Johan Sverkersson ( – 10 March 1222), also known as John I, was

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

from 1216 until his death in 1222. He was the last king from the

House of Sverker The House of Sverker were a powerful political force in medieval Sweden, contesting for royal power. Their origins were in Östergötland. After the extinction of the House of Stenkil and the ascension of Sverker I of Sweden in 1130, a civil wa ...

, leaving no heirs. During his reign, an expedition was launched from Sweden against the

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

, with disastrous results.

Background

Johan was the son of King

Sverker II of Sweden Sverker the Younger (before 1167 – 17 July 1210), also known as Sverker II or Sverker Karlsson, was King of Sweden from 1195 or 1196 to 1208 when he was defeated in the Battle of Lena by Erik Knutsson. Sverker died in the 1210 Battle of Gest ...

of the

and Queen 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 the Swedish jarls, 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 medieval texts, he is either cal ...

died. King Sverker appointed his son as nominal

jarl Jarl was a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. The institution evolved over time and varied by region. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", specifically one appointed to rule a territory in a king's stea ...

in order to strengthen his own ruling powers and secure the increasingly important jarl institution. This enraged the rival House of Erik as well as some of Birger Brosa's offspring, and Johan was contemptuously known as the "breech-less jarl". Johan 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 :sv:Kungslena, Kungslena, in the Tidaholm Municipality in Västergötland, Sweden. It was an important battle between the Danish-backed King Sverker II of Sweden and Prin ...

in 1208 and exiled to Denmark, while his rival

Erik Knutsson Erik Knutsson (; – 10 April 1216), sometimes known as Eric X, was King of Sweden between 1208 and 1216. Also known as ''Erik the Survivor'' (), he was, at his accession to the throne, the only remaining son of King Knut Eriksson and his queen ...

, from the House of Erik, became King of Sweden. Sverker II tried to recapture the throne, but was killed in the

Battle of Gestilren The Battle of Gestilren took place on July 17, 1210. The battle was fought between the exiled King of Sweden Sverker and the ruling King Eric X. Sverker had been beaten in the previous Battle of Lena, but returned with new forces. Sverker was ho ...

in 1210.

Reign

When King

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

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The Danish King Valdemar Sejr also opposed the choice, since the posthumous son of Erik Knutsson 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 Johan 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 the ...

, Bishop Bengt of

Skara Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. O ...

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 of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cac ...

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

. The last-mentioned was termed

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

; 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 in 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.

Expedition to Estonia

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

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

. The background to this is the activities of the German

Order of the Sword Brothers The Livonian Brothers of the Sword (; ) was a Catholic military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theoderich von Treydend). Pope Innocent III sanctioned the establishment ...

and the Danish King Valdemar Sejr in the still pagan

Baltic region The Baltic Sea Region, alternatively the Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states, refers to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Un ...

. The Swedish aristocracy wished to share the spoils, and an expedition was equipped. King Johan himself, his cousin, Jarl

Karl Döve Karl the Deaf (; died 1220) of the House of Bjälbo (''Folkungaätten'') was the jarl of Sweden from 1216 to 1220. Biography His father was magnate Bengt Snivil. He was the brother of Magnus Minnesköld and jarl Birger Brosa and father of jarl ...

(the brother of

), and his chancellor, Bishop Karl Magnusson led the fleet to Rotalia in Estonia in 1220. The enterprise was initially successful and King Johan established a base in Leal (

Lihula Lihula is a town in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia. Lihula Castle Lihula Castle () was first mentioned in 1211, but it appears the site was used as a fortress since the Iron Age. In 1220, a Swedish army started constructing a ca ...

). 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 and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

assaulted the Swedish base in the

Battle of Lihula The Battle of Lihula or Battle of Leal was fought between invading Sweden, Swedes and Estonians for the control of a castle in Lihula, Estonia in 1220. The exact date remains uncertain, though some historians suggest that the battle took place ...

on 8 August 1220. Bishop Karl and Jarl Karl Döve fell together with almost all the Swedish defenders. 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 ''

Livonian Chronicle of Henry The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' () is a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's Estonia and Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was written by a priest named Henry. Apart from some references ...

'' and the ''

Livonian Rhymed Chronicle The ''Livonian Rhymed Chronicle'' () is a chronicle written in Middle High German by an anonymous author. It covers the period 1180 to 1343 and contains a wealth of detail about Livonia (present-day south Estonia and Latvia). The Old Chronicle ...

''.

Death and succession

King Johan 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 . A ...

. All of Sweden deeply mourned his death, that he was not allowed a longer life. And he rests in Alvastra, and God may preserve his soul in eternity". In the same year 1222, the rival dynasty's young heir

Erik Eriksson Erik Eriksson (; 1216 – 2 February 1250), sometimes known as Erik XI or with the epithet the Lisp and Lame (), was King of Sweden from 1222 to 1229 and again from 1234 to 1250. Being the last ruler of the House of Erik, he stood in the shado ...

ascended the throne at the age of 6.''Johan 1. (I) Sverkersson'' (Nordisk familjebok)
/ref>

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

* {{authority control 1200s births 1222 deaths 13th-century Swedish monarchs Christians of the Livonian Crusade Swedish jarls Sons of kings Roman Catholic monarchs