October 28, 1412: Death of Margrethe I, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Part IV. Conclusion

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Catherine of Pomerania, Eric of Pomerania, Kalmar Union, King Eric VII-III-XIII of Denmark Norway and Sweden, King Henry IV of England, Philippa of England, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark

According to Thomas Kingston Derry, Margrethe tried to provide the union with a sound economic basis. In the process, each of her measures (recovery of crown lands from nobility and the church, new taxes and new coins) hurt the interests of powerful classes, but she prevented them from having leadership by making little use of separate councils of her three kingdoms, relying on a body of civil and ecclesiastical officials she chose with great skills instead.

She placed Danes in Swedish and Norwegian bishoprics, while royal estates and castles were managed by castellans and bailiffs of foreign extraction. While this has been criticized as promoting Danes at the expense of Swedish and Norwegian people, Derry opines that considering she employed more Germans in her native Denmark than elsewhere, she was mainly interested in securing a loyal and efficient administration.

She travelled much, in her later years is said to have spent more time in Sweden than in Denmark. She encouraged intermarriages among the nobility of three realms. Her piety is well-known, and she gave strong backing to the canonisation of St.Brigitta, helped to make Vadstena into a strong cultural centre and encouraged the spread of “Brigittine language”, which led to many Swedish expressions coming into use among Danes and Norwegians.

In contrast with the foreign policy of her venturesome father, Margrethe’s was circumspect and unswervingly neutral in the bloody war between France and England as well as other European conflicts. However, she spared no pains to recover lost Danish territory. She purchased the island of Gotland from its actual possessors, Albert of Mecklenburg and the Livonian Order, and the greater part of Schleswig was regained in the same way.

In 1402 Margrethe entered into negotiations with King Henry IV of England about the possibility of a double-wedding alliance between England and the Nordic Union. The proposal was for King Eric VII-III-XIII of Denmark, Norway and Sweden to marry Henry’s daughter Philippa, and for Henry’s son, the Prince of Wales and future Henry V of England, to marry Eric’s sister Catherine.

According to Marc Shell, Margrethe’s vision was that one day, two unions would unite to recreate Canute the Great’s Empire of the North. The English side wanted these weddings to seal an offensive alliance that could have led the Nordic kingdoms to become involved in the Hundred Years’ War against France.

Margrethe followed a consistent policy of not becoming involved in binding alliances and foreign wars, and therefore rejected the English proposals. However, although there was no double wedding, Eric married the 13-year-old Philippa, daughter of Henry IV of England and Mary de Bohun, at Lund on October 26, 1406, sealing a purely defensive alliance. For Eric’s sister Catherine, a wedding was arranged with Johann, Count Palatine of Neumarkt. Margaret thus acquired a South German ally, who could be useful as a counterweight to the North German Princes and cities.

Death

Margrethe’s elaborate tomb, near subsequent royal sarcophagi at Roskilde Cathedral.

In 1412, Margrethe tried to recover Schleswig, and thus entered a war with Holstein. Before that she had managed the recovery of Finland and Gotland. While winning the war, Margrethe died suddenly on board her ship in Flensburg Harbor.

In October 1412, she set sail from Seeland in her ship. She attended several debates, which reportedly had brought matters to a state of promising forwardness. On retiring to her vessel though, with the intention of leaving the port, “she was seized with sudden and violent illness.”

Margrethe apparently foresaw the end of her life, as she ordered thirty seven marks to be paid to the nearby monastery of Campen for a perpetual mass for her soul. Beyond this, there is no discussion in the historical record regarding her demise.

She died on the night of October 28, 1412, the vigil of St. Simon and St. Jude. Possible scenarios that have been suggested include plague, shock from the death of Abraham Brodersson (whom 18th century authors have alleged was the father of a daughter Margrethe had, while 19th century authors have blamed the story on a mistranslation), or poisoning by King Eric.

Her sarcophagus, made by the Lübeck sculptor Johannes Junge in 1423, is situated behind the high altar in the Roskilde Cathedral, near Copenhagen. She had left property to the cathedral on the condition that Masses for her soul would be said regularly in the future. This was discontinued in 1536 during the Protestant Reformation, though a special bell is still rung twice daily in commemoration.

October 28, 1412: Death of Margrethe I, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Part III.

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Eric of Pomerania, Feast Day of St. Margaret of Antioch, Kalmar Union, King Valdemar IV of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark

Union of Kalmar

On July 20, Margrethe capitalized on the general rejoicing by publishing the famous Treaty of Kalmar, “a masterly document that sealed the union of Norway, Sweden and Denmark”. The date she chose was no coincidence – it was the Feast Day of St. Margaret of Antioch, who like the Lady King herself, was cast off by her father and thrown into prison.

The Treaty proposed “everlasting union”, which reflected her dearest ambition, that “all three realms should exist together in harmony and love, and whatever befalleth one, war and rumors of war, or the onslaught of foreigners, that shall be for all three, and each kingdom shall help the others in all fealty …and hereafter the Nordic realms shall have one king, and not several”.

Well aware of regional pride and prejudice, Margrethe played a careful strategy, assuring her subjects that each state would be governed according to the laws and customs of each, no new laws would be introduced without the consent of the subjects, officials from governors to soldiers would be recruited from the native populations, thus showing her subjects that they would enjoy every benefit of union without any threat to national identity.

To weld the united kingdoms still more closely together, Margrethe summoned a congress of the three Councils of the Realm to Kalmar in June 1397, and on Trinity Sunday, June 17, Eric of Pomerania was crowned king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The Act of Union resulting from this was never completed. Scholars continue to debate the reasons, but the Union existed de facto through the early 16th century reign of King Christian II, and the union of Denmark and Norway continued until 1814.

