Catherine Of Ymseborg
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Catherine Sunesdotter ( sv, Karin Sunadotter or Katarina Sunesdotter), (c. 1215 – 1252) was
Queen of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...
from 1244 to 1250 as the wife of King
Eric XI of Sweden Eric "XI" the Lisp and Lame Swedish: ''Erik Eriksson'' or ''Erik läspe och halte''; Old Norse: ''Eiríkr Eiríksson'' (1216 – 2 February 1250) was king of Sweden in 1222–29 and 1234–50. Being the last ruler of the House of Eric, he stood ...
. In her later years she served as
abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...
of Gudhem Abbey in
Falbygden Falbygden is a geographical area, centered at the town of Falköping in Västergötland, in southwestern Sweden, and covered mostly by farmland. Most of the area belongs to Falköping Municipality and the west part of Tidaholm Municipality. In med ...
.


Heir of the Sverker dynasty

Catherine was the eldest daughter of
Helena Sverkersdotter Helen of Sweden ( 1190 – 1247, Swedish: ''Helena'') was a Swedish princess and daughter of King Sverker II of Sweden. She was the mother of Queen Catherine of Sweden. She was later Abbess of Vreta Abbey. Biography Helen was born in Denmar ...
and Sune Folkason. Catherine did not have any brothers, but a sister, Benedikte Sunesdotter of Bjelbo. Catherine's maternal grandparents were King Sverker II and Queen
Benedicta Benedicta may refer to: * Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate (1652–1730), a German princess * Benedicta Ajudua (born 1980), Nigerian sprinter * Benedicta Arts Center, a performing arts center * Caterina Benedicta Grazianini (1685–1715), ...
. Descending from the families of Bjelbo and Sverker, she was a member of one of the
Geatish The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...
clans. Catherine's father Sune Folkason was Lord of Ymseborg,
lawspeaker A lawspeaker or lawman ( Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic: , Faroese: '' løgmaður'', Finnish: ''laamanni'', kl, inatsitinuk) is a unique Scandina ...
of
Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...
, and in some literature he is referred to as Earl of the Swedish.


Queen of Sweden

Eric XI Eric "XI" the Lisp and Lame Swedish: ''Erik Eriksson'' or ''Erik läspe och halte''; Old Norse: ''Eiríkr Eiríksson'' (1216 – 2 February 1250) was king of Sweden in 1222–29 and 1234–50. Being the last ruler of the House of Eric, he stoo ...
(1215–50) of the Eric dynasty became king in 1222 and was exiled by co-king
Canute II of Sweden Canute II the Tall ( sv, Knut Långe; Knut Holmgersson), was King of Sweden from 1229 until his death in 1234. He was the father of Holmger Knutsson, a later pretender for the Swedish throne. Both father and son were members of the House of Folk ...
from 1229 to 1234. Eric returned to Sweden on Canute's death in 1234 and served as king until his own death in 1250. Young Eric was, according to semi-legendary material, physically lame and spoke with a stutter ("läspe och halte"), and he was reportedly of a kindly nature. Eric and Catherine were married in order to strengthen Eric's claim to the throne, as Catherine was of royal blood on her mother's side. The marriage took place in 1243 or 1244, at Fyrisängen near
Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...
. Catherine had received an immense
dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...
upon the marriage: some legends speak romantically about "half the kingdom". Since she immediately devoted herself to a sequestered religious life and not to family at Eric's death, the conclusion has tended to be that they did not have any surviving children. His younger half-brother
Valdemar Birgersson Valdemar ( English: Waldemar; sv, Valdemar Birgersson; 1239 – 26 December 1302) was King of Sweden from 1250 to 1275. Biography Valdemar was the son of the Swedish princess Ingeborg Eriksdotter and Birger Jarl, from the House of Bjelbo ...
was chosen as the next
King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...
.


Queen dowager and abbess

Upon the death of her husband, the now Queen Dowager retreated to Gudhem Abbey. Because Scandinavian customary law dictated that no clan property could be held by a member of a religious order, she transferred some lands, including her queenly dower, to certain relatives and gave others as donations to ecclesiastical institutions. For example, her sister Benedikta received as a gift from her the town of
Söderköping Söderköping is a locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''town''. ...
. The Queen Dowager soon became the Abbess of Gudhem Abbey, and served in that position until her death in 1252.


References


Further reading

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine Ymseborg 1215 births 1252 deaths Catherine 1234 13th-century Swedish nuns Swedish Roman Catholic abbesses Christians of the Second Swedish Crusade House of Bjelbo House of Eric