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

and Norway, respectively. He was married in 1356 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 14th-century deaths from plague (disease) Sons of kings