Aftermath
Christian justified the massacre in a proclamation to the Swedish people as a measure necessary to avoid a papal interdict, but, when apologising to the Pope for the decapitation of the bishops, he rather blamed his troops for performing unauthorised acts of vengeance.
If the intention behind the executions had been to frighten the anti-unionist party into submission, it proved wholly counterproductive. Gustav Vasa was a son of Erik Johansson, one of the victims of the executions. Vasa, upon hearing of the massacre, travelled north to the province of Dalarna to seek support for a new revolt. The population, informed of what had happened, rallied to his side. They were ultimately able to defeat Christian's forces in the Swedish War of Liberation. The lasting irony of the Bloodbath is that an act which was intended to strengthen the position of the unionist party turned out to be the catalyst that permanently separated Sweden from Denmark.
Read more about this topic: Stockholm Bloodbath
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“The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)