Stortorget – Stockholm Bloodbath (Stockholms blodbad)

DOCUMENTED: Medieval Stortorget and Gamla Stan

Stortorget (“the Great Square”) is Stockholm’s oldest square — the central point around which the medieval city grew from the 1200s onward. Named in sources as *stora torghit* (1420). From the 1300s to 1732 the city’s town hall (rådstuga) stood here; it was the main marketplace (Erik XIV’s 1563 privileges directed trade here). Nearby **Storkyrkan** (Stockholm Cathedral) served royal and civic ritual; since 2001 the **Nobel Prize Museum** occupies the former Stock Exchange (Börshuset) on the square. **Stortorgsbrunnen** (well pavilion by Erik Palmquist / Palmstedt, 1778; moved away 1857, returned 1953 as aesthetic monument) marks the centre. Colourful merchant façades — Grillska, Schantzska, Seyfridtzska and others — define today’s tourist Gamla Stan.

Earlier recorded executions on the square include 1280 (Folkunga uprising victims under Magnus Ladulås). Between 1603 and 1776 the shame-pole figure **Kopparmatte** stood here as a crime warning.

DOCUMENTED: Christian II’s coronation and the path to massacre

After invading Sweden in 1520 and receiving Stockholm (amnesty letters September 1520), Christian II was acclaimed and crowned king of Sweden in **Storkyrkan on 4 November 1520**, anointed by Archbishop **Gustaf (Gustav) Trolle**. A three-day coronation feast followed at Tre Kronor castle.

On **7 November** guests were summoned back to the great hall; gates closed. Trolle demanded huge compensation for the demolition of **Almarestäket** and other injuries to the church, listing Sten Sture the Younger and supporters as guilty of **manifest heresy**. Arrests followed that evening. A clerical panel the next day affirmed heresy and handed the accused to the secular power for the customary extreme penalty.

DOCUMENTED: Stockholm Bloodbath, 8–9 November 1520

Executions on **Stortorget** began at midday **Thursday 8 November 1520**. Eyewitness **Olaus Petri** describes bishops of Skara and Strängnäs (**Vincentius** and **Mattias Gregersson (Lillie)**) led out first and **beheaded with the sword**, then nobles by sword, then Stockholm’s burgomasters and councillors **hanged** from a gallows on the square. **9 November** continued with servants and further victims. Bodies lay on the square into Saturday; blood ran in the gutters. On **10 November** corpses were burned on large pyres on **Södermalm** (later Katarina churchyard area); the body of Sten Sture the Younger was exhumed from the Blackfriars and burned too.

Victim counts vary: executioner **Jürgen Homuth** claimed **82**; historians and media often cite **~80–100** (SVT: near 100; popular summaries ~90). Lists commonly include riksråd **Erik Johansson (Vasa)** — father of **Gustav Vasa** — whose rebellion and the break with the Kalmar Union followed. Christian II became known in Sweden as **Kristian Tyrann**. Political terror, disarmament of burghers, and imprisonment of widows (including Kristina Gyllenstierna) followed.

DOCUMENTED: Schantzska huset (building history — not 1520)

**Schantzska huset**, Stortorget 20 (beside Seyfridtzska huset), is named for royal secretary **Johan Eberhard Schantz**. The present stepped-gabled Nordic Renaissance façade dates to **1650** (restored 1905), with limestone portal by Johan Wendelstam and a German Psalm 37:5 inscription. It is **more than a century after** the Bloodbath — so its decorative white stones cannot be contemporary memorial markers from 1520.

DOCUMENTED dark history summary (no invented events)

Beheadings and hangings on the marketplace; public display of bodies; burning of corpses (and Sture’s remains) on Södermalm; heresy trial framing; Gustav Vasa’s personal loss and ensuing national revolt. Separate folklore (white stones / restless souls) below.

FOLKLORE: The white stones of Schantzska huset

**Widespread tradition:** white stones on the red façade of Schantzska huset each stand for a Bloodbath victim. Popular tourism and media often say **92** stones (Expressen and similar; stockholmgamlastan-linked tellings). **Swedish Wikipedia** notes that if one counts carefully the number is **94**, and states clearly that the stones’ link to the executed has **no real historical foundation** — they are a **later symbolic / mythic reading** of a 1650 façade, not a 1520 memorial programme.

**Missing-stone legend (folklore):** as long as the stones remain, the dead find a measure of peace; if one stone disappears, the soul it “represents” becomes a restless revenant wandering Gamla Stan forever. Haunted Sweden labels this **folklore**, not documented history. Verify any current count by eye on site — do not treat “92” or “94” as an official Bloodbath victim tally.

FOLKLORE / GHOST-WALK CULTURE

Stortorget is a staple of Gamla Stan ghost and history walks (Stockholm Ghost Walk, Sweden History Tours, story tours, etc.): Bloodbath narrative, executioner motifs, night alleys, oppression of place. Cannonball folklore on a corner house (Gustav Vasa siege legend — Wikipedia notes the visible ball was set into a 1795 rebuild as symbolic memorial, not a verified 1521 hit on Christian II) is a separate local tale often told nearby.

MODERN WITNESS-STYLE REPORTS (anecdotal)

Visitors and tour guests report apparitions on the square, night footsteps, unexplained voices, sadness or oppression — especially near Schantzska huset, the approximate execution ground, the well, and narrow alleys. No peer-reviewed paranormal study of Stortorget was located. Record as subjective experience and tourism atmosphere, not proven hauntings.

Special haunted areas (atmosphere + legend)

1. **Schantzska huset** — white stones / memorial folklore. 2. **Execution site** — approximate marketplace centre of the Bloodbath. 3. **Medieval well (Stortorgsbrunnen)** — historic centrepiece. 4. **Narrow alleys** — classic ghost-walk setting into Gamla Stan.

Atmosphere, investigation ideas, best conditions

Medieval cobbles, colourful façades, lantern evening light, winter fog — one of Sweden’s most atmospheric historic squares. Ideas: Bloodbath after dark (respectful photography); white-stone legend documentation; history vs folklore; join a licensed ghost walk; EVP only where legal and respectful; Haunted Sweden Stockholm documentary. Best: winter evenings, blue hour, heavy rain, late walking tours, autumn fog. Public square year-round; respect residents and businesses.