Siege of Turku Castle
| Siege of Turku Castle | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War against Sigismund | |||||||||
Duke Karl Insulting the Corpse of Klas Fleming by Albert Edelfelt, 1878 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Sweden | Polish–Swedish union | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Duke Charles Hans Hansson |
Ebba Stenbock Bengt Severinsson Hans Eriksson Arvid Stålarm | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
12 fähnleins of infantry 500 cavalry Several ships | >1,000 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
260 killed Some ships damaged | c. 200 killed | ||||||||
The Siege of Turku Castle (Swedish: belägringen av Åbo slott; Finnish: Turun linnan piiritys) occurred from 11 to 30 September 1597 during the early stages of the War against Sigismund.
After gaining full control of the Swedish government along with Kalmar and Älvsborg, Duke Charles went on an expedition to Finland. He arrived at Åbo with a fleet in late August, landing his troops at Ruskiakallio on 7 September where he repelled a force under the command of Arvid Stålarm.
After engaging in failed negotiations and a skirmish at Kuppiskällan on 9 September, Duke Charles formally besieged Åbo on 11 September. As the garrison began to splinter, negotiations began on 29 September, with the garrison capitulating one day later.
According to legend, Duke Charles was led into the castle's church, where he pulled on the beard of the late Klas Fleming, saying that if Fleming was not dead, his head would have been decapitated, with his widow, Ebba Stenbock, replying, "If my blessed lord had lived, His Grace would never have come in here". However, the story was most likely made up.