A few years after the Kalmar Union, the 18-year-old Eric of Pomerania was declared of age and homage was rendered to him in all his three kingdoms, although Margrethe was the effective ruler of Scandinavia throughout her lifetime.

Kalmar Union and royal policy

So long as the union was insecure, Margrethe had tolerated the presence of the Riksråd, but their influence was minor and the Royal authority remained supreme. The offices of High Constable and Earl Marshal were left vacant; the Danehof fell into ruin, and “the great Queen, an ideal despot”, ruled through her court officials, who served as a superior kind of clerk.

In any event, law and order were well maintained and the licence of the nobility was sternly repressed. The kingdoms of Sweden and Norway were treated as integral parts of the Danish State, and national aspirations were frowned upon or checked, though Norway, being more loyal, was treated more indulgently than Sweden.

In 1396, according to Grethe Jacobsen, she issued an ordinance that one should to a higher degree than hitherto respect and enforce peace towards church (pax dei), houses, farms, legal assemblies, workers in the fields – and women, expressed in the word “kvindefred”.

Jacobsen believes that as punishment for rape was normally not associated with the other forms for upholding peace in the tradition of pax dei, this may be an expression of Margrethe’s perception of women as being particularly vulnerable in times of unrest, and for her own interpretation of the ruler as protector of personae miserabiles, which included maidens and widows.

Another testament was her dispositions of 1411 through which she distributed the sum of 500 marcs among the women who had been ‘violated and debased’ during the wars between Sweden and Denmark 1388–1389.

Margrethe recovered for the Crown all the landed property that had been alienated in the troubled times before the reign of Valdemar IV. This so-called reduktion, or land-recovery, was carried out with the utmost rigour, and hundreds of estates fell into the hands of the crown. She also reformed the Danish currency, substituting good silver coins for the old and worthless copper tokens, to the great advantage both of herself and of the state. She always had large sums of money at her disposal, and much of it was given to charity.

October 28, 1412: Death of Margrethe I, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Part II.

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Albert of Sweden, Eric of Pomerania, Henry III of Mecklenburg, Norway and Sweden, Queen Margrethe of Denmark

Regency

Margrethe’s first act after her father, Valdemar IV of Denmark, died in 1375 was to procure the election of her five year old son Olaf as king of Denmark, despite the claims of her elder sister Ingeborg’s husband Duke Heinrich III of Mecklenburg and their son Albert.

Olaf was proclaimed King Olaf II (though occasionally referred to as Olaf III) of Denmark by a Danehof in Slagelse the following year.

His mother, Queen Margrethe, was to serve as regent due to his young age. His proclamation included the title “true heir of Sweden” added at his mother’s insistence since his paternal grandfather, Magnus IV, had been king of Sweden until forced to abdicate.

Queen Margrethe

Queen Margrethe signed a coronation charter on behalf of Olaf, who was too young to rule until he came of age at fifteen. In the charter Olaf agreed to meet with the Danehof at least once a year and return properties his grandfather Valdemar IV had confiscated during his reign. He was too young to rule in his own right, and Margrethe proved herself a competent and shrewd ruler in the years that followed.

On the death of Haakon VI in 1380, Olaf succeeded him as King Olaf IV of Norway. Olaf died suddenly in 1387, aged 17, and Margrethe, who had ruled both kingdoms in his name, was chosen Regent of Norway and Denmark in the following year.

Margrethe, free from fear of domestic sedition, could now give her undivided attention to Sweden, where mutinous nobles, led by Birger were already in arms against their unpopular King Albert. Several of the powerful nobles wrote to Margrethe that if she would help rid Sweden of Albert, she would become their regent. She quickly gathered an army and invaded Sweden.

At a conference held at Dalaborg Castle in March 1388, the Swedes were compelled to accept all of Margaret’s conditions, elected her “Sovereign Lady and Ruler”, and committed themselves to accept any king she chose to appoint. Albert, who had called her “King Pantsless” returned from Mecklenburg with an army of mercenaries.

On February 24, 1389, the decisive battle took place at either Aasle or Falan near Falköping. General Henrik Parow, the Mecklenburger commander of Margrethe’s forces, was killed in battle, but he managed to win it for her. Margrethe was now the omnipotent mistress of three kingdoms.

Stockholm, then almost entirely a German city, still held out. Fear of Margrethe induced both the Mecklenburg princes and the Wendish towns to hasten to its assistance; and the Baltic and the North Sea speedily swarmed with the privateers of the Victual Brothers.

The Hanseatic League intervened, and under the Compact of Lindholm (1395), Margrethe released Albert on his promise to pay 60,000 marks within three years. Meanwhile, the Hansa were to hold Stockholm as surety. Albert failed to pay his ransom within the stipulated time, and the Hansa surrendered Stockholm to Margrethe in September 1398 in exchange for commercial privileges.

Eric of Pomerania

It had been understood that Margrethe should, at the first convenient opportunity, provide the three kingdoms with a king who was to be a kinsman of all the three old dynasties, although in Norway it was specified that she would continue ruling alongside the new king, while in Sweden, the nobles assured Margrethe that they were content to do without a king throughout her lifetime, which they hoped would be long.

Eric of Pomerania

In 1389 she proclaimed her great-nephew, Bogislav, who changed his name to Eric of Pomerania (grandson of Heinrich III of Mecklenburg), King of Norway, having adopted him and his sister Catherine. In 1396, homage was rendered to him in Denmark and Sweden, while Margrethe once again assumed the regency during his minority.

