Jöran Persson, alternatively Göran Persson (c. 1530 – September 1568), was King Eric XIV of Sweden's most trusted counsellor and head of the King's network of spies. He was widely seen as a Machiavellian figure, and of holding too much influence over Eric. On both occasions that the King was removed from power Persson was quickly arrested by the nobility; the second time he was executed shortly after his arrest.
Persson was born in Sala, the son ...
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Jöran Persson, alternatively Göran Persson (c. 1530 – September 1568), was King Eric XIV of Sweden's most trusted counsellor and head of the King's network of spies. He was widely seen as a Machiavellian figure, and of holding too much influence over Eric. On both occasions that the King was removed from power Persson was quickly arrested by the nobility; the second time he was executed shortly after his arrest.
Persson was born in Sala, the son of a local priest, in about 1530. During the early 1550s he studied at the University of Wittenberg, where he proved to be a very gifted student and, according to legend, was highly regarded by the eminent theologian Philipp Melanchthon, who, on his journey back to Sweden in 1555, sent with him a recommendation letter to King Gustav I. Upon his return to Sweden he was given an annual pension and employment in the King's service, a year later he became personal secretary to the King and was given a castle in Vyborg. In 1558 he received another...
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