Born abt 1460. Parents: Nils Bosson Sture (Natt och Dag) and Birgitta Karlsdotter (Bonde).
Elected Regent in January 1504. Died 2 of January 1512 in Västerås.
Married 1. abt 1490 to Iliana (died 1495), daughter of the knight Erengisle Karlsson (Gädda). Children: Sten Sture the younger, son.
Married 2. in 1504 to Mätta Ivarsdotter (Dyre) from Denmark.
When Svante Nilsson died, Erik Trolle was elected Regent. But on 23 of July 1512 Svante Nilsson's son Sten Svantesson (later called Sten Sture the younger) was elected.