
Engelbrekt petitioned the king twice to have a hated bailiff Jens Eriksson, known as the peasant tormentor, removed from office.
When nothing happened, the people had had enough. In 1433, a large peasant army gathered. Castles were overcome and burned. Either because they were intimidated by the success of the peasants or because they believed that the peasants were right, the Swedish Privy Council went over to their side. The hated bailiff was finally removed from his office.
But the flame of rebellion could not be extinguished, and in 1434 the revolt spread like wildfire across Sweden. Everywhere, people rose up against foreign bailiffs. Both the Swedish nobility and the church sided with the rebels, and king Erik could not stop them.
In January 1435, Engelbrekt summoned the four Estates – nobility, clergy, burghers and peasants – to a meeting, at which he was elected Rikshövitsman of Sweden (Captain of the armed forces).
Engelbrekt himself led his troops, and he was an excellent agitator and moved large crowds to action with his speeches about the common people’s right to live without oppression.
But it wasn’t just the common people who joined the rebels. Many Swedish noblemen joined as well. Two who would play important roles in the rebellion and the power struggles that followed was Erik Puke and Karl Knutsson Bonde. Erik Puke had himself been one of the king’s bailiffs, but he staged his own uprising and later joined Engelbrekt, and became one of his closest men.
Karl Knutsson was a member of the higher nobility, and although he joined the rebellion, he was not a champion for the peasants’ rights. He submitted to Engelbrekt when it benefited himself, or when the peasants threatened violence, but he had no plans to let himself be ruled by a lowly man in the long run.
However, in 1434, they were on the same side. King Erik had finally realised the severity of the situation and was on his way to Stockholm. There they reached somewhat of a stalemate. Stockholm was surrounded by the peasant army, but they could not breach the walls.
So Erik and Engelbrekt negotiated. Erik would stay king of Sweden, but Engelbrekt could keep the areas which he had conquered – which was most of Sweden except for the fortified cities. He would also keep his title of Rikshövitsman. Karl Knutsson appointed Lord High Constable of Sweden by king Erik.
And this is when a rift begins to appear between Engelbrekt and the nobility. More on that in the next post!
Sources:
Adolfsson, Mats. När borgarna brann. Svenska uppror: forntiden – 1499. (2007)
Harrisson, Dick. Engelbrekt och bondeupproren. (2021)