Kalmar Bloodbath (1599)

All of the victims were members of the garrison from Kalmar Castle, and included three noblemen (Johan Larsson Sparre, Kristofer Andersson Grip and Lars Andersson Rålamb) and a priest (the garrison chaplain Birger), all four of whom were beheaded.

The other eighteen victims, comprising secretaries, garrison officers and mercenary commanders, were all hanged.

Four days later, 22 senior members of the garrison, including the commanders Sparre, Grip and Rålamb, were executed without trial.

The heads of the three noblemen were subsequently displayed on pikes above the city's western gate.

Sigismund was formally deposed in July 1599, and his uncle succeeded him, as King Charles IX.