The battle of Uppsala
By now the more and more of the Swedish nobility realises that Kristian has a good chance to win the war, so one by one they starts to switch side. On the 2nd of March, ten members of the Swedish council gathers in Uppsala in order to negotiate for peace.
Four days later, the Swedish councillors had made a deal with the Danish and Kristian is recognised as the king of Sweden. Sten Stures widow Kristina, refuses to surrender. Her forces are still in firm control of Stockholm and several other important strongholds, like Västerås, Kalmar, Nyköping and all of Finland. To support Kristina, The peasantry is once again mobilized and several armies are reported to be marching to the area. When one of these peasantry armies close in on Västerås, the Danish force that was left behind to siege the castle tries to pull back and join up with the main army in Uppsala. The Swedes takes a strong defensive position at Badelunda, east of Västerås. The Danish force takes heavy losses, but in the end they manages to break through and rushes towards Uppsala.
Encouraged by what is regarded as a victory, the peasantry pursue the retreating Danes to Uppsala. At the same time another Swedish force is moving towards the town from the south, putting the Danes in a dangerous position.
The Town of Uppsala
In these days, Uppsala wasn't a very big town. It had just a few thousand inhabitants, mostly living in small wooden houses. The town was completely dominated by the cathedral and it's walls. There were no castle or other kinds of military strongholds in the town at the time of the battle, they were constructed later.
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Uppsala vid 1400-talets slut. Rekonstruktion av Lotta Hillbom, Förlag Upplandsmuseet. |
The Good Friday battle
The good Friday was on the 6th of April. The bulk of the Danish army and almost everyone of the Danish officers could be expected to be in the cathedral or some of the other smaller churches in the town. The snowstorm that raged made it almost impossible for the defenders to watch the approaching Swedes.
Still, it's more then likely that the Danes know what was coming. Fighting a battle in built up areas is still today a most confusing and complicated affair. The limited sight hampered the commanders overview and the narrow streets made the regular battle techniques difficult to use. As the Danish force were organised and equipped for a conventional battle out in the open, they lined up defence just outside the town.
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The map is from Svensk Militärhistorisk atlas, Hjalmarsson & Högbergs bokförlag. The original drawing is most likely from Öfversikt af Svenska krigens och krigsinrättningarnes historia by Julius Mankel, Militärlitteraturföreningens förlag, 1890-1893. |
The Swedes attacked from south and west, and there are indications that an attack may have been launched from north west as well.
The wet weather made it impossible for the Danish to use their guns and their cavalry. The defenders are pushed backwards and Magnus Gyllenstierna, who is carrying the royal Danish banner is captured. With the victory within sight, the poor discipline of the Swedish troops proved fatal. When the frozen and hungry mob enters the town they spread out to plunder instead of finishing of the battle. The Danes manages to launch a counter attack and finally the Swedes has to run. In the end the Danes manages to rescue Magnus Gyllenstierna. In all the Danish losses are close to 2000 men, while the Swedish losses are significantly higher.
If one put the battle on a map of the modern city, you will see that the battle raged right in the middle of the town. A mass grave from the battle has just recently been discovered between the castle and Munkgatan. That proves that the assault from the south managed to advance quite far, perhaps all the way up to the walls of the cathedral, before they were beaten of.
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A map covering the central parts of Uppsala (2004) and the estimated positions of the combatants at the beginning of the battle. (The map is provided by Uppsala Kommun http://www.uppsala.se ) |
