The Bloodbath was used by the Swedes to portray Christian II as an evil tyrant during the Swedish War of Liberation, as it was said that the monks were executed without cause or trial by the king. In practice, however, the monks may have been executed because they had cooperated with the Swedes against Danish domination, and as Christian II is confirmed to have been in Denmark the following day, he was most likely not present in Nydala when his army executed the monks.