Eric is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and has been called Eric XIII as King of Sweden (1396–1434, 1436–39). Later, in all three countries he became more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania

May 4, 1394: Birth of Philippa of England, Queen Consort of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

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Eric of Pomerania, Henry Bolingbroke, Henry IV of England, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden, Mary de Bohun, Philippa of England, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark, Regent, Scandinavia, Union of Kalmar

Philippa of England (June 4, 1394 – January 5, 1430), also known as Philippa of Lancaster, was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1406 to 1430 by marriage to King Eric of Pomerania during the Kalmar Union. She was the daughter of King Henry IV of England by his first spouse Mary de Bohun and the younger sister of King Henry V. Queen Philippa participated significantly in state affairs during the reign of her spouse, and served as regent of Denmark from 1423 to 1425.

Philippa of England

Family and Early life

Philippa was born to Henry Bolingbroke and Mary de Bohun, at Peterborough Castle, Peterborough. Her father became king in 1399. She is mentioned a couple of times during her childhood: in 1403, she was present at her widowed father’s wedding to Joan of Navarre, and the same year, she made a pilgrimage to Canterbury. She mainly lived at Berkhamsted Castle and Windsor Castle.

Henry IV’s first wife Mary de Bohun died at Peterborough Castle, giving birth to her last child Philippa of England. She was buried in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, Leicester on July 6, 1394.

Henry IV, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Through Mary de Bohun was also a descendant of the Kings of England. Mary was a daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341-1373) by his wife Joan FitzAlan (1347/8–1419), a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster. Through her mother, Mary was descended from Llywelyn the Great.

Mary’s grandmother (Philippe’s great-grandmother) Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; 1318-1372) was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster and Maud Chaworth. Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster (c. 1281 – 22 September 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III (1216–1272) of England and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327), his first cousin.

Marriage

In 1400 or 1401, King Henry IV suggested to Queen Margarethe I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden that an alliance be formed between England and the Kalmar Union through a double wedding between Henry’s daughter Philippa to the heir to the Nordic thrones, Eric of Pomerania, and Henry’s son Henry to Eric’s sister Catherine.

Eric of Pomerania (1381 or 1382 – September 24, 1459) was the ruler of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439, succeeding his grandaunt, Queen Margarethe I. He is numbered Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and Eric XIII as King of Sweden (1396–1434, 1436–39). Later, in all three countries he became more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania.

Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Queen Margarethe could not agree to the terms and the marriage between Henry and Catherine never occurred. In 1405, however, a Scandinavian embassy composed of two envoys from each of the three Nordic kingdoms arrived in England, and the marriage between Philippa and Eric was proclaimed.

The November 26, 1405, Philippa was married to Eric by proxy in Westminster, with the Swedish nobleman Ture Bengtsson Bielke as the stand-in for the groom, and on December 8, she was formally proclaimed Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the presence of the Nordic ambassadors.

Philippa left England from Lynn in August 1406 with an entourage of male and female English nobles and arrived in Helsingborg in September, where she was greeted by Eric and Queen Margaret. The wedding between Philippa and Eric of Pomerania took place on October 26, 1406 in Lund Cathedral.

Philippa was the first documented princess in history to wear a white wedding dress during a royal wedding ceremony: she wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with grey squirrel and ermine. The wedding ceremony was followed by her coronation.

The festivities lasted until November, during which several men were knighted and Philippa’s dowry was officially received by the court chamberlain and clerics from the three kingdoms. Philippa was in turn granted dower lands in all three kingdoms: Närke and Örebro In Sweden, Fyn with Odense and Nasbyhoved in Danmark, and Romerike in Norway.

Queen and Regent

Queen Philippa and King Eric lived in Kalmar Castle in Sweden with their court the first three years of their marriage. Philippa was given her own court, supervised by her chief lady in waiting, Lady Katarina Knutsdotter, a granddaughter of Saint Bridget of Sweden through Lady Märta Ulfsdotter, who had been the chief lady in waiting of Queen Margarethe herself.

From 1409 onward, and particularly after the death of Queen Margarethe I in 1412, when Eric became King de facto, the royal couple mainly resided in Denmark. However, Philippa frequently returned to Sweden, and as she had lived there during her first years in Scandinavia, she was given a close relationship to Sweden, of the three Kingdoms, from the beginning.

Queen Philippa was actively involved in state affairs. By the Pomeranian Act of Succession of 1416, Eric named his cousin Bogusław IX of Pomerania as heir to the three Kingdoms if his marriage to Philippa remained childless. When Eric left to participate in warfare in Femern in 1420, the Act was amended and Philippa was given an active role. The revised Act stated that upon the death of Eric, Queen Philippa should be appointed Regent of the realm until Bogusław could be instated as King; and should Bogusław inherit the three Kingdoms while still a minor, Philippa would serve as Regent during his minority.

Eric evidently had great trust in Philippa. Both ancient and modern authors give a favourable account of her rule. It is said that in certain matters she was more efficient than Eric. However, scholars have largely accepted this judgment of the Queen without going into detail. Her great dower lands in Sweden increased Philippa’s interest in this Kingdom, and while Eric preferred to reside in Denmark, Philippa made such frequent and long visits in Sweden, where she acted as Eric’s proxy while present, that she was the de facto Regent of Sweden for the most part of the 1420s, though not formally made such.

In the spring of 1426, Philippa was sent to Sweden by Eric where she summoned the Swedish council in Vadstena and managed to secure support and funds for the Dano-Hanseatic War (1426–35) despite the Swedish opposition to this war. In January 1427, when the war was going the wrong way for Eric, she summoned the Swedish council to Nyköping, where she again managed to secure Swedish support for Eric in his war. At this visit, she also acquired additional Swedish estates to support her future in Sweden, where she evidently planned to retire as a widow.

