Today is the anniversary of the he Nyköping Banquet in the year 1317, King Birger’s Christmas banquet at Nyköping Castle in Sweden.Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric.
King Magnus Ladulås of Sweden died in 1290 leaving three minor sons. Birger Magnusson was the successor to the throne, but was only ten years old. In 1302 Birger was crowned king and came into the inheritance of his father. His brothers Eric and Valdemar became dukes of Södermanland, and of parts of Uppland and Finland, respectively. The relations between king Birger and his two brothers were strained, since Eric in particular sought after the throne for himself.
Eric and Valdemar plotted a rebellion against Birger and carried out raids into Sweden. Despite receiving support from Norway, they had to admit defeat at the treaty of Kolsäter in 1305 after which the three brothers reconciled. However, Eric and Valdemar turned on Birger again and staged a coup against him and had King Birger imprisoned in Nyköping Castle. After an intervention by the Danish and Norwegian kings, a settlement was reached in 1310 and Sweden was divided among the brothers into three sovereign states.
During a journey to Kalmar in the autumn of 1317 duke Valdemar was invited to celebrate Christmas with king Birger and queen Martha at Nyköping Castle, together with the royal court. Duke Valdemar stayed overnight and was treated royally. He convinced his brother Eric to come to the Christmas feast.
The banquet was held on the night between 10 and 11 December 1317. When the dukes arrived at the castle, they were received by the king himself. He took them by the hand, and led them into the castle with fair words. Even queen Martha was happy and excited. The dukes’ retinues were lodged not in the castle, but in the town of Nyköping, the pretext being lack of space. When the last of the duke’s men had left the castle gate, it was locked shut.
After the dukes had retired to bed, the king’s drots Brunke (Johan von Brunkow) arrived with a company of crossbowmen and handcuffed them. The dukes were imprisoned in the castle’s dungeon, still extant today, with neck irons tethering them to the stone walls where they were starved to death.
Despite help from Denmark, Birger could not stop a rebellion that broke out in support of the dukes. According to legend, when he realized he had no way to prevail, king Birger threw the keys to the dungeon into the Nyköping river. Birger was forced to flee to Denmark.
Following a year of regency by his mother Duchess Ingeborg, the three-year-old son of Duke Eric, Magnus, was elected King in 1319 at the Stones of Mora in Uppland. The deposed king Birger died in 1321 in exile in Denmark.
Present-day appearance of Nyköping Castle, in which the Dukes were starved to death.
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Today is the birthday, in 1941, of British musician Chad Stuart. He was one half of the duo Chad & Jeremy that began working in 1962 and had its first hit song in the UK with ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ followed by a string of successful records in the United States through the mid-60s. He died on 20 Dec 2020 died from pneumonia following a fall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfvL2oLeBYs
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