Olof Skötkonung

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Sculpture of King Olof in front of Stockholm City Hall
Silver coin that was struck for Olof Skötkonung.

Olof Skötkonung (German also Olaf Schosskönig or Olaf Schatzkönig ; * around 980 , † around 1022 ) was the first Christian king of Sweden . His glorious journeys are celebrated in Óláfsdrápa sœnska .

Surname

"Skot" is an Anglo-Saxon loan word and means "treasure" or lap (tax) . Olof Skötkonung had the first known coins minted in Sweden. Hence the name may derive from the word treasure or tax .

For more common in earlier times as a translation lap king (of Swedish sköte for lap as body zone) there are different interpretations, u. a.

  • because supposedly the unborn Olof is said to have been appointed co-king of his father Erich, just when he was still growing up in his mother's lap, or
  • because at his coronation as fellow king he was still a toddler and sat on his mother's lap.

Life

youth

Olof Skötkonung was a son of King Erik VIII . of Sweden and Sigrid the proud . Around 995 he followed his father as king after his death. His mother married the Danish king Sven Gabelbart .

Battle of Svolder 1000

In the year 1000 Olof and Sven went to battle against the Norwegian King Olav I Tryggvason in the naval battle of Svold . After the victorious battle, both kings divided Norway. Olof received the Bohuslän and Trøndelag regions . He later lost these areas again.

Baptism 1008

In 1008 Olof was baptized in Husaby by Bishop Siegfried , together with his family and the court. Thereafter, Olof promoted the establishment of the first Swedish diocese of Skara . Part of the Swedish upper class and the population remained unbaptized. His conversion to Christianity probably made his government activities much more difficult, especially in Svealand.

Last years

His support among the Svearn waned in the years that followed. The long war against Norway sparked discontent. The tribes of the Jatwingers and the Kurds on the southern Baltic coast stopped paying tribute. Around 1022 his son Anund Jakob was elected co-king. It is not known when and where Olof died ( Kung Anes Sten ).

Marriage and offspring

Olof was married to Estrid , daughter of a Slavic Obodrite prince . Descendants were

  • Ingegerd (around 1001 - around 1050) - was supposed to marry the Norwegian heir to the throne Olaf II in order to secure peace between the two ruling houses. Together with her parents, however, she decided to prefer a simultaneous offer from the candidate for the Grand Duchy of Kiev , Yaroslav the Wise , whom she married in 1019.
  • Anund Jakob (around 1010-around 1050) - became King of Sweden in 1022.

At the same time, Olof had a second wife, Edla , who was also of Slavic origin. Children were

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Lagerqvist p. 31.
  2. ^ Wilhelm August Gottlieb Assmann : Handbuch der Allgemeine Geschichte , Volume 5, Part 2, Page 150. Verlag F. Vieweg and Son, Braunschweig 1857
  3. ↑ Eric Rücker Eddison : Styrbjörn the strong , pages 76 and 137. Bastei-Lübbe. Bergisch Gladbach 1996
  4. ↑ Other sources mention a missionary Bernhard, a companion of Bruno von Querfurt .
  5. ↑ So the Heimskringla
  6. ↑ Snorri Sturluson : Ólaf helgi saga ( Saga of St. Olaf in Heimskringla ) mentions the names of the children and that Edmund went back to Wendland (Slavic area), his mother's homeland.

swell

literature

  • Harald Ehrhardt: Olaf Eriksson 'lap king' . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 1386 f.
  • Jörg-Peter Findeisen : The Swedish Monarchy. From the Viking rulers to the modern monarchs. Volume 1: 950-1611. Verlag Ludwig, Kiel 2010, p. 72ff.
  • Lars o. Lageqvist: Sveriges regenter. Från forntid till nutid. Norsteds Förlag AB, Stockholm 1996, ISBN 91-1-963882-5 .
  • Lutz Mohr : The Jomswikinger and their Jomsburg in Gau Jom. The military and maritime pillars of power in Denmark and centers of aggression in early medieval Pomerania . In: Kathrin Orth, Eberhard Kliem (Hrsg.): Yearbook 2012 of the German Society for Shipping and Marine History eV Isensee Verlag Oldenburg, Schleswig 2012, pp. 73-89.
  • Arndt Ruprecht: The outgoing Viking Age in the light of the runic inscriptions. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1958 ( Palaestra 224, ISSN  0303-4607 ), (At the same time: Göttingen, Univ., Diss., October 7, 1958).
  • Peter H. Sawyer:  Óláfr skötkonungr. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 22, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-017351-4 , pp. 60-62. ( Article accessed via the paid GAO at De Gruyter Online)

Web links

Commons : Olof Skötkonung  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Erik VIII. King of Sweden
around 995-1022 		An and Jakob
personal data
SURNAME Olof Skötkonung
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Sweden's first Christian king
DATE OF BIRTH around 980
DATE OF DEATH around 1022