John I of Sweden

John I
John I
	Eric XI
Born	c. 1201
Died	10 March 1222; Visingsö, Sweden
House	Sverker
Father	Sverker II of Sweden
Mother	Ingegerd Birgersdotter

John I (

king of Sweden from 1216 until his death.^[1]

Background

John was the son of King Sverker II of Sweden of the House of Sverker and Queen Ingegerd of the Bjälbo dynasty. When he was one year old, his maternal grandfather Jarl Birger Brosa died. King Sverker appointed his son as nominal jarl in order to strengthen his own ruling powers and secure the increasingly important jarl institution. This enraged the rival House of Eric as well as some of Birger Brosa's offspring, and John was contemptuously known as the "breech-less jarl".^[2] John retained his dignity until his father King Sverker was beaten in the Battle of Lena in 1208, later to be killed in the Battle of Gestilren in 1210. His rival Erik Knutsson, from the House of Eric, became King Eric X of Sweden.

Reign

When King

Karl of Linköping. The last-mentioned was termed chancellor; this is the first time that the title occurs in Sweden. The young ruler was crowned in 1219 and immediately issued a charter of privileges to the Swedish bishops. The charter confirmed the privileges that his father Sverker II had issued in 1200, but expanded them. The properties of the church were to be free from royal revenue demands, and fines paid by tenants of the Church would go to the bishops.^[4]

He also granted several royal farms to various clergymen.

King John remained on the throne until his death on 10 March 1222. He died unmarried and childless, and left a favourable memory in Swedish historiography: "He was young of years and very gentle. He was king for three winters and died of illness on Visingsö. All of Sweden deeply mourned his death, that he was not allowed a longer life. And he rests in Alvastra, and God may preserve his soul in eternity".^[5] In the same year 1222, the rival dynasty's young heir, Erik Eriksson ascended the throne at the age of 6 to reign as King Eric XI of Sweden.^[6]