Conquest of Uppsala 1521
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1521 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Sweden | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Swedish War of Liberation | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 59.8581, 17.6447 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Conquest of Uppsala (Swedish: Erövringen av Uppsala) was a part of the Swedish War of Liberation that took place on 19 May 1521. After defeating a Danish counter-attack outside Västerås, Vasa sent two of his military commanders, Jöns Olofsson and Lars Eriksson, to take control of the eastern province of Uppland. After passing through the hundreds of Simtuna and Torstuna, Jöns Olofsson was met by local Danish commander Bengt Bjugg and his forces, who defeated the rebels and killed Olofsson.
Lars Eriksson had by then reached Enköping, where he met Bjugg, and forced his troops on a retreat to Uppsala. The Danes had yet no clear view of the rebellion's full scope, and did not believe that Uppsala would be attacked any time soon. The Swedish peasant army attacked on the night between the 18th and 19 May, after the mass of Eric the Saint had been celebrated in the city, catching the Danish forces by surprise. The archbishop's residence was attacked and soon taken. Bengt Bjugg managed to escape to Stockholm, but within soon died of an infected arrow wound.
The peasant army's victory was only temporary. Shortly after Gustav Vasa left his camp outside Västerås and headed to Uppsala, three weeks after the city's conquest, the local archbishop attacked, forcing Gustav to flee.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Conquest of Uppsala (revision 1370612778), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Uppsala 1520 · 0 km
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- Battle of Gataskogen 1365 · 48 km
- Battle of Västerås 1521 · 63 km
Other battles of the Swedish War of Liberation
- Battle of Brunnbäck Ferry 1521
- Battle of Falun 1521
- Battle of Västerås 1521
- Conquest of Kalmar 1523
- Conquest of Stockholm 1523
All 6 battles of the Swedish War of Liberation →
Browse more: battles in Sweden · Europe · Early modern battles