In March 1427 she returned to Denmark where she stayed for three years during the war. In 1428, Philippa successfully organized the defense of the Danish capital against the attack of the Hanseatic League during the 1428 bombardment of Copenhagen. She was hailed as a heroine by the people of Copenhagen for rallying the citizens to fight the Hanseatic fleet in Copenhagen Harbor.

In late 1429, Philippa left for Sweden, officially on a mission from Eric to secure support for his war in Sweden, where the war had been opposed from the start. In Sweden, she traveled to Vadstena Abbey as usual, where she was welcomed by a delegation of Swedish riksråd. Not long after her arrival, however, she fell ill.

This was an attack of some kind of a recurring illness which had been noted to affect her at times for at least the previous five years. The queen bore a stillborn boy and her health deteriorated after the stillbirth. She died on January 5, 1430 at the age of 35 and was buried in the Cloister Church at Vadstena, close to Linköping in Östergötland, Sweden. She made several donations to Vadstena Abbey in her will. After her death Eric formed a relationship with a former lady-in-waiting of Philippa’s, Cecilia.

May 15, 1470: Death of King Carl VIII of Sweden.

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Carl VIII of Sweden, Christian I of Denmark, Christopher of Bavaria., Eric of Pomerania, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden, Pope Eugene IV, Union of Kalmar

Carl VIII of Sweden, (also Carl Knutsson) (c.1408/1409-1470), in reality King Carl II, and as Carl I of Norway,, was king of Sweden (1448–1457, 1464–1465 and from 1467 to his death in 1470) and king of Norway (1449–1450).

Carl VIII, King of Sweden and Norway.

Regnal name

Carl was actually the second Swedish king by the name of Carl. King Carl VIII is a posthumous invention and it was not contemporary to his time. His regnal number “VIII” was dirrived counting backwards from King Charles IX (r. 1604–1611) who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden.

The six others before King Charles VII (r. c. 1161-1167) are unknown to any sources before Johannes Magnus’s 16th century book Historia de omnibus gothorum sueonumque regibus, and are considered his invention. Carl was the first Swedish monarch of the name to actually use a regnal number as Carl II (later retrospectively renumbered VIII), on his queen’s tombstone (1451) at Vadstena.

Early life

Carl Knutsson was born in October 1408 or 1409, at Ekholmen Castle, the son of Knut Tordsson (Bonde), knight and member of the privy council (riksråd), and Margareta Karlsdotter, the only daughter and heiress of Carl Ulvsson, Lord of Tofta. His father Knut was first cousin of Erik Johansson Vasa’s father.

In 1434 Carl Knutsson became a member of the Privy Council of Sweden and in October of the same year he assumed one of its most senior offices, Lord High Constable of Sweden, or Riksmarsk. At this time Sweden was ruled by Eric of Pomerania (c.1381/1382-1459) was the ruler of the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439. He succeeded his grandaunt, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Eric of Pomerania is numbered Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and Eric XIII as King of Sweden (1396–1434, 1436–39). Later, in all three countries he became more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania which was a pejorative term intended to point out that he belonged elsewhere.

Eric of Pomerania

Because of the growing dissatisfaction with King Eric of Pomerania among the Swedish nobility, Carl was in 1436 made Rikshövitsman, an office equating to Military Governor of the Realm, and finally replaced the king as an elected regent from 1438 to 1440, as the result of the rebellion by Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson.

During Carl’s brief regentship, the so-called Rebellion of David (a peasant rebellion) took place in Finland. Eric of Pomerania was forced to step down from the throne and in 1440 Christopher of Bavaria, was elected king of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Christopher of Bavaria was the son of Johann, Count Palatine of Neumarkt (1383–1443) and Catherine of Pomerania (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp, and sister of the Scandinavian king, Eric of Pomerania. Count Palatine Johann was a son of King Ruprecht of Germany (1352–1410). 1352-1410), a member of the House of Wittelsbach, was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Ruprecht III) and King of Germany (rex Romanorum) from 1400 until his death.

Christopher of Bavaria (1416-1448) was King of Denmark (1440–48, as Christopher III), Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union.

Christopher III of Denmark, Norway and Sweden

At the coronation of Christopher of Bavaria as King of Sweden, in September 1441, Carl was dubbed a knight and appointed Lord High Justiciar of Sweden.

King of Sweden

At the death of Christopher in 1448, without a direct heir, which created a power vacuum, Carl Knutsson was elected King of Sweden on June 20, and on June 28, he was hailed as the new monarch at the Stones of Mora, not far from Uppsala, mostly due to his own military troops being present at the place, against the wishes of regents Bengt and Nils Jönsson (Oxenstierna).

However, in September 1448 the counts of Holstein made the Danish Privy Council elect Christian, Count of Oldenburg as King of Denmark. Christian was also Duke of Schleswig (within Denmark) and count (after 1474, duke) of Holstein (within the Holy Roman Empire). He was the first king of the House of Oldenburg. Christian was the eldest son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg by his second wife, Helvig of Holstein

A rivalry ensued between Carl VIII and Christian for the throne of Norway, which had also been ruled by Christopher, with both kings gaining support from various factions in the Norwegian Council of the realm. In 1449 a portion of the Norwegian council elected Carl VIII King of Norway, and he was crowned in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 20 November. However, Christian also continued pursuing his claim to Norway. The Swedish aristocracy was reluctant to back Carl VIII in a war against Denmark over Norway, and already in 1450, Carl was forced to relinquish the throne of Norway in favour of Christian.

Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Count of Oldenburg.

