Eric XII (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Erik Magnusson''; 1339 – 21 June 1359) was King of Sweden and lord of Scania in 1344–1359. He was a co-ruler with his father, King Magnus IV, from 1356 until his death in 1359. Referring to Erik Magnusson as King Eric XII is a later invention, counting backwards from

Eric XIV Eric XIV ( sv, Erik XIV; 13 December 153326 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Es ...

(1560–68). He and his brother Charles IX (1604–1611) adopted numerals according to a fictitious history of Sweden. The number of Swedish monarchs named Eric before Eric XIV (at least seven) is unknown, going back into

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. It would be speculative to try to affix a mathematically accurate one to this king.

Biography

Erik was the son of King Magnus Eriksson (1316–1374) and the grandson of

Eric, Duke of Södermanland Eric Magnusson (c. 1282 – 1318) was a Swedish prince, Duke of Svealand, Södermanland, Dalsland, Västergötland, Värmland and North Halland and heir to the throne of Sweden. His son, Magnus, became king of Norway and Sweden. Background E ...

(c. 1282–1318). In 1343 Eric and his brother, Haakon, were elected heirs to the thrones of Sweden and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, respectively. He was married to

Beatrix of Bavaria Beatrice of Bavaria (1344 – 25 December 1359); Swedish: ''Beatrix''; was Queen of Sweden as the consort of King Eric XII of Sweden (1339–1359) who co-ruled Sweden with his father King Magnus IV. Biography Beatrice was the daughter of the L ...

(1344-1359), daughter of

Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. Louis' election as king of Germany in ...

. Håkon received the Norwegian throne in 1355 and this led to the prior union between those countries being dissolved. In 1357 a Swedish rebellion forced King Magnus to share the rule of Sweden with his son Erik, who was allowed domain over most of Scania and Finland. Joint rule of Sweden was established again in 1359 when father and son became reconciled and co-ruled Sweden until Eric's death a few months later. Quite soon after his death his wife, Beatrix, died as well. It is generally believed that they both died of the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eric 12 of Sweden 1339 births 1359 deaths 14th-century Swedish monarchs Rulers of Finland 14th-century deaths from plague (disease) Sons of kings