Charles VII of Sweden

Charles VII of Sweden
King Charles Sverkersson's seal
  Swedish Royalty
  House of Sverker
Sverker I
Children
   Prince John, Charles VII, Princess Ingegerd, Boleslas, Kol
Charles VII
Children
   Sverker II
Sverker II
Children
   Princess Helena, John I
John I

Charles "VII" also Carl (actually Charles I), or Karl Sverkersson in Swedish (c. 1130 – 12 April 1167), was ruler of Gothenland, and then King of Sweden from circa 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated.

He was known as Karl Sverkersson during his reign and is the first historically known king of Sweden with the name Karl.

Contents

Life

Charles had rivalled Eric IX of Sweden (whom later generations dubbed martyr and saint) and held some power in Gothenland ("jarlship") already during Eric's reign. It has been claimed that Eric's murder by minions of their rival Magnus Henricson was also backed by Charles.

After the fall of Magnus, Charles received general recognition in Sweden as king. It was also during his reign that the Archbishop of Uppsala was established.

In the spring of 1167, King Charles was killed on the island of Visingsö by supporters of Knut Eriksson, head of the rival Eric dynasty, who overtook the throne. Charles was buried in Alvastra monastery.

Starting from Charles' death, his kinsmen (probably his half-brothers) Burislev and Kol together opposed Canute's kingship and were rival kings, recognized in some Gothenlander parts of Sweden; but last of them was killed in 1173, after which Canute's government got recognized overall.

Family

Charles' wife was Kirsten Stigsdatter, a Danish lady, daughter of Stig Hvitaleder, a Seelander magnate, and his wife who was sister of Valdemar I of Denmark.

Their sole historically attested child was Sverker Karlsson, a young boy when Charles died, and who later became the chosen king Sverker II of Sweden (1195–1208/10) after the death of Charles' rival king Canute I.[1]

Ordinal number

This was the first Swedish king by the name of Charles (Karl). Charles VII is a posthumous invention, counting backwards from Charles IX (1604–1611) who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden. Six others before Charles Sverkersson are unknown to any sources before Johannes Magnus's 16th century book Gothorvm sveonvmqve historia, and are considered his invention.[2] The first Swedish monarch to actually use a regnal number was Charles II (later retrospectively renumbered VIII), on his queen's tombstone (1451) at Vadstena.

Notes

  1. ^ Lindström, p 267
  2. ^ Article Karl in Nordisk familjebok

References

  • Lindström, Fredrik; Lindström, Henrik (2006) (in Swedish). Svitjods undergång och Sveriges födelse. Albert Bonniers förlag. ISBN 91-0-010789-1. 
Karl Sverkersson
Born: c. 1130 Died: April 12 1167
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Magnus Henriksen
King of Sweden
1161–1167
Succeeded by
Canute I

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Charles VII — may refer to: Charles VII of Sweden, actually Charles I of Sweden (1161–1167) Charles VII of France, the Victorious (1403–1461) Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (1697–1745) Charles III of Spain and Charles VII of Naples (1716–1788) Carlos María de …   Wikipedia

  • Charles XV of Sweden — Charles XV IV King of Sweden and Norway Charles XV in the 1860s Reign 8 July 1859 – 18 September 1872 Coronation …   Wikipedia

  • Charles XIII of Sweden — Charles XIII II Charles XIII of Sweden wearing the Order of Charles XIII in red King of Sweden Reign 6 June 1809 – 5 February 1818 ( …   Wikipedia

  • Charles VIII of Sweden — Charles VIII I King of Sweden Coronation June 29, 1448, Uppsala King of Norway Cor …   Wikipedia

  • Charles VII de Suède — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Charles VII. Charles VII de Suède [1] (Karl Sverkersson), fut roi de Suède de 1161 à 1167. Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Charles of Sweden — may refer to: Charles VII of Sweden (circa 1130 1167), King of Sweden Charles VIII of Sweden (1409–1470), King of Sweden and Norway Charles IX of Sweden (1550–1611), King of Sweden Charles X Gustav of Sweden (1622–1660), King of Sweden Charles XI …   Wikipedia

  • Charles — For the family name, see Charles (surname). For other uses, see Charles (disambiguation). Charles …   Wikipedia

  • Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes — (20 December 1717 – 13 February 1787) was a French statesman and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister from 1774 during the reign of Louis XVI, notably during the American War of Independence. Vergennes rose through the ranks of the diplomatic… …   Wikipedia

  • Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach — Charles III William Margrave of Baden Durlach Margrave Karl III. Wilhelm of Baden Durlach, 1710, by Johann Rudolf Huber Spouse Magdalena Wilhelmine of Württemberg Issue …   Wikipedia

  • Charles X of France — Charles X redirects here. For the King of Sweden, see Charles X Gustav of Sweden, for the Catholic claimant of 1589, see Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon. Charles X King Charles X by François Pascal Simon Gérard, 1825 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”