From 1451, Sweden and Denmark were in state of war against each other. Because of devastating warring, a growing opposition against Carl emerged among the nobility in Sweden. The strongest opponent was the Swedish church which opposed Carl’s efforts to concentrate royal and secular power. Other opponents were the family group of Oxenstierna and the House of Vasa, which had been on the opposing side in the election of king and lost.

Later reigns

During the next 20 years, Carl VIII was deposed in Sweden twice, only to regain the throne and reign three times (1448–57, 1464–65, 1467–70).

In 1457, a rebellion took place, led by Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson (Oxenstierna) and a nobleman, Erik Axelsson Tott. Carl went into exile to Danzig (Gdańsk). The two leaders of the revolt took the regentship, and organized the election of Christian I of Denmark as king of Sweden (firstly in Turku, then in Stockholm).

In 1463, King Christian quarrelled with Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson because of his taxation policies. The Archbishop was imprisoned, which resulted in a rebellion by his relatives, and led to Christian being driven out of Sweden. Carl VIII was recalled by the rebels and returned at the head of a force of German and Polish mercenaries.

Upon arrival in Sweden he found also himself at war with Archbishop Jöns Bengtsson and after two bloody battles in the winter of 1464–1465 Carl VIII was again exiled. In 1467, the regent Erik Axelsson Tott, now having reverted to support Carl VIII once more had him crowned. Carl VIII then reigned for three years, sharing power with the Riksråd, until his death in Stockholm in May 1470.

Marriages

His first marriage, in 1428, to Birgitta Turesdotter (Bielke) (died 1436) gave him his daughter Christina, (Bonde) (ca 1432- before 1500), married 1446 to the noble, councillor, and courtier Erik Eriksson (Gyllenstierna). Carl VIII and Birgitta Turesdotter had one son, Ture Karlsson (Bonde) (died young before 1447).

Carl VIII’s second marriage, in 1438, was to Catherine Karlsdotter (Gumsehuvud, died in 1450) the daughter of the nobleman Karl Ormsson. This union produced his second daughter Magdalena, who married Ivar Axelsson (Tott). Before their marriage, dispensation was obtained from Pope Eugene IV (r.1431-1447), as Catherine was related to Carl’s first wife. This was to ensure that children born in the marriage would be regarded as legitimate.

Coat of Arms of Carl VIII of Sweden.

The marriage is described as very happy and resulted in nine children. It was said that “Their relationship had always been of the best kind”. Their second daughter, Magdalene, married Ivar Axelsson (Tott), an uncle of Ingeborg Tott.

Queen Catherine was described as beautiful and cheerful; she created a nice environment and a relaxed atmosphere at court, and she was forthcoming to those who came seeking audience.

In 1450, she became one of many who died of the plague in Stockholm, and was deeply mourned by the king. She was buried in 1451 in Vadstena Abbey.

Four sons died early, of his four daughters, two became nuns, one never married. His only married daughter was Magdalena of Sweden (1445-1495). In 1468–1470, her spouse Ivar Axelsson (Tott) was the promised successor of her father as regent.

Carl VIII also had two children by his third wife (and former mistress) Christina Abrahamsdotter, Anna and Carl. The parentage of Christina Abrahamsdotter is not known, but she is believed to have been the daughter of Abraham Pedersson, governor of Raseborg. At the time of their meeting King Carl VIII of Sweden got to know her during his exile in Finland 1457–1464. When Carl returned to Sweden in 1464 and reclaimed the Swedish throne, she followed him there as royal mistress. In 1465, they had a son together, Carl Karlsson (Bonde) (1465–1488)

In 1470, during the last year of his life, when Carl married Christina. She thereby became queen, and her son became legitimate. The exact date of the marriage is unknown. Traditionally, the wedding was to have taken place on his deathbed. The marriage took place on an unknown date during the spring of 1470, a few weeks before the death of Carl in May. The wedding is said to have taken place in Stockholm with 50 wedding witnesses. Their daughter, Anna Karlsdotter (Bonde), was married to the noble Håkan Svensson (Bölja), governor of Västerås castle.

Legacy

Carl VIII represented a growing nationalist tendency among the Swedish aristocracy which tried first to subjugate the other Scandinavian countries under Sweden but soon focused on dissolving the Kalmar Union. In the next century, when the union was finally dissolved, Carl received some respect as an early champion of Swedish independence.

Carl’s great-granddaughter Christina Nilsdotter Gyllenstierna was married to Sten Sture the Younger whose regentship of Sweden represented similar values: nationalism and Swedish independence.

Though the Bonde family, not descendants of Carl VIII himself but just his collateral relatives, remained prominent among the Swedish nobility and in politics into the 20th Century, Charles’s own descendants did not ascend nor inherit any thrones until Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg became Christian IX of Denmark in 1863. Carl VIII’s descendants have since ascended the thrones of Norway, Greece and Great Britain.

His distant direct descendant, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha married the Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten, in the 20th century, and with Sibylla and Gustaf Adolf‘s son, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Carl VIII’s blood returned to the Swedish throne.

April 9, 1440: Christopher of Bavaria is appointed King of Denmark.

Tags

Christopher III of Denmark, Christopher of Bavaria., Dorothea of Brandenburg, Eric III of Norway, Eric of Pomerania, Eric VII of Denmark, Eric XIII of Sweden, Waldemar IV of Denmark, Wartislaw VII of Pomerania

Christopher of Bavaria (February 26, 1416 – January 5/6, 1448) was King of Denmark (1440–48, as Christopher III), Sweden (1441–48) and Norway (1442–48) during the era of the Kalmar Union.

Coming to power

He was the son of Johann, Count Palatine of Neumarkt (1383–1443) and Catherine of Pomerania (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp, and sister of the Scandinavian king, Eric III-VII-XIII of Pomerania. Count Palatine Johann was a son of King Rupert of Germany (1352–1410). Christopher was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz in Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria, Germany.

