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

On this date in History: June 6, 1523. Election of Gustaf Eriksson Vasa as King of Sweden.

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Carl VIII of Sweden, Christian II of Denmak, Gustav Eriksson, Gustav I of Sweden, Gustav Vasa, Kalmar Union, King Christian II of Denmark, Kingdom of Sweden, Monarchy, National Day of Sweden, Norway and Sweden, Queen Margrethe I of Denmark, Union of Kalmar

Gustav I, King of Sweden was born Gustaf Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustaf Vasa (May 12, 1496 – September 29, 1560). Gustaf Eriksson, a son of Cecilia Månsdotter Eka and Erik Johansson Vasa, was probably born in 1496. The birth most likely took place in Rydboholm Castle, northeast of Stockholm, the manor house of the father, Erik. The newborn got his name, Gustaf, from Erik’s grandfather Gustaf Anundsson.

Erik Johansson’s parents were Johan Kristersson and Birgitta Gustafsdotter of the dynasties Vasa and Sture respectively, both dynasties of high nobility. Birgitta Gustafsdotter was the sister of Sten Sture the Elder, regent of Sweden. According to genealogical research, Birgitta Gustafsdotter and Sten Sture (and consequently also Gustaf Vasa) were descended from King Sverker II of Sweden, through King Sverker’s granddaughter Benedikte Sunesdotter (who was married to Svantepolk Knutsson, son of Duke of Reval). One of King Gustav’s great-grandmothers was a half-sister of King Carl VIII of Sweden.

Gustaf I, King of Sweden

Gustaf Eriksson was appointed hövitsman during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In February 1520 the growing rebellion toward the Union of Kalmar iconsisted of 400 men, mainly from the area around Lake Siljan. The first big clash in the Dissolution of the Kalmar Union that now started, took place at Brunnbäck’s Ferry in April, where a rebel army defeated an army loyal to the king. The sacking of the city of Västerås and with it controlling important copper and silver mines gave Gustaf Vasa resources and supporters flocked to him. Other parts of Sweden, for example the Götaland provinces of Småland and Västergötland, also saw rebellions. The leading noblemen of Götaland joined Gustav Eriksson’s forces and, in Vadstena in August, they declared Gustav regent of Sweden.

The election of Gustaf Eriksson as a regent made many Swedish nobles, who had so far stayed loyal to King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden switch sides. Some noblemen, still loyal to the king, chose to leave Sweden, while others were killed. As a result, the Swedish Privy Council lost old members who were replaced by supporters of Gustaf Eriksson. Most fortified cities and castles were conquered by Gustav’s rebels, but the strongholds with the best defences, including Stockholm, were still under Danish control.

Christian II, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

In 1522, after negotiations between Gustaf Eriksson’s people and Lübeck, the Hanseatic city joined the war against Denmark. The winter of 1523 saw the joint forces attack the Danish and Norwegian areas of Scania, Halland, Blekinge and Bohuslän. During this winter, Christian II was overthrown and replaced by Frederik I. The new king openly claimed the Swedish throne and had hopes Lübeck would abandon the Swedish rebels. The German city, preferring an independent Sweden to a strong Kalmar Union dominated by Denmark, took advantage of the situation and put pressure on the rebels. The city wanted privileges on future trade as well as guarantees regarding the loans they had granted the rebels. The Privy Council and Gustaf Eriksson knew the support from Lübeck was absolutely crucial. As a response, the council decided to appoint Gustav Eriksson king, ending the Union of Kalmar

The ceremonial election of the regent Gustaf Eriksson as king of Sweden took place when the leading men of Sweden got together in Strängnäs in June 1523. When the councillors of Sweden had chosen Gustaf as king, he met with the two visiting councillors of Lübeck. The German representatives supported the appointment without hesitation and declared it an act of God. Gustaf stated he had to bow to what was described as the will of God. In a meeting with the Privy Council, Gustaf Eriksson announced his decision to accept. In the following ceremony, led by the deacon of Strängnäs, Laurentius Andreae, Gustaf swore the royal oath.

The next day, bishops and priests joined Gustaf in Roggeborgen where Laurentius Andreae raised the holy sacrament above a kneeling Gustaf Eriksson. Flanked by the councillors of Lübeck, Gustaf Eriksson was brought to Strängnäs Cathedral where the king sat down in the choir with the Swedish privy councillors on one side, and the Lübeck representatives on the other. After the hymn “Te Deum”, Laurentius Andreae proclaimed Gustaf Eriksson king of Sweden. He was, however, still not crowned. In 1983, in remembrance of the election of Gustaf Ericsson as King of Sweden on June 6 that date was declared the National Day of Sweden.

Originally an elective monarchy, Sweden became a hereditary monarchy in the 16th century during the reign of Gustaf Vasa, though virtually all monarchs before that belonged to a limited and small number of families which are considered to be the royal dynasties of Sweden.

His 37-year rule, which was the longest of a mature Swedish king to that date (subsequently passed by Gustaf V and Carl XVI Gustaf) saw a complete break with not only the Danish supremacy but also the Roman Catholic Church, whose assets were nationalised, with the Lutheran Church of Sweden established under his personal control. He became the first truly autocratic native Swedish sovereign and was a skilled bureaucrat and propagandist, with tales of his largely fictitious adventures during the liberation struggle still widespread to date. In 1544, he abolished Medieval Sweden’s elective monarchy and replaced it with a hereditary monarchy under the House of Vasaand its successors, including the current House of Bernadotte. Due to a vibrant dynastic succession, three of his sons, Erik XIV, Johan III and Carl IX, all held the kingship at different points.