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Sweden has for political and dynastic reasons been in union with other kingdoms and princely states, ostensibly personal unions.
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Sweden has for political and dynastic reasons been in union with other kingdoms and princely states, ostensibly personal unions.
In 1319 the infant Magnus Eriksson was crowned as king of both Sweden and Norway (which included Iceland and Greenland). In 1332 when the King of Denmark Christopher II died as a "king without a country" after he had pawned Denmark piece by piece, King Magnus took advantage of his neighbour's distress, redeeming the pawn for the eastern Danish provinces for a huge amount of silver. Magnus Eriksson would later on buy Skåneland from Denmark twice first time in 1332 and second time in 1341.The union of these two countries lasted until 1343 when Magnus preemptively let his son Haakon, succeed him to the Norwegian throne, though he would still rule as regent during his son's minority, which ended in 1355, when Haakon came of age. In 1360 the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag reconquered Skåneland.
In 1384 Albrekt of Mecklenburg (ca 1338-1412) was king of Sweden 1363-1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1384-1412. Briefly forming a personal union in 1384 to 1389.
In 1397 the three Scandinavian kingdoms of Sweden, Norway and Denmark were united in the Kalmar Union, a personal union agreed upon in the Swedish city of Kalmar. After only a few decades the relationship between Sweden and the leading power Denmark had deteriorated into open conflict. The period until the dissolution in 1521 was marked by the constant strife between Sweden and Denmark. The union was sometimes made defunct by Sweden electing a monarch separate from the union king, and on one occasion Sweden and Norway were even de facto united in a personal union in opposition to the union monarch.
In 1592 Sigismund succeeded his father John III of Sweden to the Swedish throne, but after the Polish election in 1587 and confirmation of GDL Natural and legal rights in 1588 he had also been elected king of Poland–Lithuania making him the monarch of both nations. Sigismund, who was a Roman Catholic failed however to gain support in Lutheran Sweden, and was eventually deposed and succeeded by his uncle Charles IX in Sweden 1599.
In 1654, Christina abdicated and was succeeded by her cousin Charles X, Duke of Palatine Zweibrücken. Sweden and Zweibrücken were also united under Charles XI and Charles XII, until the death of the latter in 1718, at which point he was succeeded by his sister Ulrike Eleonora on the Swedish throne, but not in his German Duchy.
In 1655, Lithuania and Sweden signed the Treaty and Union of Kėdainiai. This personal union de facto established Lithuania as Sweden's protectorate with Charles X Gustav serving as its Grand Duke of Lithuania. Following Sweden's defeat in the Second Northern War, the protectorate was terminated in 1657.
Frederick I of Sweden had acceded to the Swedish throne when his wife, Ulrike Eleonora, abdicated in his favour in 1721. In 1730 he was also in line of succession to the duchy of Hesse-Kassel, which resulted in a personal union that lasted until his death in 1751.
By the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 the king of Denmark-Norway ceded Norway to the king of Sweden, an event which likely would have resulted in a full political union between Sweden and Norway. The treaty however never came into force, as Norway adopted a constitution and declared independence. Sweden, which would not accept this outcome, went to war and forced Norway into accepting a personal union with Sweden. The two kingdoms had full inner autonomy and separate institutions, sharing only the monarch and the foreign policy, which was conducted by the Swedish foreign office. The new Bernadotte dynasty could just as well be termed Norwegian until the dissolution of the union in 1905.
In 1995 Sweden joined the European Union after holding a referendum on the matter. The European Union at present constitutes 27 European states. The organisation is a political union where each state is technically allowed to conduct their own foreign policy (though a loose joint policy is in place).
| Year | Unions | Lasted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Sweden | – | Antiquity |
| 1319 | Norway | 36 years | |
| 1355 | – | 29 years | |
| 1384 | Mecklenburg-Schwerin | 5 years | |
| 1389 | – | 8 years | |
| 1397 | Denmark and Norway | 124 years | |
| 1521 | – | 71 years | |
| 1592 | Poland–Lithuania | 7 years | |
| 1599 | – | 55 years | |
| 1654 | Palatine Zweibrücken | 64 years | |
| 1718 | – | 12 years | |
| 1730 | Hesse-Kassel | 21 years | |
| 1751 | – | 63 years | |
| 1814 | Norway | 91 years | |
| 1905 | – | 90 years | |
| 1995 | European Union | 29 years | |
The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by widowed Queen Margaret of Norway and Sweden. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, together with Norway's overseas colonies.
