Eriksgata (i.e. "Erik's Road") is the tour traditionally taken in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

by a newly-elected Swedish king through the important provinces of the realm to have his election confirmed by the local assemblies. The actual election took place at the

Stone of Mora The Stones of Mora () is a historic location in Knivsta, Sweden. Several Medieval kings of Sweden were proclaimed at the assembly of Mora near modern Uppsala. It was moved in the 15th century and was considered to have been lost. However, ther ...

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

and participation was originally restricted to the people in Uppland or

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...

, hence the need for having the election confirmed by the other regions. The Eriksgata gradually lost its influence when representatives from almost all parts of Sweden participated in the election at the stone of Mora from the 14th century. After 1544 the Swedish king was no longer elected and instead inherited his throne. This meant that the Eriksgata thereafter had only symbolic importance. The last king to travel the Eriksgata according to the old law was Charles IX (1604-1611). Later kings have made visits to Swedish provinces and called them an "Eriksgata", but those visits have no resemblance to the old medieval tradition. The earliest reference of an Eriksgata is probably from

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

who c. 1200 wrote about the struggle for the Swedish crown in the 1120s in his

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

. But the tradition is probably much older than that. The Eriksgata journey was not without risks since there is at least one example of a king being killed during his Eriksgata. This is the incident from the 1120s recorded by Saxo Grammaticus and also in an appendix to the Västgöta law. According to these sources, the newly elected king Ragnvald Knaphövde carelessly decided not to take along the customary hostages from prominent local families while travelling through

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 ...

, even though a rival candidate for the throne had gained support in the province. According to

Västgötalagen ( or ) or the Westrogothic law is the oldest Swedish text written in Latin script and the oldest of all Swedish provincial laws.The Scanian law is older, but Scania was not incorporated into Sweden until late 17th century, and it is thus count ...

Ragnvald's decision was taken as an insult to the people of Västergötland, since it showed that he did not fear them, and they killed him in Karlepitt (an unknown location in Västergötland).

External links

Kulturarv Östergötland "Heritage Östergötland"
Swedish monarchy {{Sweden-hist-stub