Bo Jonsson (Grip)

Bo Jonsson (Grip) (early 1330s – 20 August 1386) was head of the royal council and marshal under the regency of Magnus IV of Sweden.

He was the most influential representative to the council of aristocracy that deposed Magnus IV of Sweden in 1365 and installed Albrecht von Mecklenburg on the Swedish throne.

From the Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, which he built,[8] Bo Jonsson governed the entire valley of Lake Mälaren, Hälsingland, all of Finland, large parts of Västergötland, Eastern Östergötland, and the Småland coast, including the city of Kalmar.

As the head of the governing council and through his personal usurpation of large areas of the country, Bo Jonsson indirectly curtailed the concentration of royal power as well as German and Danish influence.

However, he also solicited foreign intervention from Denmark and Mecklenburg in order to install the nobility party's puppet kings on the Swedish throne.

Contemporary sources held Bo Jonsson to be guilty, acting in a jealous rage, but he maintained his innocence in witnessed testimonies, swearing his presence to have been elsewhere.

To ensure that the rest of his possessions would not fall into the hands of king Albert of Sweden whom he did not hold in very high regard he appointed a council of lords who would govern them in his name.

With his second wife Greta Lambrektsdotter (Dume), he had at least two children, history tells about his son Knut Bosson (Grip) who was once castellan of Åbo Castle, and daughter Margareta Bosdotter who married Detler Bylow.