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Swedish pre-history ends around 800 AD, when theViking Age begins and written sources are available. During the following centuries, Sweden graduallyconsolidated as a single nation.[1] The Viking Age lasted until the mid-11th century. Scandinavia was formally Christianized by 1100 AD. The period 1050 to 1350—when theBlack Death struckEurope—is considered the OlderMiddle Ages. The period from 1350 to 1523 is considered the Younger Middle Ages.[a] TheKalmar Union between theScandinavian countries was established in 1397 and lasted until KingGustav Vasa ended it upon seizing power during theSwedish War of Liberation, which concluded in 1523.
Until the 9th century, the Scandinavian people lived in smallGermanic kingdoms andchiefdoms known aspetty kingdoms. These Scandinavian kingdoms and their royal rulers are mainly known from legends and scattered continental sources as well as fromrunestones. The Scandinavian people appeared as a group separate from otherGermanic nations, and at this time there was a noticeable increase in war expeditions (Viking raids) on foreign countries, which has given the nameViking Age to this period. At this time the seas were easier to travel than Europe's inland forests, and the wild buffer regions that separated the kingdoms of the time that were known asmarches.
TheSwedes took part in many Western raids againstEngland alongside theDanes andNorwegians of which many successfully acquiredDanegeld as seen on theEngland Runestones. The Swedes were also very active traders and raiders in the eastern and southeastern parts of Europe. The large Russian mainland and its many navigable rivers offered good prospects for trading and plundering. These routes brought them into contact with the Byzantine and Muslim empires. The former led, among other things, to the formation of theVarangian Guard, an elite fighting force made up byNorsemen. The scholarly consensus[2] is that theRus' people originated in what is currently coastaleastern Sweden around the eighth century and that their name has the same origin asRoslagen inSweden (with the older name beingRoden).[3][4][5]
During the 9th century, extensiveScandinavian settlements were made on the east side of theBaltic Sea. TheTale of Bygone Years (dated to 1113) tells of how theVarangians arrived inConstantinople, and of pirate expeditions on theBlack Sea and theCaspian Sea.
The Varangians accumulated great wealth from their foreign trades. A centre of trade in northern Europe developed on the island ofBirka, not far from whereStockholm was later constructed, in mid-latitude Sweden. Birka declined drastically by 960, but archaeological finds indicate it was wealthy in the 9th and 10th centuries. Thousands of graves, coins, jewelry and other luxury items have been found there.[6]
Medieval Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon sources tell ofMigration Age Swedish kings belonging to theScylfing dynasty, also known asYnglings. Some sources, such asÍslendingabók,Ynglinga saga andHistoria Norwegiæ trace the foundation of the Swedish kingdom back to the last centuries BC.[b] Some of these sources, theAnglo-SaxonWidsith andBeowulf, may date to the 8th century in their present forms, but retain oral traditions that are considerably older. Native Scandinavian sources are generally held to date no earlier than the 9th century in the form ofskaldic poetry, such asYnglingatal. The Scandinavian sources were not put to paper until the 11th century and later.
In a mythological sense, the first king of Sweden is said to have beenOdin as the founder of the house ofYngling. (See alsoList of legendary kings of Sweden.)
The earliest kings whose names appear in different traditions (Beowulf andYnglingatal) are three kings from the 6th century, starting withOngentheow or Egil. The first kings attested in a contemporary source are those mentioned in Rimbert'sVita Ansgarii, from the 9th century.
Before the 10th or 11th century, there were many different petty kings, who ruled over different parts of the future Sweden and a lot of fighting and disputes between different tribes, such as theGeats and Swedes, and different sources contradict each other. These contradictions persists up to and after the reign ofEric the Victorious, who ruled around 970–995, but some facts about him can be established. Eric was succeeded by his son KingOlof Skötkonung (late 960s – c. 1020), the firstChristian king of Sweden, and the first who is known to have ruled over the different tribes. Olof is listed first in medieval Swedish regnal lists,[7] but modern ones usually start with his father.
During and before the Early Viking Age, the people in what is now Sweden were primarily believers inNorse mythology, which dominated most of southern Scandinavia. Swedes had contact with Christianity from their early travels. Christian influence on burials can be traced to the late 8th century in some parts of Sweden. Additionally,Irish missionary monks were most likely active in some parts of Sweden, as demonstrated by Irish saints that were honored in the Middle Ages. Sweden is traditionally considered to be the last country out of Sweden,Denmark andNorway to adopt Christianity and held on to their pagan beliefs the longest, with rulers such asBlot-Sweyn.
From theHoly Roman Empire, the monkAnsgar (801–865) began the earliest campaign to introduce Christianity to Sweden. Ansgar made his first visit toBirka in 829, was granted permission to build a church, and stayed as a missionary until 831. He then returned home and becameArchbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. Around 850, he returned to Birka, where he saw that the previous congregation had faded away. Ansgar tried to re-establish it, but it only lasted a few years.[8] However, archaeological digs inVarnhem found a Christian burial ground established in the late 9th century. On the same spot, a stone church was built in the early-11th century, and a short distance away,Varnhem Abbey was established in the 12th century.[9]
WhenEmund the Old ascended to the throne, around 1050, he had converted to Christianity. But because of his quarrels withAdalhard,Archbishop of Bremen, independence of theChurch of Sweden was not obtained for another century. A decade later, in 1060,King Stenkil ascended to the throne. At the time, Christianity was firmly established throughout most of Sweden, with its chief strength inVästergötland. However, the people ofUppland, with their centre inUppsala, still held to theiroriginal (heathen) faith. Adalhard had succeeded in destroying the idols in Västergötland, but was unable to persuade Stenkil to destroy the ancientTemple of Uppsala.[10]
There are large gaps in the knowledge of the earliest Swedish regents. However, the last king who followed the old Norse religion wasBlot-Sweyn, who reigned 1084–87. According to legend, Blot-Sweyn became king when his predecessorInge refused to sacrifice at Uppsala. Hisbrother-in-law Sweyn stepped up and agreed to sacrifice, which gave him the nicknameBlot, which meanssacrifice. Inge took out his revenge three years later, when he entered Uppsala with a great force, set Blot-Sweyn's house ablaze, and killed him as he attempted to flee the burning wreckage.[c][d]
It was not untilEric the Saint (1150–60) that theChurch of Sweden was to be organized on the medieval model. According to a late-13th-century legend, Erik undertook the so-calledFirst Swedish Crusade to Finland together with the equally legendaryBishop Henry ofUppsala, conquering the country and building many churches there. No historical record remains of the alleged crusade.
