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1596–1599

The Club War and the 1599 bloodbath

In the 1590s Finland is caught between two rulers. Peasants in Ostrobothnia rise and are crushed, and in 1599 fourteen men are beheaded on the square in Turku.

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The big story

The Club War and the 1599 bloodbath

In the 1590s Finland had two masters: King Sigismund in Poland and his uncle, Duke Charles, in Stockholm. Peasants who rose against the soldiers living on their farms were cut down in their thousands. In 1599 Charles had the last of Sigismund’s supporters beheaded on the square in Turku.

Two masters

  • A king far away. John III died in 1592, and his son Sigismund, King of Poland since 1587, became King of Sweden as well. He was a Catholic and lived in Poland Well documented.
  • An uncle at home. Sigismund’s uncle, Duke Charles, was a Protestant and did not accept a Catholic king. In 1595 the Estates, meeting at Söderköping, made him regent Well documented.
  • Finland says no. The governor of Finland, Klaus Fleming, stayed loyal to Sigismund. So did most of the Finnish nobles, who saw Charles as a rebel Well documented.

The Club War, 1596–1597

  • The castle camp. After long wars with Russia, Fleming kept his soldiers in Finland. They were lodged on the farms in the so-called castle camp, and the peasants had to house and feed them. It was the most hated burden of all Well documented.
  • Clubs against swords. On 25 November 1596 the peasants of Ostrobothnia rose, led by Jaakko Ilkka. Between 1,000 and 4,000 of them took up cudgels, flails and maces. The soldiers had swords, firearms and cannons Well documented.
  • Did Charles stir it up? Charles encouraged the peasants against Fleming, but historians disagree on how much that mattered. Some stress Charles’s part, others the injustice the peasants suffered Debated.
  • Crushed. At least 1,500 people were killed in two months. Ilkka and five other leaders were executed on 27 January 1597. On 24 February the last peasant army was destroyed at Santavuori in Ilmajoki: over 1,000 were killed and 500 captured Well documented.

From Fleming’s death to the bloodbath

  • Fleming dies. Klaus Fleming died suddenly at Pohja on 13 April 1597. His widow, Ebba Stenbock, held Turku Castle for Sigismund until Charles took it later that year (topic 2) Well documented.
  • Sigismund loses. Sigismund went back to Poland at the end of 1598. On 24 July 1599 the Riksdag in Stockholm deposed him Well documented.
  • Charles returns. In August 1599 Charles came back to Finland, defeated Sigismund’s supporters and took Viborg. The last loyalists in Turku Castle surrendered after Charles promised them a trial before the Estates Well documented.
  • A broken promise. Instead, a court of 37 men loyal to Charles sentenced the prisoners on 9 November 1599 Well documented.
  • 10 November 1599. Fourteen men were beheaded on the square outside the town hall. The first was Fleming’s young son Johan. Their heads were put up on the town hall wall Well documented.
  • King Charles IX. Charles took the title of king in 1604 and was crowned in 1607 Well documented.
How do we know?

The names of the men executed in 1599 are known, and historians have written about the Club War since the 1800s. The numbers of dead are estimates: “more than 2,500” in the Club War is a minimum, not a count.

OstrobothniaSwedenEstoniaGulf of BothniaGulf of FinlandÅlandXIVTurkuIsokyröSantavuoriPohjaViborgStockholm
Step through the years from the castle camp of 1595 to the executions in Turku in 1599.A simplified map. The coast north of Kristinestad and the lakes are drawn by hand.
Why it matters

These four years decided who would rule Finland. Charles won, Sweden and Finland stayed Lutheran, and his son Gustav II Adolf would lead Sweden to become a great power (stop 16).

Shown as still pictures because your device asks for less motion.

