A History of Stockholm

The City’s Beginnings

Stockholm began when Sweden's most important chieftain in the mid-13th century, Birger Jarl, built a fort on one of the strategically placed islets where the fresh water entered the sea, and traffic on the waterways was controlled using timber stocks arranged as a fence, or boom. Stockholm, meaning 'tree-trunk islet', may well be named after this boom. Within a century, Stockholm was the largest city in Sweden, dominated by an impregnable castle and surrounded by a defensive wall. The city was periodically ravaged by fire until timber buildings with turf roofs were replaced with brick structures. By the late 15th century, the population was around 6000, and Stockholm had become a significant commercial center. Shipping copper and iron to continental Europe was a lucrative trade that was dominated by German merchants.

War and Rebellion

In 1471, the Danish King Christian I besieged Stockholm, but his 5000-strong army was routed by the Swedes just outside the city walls at the Battle of Brunkeberg. In 1520 when city burghers, bishops and nobility agreed to meet the Danish King Christian II in Stockholm, and the king arrested them all at a banquet. After a quick trial, the Swedes were found guilty of burning down the archbishop's castle near Sigtuna, and 82 men were beheaded the following day at Stortorget, the main square by the castle. This ghastly event became known as the 'Stockholm Blood Bath': heavy rain caused rivers of blood from the bodies to pour down steep alleys descending from the square. A major rebellion followed and Gustav Vasa finally entered the city in 1523 after a two-year siege. The new king then ruled the city with a heavy hand. Though the role of commerce dwindled and the church was extinguished entirely, royal power grew and the city revolved around the court. Gustav's son Erik XIV and later kings raised taxes on the burghers to fund wars. However, some did well from arms manufacture, and the city's importance as a military headquarters increased. At the end of the 16th century, Stockholm's population was 9000, but this expanded in the following century to 60,000 as the Swedish empire reached its greatest extent.