Editing Erik XIV (section)

==Imprisonment and death==

For the next eight years the ex-king was a source of anxiety to the new government. Three rebellions – the [[1569 Plot]], the [[Mornay Plot]] and the [[1576 Plot]] – with the object of releasing and reinstating him, had to be suppressed, and Erik was held as a prisoner in many different castles in both Sweden and Finland.{{sfn|Bain|1911|p=739}} He died in prison in [[Örbyhus Castle]]. According to a tradition starting with [[Johannes Messenius]], his final meal was a poisoned bowl of [[pea soup]]. A document signed by his brother, John III, and a nobleman, Bengt Bengtsson Gylta (1514–74), gave Erik's guards in his last prison authorization to poison him if anyone tried to release him. His body was later [[Exhumation|exhumed]] and modern forensic analysis revealed evidence of lethal [[arsenic poisoning]].