Sture

Sture (ˈstʉ̌ːrɛ) was a name borne by three distinct but interrelated noble families in Sweden in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. It was originally a nickname, meaning 'haughty, proud' (compare the Swedish word stursk and the Old Norse and Icelandic personal name Sturla), but later became a surname. Particularly famous are the three regents (riksföreståndare) from these families who ruled Sweden in succession during the fifty-year period between 1470 and 1520, namely: Sten Sture the Elder, regent 1470–1497 and 1501–1503 Svante Nilsson, regent 1504–1512 Sten Sture the Younger, regent 1512–1520 The Sture families are remembered in the names of Sturegatan ('Sture Street') and Stureplan ('Sture Square') in central Stockholm, and by the Sten Sture Monument in Uppsala, as well as Sture Cheese, which is produced by a dairy in Sävsjö, close to the main seat of the 'Younger Sture' family at Ekesjö. The first Sture line to emerge is known in Swedish historiography as the Sjöblad Family (Sjöbladsätten/Sjöbladssläkten) to differentiate it from later kin-groups with the name Sture, as its coat of arms bore three seeblätter (stylised water lilies), known in Swedish as sjöblad. The earliest known member of the family was Anund Sture, a landowner from Västergötland who is first attested in 1310. He seems at the time to have been a loyalist of King Birger, but later defected to his brother and rival Erik Magnusson. After Erik's death, Anund served his son, King Magnus Eriksson. Anund's great-great-grandson, Gustaf Algotsson Sture, lived a century later. Around 1438 he married Birgitta Stensdotter, a member of the Bielke family and half-sister to the powerful Marshal of the Realm, Karl Knutsson Bonde, who ten years later declared himself King of Sweden as Karl VIII. Gustaf and Birgitta had a single son, Sten Gustafsson Sture, known retrospectively as Sten Sture the Elder to distinguish him from a later Sten Sture (for whom see below).