Magnus II (Sweden)
Magnus Eriksson , also known as Magnus VII in Norway , (* 1316 ; † December 1, 1374 ) was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364 and King of Norway from 1319 until his kingdom was divided between his two sons in 1355 .
He was the son of Duke Erik Magnusson and his wife, the Norwegian princess Ingebjørg Håkonsdatter . Thus he was the grandson of the Swedish King Magnus I. Birgersson and the Norwegian King Håkon V. Magnusson . He married Blanche von Namur in 1335 , descendant of Louis VIII of France through her mother Marie .
His life
The first years
Magnus Eriksson's father, Duke Erik Magnusson , was killed at the Nyköping banquet in 1318. In 1319, at the age of three, Magnus inherited the Norwegian royal crown from his grandfather Håkon V. Magnusson and was elected King of Sweden in the same year. During the guardianship period, there was tension between Magnus' mother Ingebjørg, who resided in Varberg , and the Swedish and Norwegian council aristocracies. Magnus Eriksson took over the rule around 1331. The financial means to push back the aristocracy were lacking, but during his stay in Oslo at Christmas 1332, with the support of the big farmers, he succeeded in enforcing a law that prohibited holding Setesvein without the king's permission. This hit the Hirðaristocracy, which the big farmers hated and who had previously claimed this privilege for themselves. In 1336 he was crowned by the Dorpater Bishop Engelbert von Dolen .
Magnus takes over Schonen and Blekinge
Denmark suffered a political crisis with a weakened central power. The south of Halland was mortgaged to Magnus' stepfather Knut Porse . The landscapes of Schonen and Blekinge to Johann von Holstein . John's rule caused dissatisfaction and in 1332 a delegation from Skåne swore allegiance to King Magnus. After negotiations, Magnus redeemed the landscapes for 34,000 silver marks . In 1343 the Danish King Waldemar renounced Scania, Blekinge and Halland.
Lack of finances and the excommunication
The state finances were weak, partly due to the agreement with Johann von Holstein. Magnus tried unsuccessfully to borrow money from the Hanseatic League . Then he took a forced loan from the church. This led to the excommunication being imposed on him. A failed “crusade” to Finland from 1348-1351 and the outbreak of the plague made the financial situation even worse. An inappropriately close relationship with the young Swedish nobleman Bengt Algotsson also damaged his reputation. In addition, there was sharp criticism of him from Birgitta of Sweden , later Saint Birgitta. She had close ties to his family and took advantage of them politically. She disliked his unseemly association with Bengt Algotsson and the fact that he attended Holy Mass despite the ban. It is not certain whether he actually had a homosexual partnership. Bengt Algotsson was the brother of Knut Algotsson, Birgitta's son-in-law.
Magnus divides his empire among his sons
In 1343/44 Magnus had his sons Håkon and Erik chosen as heir to the throne for Norway and Sweden respectively. But that was in times of the great plague, when most positions in office and power had been vacant. For this reason, and because he intended to continue a crusade against Karelia and wanted to keep his back free, he repeated this appointment in Bergen in 1350. He kept Helgeland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands to himself. Håkon received the Norwegian royal crown in 1355, while Magnus Eriksson continued to rule in Sweden. Bengt Algotsson seized the possessions of the Archbishop of Lund in 1355 when he was in Rome to get the pallium . This violated the ecclesiastical ban on reducing ecclesiastical property. The Swedish nobility suspected that Bengt Algotsson had acted with the approval of the king. He allied himself with Erik and Magnus' brother-in-law Albrecht von Mecklenburg . Erik's dissatisfaction, who had hoped for the Swedish royal crown, was fueled by the council aristocracy. He assumed the title of king and in 1356 led a revolt against his father. In a settlement in 1357 there was an administrative division of the empire between father and son. Erik received Finland and the Danish areas except North Halland from Bengt Algotsson. But Erik died two years later. Waldemar Atterdag tried in vain to take the opportunity to win back Skåne. In 1359 the two kings were reconciled and sealed the new peace with the engagement between Håkon Magnusson and Waldemar's daughter, Margarethe I.
Magnus' son Erik dies
In the same year (as already mentioned) his son and fellow king Erik and shortly afterwards his pregnant wife died without leaving any heirs. Magnus immediately moved in the previous domain of Erik. In 1360 Waldemar Atterdag succeeded in regaining Scania . This generated the displeasure of the Swedish nobility and also made the Hanseatic League and the northern German areas restless, as Denmark now controlled the Øresund again . Magnus allied himself with the Hanseatic League in order to regain Skåne, which, however, failed. Instead, his son Håkon imprisoned him in Kalmar Castle . After a settlement, he was released again, and Håkon became Swedish co-king in 1362 in place of his dead brother.
Magnus and Håkon lose Sweden
The next uprising of the council aristocracy in the power struggle for the empire took place in 1364 after the Norwegian king and Swedish heir to the throne Håkon Magnusson had married the daughter of the Danish king Waldemar Atterdag. Albrecht von Mecklenburg was brought to Sweden and elected king in 1364. In the war that followed, King Magnus Eriksson and his son Håkon Magnusson were defeated. Magnus Eriksson was captured and only released six years later. He moved to live with his son in Norway, where he was killed in a shipwreck in 1374.
obituary
Birgitta von Sweden, close to the aristocratic opposition at the time, described Magnus Eriksson as weak and immoral. The Swedish historian Alf Åberg wrote in 1978 that researchers know too little to be able to judge Magnus fairly. But his time was certainly a cultural heyday in Sweden.
progeny
literature
- Alf Åberg: Vår Svenska Historia. , Natur och Kultur, Stockholm 1978/1986, ISBN 91-27-01445-2 .
- Halvard Bjørkvik: Folketap og sammenbrudd 1350–1520. Oslo 1996, ISBN 82-03-22017-7 .
- Geir Atle Ersland, Hilde Sandvik: Norsk Historie 1300 - 1625. Oslo 2008, ISBN 978-82-521-5182-4 .
- Eldbjørg Haug: Margrete. Den siste Dronningen i Sverreætten . Oslo 2000.
- Knut Helle: Under Kirke og kongemagt 1130-1350 . Oslo 1995, ISBN 82-03-22016-9
- Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller : Magnus versus Birgitta: the fight of St. Birgitta of Sweden against King Magnus Eriksson . Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-936152-03-9 .
- Beatrice La Farge: Magnus Eriksson . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA) . tape 6 . Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 99 f .
- Jerker Rosén et al .: Den Svenska Historien , Volume 2, Bonniers Stockholm, 1966
Remarks
- ↑ a b Rosén p. 14ff
- ↑ Helle p. 225.
- ↑ Bjørkvik p. 140. Flatø annals to 1350 in Gustav Storm: Islandske Annaler indtil 1578 . Christiania 1888, ISBN 82-7061-192-1 , p. 404.
- ↑ The Recesse and other files of the Hanseatic Days from 1256 - 1430, Volume 1, p. 160 ( Hanseatic Days from 1256 - 1370), Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1870 (digitized: State and University Library Hamburg)
- ↑ Haug p. 59.
- ↑ Åberg p. 134
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Birger I. |
King of Sweden 1319–1364 |
Albrecht of Mecklenburg |
| Haakon V. |
King of Norway 1319-1355 |
Haakon VI. |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Magnus II. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Magnus Eriksson |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Sweden and Norway |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1316 |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1, 1374 |