The mentally ill King Erik XIV of Sweden (pictured) and his guards murdered five incarcerated nobles, including some members of the influential Sture family.

Erik XIV or Eric XIV became King of Sweden following the death of his father, Gustav I, on 29 September 1560. During a 1568 rebellion against him, Erik was incarcerated by his half-brother John III. He was formally deposed by the Riksdag on 26 January 1569. Erik was also ruler of Estonia, after it placed itself under Swedish protection in 1561.

The Sture murders in Uppsala, Sweden, of 24 May 1567, were the murders of five incarcerated Swedish nobles by Erik XIV of Sweden, who at that time was in a state of serious mental disorder, and his guards.

Sture 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', but later became a surname. Particularly famous are the three regents 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