Dano-Swedish War (1470–71)

Dano-Swedish War
Saint George and the Dragon by Bernt Notke, in 's Storkyrkan, commemorating Sture's victory at the Battle of Brunkeberg.
Date 1470–71 Location Baltic Sea and Sweden Result Swedish victory
Belligerents
Sweden	Denmark German Knights
Commanders and leaders
Sten Sture Nils Sture Knut Posse †	Christian I of Denmark
Strength
50 000 Farmers	3 000 Danish Troops 2 000 German Knights
Casualties and losses
unknown, but less than the Danish	4 200 killed, 900 drowned, 900 captured
(More casualties than men on the German-Danish side. How?)

The Dano-Swedish War was the first war between Denmark and Sweden. The Danes invaded Sweden by sea, but were defeated early at the Battle of Brunkeberg, in which King Christian I of Denmark was wounded by a cannonball. The Danish invasion was repelled, and the Swedes were independent from the Kalmar Union.

Queen Margaret I of Denmark created the Kalmar Union (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) under her rule. After a few years, however, secessionist movements arose among the Swedish noble's council, led by Karl Knutsson Bonde. Sweden became independent and was then re-occupied by Denmark, only to gain its independence again. When King Karl died, the Swedish council elected Sten Sture the Elder as viceroy. Christian I of Denmark then declared war to re-establish the Kalmar Union.

King Christian I had 3 000 Danish troops and 2,000 allied Germans. Sture had only about 400 troops in his army, and the Danish could easily pick a fight. In late July 1471, the fleet of 76 Danish Ships with the 5,000 troops set out from Copenhagen harbor to land in southern Sweden. Sture and Nils Bosson Sture went to central Sweden to gather as much men they could for the defense of Stockholm. The Danish fleet would have to face the murderous flow of the archipelago that blocked off Stockholm, but managed, possibly with the help of a hired Swedish pilot, to anchor between Käpplingeholm and Wolf's Island (Vargö) just across the water from Stockholm Castle. Christian decided that a siege would take too long, so he landed in southern Sweden instead. Sten Sture awaited the Danes, now with 10,000 levied peasants.

On Thursday, October 10, Sten Sture and Nils Bosson Sture lead their troops north to the area which is Hötorget in Stockholm today, near Brunkeberg after which the battle was named. Sten Sture's battle plan was to trap Christian's troops in a vice; Sten would attack from the west, Nils from the east, and Knut Posse would strike out from the city itself.

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Wikipedia