The siege of 1597 in 28 seconds.Drawn with code for this site. A schematic view, not to scale. The order of events follows the text below, but the siege is shortened to a day and a night, and the number of ships, the cannons, the camp and the look of the castle are invented or simplified.
On the lighter side

Ebba Stenbock, the widow who held the castle

In 1597 Duke Charles besieged Turku Castle. Inside, his dead enemy’s widow refused to give in, and she was also his cousin. A famous legend tells what happened when he finally walked in.

A family affair

  • Born into the elite. Ebba was born around 1550 into the noble Stenbock family. Her mother Brita was the sister of Queen Margaret Leijonhufvud, so Ebba was a first cousin of King John III and Duke Charles Well documented.
  • A queen for a sister. In 1552 her older sister Catherine, aged seventeen, became the third wife of King Gustav I Well documented.
  • Married to Fleming. In 1573 Ebba married Klaus Fleming, later governor of Finland. They had a son, Johan, and daughters, among them Katarina, Hebla and Margareta Well documented.

The siege of 1597

  • Taking charge. When Fleming died in April 1597, his body was brought to Turku Castle and left unburied. Ebba took on the leadership of the defence, with two noble officers in military command Well documented.
  • No fear. Charles offered the women in the castle safe passage but got no reply. When his men fired at the windows to frighten them, Ebba told her women not to be afraid Likely.
  • Waiting for Poland. Help from Sigismund never came, and in the end the castle had to surrender Well documented.

The coffin

  • The legend. It is said that Charles had Fleming’s coffin opened to make sure his enemy was dead, and pulled his beard: “If you had been alive, your head would not have been safe.” Ebba answered: “If my late husband were alive, Your Grace would never have got in here.” Legend
  • A famous painting. In 1878 the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt painted the scene as Duke Karl Insulting the Corpse of Klaus Fleming, with Ebba on the right Well documented.

After the castle

  • Prisoner. Ebba and her daughters were taken to Stockholm, separated and kept under house arrest Well documented.
  • Her son. On 10 November 1599 her son Johan was beheaded in Turku (topic 1) Well documented.
  • Refuge. She was never formally accused. After their release in 1600, Ebba and her daughters lived with her sister Catherine, the queen dowager, at Strömsholm. Ebba died on 8 March 1614 Well documented.
How do we know?

The siege, Ebba’s imprisonment and her son’s death are in the records. The coffin scene is told “according to legend”, and nobody can say whether the words were ever spoken. Edelfelt painted it almost 300 years later.

Click a person to read about them.

sisters2nd wife3rd wife, 1552†MargaretLeijonhufvudqueen, died 1551†Gustav Iking 1523–1560CatherineStenbock1535–1621BritaLeijonhufvudEbba’s motherGustaf OlofssonStenbockEbba’s father†CatherineJagiellon1526–1583†John IIIking 1568–1592Charles IXregent 1595, king 1604EbbaStenbockc. 1550–1614KlausFlemingdied 1597Sigismundking 1592–1599JohanFlemingexecuted 1599
Click the people to see how they were related, then show who took which side in 1597.Only the people in this story are shown. Gustav I’s first wife and Ebba’s other brothers and sisters are left out.
Why it matters

The civil war of the 1590s was a quarrel between cousins, uncles and nephews. Ebba’s story shows what it cost the women and children of the losing side.

Sources and further reading

  1. Cudgel War — the Club War of 1596–1597.
  2. Klaus Fleming — governor of Finland.
  3. War against Sigismund — Sigismund, Duke Charles and Finland, 1597–1599.
  4. Åbo Bloodbath — the executions in Turku on 10 November 1599.
  5. Åbo blodbad (in Swedish) — the square by the town hall, fourteen men.
  6. Charles IX of Sweden — regent and king.
  7. Sigismund III Vasa — King of Poland and Sweden.
  8. Ebba Stenbock — the siege of 1597 and the coffin legend.
  9. Catherine Stenbock — Ebba’s sister, Gustav I’s third queen.
  10. Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Sweden (Royal Palaces of Sweden).

Spotted a mistake? Know more?

This site is open and free. Corrections and additions are welcome — every page lists its sources so you can check them.