Söderköping
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Söderköping is a
locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...
and the seat of
Söderköping Municipality Söderköping Municipality (''Söderköpings kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Söderköping. The present municipality was created in 1971-1973 when the former ''City of ...
,
Östergötland County Östergötland County ( sv, Östergötlands län) is a county or ''län'' in southeastern Sweden. It has land borders with the counties of Kalmar to the southeast, Jönköping to the southwest, Örebro to the northwest, and Södermanland to the n ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a ''town''.
Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsib ...
, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities. Söderköping is about 15 km southeast of the city of
Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...
.


History

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...
became king of both Sweden and the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
in a
personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
upon his election to the Swedish throne in 1592 amidst much controversy and religious strife. The
protestant reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and Catholic
counter reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
were in full swing and at odds everywhere in Europe in the day. Subsequently, in 1593, he signed an agreement to guarantee religious freedom to the Protestant majority of Sweden and to pacify the Protestant concerns overall by all sects and the religion-generated unrest in the country settled down for a time once the agreement was in place, but it came to rise refreshed and stronger in 1594 because of Sigismund's actions. In 1595 the
Riksdag of the Estates Riksdag of the Estates ( sv, Riksens ständer; informally sv, Ståndsriksdagen) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to t ...
assembled at Söderköping (consequently sometimes known as the ''Riksdag of Söderköping'') and elected Duke
Charles IX of Sweden Charles IX, also Carl ( sv, Karl IX; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric X ...
as regent of Sweden in place of his Catholic nephew Sigismund—though it did not formally depose Sigismund—because he had violated his agreement as king-elect and that of 1593 with the
Uppsala Synod The Uppsala Synod in 1593 was the most important synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Sweden had gone through its Protestant Reformation and broken with Roman Catholicism in the 1520s, but an official confession of faith had never been declared. ...
and had instead championed Catholic
counter reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
measures, appointed Catholics to high offices and established catholic schools during this religiously volatile era—all in violation of his agreement with the Synod in 1593. The renewed controversy came to a head in 1594, resulting in the Riksdag setting aside his authority, and the whole history of Sigismund with his claim on the Swedish throne became a succession of trigger events leading to the subsequent seven decades of dynastic warfare known as the
Polish–Swedish wars The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and ...
. He was formally deposed by the Riksens ständer at Linköping, 24 February 1600, which declared he had abdicated his throne. The same Riksdag approved the execution of eight of Charles IX's opponents in the Swedish nobility as allies of King Sigismund. In the early middle-ages it was the most important port in Sweden at the confluence of the Storån and Lillån rivers trading mainly with Lubeck, principally in salt, textiles, butter and beer. Silting eventually led to its demise as a trading centre. Söderköping stands at the eastern end of the
Göta Canal The Göta Canal ( sv, Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is long, of which were dug or blasted, with a width varying between and a maximum depth of about .Uno Svedin, Britt Hägerhäll Anianss ...
, a 390-km long canal opened in 1832 to connect
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
by inland waterway.


Sights

Two churches built in the early 13th century are located near the city center, St. Lawrence's Church and Drothem Church. Today Söderköping is visited by foreign tourists taking boat tours of the Göta Kanal and is a popular destination for residents of the area. An ice cream shop on the banks of Göta Kanal, Smultronstället, is a well-known attraction. Many adventurers gather in Söderköping as several climbing routes are right in the city centre and the archipelago is just a few miles away. In autumn every year is ''Söderköpings gästabud'' arranged, a medieval festival.


See also

*
Söderköping Process Söderköping Process / Cross-Border Co-operation Process (CBCP) is an initiative launched in 2001 to coordinate the cross-border cooperation issues of asylum, migration, and border management for the countries by the Eastern border of the Europea ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soderkoping Municipal seats of Östergötland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in Östergötland County Populated places in Söderköping Municipality Market towns in Sweden