TheHistoria de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus (History of all the kings of the Geats and the Swedes) is a posthumously published, partlypseudo-historical work byJohannes Magnus, Sweden's last Catholic archbishop. In 1554 (ten years after his death), it was published inLatin by his brotherOlaus Magnus.^[1]

TheHistoria was implicitly critical of KingGustav Vasa, who had introduced theProtestant Reformation in 1527 and caused the exile of Johannes Magnus. It was nevertheless used widely by Gustav Vasa's sons and successors, to whom it had been dedicated, since it extolled the glorious past of the Swedish kingdom. In particular, the sons used the (fictitious) king-list which began withMagog, grandson ofNoah. As a consequence,Eric XIV andCharles IX adopted much higher regnal numbers than warranted by the historical sources. A Swedish translation was published by Ericus Benedicti Schroderus in 1620. A modern Swedish version, translated by Kurt Johannesson and with comments by Johannesson and Hans Helander, was published in 2018 by Michaelisgillet and theRoyal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.

The book opens up with thecreation of the world, around 3960 years before the birth of Christ. Noah sets up his three sonsShem,Ham, andJapheth to governAsia,Africa, andEurope, respectively. CitingFlavius Josephus, Johannes says that a son of Japheth,Magog, is the father of theScythian peoples (which Johannes identifies as theGoths and in turn theGeats), and at first rules over “that part of EuropeanScythia now calledFinland”. Eighty-eight years after the Deluge, however, Magog and a great number of people cross theBaltic Sea and reachGötaland on theScandinavian Peninsula, which Magog settles and makes his new seat of power, thus becoming the firstKing of Sweden. This assertion, Johannes explains, is supported by “our fatherland's most reliable chronicles”.

Of Magog's five sons, Suenno and Gethar are set up to rule over (and give their names to) theSwedes and Geats, respectively, while the younger brothers Thor, German, and Ubbo help administer their brother's domains. When Suenno dies around 246 years after the flood, Ubbo becomes ruler of the Swedes, and he builds the city ofUppsala to be his seat of power, its etymology beingthe Halls of Ubbo. Ubbo is succeeded by Siggo I, who builds the city ofSigtuna byLake Mälaren as a fortress against theEstonians,Finns, and “other peoples in the East”. Already by this point, therunic alphabet has been invented, which Johannes claims are older than both theGreek andLatin alphabets.

While Siggo rules over the Swedes, a man named Eric has been elected King of the Geats. Johannes describes Eric as a man who became renowned for his "good customs" and his "love for the Fatherland", and reproducesa song about the King which he claims dates back from the oldest of times, though latter-day scholars believe it more likely to be a composition of Johannes himself.^[2] Already by this point, the Geatish population has grown to such an extent that the Scandinavian Peninsula can no longer support them, and to solve this problem, Eric expels all rebels in his realm to isles in the west, where they become theDanes.

After Eric's death in around 425 years after the Deluge, theGolden Age quickly comes to an end, and the Scandinavian peoples soon are converted topaganism. Thetemple at Uppsala is constructed, “built in such grandeur that all in its walls, roofs, and pillars seemed to be shining of purest gold”. Drawing onSaxo Grammaticus, Johannes gives a brief description of the gods inNorse mythology, which he says are related to the gods of theRoman religion. Over the next four hundred years, the amicable relations between Swedes and Geats deteriorate, and Johannes mentions the kings Uddo, Alo, Odin, Charles, Björn, and Gethar as rulers, of whom he writes that no knowledge has survived, save their names.

Identifying as he does the Geats with the Goths, the author now starts drawing on theGetica ofJordanes, and declares that in around 836 years after the Deluge,Berig, a mythical king of the Goths from the aforementioned work, is unanimously elected king by both the Swedes and the Geats, reuniting the two peoples. Concerned about how Finns,Curonians, and Ulmerugians have been raiding Sweden, Berig rallies the people for a war of conquest against the tribes across the Baltic Sea to seek vengeance and to regain the national honour. Appointing his eldest son Humulphus to rule in his absence, Berig assembles a mighty fleet and sails to the isle calledGothiscandza by Jordanes, which Johannes identifies asGotland. From thence, they proceed to invade the land of the Ulmerugians, which Johannes identifies as the territory which would later becomePrussia. Though the Ulmerguians put up a brave fight, they eventually realize that their forces are inferior to those of the Geats, and so burn their homes and fields and flee into "inner Vandalia". Though the land now is desolate, the Geats nonetheless colonizes it, as well as the neighbouring provinces ofPomerania,Poland, andMecklenburg.

Johannes goes on to invent a list of rulers with six Erics beforeEric the Victorious and six Charles beforeCharles VII. In that way the 16th-century monarchs Eric XIV and Charles IX could boast with ordinal numbers on par with the popes. These fictitious rulers were usually described in positive terms, but the invented King Gostagus (Ostanus, Östen III, number 90 in the list) is referred to as a tyrant: "There was hardly a night throughout the year with him abstaining from fornication, rape, incest and the filthiest sexual intercourse". The account of Gostagus contains hateful hints about Gustav Vasa.^[3] The strongly patriotic work also displays strong antipathy towards Denmark.^[4]

The list includes various rulers from theHervarar andYnglinga saga as well as several legendary Nordic and Gothic heroes, albeit in different chronological order. All pre-12th century dates there are approximates, as stated throughout the book.

• Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sveonumque regibus inInternet Archive
• Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sveonumque regibus inLitteraturbanken
• Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sveonumque regibus in Libris (Swedish Digital Library)
• Swedish translation (2018) inLitteraturbanken
• Johannesson, Kurt (1991).The Renaissance of the Goths in Sixteenth-Century Sweden. University of California Press.doi:10.1525/9780520419407.ISBN 978-0-520-41940-7.

• 1554 books
• Historiography of Sweden
• Semi-legendary kings of Sweden
• Gog and Magog

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata