John I ( sv, Johan Sverkersson; c. 1201 – 10 March 1222) was the

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 o ...

from 1216 until his death.

Background

John was the son of King

Sverker II of Sweden ''Sverker'' is a studio album by Neo-Medieval group Corvus Corax. Track listing # "Intro Gjallarhorni" - 0:58 # "Gjallarhorni" - 2:59 # "Sverker" - 4:31 # "Fiach Dubh" - 6:38 # "Trinkt vom Met" - 0:35 # "The drinking loving dancers" - 5:19 # ...

of the House of Sverker and Queen

Ingegerd Ingegerd (Old Norse ''Ingigerðr, Ingigærðr'') is a Scandinavian feminine given name, from the theonym ''Ing'' combined with the element ''garðr '' "enclosure, protection". The name Inger is a short form. In Finnish the equivalence of Ingegerd ...

of the Bjälbo dynasty. When he was one year old, his maternal grandfather Jarl

Birger Brosa Birger Brosa Old Norse: ''Birgir Brósa'' (died 9 January 1202) was jarl of Sweden from 1174 to 1202. Biography He was a son of Bengt Snivil and a member of the powerful House of Bjälbo. In the medieval texts he is either called the '' jarl o ...

died. King Sverker appointed his son as nominal

jarl Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...

in order to strengthen his own ruling powers and secure the increasingly important jarl institution. This enraged the rival House of Eric as well as some of Birger Brosa's offspring, and John was contemptuously known as the "breech-less jarl". John retained his dignity until his father King Sverker was beaten in the

Battle of Lena The Battle of Lena occurred on 31 January 1208, and probably took place near Kungslena, which is located in the Tidaholm Municipality in Västergötland, Sweden. It was an important battle between the Danish-backed King Sverker II of Sweden and P ...

in 1208, later to be killed in the Battle of Gestilren in 1210. His rival Erik Knutsson, from the House of Eric, became 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 ...

Reign

When King

Eric X 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 ...

died suddenly in fever in 1216, the teen-aged John was hailed king by the Swedish aristocracy against the will of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The Danish King Valdemar Sejr also opposed the choice, since the posthumous son of Eric X was a nephew of his. In Sweden itself the succession did not take place without strife. The Church had a big stake in the appointment, and it is apparent that John had a number of church leaders at his side, including Archbishop

Valerius The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of th ...

, Bishop Bengt of Skara and Bishop

Karl Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

of Linköping. The last-mentioned was termed

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

; this is the first time that the title occurs in Sweden. The young ruler was crowned in 1219 and immediately issued a charter of privileges to the Swedish bishops. The charter confirmed the privileges that his father Sverker II had issued i 1200, but expanded them. The properties of the church were to be free from royal revenue demands, and fines paid by tenants of the Church would go to the bishops. He also granted several royal farms to various clergymen. King John remained on the throne until his death on 10 March 1222. He died unmarried and childless, and left a favourable memory in Swedish historiography: "He was young of years and very gentle. He was king for three winters and died of illness on

Visingsö Visingsö is an island in the southern half of Lake Vättern in Sweden. Visingsö lies north of the city Jönköping and west of Gränna from which two car ferries connect the island. The island is long and wide, with a total area of . Accor ...

. All of Sweden deeply mourned his death, that he was not allowed a longer life. And he rests in

Alvastra Alvastra () is a small village in Ödeshög Municipality in eastern Sweden. It is known for being the seat of the Cistercian Alvastra Abbey in the Middle Ages, established in 1143 by French monks. After the Swedish Lutheran reformation in the 1530 ...

, and God may preserve his soul in eternity". In the same year 1222, the rival dynasty's young heir, Erik Eriksson ascended the throne at the age of 6 to reign as 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 ...

Expedition to Estonia

During the brief reign of King John, a Swedish presence was established in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The background to this is the activities of the German

Order of the Sword Brothers german: Schwertbrüderordenfrench: Ordre des Chevaliers Porte-Glaive , image= , caption= , dates=1204–1237 , country= Terra Mariana , allegiance= Catholic Church , garrison= Wenden (Cēsis), Fellin (Viljandi), Segewold (Sigulda). Aschera ...

and the Danish King Valdemar Sejr in the still pagan

Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...

. The Swedish aristocracy wished to share the spoils, and an expedition was equipped. King John himself, his cousin, Jarl Karl Döve (the brother of

), and his chancellor, Bishop

Karl Magnusson Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

led the fleet to Rotalia in Estonia in 1220. The enterprise was initially successful and King John established a base in Leal ( Lihula). From this stronghold the Swedish soldiers made forays to the countryside, built churches and forced the locals to accept baptism. The king then returned home. However, the expedition ended in disaster. The inhabitants of

Ösel Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...

assaulted the Swedish base in the Battle of Lihula on 8 August 1220. Bishop Karl and Jarl Karl Döve fell together with almost all the Swedish defenders.Tunberg, ''Sveriges historia till våra dagar'', II, p. 73. The devastating defeat left no Swedish presence and discouraged the Swedish expansion to Estonia for more than 300 years. The events were described in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia and the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle.

References

Literature

* Harrison, Dick, ''Jarlens sekel. En berättelse om 1200-talets Sverige''. Stockholm: Ordfront, 2002 (). * Tunberg, Sven, ''Sveriges historia till våra dagar. Andra delen: Äldre medeltiden''. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag, 1926.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:John 01 Of Sweden 1201 births 1222 deaths 13th-century Swedish monarchs Rulers of Finland Christians of the Livonian Crusade Swedish jarls Sons of kings