Knut Birgersson (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Knútr jarl Birgisson'', died 1208) was Riksjarl of Sweden. He was the eldest surviving son of Riksjarl

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 ...

and a member of the powerful

House of Bjälbo The House of Bjelbo ( sv, Bjälboätten), also known as the House of Folkung (''Folkungaätten''), was an Östergötland, Ostrogothian Swedish family that provided several medieval Swedish bishops, Jarl in Sweden, jarls and Monarchs of Sweden, k ...

also known as the House of Folkung (''Folkungaätten'').

Biography

Knut Birgersson was apparently elevated to the office of Riksjarl during the last years of the reign 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 # ...

. This was despite the fact that Sverker had named his infant son

Johan Sverkersson John I ( sv, Johan Sverkersson; c. 1201 – 10 March 1222) was the king of Sweden from 1216 until his death. Background John was the son of King Sverker II of Sweden of the House of Sverker and Queen Ingegerd of the Bjälbo dynasty. When he was o ...

(c. 1201– 1222) as riksjarl following the death of Jarl Birger Brosa. Johan Sverkersson was the nephew of Knut Birgersson, being born of his sister Ingegärd Birgersdotter. According to one source, Jarl Knut was married to daughter of King

Canute I of Sweden Canute I ( Swedish: ''Knut Eriksson'', Old Norse: ''Knútr Eiríksson''; born before 1150 – died 1195/96) was king of Sweden from 1173 to 1195 (rival king since 1167). He was a son of King Eric the Saint and Queen Christina, who was a granddaug ...

, named Sigrid Knutsdotter. The same source states that Knut's son Magnus Broka of Bjälboätten was born of Sigrid. Knut Birgersson was killed in 1208 at 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 ...

, where King Sverker lost his throne to the new 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 ...

(''Erik Knutsson''), the only remaining son of King Canute.

References

Other sources

* Harrison, Dick (2002) ''Jarlens sekel'' (Ordfront förlag, Stockholm) {{DEFAULTSORT:Birgersson, Knut, Riksjarl Of Sweden 1208 deaths 13th-century Swedish nobility Year of birth unknown Swedish jarls