In 1445, Christopher married Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430 – November 25, 1495) in Copenhagen. Dorothea was born in 1430 or 1431 to John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, and Barbara of Saxe-Wittenberg (1405–1465). She had two sisters: Barbara (1423–1481), who became Marchioness of Mantua, and Elisabeth (14??-1451), who became Duchess of Pomerania. From about the age of eight, she lived in Bayreuth, where her father was ruler. In 1443, Christopher of Bavaria, the newly elected King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, inherited Oberpfalz close to Bayreuth, and a marriage was suggested between Christopher and Dorothea to secure her father’s support for Christopher’s power over his German domain. The engagement was proclaimed prior to the application of Papal dispensation for affinity in February 1445, which was approved March 10.

Christopher III, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

On September 12, 1445, the wedding ceremony was conducted between Christopher and Dorothea in Copenhagen, followed by the coronation of Dorothea as queen. The King had financed it with a special tax in all three Kingdoms, and the occasion is described as one of the most elaborate in Nordic Medieval history. The festivities lasted for eight days and was attended by the Princes of Braunschweig, Hesse and Bavaria and envoys of the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Order as well as the nobility of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Dorothea made her entrance in the city escorted by noblemen from all three Kingdoms dressed in gold riding on white horses, and crowned Queen of Denmark, Sweden and Norway by bishops from all three Kingdoms with the golden crown from the Vadstena Abbey.

Eric of Pomerania was deposed as king of Denmark and Sweden in 1439. As Eric’s nephew, Christopher, who was rather unfamiliar with Scandinavian conditions, was elected by the Danish State Council as the successor to his uncle, first as regent from 1439, and then proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish landsting) on April 9, 1440. He was meant to be a puppet king, as evidenced by the saying: “Had the Council demanded the stars of heaven from him, he would have ordered it.”However he succeeded in maintaining some personal control. As a whole his rule, according to the politics of the nobility and his succession, might be called the start of the long period of balance between royal power and nobility which lasted until 1660. He was later elected king of Sweden in 1441, and Norway in June 1442.

In May 1442 Christopher traveled to Lödöse to meet with the nobles from all three kingdoms. He was elected King of Norway there and then went to Oslo where he was crowned on July 2, 1442. The next year he was proclaimed King of Denmark at the Urnehoved Assembly near Ribe. When his residence at Roskilde burned down, Christopher moved to Copenhagen and made it the capital of Denmark.

The Swedish nobles were not happy to relinquish any power and thus didn’t like him, claiming he was too German for them and that he allowed his uncle (ex-King Eric) to plunder shipping from his castle on Gotland without any attempt to stop him. They blamed a series of bad harvests on him. People were so hungry they mixed ground tree bark with the little flour they could find. Christopher was contemptuously nicknamed the “Bark King” in Sweden. On the other hand, he tried to support the cities and their merchants as far as the limits of nobility and Hanseatic cities allowed. During his reign Copenhagen was made permanently the capital of Denmark (municipal charter of 1443).

He carried on an ineffective policy of war and negotiations against Eric in Gotland which did little to help the dissatisfaction within both Sweden and the Hanseatic League. The Kalmar Union Treaty was changed so that the aristocracy had most of the policy-making powers, and the king lost many of the powers monarchs had acquired since Viking times. The results of this policy of balance were still not reached when he suddenly died as the last descendant of Waldemar IV of Denmark.

October 28, 1449: Election of Count Christian VII of Oldenburg as King Christian I of Denmark.

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Christian I of Denmark, Christian VI of Oldenburg, Christoper III of Denmark, Count Dietrich of Oldenburg, Election, Eric of Pomerania, Kalmar Union, King Eric IV of Denmark, King of Norway, King of Sweden, Kingdom of Denmark, Union of Kalmar

Christian I (February 1426 – May 21, 1481) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of Schleswig (within Denmark) and count (after 1474, duke) of Holstein (within the Holy Roman Empire). He was the first king of the House of Oldenburg.

Christian I was born in February 1426 in Oldenburg in Northern Germany as the eldest son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg (or Theoderic of Oldenburg) by his second wife, Helvig of Holstein (died 1436). Christian had two younger brothers, Maurice (1428–1464) and Gerhard (1430–1500), and one sister Adelheid.

Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Through his father, he belonged to the House of Oldenburg, a comital family established since the 12th century in an area west of the River Weser in north-western Germany. Based on the two strongholds of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, the family had gradually expanded its rule over the neighbouring Frisian tribes of the area. Christian’s father was called the Fortunate as he had reunited and expanded the family’s territory. Also through his father, Christian was a cognatic descendant of King Eric IV of Denmark through his daughter Sophia. Christian of Holstein thus descended from the three surviving sons of Valdemar II of Denmark and his second wife Berengaria of Portugal.

Christian’s mother, Helvig, was a daughter of Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein, and a sister of Adolphus, Duke of Schleswig. Through his mother, Christian was also a cognatic descendant of King Eric V of Denmark through his second daughter Richeza and also a cognatic descendant of King Abel of Denmark through his daughter Sophie.

At the death of their father in 1440, Christian and his brothers jointly succeeded Dietrich as Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. Christian, or Christian VII of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst as he then became, was raised by his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein (1401–1459) as the childless duke wished for his young nephew to become his heir, and also succeeded in having Christian elected as his successor in the Duchy of Schleswig.

In January 1448, King Christopher III of Denmark, Sweden and Norway died suddenly and without natural heirs. Before I discuss how Count Christian VII of Oldenburg became King of Denmark let me briefly explain how his predecessor became king and how Christian VII became his heir.

