Eric XI of Sweden

Eric spent his early youth in Denmark, while Valdemar championed his rights to the Swedish throne and tried to prevent the coronation of John I. Pope Honorius III ordered three North German bishops to investigate the issue in 1219, however to no avail. John I nevertheless died in 1222, whereby the House of Sverker became extinct in the male line.^[5]

First reign

With no dynastic rivals at hand, the six-year-old Eric was hailed as king, sometime between August 1222 and July 1223. The Archbishop Olof Basatömer supported his cause and appears to have crowned him in

According to a Danish source, Eric returned to Sweden already in 1232, when Canute was still king. The Swedish Erikskrönikan on the contrary asserts that he came back after King Canute's death, after a new round of fighting.[11] At any rate Eric was once again accepted as king and ruled until his own death in 1250. At first, he reconciled with the Folkung Party. The Folkung Ulf Fase, who had been Jarl of the realm under Canute II, continued to serve in that function under Eric. Ulf Fase was an able politician who managed to prevent feuding between the noble factions for many years. As a king, Eric is depicted in Erikskrönikan as good-natured but physically passive:

He liked to strengthen reason and right, and was pleased to care for his own kin. He maintained domestic honour and noble custom, and gave the peasant good peace, He well understood serious matters, but would not care much for tournaments.^[12]

In fact he was relatively insignificant and heavily dependent on stronger men in his entourage; first Ulf Fase and, after his death (1248), the latter's kinsman

crusade, the professed aim was to Christianize still pagan lands. A sizable fleet was assembled under the leadership of Birger and sailed over to Tavastia (a problematic statement since Tavastia is an inland region). According to the highly propagandist

chronicle, the expedition was an unqualified success:

They took their banners and went ashore, The Christians were successful in the war. They let their shields shine all over the land, and so their helmets. They were keen to try their swords on the pagan Tavasts as I expect, they achieved gold and silver and large herds. The Tavasts then ran and were gone, the pagans lost and the Christians won. Anyone who wanted to serve them, and become Christian and accept baptism, they allowed to keep goods and life, and to live in peace without further strife. To any pagan who would not do that, they administered death.[14]

The expedition led to the establishment of a permanent fortress, Tavasteborg, and the formal Christianization of the region. As the chronicle has it, "I think the Russian king lost it".

attacked and routed by the Novgorodian prince Alexander Nevsky. Details of the battle are partly legendary, and its significance might have been exaggerated in Russian historiography. According to a 14th-century source, the Swedish leader was a Belgerd, corresponding to Birger, though this may be a later construction.^[16]

Renewed domestic feuding

Internal fighting once again broke out in 1247, shortly before (or possibly after) Ulf Fase's death. The Folkung Party warred with King Eric and Birger, but their peasant allies in Uppland lost the Battle of Sparrsätra and were punished by tightening royal taxation. The Folkung leader Holmger Knutsson, a son of Canute II, fled to Gästrikland but was captured by Eric's men and beheaded.^[17]

Shortly after the defeat of the uprising, Birger was appointed Jarl of the realm. As such he oversaw a clerical meeting in

William of Sabina. On behalf of Pope Innocent IV, he urged the Swedes to stick to canonic-juridical praxis as laid down by Rome. The authority of the bishops was strengthened and Sweden was increasingly incorporated in the Catholic Church.^[18]

Family and heirs

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Eric married Queen

Catherine

in 1243 or 1244. She was the daughter of (Jarl) Sune Folkason of Bjälbo and an heiress of the House of Sverker. In that way the two long-competing royal houses were eventually united. Commonly, sources say that Eric was childless, but some sources claim that he had a couple of baby daughters who died.

Eric XI died on 2 February 1250, and was buried in the monastery of

Valdemar was elected king in 1250 to succeed Eric, possibly by-passing the sons, to the extent there were such, of Ingeborg's elder sisters.^[20] Birger Jarl became the Regent, holding the true power in Sweden until his own death in 1266. Skáldatal reports that Óláfr Þórðarson was one of Eric's court skalds

.

Notes

1. ^ Referring to Erik the Lisp and Lame as King Eric XI is a later invention, counting backwards from Eric XIV (1560–68). He and his brother Charles IX (1604–1611) adopted numerals according to a fictitious history of Sweden. The number of Swedish monarchs named Eric before Eric XIV (at least seven) is unknown, going back into prehistory, and none of them used numerals. It would be speculative to try to affix a mathematically accurate one to this king.

References

1. ^ "Kings and Queens of Sweden — A thousand year succession". Royal Court of Sweden. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
2. ^ Erik "läspe och halte" Eriksson (Historiska personer) Archived 10 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
3. ISBN 9789189179639
   pp. 21-22, 105-106, 141
4. ^ Pipping, Erikskrönikan, pp. 4-5.
5. ^ Bolin, "Erik Eriksson"
6. ^ Knut "långe" Holmgersson (Historiska personer) Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, p. 127.
8. ^ Bolin, "Erik Eriksson", sok.riksarkivet.se; accessed 31 January 2019.(in Swedish)
9. ^ Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, p. 111.
10. ^ Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, pp. 110-13.
11. ^ Pipping, Erikskrönikan, p. 3.
12. ^ Pipping, Erikskrönikan, p. 5.
13. ^ Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, pp. 101, 116.
14. ^ Pipping, Erikskrönikan, p. 8-9.
15. ^ Pipping, Erikskrönikan, p. 10.
16. ^ Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, pp. 442-43; Harrison, "Birger jarl och Aleksandr Nevskij".
17. ^ Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, p. 118.
18. ^ Harrison, Sveriges historia: medeltiden, p. 134-6.
19. Eric the Saint
    , although the details are not quite certain; Line, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, p. 568.
20. ^ Ingeborg had at least one, possibly more sisters, though their birth dates or birth order are not known. The sons of her documented sister Sophia (d. 1241) were dukes in Mecklenburg but made no known claims.

Further reading

• Bolin, Sture, "Erik Eriksson", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon [1].
• Harrison, Dick, Sveriges historia: medeltiden (Stockholm: Liber, 2002).
• Harrison, Dick, Jarlens sekel - En berättelse om 1200-talets Sverige ( Stockholm: Ordfront, 2002).
  ISBN 91-7324-999-8
• Harrison, Dick, "Birger jarl och Aleksandr Nevskij", Svenska Dagbladet Blog, 1 May 2011 [2].
• Lagerqvist, Lars O.; Åberg, Nils, Litet lexikon över Sveriges regenter (Boda kyrkby: Vincent förlag, 2004).
  ISBN 91-87064-43-X
• Lindström, Henrik; Lindström, Fredrik, Svitjods undergång och Sveriges födelse (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag, 2006).
  ISBN 91-0-010789-1
  .
• Line, Philip, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden 1130-1290 (Leiden: Brill, 2007).
• Pipping, Rolf (ed.), Erikskrönikan (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wicksell, 1921).

External links

• Media related to Eric (XI) of Sweden (Erik Eriksson) at Wikimedia Commons

Erik Eriksson the lisp and the lame House of Eric Born: 1216 Died: 2 February 1250
Regnal titles
Preceded by John I	King of Sweden 1222–1229	Succeeded by Canute II
Preceded by Canute II	King of Sweden 1234–1250	Succeeded by Valdemar