Editing Nils Dacke (section)

==Death==
[[File:NilsDackeshuvud.JPG|thumb|Nils Dacke's severed head. Drawing by the 16th-century chronicler [[Joen Petri Klint]].]]
Dacke was shot during the summer of 1543 in the forests of the parish of Virserum.   According to contemporary sources, he had been injured in both legs by hits from the king's crossbows during the decisive battle a few months earlier, his forces had been routed, and he was likely trying to escape from the king's mercenaries.  Dacke eventually fell in August 1543 at a farm in the parish of Gullabo in Södra Möre.

Dacke was [[posthumous execution|executed posthumously]], quartered, and his limbs were sent for public display in larger communities that had supported him during the rebellion. Gustav Vasa ordered the annihilation of Dacke's entire family, but showed some leniency against those who had given themselves up. Dacke's wife, brother-in-law and other relatives were executed. His son was taken to prison in Stockholm where he either starved to death or died from the plague. Thus, the unity of the realm was restored.

As a result of the war, the king was henceforth more careful when dealing with his subjects. The reliance on foreign mercenaries in the army was reduced in favour of soldiers of Swedish extraction (many of which were recruited in Småland), and this laid the foundation for Sweden's military successes in later wars.