Christopher III was the son of Johann, Count Palatine of Neumarkt (1383–1443 and Catherine of Pomerania (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp, and sister of the Scandinavian king, Eric of Pomerania. Eric was numbered Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and Eric XIII as King of Sweden(1396–1434, 1436–39). Today, in all three countries he is more commonly known as Eric of Pomerania.

Count Palatine Johann was a son of King Rupert of Germany (1352–1410) a member of the House of Wittelsbach, who was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Rupert III) and King of Germany (rex Romanorum) from 1400 until his death. Christopher III was probably born at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz in Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria, Germany. In 1445, Christopher married Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430 – 25 November 1495) in Copenhagen.

Eric of Pomerania was deposed as king of Denmark and Sweden in 1439. As Eric’s nephew, Christopher, who was rather unfamiliar with Scandinavian conditions, was elected by the Danish State Council as the successor to his uncle, first as regentfrom 1439, and then proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish landsting) on April 9, 1440. He was meant to be a puppet king, as evidenced by the saying: “Had the Council demanded the stars of heaven from him, he would have ordered it.” He was later elected king of Sweden in 1441, and Norway in June 1442.

The death of Christopher III resulted in the break-up of the union of the three kingdoms, as Denmark and Sweden went their separate ways and Norway’s affiliation was unclear. Sweden elected Carl VIII of Sweden (1408–1470) king with the intent to reestablish the union under a Swedish king. Carl was elected king of Norway in the following year. The vacant Danish throne was first offered by the Council of the Realm to Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, being the most prominent feudal lord of Danish dominions. The duke declined and recommended his nephew, Count Christian VI of Oldenburg.

Coat of arms as King of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Wends and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.

Before being elected, Christian had to promise to obey to the Constitutio Valdemariana, a provision in the ascension promissory of King Valdemar III of Denmark, that promised that in the future, the same person could never be both ruler of the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark simultaneously.

The council also demanded that Christian should marry dowager queen Dorothea of Brandenburg (ca 1430–1495), widow of his predecessor King Christopher III. On September 1, 1448, after signing his ascension promissory, count Christian VI was elected to the Danish throne as king Christian I at the assembly in Viborg. His coronation was held on October 28, 1449, in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, at which occasion his marriage with dowager queen Dorothea was also celebrated.

On this date in History: June 17,1397. Establishment of the Kalmar Union.

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Albert of Mecklenburg, Albert of Sweden, Eric of Pomerania, Kalmar Union, Kingdom of Denmark, Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Sweden, Margrethe I of Denmark, Union of Kalmar, Waldemar IV of Denmark

The Kalmar Union was a personal union from 1397 to 1523 that joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then including most of Finland’s populated areas), and Norway, together with Norway’s overseas dependencies (then including Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Northern Isles). Legally, the countries remained separate sovereign states, but with their domestic and foreign policies being directed by a common monarch.

One main political motives for its formation was to block German expansion northward into the Baltic region. The main reason for its eventual failure to survive was the perpetual struggle between the monarch, who wanted a strong unified state, and the Swedish and Danish nobility, which did not. Diverging interests (especially the Swedish nobility’s dissatisfaction with the dominant role played by Denmark and Holstein) gave rise to a conflict that would hamper the union in several intervals from the 1430s until its definitive breakup in 1523, when Gustav Vasa was elected as king of Sweden.

After 1523 the Kingdom of Norway continued to remain a part of the Kingdom of Denmark under the Oldenburg dynasty for nearly three centuries, until its dissolution in 1814. Norway was then United with Sweden with this union lasting until 1905, when a grandson of the incumbent King Christian IX of Denmark, Prince Carl of Denmark, was elected as King Haakon VII of Norway; his direct descendants still reign in Norway.

Inception

The union was the work of Scandinavian aristocracy wishing to counter the influence of the German Hanseatic League. The force behind the Kalmar Union was Margrethe I of Denmark (1353–1412).

Margrethe I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Margrethe I of Denmark was a daughter of King Waldemar IV of Denmar and Helvig of Schleswig. (Helvig of Schleswig was the daughter of Eric II, Duke of Schleswig, and Adelaide of Holstein-Rendsburg, and the sister of Waldemar V, Duke of Schleswig. Her date of birth is not known, but she and her brother were children at the time of her father’s death in 1325, and she is estimated to have been born in around the year 1320).

Margrethe I of Denmark married King Haakon VI of Norway and Sweden, who was the son of King Magnus IV of Sweden, Norway and Scania. In 1375 Margrethe succeeded in having her son Olaf recognized as heir to the throne of Denmark despite the claims of her elder sister’s Ingeborg’s husband, Duke Heinrich III of Mecklenburg, and their son Albert. Margrethe insisted that Olaf be proclaimed rightful heir of Sweden, among his other titles. In 1376 Olaf inherited the crown of Denmark as King Olaf II, upon the death of his maternal grandfather, King Waldemar IV of Denmark, with his mother as guardian. When his father, King Haakon VI of Norway died in 1380, Olaf also inherited the crown of Norway as King Olaf IV.

Margrethe became regent of Denmark and Norway when her only child, King Olaf II-IV of Denmark and Norway, died in 1387, leaving her without an heir. That same year she adopted her great-nephew, Bogislav, and his sister Catherine of Pomerania (grandchildren of Duke Heinrich III of Mecklenburg). Bogislav changed his name to Erik

Meanwhile in Sweden…

In 1363, members of the Swedish Council of Aristocracy, led by Bo Jonsson Grip, had been banished from Sweden after a revolt against King Magnus IV who was unpopular with the nobility. Members of the Swedish Council of Aristocracy arrived at the court of Mecklenburg where the nobles requested that Albert of Mecklenburg launch an invasion of Sweden. Albert was supported by several German dukes and counts and several Hanseatic cities in Northern Germany. Stockholm and Kalmar in Sweden, with large Hanseatic populations, also welcomed the intervention.