After the introduction of Christianity the importance of Uppsala began to decline steadily, and the kings no longer made it their residence.[11] It was made the seat for theSwedish Archbishop in 1164.A cathedral was built on the place for the oldTemple of Uppsala. One of the first to be consecrated there was the Swedish KingEric the Saint.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, the sources state how Sweden more or less consisted of self-governingprovinces. It is established thatOlof Skötkonung was king ofSvealand and at least parts of Götaland, but it is uncertain whether his realm extended to include all of it. And after Olof, the reign of the country was on several occasions divided between different rulers.KingSverker I of Sweden (1134–55) is said to have permanently integratedGötaland andSvealand.[12]
The following centuries saw rivalry between two houses: theHouse of Sverker in theÖstergötland province, and theHouse of Eric in theVästergötland province.
The greatest medieval statesman of Sweden, and one of the principal architects of its rise as a nation,Birger Jarl the Regent, practically ruled the land from 1248 to 1266. He is today revered as the founder ofStockholm and as the creator of national legislation. His reforms paved the way for the abolition ofserfdom. The increased respect and power which later royals owed to Birger Jarl were further extended by his son, KingMagnus Ladulås (1275–90). Both these rulers, by the institution of separate and almost independent duchies, attempted to introduce into Sweden a feudal system similar to that already established in continental Europe; the danger of thus weakening the realm by partition was averted, though not without violent and tragic complications by the opponents, theFolkung party. Finally, in 1319, the severed portions of Sweden were once more reunited.[11]
The formation of separate orders (classes of society), or estates, was promoted by Magnus Ladulås, who extended the privileges of the clergy and practically founded the formalSwedish nobility (seeOrdinance of Alsnö, 1280). Founded with this institution was a heavily armed cavalry, the kernel of the national army. The Knights (new nobles) and Burghers became distinguishable from thehigher nobility. This period saw the rise of a prominent burgess class, as the towns now began to acquire charters. At the end of the 13th century, and the beginning of the 14th,provincial codes of laws appear and the king and hiscouncil also executed legislative and judicial functions.[11]
Although Swedish-speaking culture had been expanding eastwards throughÅland and along what are now the coastal regions ofFinland for several centuries, theSecond Swedish Crusade, undertaken by Birger Jarl in the late 1230s or late 1240s, is generally perceived as the period when the region now called Finland was incorporated into the Swedish state. This region remained an integral part of Sweden until 1809, governed from the city ofÅbo (Finnish: Turku).
The first union between Sweden and Norway occurred in 1319 when the three-year-oldMagnus, son of the Swedish royal Duke Eric and of the Norwegian princessIngeborg, inherited the throne of Norway from his grandfatherHaakon V and in the same year was elected King of Sweden, by theConvention of Oslo. The boy king's long minority weakened the royal influence in both countries, and Magnus lost both his kingdoms before his death. In Sweden, Magnus' partialities and necessities led directly to the rise of a powerful landed aristocracy, and, indirectly, to the growth of popular liberties. Forced by the incompetence of the magnates to lean upon the middle classes, in 1359 the king summoned the first SwedishRiksdag, on which occasion representatives from the towns were invited to appear along with the nobles and clergy. The Swedes, irritated by Magnus' misrule, replaced him with his nephew,Albert of Mecklenburg in 1365. Albert was forced to take the first coronation oath in 1371,[11] in which Albert swore to concede many of his powers to the nobility in the Regency Council.
In 1388, at the request of the Swedes, Albert was driven out byMargaret I of Denmark and at a convention of the representatives of the threeScandinavian kingdoms (held atKalmar in 1397), Margaret's great-nephew,Eric of Pomerania, was elected the common king, although the liberties of each of the three realms were expressly reserved and confirmed. The union was to be a personal, not a political union. Neither Margaret nor her successors observed the stipulation that in each of the three kingdoms only natives should hold land and high office, and the efforts first of Denmark (at that time by far the strongest member of the union) to impose her will on the Union's weaker kingdoms soon produced secessions. The Swedes first broke away from the Union in 1434 under the popular leaderEngelbrekt Engelbrektsson, and after his murder they elected Karl Knutsson Bonde as their king with the title ofCharles VIII in 1436. In 1441 Charles VIII had to abdicate in favour ofChristopher of Bavaria, who was already king of Denmark and Norway; however, upon the death of Christopher in 1448, a state of confusion ensued in the course of which Charles VIII was twice reinstated and twice expelled again. Finally, on his death in 1470, the three kingdoms were reunited underChristian II of Denmark, the prelates and higher nobility of Sweden favouring the union.[11]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Beck, Frederick George Meeson (1911). "Sweden". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 188–221.