Margaret I was Queen regnant of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian kingdoms together for over a century. She had been queen consort of Norway from 1363 to 1380 and of Sweden from 1363 to 1364 by marriage to Haakon VI. Margaret was known as a wise, energetic and capable leader, who governed with "farsighted tact and caution," earning the nickname "Semiramis of the North". Also famous derisively as "King Breechless", one of several derogatory nicknames once thought to have been invented by her rival King Albert of Sweden, she was also known by her subjects as "Lady King", which became widely used in recognition of her capabilities. Knut Gjerset calls her "the first great ruling queen in European history."
Eric, often known as Eric of Pomerania, ruled over the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439. He was initially co-ruler with his great-aunt Margaret I until her death in 1412. Eric is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1396–1439) and has been called Eric XIII as King of Sweden. Eric was ultimately deposed from all three kingdoms of the union, but in 1449 he inherited one of the partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania and ruled it as duke until his death in 1459. Eric of Pomerania was a pejorative intended to point out that he did not belong in Scandinavia.
The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden, by law a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. There have been kings in what now is the Kingdom of Sweden for more than a millennium. Originally an elective monarchy, it became a hereditary monarchy in the 16th century during the reign of Gustav Vasa, though virtually all monarchs before that belonged to a limited and small number of political families which are considered to be the royal dynasties of Sweden.
The House of Vasa or Wasa was an early modern royal house founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its members ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668; its agnatic line became extinct with the death of King John II Casimir of Poland in 1672.
Albert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.
Magnus IV was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By adversaries he has been called Magnus Smek.
Haakon VI, also known as Håkan Magnusson, was King of Norway from 1343 until his death and King of Sweden between 1362 and 1364. He is sometimes known as Haakon Magnusson the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather, Haakon V.
The early Vasa era is a period that in Swedish and Finnish history lasted between 1523–1611. It began with the reconquest of Stockholm by Gustav Vasa and his men from the Danes in 1523, which was triggered by the event known as the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1520, and then was followed up by Sweden's secession from the Kalmar Union, and continued with the reign of Gustav's sons Eric XIV, John III, John's son Sigismund, and finally Gustav's youngest son Charles IX. The era was followed by a period commonly referred to as the Swedish Empire, or Stormaktstiden in Swedish, which means "Era Of Great Power".
A personal union is a combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent interlinked, such as by sharing some limited governmental institutions. Unlike a personal union, in a federation or a unitary state, a central (federal) government spanning all member states exists, with the degree of self-governance distinguishing the two. The ruler in a personal union does not need to be a hereditary monarch.
The Kingdom of Norway as a unified realm dates to the reign of King Harald I Fairhair in the 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway resulted in the first known Norwegian central government. The country, however, soon fragmented and was collected into one entity in the first half of the 11th century, and Norway has retained a monarchy since that time. Traditionally, it has been viewed as being ruled by the Fairhair dynasty, though modern scholars question whether the eleventh century kings and their successors were truly descendants of Harald.
Euphemia of Sweden was a Swedish princess. She was Duchess consort of Mecklenburg, heiress of Sweden and of Norway, and mother of King Albert of Sweden. (c. 1338-1412) .
Catherine of Sweden was a Swedish princess and a Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken as the consort of her second cousin John Casimir of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. She is known as the periodical foster-mother of Queen Christina of Sweden and the mother of Charles X of Sweden.
The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms which were united to form Norway; it has been in unions with both Sweden and Denmark for long periods.
Visborg (Wisborg) refers to a fortress in the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland. Successive fortresses were built in Visby, though Visborg is usually in reference to the castle built here by King Eric of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
A referendum on retaining the monarchy or becoming a republic was held in Norway on 12 and 13 November 1905. Voters were asked whether they approved of the Storting's decision to authorise the government to make the offer of the throne of the newly self-ruling country. The Storting had wanted to offer the throne to Prince Carl of Denmark, but the prince insisted that the Norwegian people have a chance to decide whether they wanted to retain a monarchy.
The House of Estridsen was a dynasty that provided the kings of Denmark from 1047 to 1412. The dynasty is named after its ancestor Estrid Svendsdatter. The dynasty is sometimes called the Ulfinger, after Estrid's husband, Ulf Jarl. The dynasty also provided three medieval rulers of Sweden and one of Norway. Their family coat of arms became the coat of arms of Denmark and therefore influenced the coat of arms of Tallinn and the coat of arms of Estonia.
The First Swedish–Norwegian union, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden and Norway together with Norway's overseas colonies .The union was founded by King Magnus IV of Sweden in 1319 and dissolved in 1355, briefly re-uniting in 1362 until 1365.