Charles VII or Carl (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Karl Sverkersson''; c. 1130 – 12 April 1167) was ruler of

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 ...

, and then

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

from c. 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated in a military attack by

Knut Eriksson 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 granddaugh ...

who succeeded him as Canute I. He is the first historically known king of Sweden by the name of Charles, but use of the ordinal VII is widespread.

Pretender to the throne

Charles was the son of Sverker I, who was assassinated in December 1156. A pretender from another family, Eric IX (whom later generations dubbed

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and saint), ruled over parts of Sweden in the following years. However, Charles was chosen king by the people of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

in c. 1158, apparently in opposition to Eric. A letter from pope

Hadrianus IV Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

(d. 1159) knows him as ruler of ''regnum Gothorum'' although Eric is known to have held power in

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 ...

. It is claimed in a late medieval chronicle that Eric's murder by minions of their rival Magnus Henriksson in 1160 was also backed by Charles. Magnus Henriksson had a brief reign after killing Eric, but was himself killed by Charles in 1161 in a battle in

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers in ...

. After the fall of Magnus, Charles received general recognition in Sweden as king. In fact he is the first Swedish ruler to be expressly titled ''rex Sweorum et Gothorum'' (King of the

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

and

Götar The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...

) in a papal letter from 1164.

Reign

The brief reign of Charles is important from a number of aspects. The early medieval Swedish kingdom resembled a network of shifting aristocratic alliances rather than a state, but during the second half of the 12th century it slowly began to converge with the Catholic-European state model. It was during his time that the

Archbishop of Uppsala The Archbishop of Uppsala (spelled Upsala until the early 20th century) has been the primate (bishop), primate of Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward un ...

was established, although Sweden was still ecclesiastically subordinated to the Danish archbishop in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. After a request by the king, his jarl Ulf, and the Swedish bishops, the pope appointed Stefan, a former monk in

Alvastra Abbey Alvastra Abbey (''Alvastra klosterruin'') was a Cistercian monastery located at Alvastra in Östergötland, Sweden. History Alvastra monastery was founded in 1143 by French monks who belonged to the Cistercian Order. A number of monks and lay br ...

, as the first archbishop. Shortly afterwards, the people of

Värend Värend was in the Middle Ages the most populous of the constituent "small lands" of the province Småland, in Sweden. Early on, Växjö became its center. Around 1170, Värend broke out of the diocese of Linköping, and formed its own diocese of ...

at the border to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

offered money to the king if he supported the installation of a particular bishop in

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

. Charles is also known to have donated land and privileges to

Vreta Abbey Vreta Abbey ( sv, Vreta kloster), in operation from the beginning of the 12th century to 1582, was the first nunnery in Sweden, initially Benedictine and later Cistercian, and one of the oldest in Scandinavia. It was located in the present-day m ...

and

Nydala Abbey Nydala Abbey ( sv, Nydala kloster) was a Cistercian monastery in the province of Småland, Sweden, near the lake Rusken. Although the abbey ceased to operate in the 16th century, its church was renovated and converted into a Protestant church durin ...

. The donations suggest that his main interests lay in the provinces of Östergötland and

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

, while the provinces around Lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from e ...

may have been supervised by Ulf Jarl. The first known non-epigraphic document was issued in his time, which also contains the earliest known royal seal. Swedish relations with the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

lands had been quite good up to the early 12th century. However, this changed into a state of intermittent hostility during the 12th century. The chronicles of

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

relate a sea-borne Swedish invasion in 1164. The invading forces attacked Ladoga, which however received Novgorodian relief forces after five days. The Swedes were thoroughly beaten outside Ladoga on 28 May and lost 43 out of 55 boats. The remnants withdrew.

Assassination

In the spring of 1167, King Charles was killed on the island of

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 . Accor ...

by supporters of

, head of the rival Eric dynasty. "But his son Sverker was carried to Denmark in the lap, and his journey was miserable." Knut usurped the throne. Charles was buried in Alvastra monastery. Like the other kings of 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 war ...

, he is lauded by the short chronicle in the Law of Västergötland: "He owed his dignity to his good father. He ruled Sweden with wisdom and goodness."Larsson, ''Götarnas riken'', p. 85. Starting from Charles' death, his kinsmen (half-brothers or possibly nephews) '' Burislev'' and '' Kol'' together opposed Canute's kingship and were rival kings, recognized in some

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

parts of Sweden; but the last of them was killed in about 1172–1173, after which Canute's government got recognized overall.

Family

Charles' wife was Christina Hvide, a Danish lady, daughter of '' Stig Hvitaleder'', a Seelander magnate, and his wife who was sister of

Valdemar I of Denmark Valdemar I (14 January 1131 – 12 May 1182), also known as Valdemar the Great ( da, Valdemar den Store), was King of Denmark from 1154 until his death in 1182. The reign of King Valdemar I saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its medieval zen ...

. Their sole historically attested child was Sverker Karlsson, a young boy when Charles died, and who later was elected 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 # ...

(1195–1208/10) after the death of Charles's rival king Canute I.Lindström, p. 267

References

Citations

Sources

* Gillingstam, Hans, "Karl Sverkersson",
Svenskt biografiskt lexikon
' * Larsson, Mats G., ''Götarnas riken; Upptäcktsfärder till Sveriges enande''. Stockholm: Atlantis, 2002. * * Sawyer, Peter, ''När Sverige blev Sverige''. Alingsås: Viktoria Bokförlag, 1991. * Sundberg, Ulf, ''Medeltidens svenska krig''. Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg, 1999.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 07 of Sweden 1130s births 1167 deaths Year of birth uncertain 12th-century Swedish monarchs Rulers of Finland 12th-century murdered monarchs Assassinated Swedish people Kings of the Geats 12th-century Swedish people Swedish jarls Sons of kings