Bjälbo is a small village in

Mjölby Municipality Mjölby Municipality (''Mjölby kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Mjölby, with some 13,000 inhabitants.

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The medieval

House of Bjelbo The House of Bjelbo ( sv, Bjälboätten), also known as the House of Folkung (''Folkungaätten''), was an Ostrogothian Swedish family that provided several medieval Swedish bishops, jarls and kings. It also provided three kings of Norway and o ...

had a church and a manor house at Bjälbo.

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Magnus Minnesköld Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wi ...

was probably born here, and in around 1210 his son Birger Magnusson. Today the church tower is preserved. The church was probably built in the first half of the twelfth century, reflecting new techniques brought by

Cistercian monks The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1143. The surviving tower was probably added around 1220. Both structures are thought to have been projects of

Ingrid Ylva Ingrid Ylva of Bjelbo (born c. 1180s, died c. 1250–1255), was a Swedish noblewoman, the wife of Magnus Minnesköld of Bjälbo and the mother of regent Birger Jarl. The exact years of her birth and death are unclear; a traditional year quoted fo ...

, mother of Birger Jarl. In 1173, King (or pretender)

Kol Sverkerson Kol (died about 1173) was a Swedish prince who, together with his brother Burislev was a contender for the throne of Sweden from 1167 until his violent death a few years later. The struggle was a stage in the rivalry between the House of Sverker, ...

was killed in a battle at Bjälbo. digitized July 9, 2008

References

Populated places in Östergötland County Populated places in Mjölby Municipality {{Östergötland-geo-stub

See also

References