Boleslaw of Sweden
Boleslaw (Swedish: Burislev; died 1172/73) was a Swedish pretender for the throne, belonging to the
Background
Boleslaw was a descendant of the old King Sverker I of Sweden (d. 1156), but the exact pedigree is not clear. Sverker married, as his second wife, Richeza of Poland. From this marriage a son called Bulizlaus (Boleslaw, Burislev) was born, as apparent from a Danish administrative document. He was named for his maternal grandfather Bolesław III Wrymouth. Older Swedish historians, such as Natanael Beckman who wrote a biographical article in Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, therefore claimed that Boleslaw and Kol were sons of Sverker.[1]
However, according to a medieval genealogy, Boleslaw, Kol and a third brother called Ubbe the Strong were in fact the sons of King
Civil war
Boleslaw is mentioned in the regnal list appended to Västgötalagen together with Kol: "King Canute I won Sweden with his sword and killed King Kol and King Burislev, and had many battles against Sweden and was victorious in them all."[5] Otherwise, he appears in fewer medieval sources than his brother whose name occurs in several king-lists.[6] According to annotations by the 17th-century scholar Johannes Messenius, Kol fell in battle, but Boleslaw continued the struggle against Canute with some success. However, when he carelessly stayed at the mansion of Bjälbo he was assaulted by Canute's troops and killed. Still later traditions have it that Kol and then Boleslaw were killed in battle at Blodåkrarna (the Blood Fields) close to Bjälbo, in 1169.[7] Most probably, however, the struggle came to an end in 1172–73, since Canute reportedly reigned for 23 years after his victory.[8]
It has been speculated that Canute I married a sister of his antagonists Kol and Boleslaw whose name was
Though several sources affirm that Boleslaw actually was King of Sweden for a few years, the
References
- ^ Nathanael Beckman. "Burislev". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 10 Oct 2013.
- ^ Hans Gillingstam. "Jon jarl". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 10 Oct 2013.
- ^ in "Från Viby till Bjälbo, studier i Sveriges historia under 100-talets senare hälft", Fornvännen 1951 p. 199
- ^ Nils Ahnlund, "Till frågan om den äldsta Erikskulten i Sverige", Historisk tidskrift 68, 1948, p. 318.
- ^ Mats G. Larsson, Götarnas riken: Upptäcktsfärder till Sveriges enande. Stockholm: Atlantis, 2002, p. 185.
- ^ Hans Gillingstam. "Kol". Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 10 Oct 2013.
- ^ Adolf Schück, "Från Viby till Bjälbo, studier i Sveriges historia under 100-talets senare hälft", Fornvännen 1951 p. 212.
- ^ Mats G. Larsson, Götarnas riken: Upptäcktsfärder till Sveriges enande. Stockholm: Atlantis, 2002, p. 185.
- ^ Ahnlund, Nils, "Vreta klosters äldsta donatorer", Historisk tidskrift 65, 1945, p. 345.
- ^ Hans Gillingstam, "Knut Eriksson", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, Canute I of Sweden