Albert was proclaimed King of Sweden and officially crowned on February 18, 1364. The coronation took place at the Stones of Mora. A fragment still remains of the stone commemorating the occasion called the Three Crowns stone. This is the earliest known example of the use of the three crowns as a national symbol for Sweden.

Background on Albert of Mecklenburg

Albert was the second son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and Euphemia Eriksdotter, the daughter of Duke Erik Magnusson of Södermanland and sister of King Magnus IV-VII of Swede-Norway. Albert married Richardis of Schwerin, daughter of count Otto of Schwerin. Queen Richardis died in 1377 and was buried in Stockholm.

In 1384 he inherited the ducal title of Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin as Albert III and united it with Sweden in a personal union. Albert based his claims on the Swedish crown upon two family ties: his mother was the sister King Magnus IV-VII of Sweden-Norway whose paternal grandfather was King Magnus III of Sweden. Albert claimed first place in the Swedish order of succcession after the dethronement or deaths of all of the children of Magnus IV; and through a Swedish princess Christina, a daughter of King Sverker II who was King of Sweden from 1196 to 1208.

Albert of Sweden deposed

Albert kept the crown of Sweden for another 19 years, but most of western Sweden did not support his reign. When he attempted to introduce reduction of the large estates of the Swedish nobility, he lost his support in Stockholm. In 1389, facing a loss of landholdings and wealth, the Swedish nobility turned to Margrethe of Denmark widow to plead for help in getting rid of Albert. Queen Margrethe sent troops to Sweden and in February 1389, they defeated Albert at the Battle of Åsle.

Albert was captured, deposed and sent to Lindholmen Castle in Scania, where he spent the next six years imprisoned. He was released after 16 days of peace negotiations in 1395, during which he agreed to either give up Stockholm within three years, or pay large sums in retribution to Margrethe. When the three years were up, Albert’s (then) only son Eric had died after ruling Gotland in Sweden for a short time as instigated by his father, and Albert chose to give up Stockholm rather than pay the fine. In 1398 the agreement came into force, granting Margrethe possession of Stockholm.

At a conference held at Dalaborg Castle in March 1388, after Margrethe’s defeat of Albert, the Swedes were compelled to accept all of Margrethe’s conditions, elected her “Sovereign Lady and Ruler”, and committed themselves to accept any king she chose to appoint. Albert, who had called her “King Pantsless” returned from Mecklenburg with an army of mercenaries. On February 24, 1389, the decisive battle took place at either Aasle or Falan near Falköping. General Henrik Parow, the Mecklenburger commander of Margrethe’s forces, was killed in battle, but he managed to win it for her. Margrethe was now the omnipotent mistress of three kingdoms.

The defeated Albert married as his second wife Agnes of Brunswick-Lüneburg the daughter of Duke Magnus II of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1373) and Catharine of Anhalt-Bernburg (d. 1390). Albert continued to reigned as Duke Albert III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin until his death, seven months before Margrethe’s in 1412. He finally and formally abdicated his Swedish throne in 1405, but until then still styled himself King of Sweden and his second wife Queen Agnes. His tomb is in the Doberan Minster in Bad Doberan, Germany.

Kalmar Union: 1397-1523.

In 1389 Margrethe proclaimed her great-nephew Erik of Pomerania as King Erik III of Norway (1389–1442). In 1396 he was proclaimed as King Erik VII of Denmark King and Erik XIII of Sweden (1396–1434, 1436–39) On June 17, 1397, Erik was crowned a king of the three Nordic countries in the cathedral of Kalmar. At the same time, a union treaty was drafted, declaring the establishment of what has become known as the Kalmar Union (Kalmarunionen). Queen Margrethe however, remained the de facto ruler of the three kingdoms until her death in 1412. Erik was ultimately deposed from all three kingdoms of the union, but in 1449 he inherited one of the partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania and ruled it as duke until his death.

Ambiguities concerning titles of Margrethe of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

In Denmark Margaret was called “sovereign lady and lord and guardian of the entire kingdom of Denmark” (Norway and Sweden later bestowed on her similar titles). This special, double-gendered title bestowed upon the holder the power and authority of a man (lord), of a woman (sovereign lady) and of the gender-neutral guardian. Later, when Erik was elected King of Norway in 1392, she renounced this title in Norway, and in 1396, when he was crowned as King of Denmark and Sweden, she stopped the use of this title altogether, although she continued as Regent.

She only styled herself Queen of Denmark in 1375, usually referring to herself as “Margrethe, by the grace of God, daughter of Waldemar IV, King of Denmark” and “Denmark’s rightful heir” when referring to her position in Denmark. Her title in Denmark was derived from her father King Waldemar IV of Denmark. Others simply referred to her as the “Lady Queen”, without specifying what she was queen of, but not so Pope Boniface IX, who in his letters styled her “our beloved daughter in Christ, Margrethe, most excellent Queen of Denmark, Sweden and Norway”.

When she married Haakon VI of Norway in 1363, he was co-King of Sweden, making Margrethe Queen Consort, and despite being deposed, they never relinquished the title. In theory, when the Swedes deposed Albert of Mecklenburg in 1389 simply restored Margrethe to her original position as Queen Consort. Margrethe held these titles from March 1363 to 28 October 1412, she was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. She acted as Queen Regnant of Denmark, although in those days it was not the Danish custom for a woman to reign.