It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm.

It was sold to Queen Margaret I in 1404, and remained the property of the crown until it was acquired by Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent, in 1472 by an exchange of landed properties, whereby it became private, hereditary land of allodial status, to belong to the ownership of Regent Steen's own family.

In 1526, the monastery was dissolved by King Gustav I during the Swedish Reformation, and the estate was returned to its hereditary owner, the heir of the late Sten Sture the Old.

Between 1563 and 1567, King Eric XIV imprisoned his brother John and his consort Catherine Jagiellon in the castle.

[2] John's son Sigismund III Vasa, later the King of Poland and Sweden, was born in the castle on June 20, 1566.

[6] Between 1654 and 1715, Gripsholm Castle was a part of the dower granted to Queen Hedvig Eleonora, who often lived there with her court even before being widowed in 1660, and who rebuilt and expanded it in several ways.

The castle was frequently used by the royal court during the reign of Gustav III, who favored it and spent several months there every year.