:''This is about the medieval title; for the migration-era Goths, see
King of the Visigoths
The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states ...
,
King of the Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
.''
The title of King of the Goths ( sv, Götes konung, da, Goternes konge, la, gothorum rex) was for many centuries borne by both the
kings of Sweden
This is a list of Swedish kings, queens, regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union.
History
The earliest record of what is generally considered to be a Swedish king appears in Tacitus' work '' Germania'', c. 100 AD (the king of the Suiones). Ho ...
and the
kings of Denmark
This is a list of Danish monarchs, that is, the kings and queens regnant of Denmark. This includes:
* The Kingdom of Denmark (up to 1397)
** Personal union of Denmark and Norway (1380–1397)
* The Kalmar Union (1397–1536)
** Union of Denmark ...
.
In the Swedish case, the reference is to
Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wit ...
(land of the Geats), in the Danish case, to the island of Gotland (land of the
Gutes
The Gutes (old west norse ''Gotar'', old gutnish ''Gutar'') were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the island of Gotland. The ethnonym is related to that of the ''Goths'' (''Gutans''), and both names were originally Proto-Germanic *''Gutaniz'' ...
).
Gotland has traditionally been interpreted as the original home of the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
.
Migration period
Jordanes' ''Getica'' has a number of legendary kings of the Goths predating the 4th century:
Berig
Berig is a legendary king of the Goths appearing in the ''Getica'' by Jordanes. According to Jordanes, Berig led his people on three ships from Scandza (Scandinavia) to Gothiscandza (the Vistula Basin). They settled and then attacked the Rugians wh ...
(the leader of the original Goths during their migration from
Scandza
Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia.
Jor ...
to
Oium
Oium was a name for Scythia, or a fertile part of it, roughly in modern Ukraine, where the Goths, under a legendary King Filimer, settled after leaving Gothiscandza, according to the ''Getica'' by Jordanes, written around 551.
It is generall ...
Cniva
Cniva ( mid-3rd century AD) was a Gothic king who invaded the Roman Empire. He successfully captured the city of Philippopolis (Plovdiv in Bulgaria) in 250 and killed Emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus at the Battle of Abritus as he ...
is recorded for the
Battle of Abritus
The Battle of Abritus, also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii, occurred near Abritus (modern Razgrad) in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian t ...
of 250.
Attila the Hun styled himself "Attila, Descendant of the Great
Nimrod
Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...
. Nurtured in Engaddi. By the grace of God, King of the
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
Medes
The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
. The Dread of the World".
Swedish title
A papal letter from about 1100 is directed to two Swedish kings—
Inge the Elder
Inge the Elder ( Swedish: ''Inge Stenkilsson''; Old Norse: ''Ingi Steinkelsson''; died c. 1105–1110) was a king of Sweden. In English literature he has also been called ''Ingold''. While scant sources do not allow us to paint a full picture of h ...
and
Halsten
Halsten Stenkilsson, English exonym: Alstan (Old Icelandic: ''Hallstein''Håkan Röde (only the initials are given)—as Kings of the Visigoths, which has been interpreted as meaning that they only ruled over Westrogothia, and had lost control over the rest of the country.
In a papal letter dated 5 September 1164, King
Charles VII of Sweden
Charles VII or Carl ( Swedish: ''Karl Sverkersson''; c. 1130 – 12 April 1167) was ruler of Götaland, and then King of Sweden from c. 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated in a military attack by Knut Eriksson who succeeded him as Canute I.
He ...
(Karl Sverkersson) (c 1130–67; reigned 1161–1167) was addressed as ''rex Sweorum et Gothorum''.
The first Swedish king to regularly use the title was King
Magnus III of Sweden
Magnus III ( 1240 – 18 December 1290), also called Magnus Ladulås, was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290.
Name
He was the ''first Magnus'' to rule Sweden for any length of time, not generally regarded as a usurper or ...
, particularly after he had in c 1278 had his final win over his deposed brother Valdemar who had hitherto held lands of
Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
. First ''Sveriges och Götes Konung'' up to later decades of Gustaf I of Sweden, then ''Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung'', was used in official documentation. Between 1814 and 1905 ''Sveriges, Norges, Götes och Vendes Konung'' was used, adding
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 the ...
. ''Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung'' was used again from 1905 up to the accession of
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973.
He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, D ...
in 1973, who was the first monarch officially proclaimed ''Sveriges Konung'' ("King of Sweden") and nothing else.
Danish title
The first Danish king to use the title was Valdemar IV (reigned 1340 to 1375), who adopted it in 1362Svane, Erling: Det danske Rigsvåben og Kongevåben, Odense University Press, 1994, p. 172 after conquering Gotland the previous year. The Danish kings continued to use the title over the next six hundred years until 1972, when Queen
Margrethe II
Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent fema ...
succeeded. She abandoned the use of all her predecessors' titles except her title as 'Denmark's Queen', which is the royal style today.
First documented 1449, the arms of the Danish monarchs contained until 1972 a subcoat representing the title ''King of the Goths'': on gold, a blue heraldic leopard above nine red heraldic hearts. Originally derived from the arms of the dukes of Halland which again was derived from the Danish arms. This symbol is consequently unrelated to Gotland's arms featuring the
Agnus Dei
is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
, although the latter symbol was also formerly represented in the arms of Denmark.