Duke Erik Birgersson (c. 1250 – 17 December 1275) was a Swedish

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

of the

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 ...

(''Folkungaätten'').

Biography

His father was Birger Magnusson (''

Birger Jarl Birger Jarl, also known as ''Birger Magnusson'' (21 October 1266), was a Swedish statesman, ''jarl'', and a member of the House of Bjelbo, who played a pivotal role in the consolidation of Sweden. Birger also led the Second Swedish Crusade, w ...

''),

Jarl of Sweden In Sweden, ''jarls'' were powerful noblemen. There usually was only one holder of the title at a time, second only to the King of Sweden. For special occasions, regional jarls outside of Sweden could be nominated as well. An example of this is ...

and de facto ruler of

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 ...

from 1250–66. His mother was Ingeborg of Sweden, daughter of King

Eric X of Sweden Eric "X" (Swedish: ''Erik Knutsson''; Old Norse: ''Eiríkr Knútsson''; – 10 April 1216) was the King of Sweden between 1208 and 1216. Also known as ''Eric the Survivor'' (Swedish: "Erik som överlevde"), he was, at his accession to the thro ...

and sister 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 the conflict between his elder brothers, Valdemar and

Magnus 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 wid ...

, he sided with Magnus. When Magnus had won and been proclaimed king in 1275, he made Erik, Duke of Småland. Erik died shortly thereafter and was buried at

Varnhem Abbey Varnhem Abbey ( sv, Varnhems kloster) in Varnhem, Västergötland, Sweden was founded around 1150 by monks of the Cistercian Order from Alvastra Abbey in Östergötland. The Cistercian Order used the same floor plan for all its abbeys, which ma ...

together with his father and his father's second wife. According to the '' Magnúss saga lagabœtis'', Erik called himself "Eirek allz-ekki" because he had no title. Only when Magnus III became king did Erik change his title and call himself "Duke". When Birger Jarl's grave in

was opened and examined in May 2002, osteologist Torbjörn Ahlström from

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Matilda of Holstein Matilda of Holstein or Mechthild (1220 or 1225 – 1288 in Kiel) was a Danish queen consort, married to King Abel of Denmark and later to Birger Jarl, Regent of Sweden. Life Matilda was the daughter of Adolf IV, Count of Holstein, and Heil ...

, and Erik. His father's skeleton shows that he was about 172 cm long, while Erik was a few inches longer but with a much thinner build. His muscular attachments were poorly developed. In the vertebrae and sternum there were some signs of pathological changes.

Ancestry

References

Other Sources

*Rolf Pipping, ''Kommentar till Erikskrönikan'' (Helsingfors 1926).
Erik Birgersson, 1250–1275
Nordic Academic Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Birgersson, Eric Eric 1250 13th-century Swedish nobility 1250 births 1275 deaths House of Bjelbo Burials at Varnhem Abbey