Meet the Middle Ages
BackJösse Eriksson
Jösse Eriksson was said to be one of King Erik ´s cruellest bailiffs. He was a Danish nobleman who was made Bailiff at the county of the Castle of Västerås in 1413. Jösse ´s task was to make sure that the people of the district paid their taxes.
The Chronicles of Karl tells us that Jösse was a terrible bailiff. When collecting the taxes, he stopped at nothing. Tales were told of him burning peasants he did not like, using their wives to draw the hay-carts instead of oxen. Pregnant women lost their children in this way.
Jösse´s abuse of power and his ruthlessness was one of the reasons for the Engelbrekt rebellion. The uprising started with the burning of Borganäs Castle, where Jösse was the Bailiff. At the time, Jösse was staying in Denmark, since he had been dismissed from his position in 1433. He later went to stay at the convent at Vadstena, which he previously had given a lot of land and money. The monks and the nuns felt obliged to keep him in hiding. In 1436, though, he was arrested by the peasant army of Erik Puke. The peasants punished Jösse for treating them and their families so cruelly. Jösse was executed in Motala in 1436.