Timeline of Swedish history

Last updated

This is a timeline of Swedish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Sweden and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Sweden. See also the list of Swedish monarchs and list of prime ministers of Sweden.

Contents

1st century - 5th century

YearDateEvent

6th century - 9th century

YearDateEvent
530Posited date of possibly legendary Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern
ca 551 Getica of Jordanes, history of the Gothic people, written in Constantinople
750-790Trade center Birka, island on Lake Mälaren near present-day Stockholm, established
750sBeginnings of Scandinavian colonisation along Varangian trade routes (Baltic states to Black Sea)
ca 793Approximate beginning of Viking Age
800 Rök runestone carved
829 Ansgar's first mission to introduce Christianity to Sweden
850s Olof I campaigns in Courland (present day western Latvia)

10th century

YearDateEvent
960Settlement at Birka abandoned
980 City of Sigtuna founded
984 Battle of Fyrisvellir near present day Uppsala; Swedish and Geat tribes unite for first time under Eric the Victorious
990 City of Lund founded
995 Olof Skötkonung, first Swedish king of whom there is substantial historical knowledge, succeeds to throne

11th century

YearDateEvent
1000 Gothi (pagan chieftain-priest) Þorgeirr Ljósvetningagoði endorses Christianity
1004 Olof Skötkonung baptized; begins adoption of Christianity as official religion
1020The city of Lund is founded
1036 Ingvar the Far-Travelled leads unsuccessful Viking attack against Persia
1085 City of Helsingborg founded
1087 Temple at Uppsala, the central place of worship within Ancient Norse paganism, destroyed at order of King Inge the Elder.

12th century

YearDateEvent
1100 Vreta Abbey, first Christian convent in Sweden, established
1187Estonians, Curonians or/and Karelians invade and pillage Sigtuna killing archbishop Johannes [1]
City of Nyköping founded

13th century

YearDateEvent
1208 Battle of Lena
ca 1215 Eskil Magnusson, first historically attested lawspeaker of Thing of all Swedes (held in Tiundaland, present day Uppland)
ca 1220 Gutalagen law book (also containing the Gutasaga )
1240 Battle of the Neva
1252 City of Stockholm founded
1280 Ordinance of Alsnö gives birth to the frälse , a class of tax-exempt secular nobility

14th century

YearDateEvent
130629 September Håtuna games: coup against King Birger by his brothers, Eric and Valdemar Magnusson
1310 Peace of Helsingborg settles conflicts between Sweden, Norway and Denmark [2] [3]
131711 December Nyköping Banquet, Christmas celebration, after which King Birger imprisons his two brothers and starves them to death
1319Sweden and Norway first unite
1323 Treaty of Nöteborg establishes peace between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic
1344 Bridgettine Order founded by St. Bridget (Heliga Birgitta)
1350 Black Death arrives in Sweden
1359 Magnus IV summons first Riksdag (parliament of Sweden) [4]
1389February 24 Battle of Åsle; King Albert deposed
1397Sweden, Denmark and Norway unite into the Kalmar Union (1397-1523)
1398 Gotland conquered by Teutonic Knights

15th century

YearDateEvent
1409 Teutonic Order sells Gotland to the Kalmar Union
1434Start of Engelbrekt rebellion against King Erik of Pomerania
1435Assembly of Swedish nobility at Arboga, considered first Riksdag of the Estates
1436 Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson assassinated
1471 Battle of Brunkeberg
1477Foundation of Uppsala University
1495 Russo-Swedish War (1495-1497)

16th century

YearDateEvent
1505First Kalmar Bloodbath
1520 Christina Gyllenstierna defends Stockholm but is defeated by the Danes under Christian II of Denmark; Christian is crowned king of Sweden and orders Stockholm bloodbath
1523 Gustav Vasa liberates Stockholm, reasserting Sweden's independence from Denmark-Norway and initiating monarchical rule of the House of Vasa
1524 Treaty of Malmö signed: Denmark-Norway recognizes independence of Sweden; Sweden in return renounces claims to Scania and Blekinge
1525 First Dalecarlian Rebellion occurs in parallel with attempt by Christina Gyllenstierna and Sören Norby to take Swedish throne
1526First Swedish translation of New Testament published
1529 Westrogothian Rebellion
1531 Third Dalecarlian Rebellion, also known as the Bell Rebellion (Klockupproret) begins; suppressed two years later
1535War with Lübeck leads to expulsion of Hanseatic traders, ending previous Hanseatic League monopoly on foreign trade
1540First full Swedish translation of Bible, the Gustav Vasa Bible, published
1542 Nils Dacke starts peasant uprising in Småland, defeated the following year
1554Border skirmishes between Sweden and Russia lead to outbreak of Russo-Swedish War (1554-1557)
1555 A Description of the Northern Peoples (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus) by Olaus Magnus published
1561 Estonia becomes a Swedish dominion
1567 Sture Murders carried out on the orders of Eric XIV
1577February 26Eric XIV dies in imprisonment
1584 City of Karlstad founded
1592 Poland and Sweden enter into a short-lived personal union following crowning of Sigismund III Vasa as King of Sweden
1598Conflict between Duke Charles, later King Charles IX, and Sigismund, King of Sweden and Poland, leads to outbreak of the War against Sigismund
September 25 Battle of Stångebro
1599 War against Sigismund ends, resulting in deposition of King Sigismund; Sigismund's followers targeted in second Kalmar Bloodbath and the Åbo Bloodbath

17th century

YearDateEvent
1600March 20 Linköping Bloodbath
1610 Ingrian War between Russia and Sweden begins
1611Denmark declares war on Sweden, initiating Kalmar War
1613 Treaty of Knäred ends Kalmar War: Sweden obligated to pay Älvsborg Ransom of one million rixdollars for return of fortress of Älvsborg
1614 City of Kristianstad founded
1617February 27 Treaty of Stolbovo ends Ingrian War: Russia cedes province and fortress of Kexholm, southwestern Karelia and province of Ingria to Sweden, laying foundation for Sweden's rise as a Great Power
1621 City of Gothenburg founded
1628August 10Sinking of the Swedish warship Vasa
1630Sweden enters the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)
1631April 13 Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder
September 7 Battle of Breitenfeld
1632November 6 Battle of Lützen: King Gustav II Adolf killed
1638Colony of New Sweden established along the Delaware River in North America
1648 Thirty Years' War ends, with Sweden among the winners; Peace of Westphalia grants Sweden the provinces of Western Pomerania, Wismar, and the bishoprics of Bremen-Verden
1650Colony of Swedish Gold Coast established on Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana
1654Queen Christina abdicates throne and converts to Roman Catholicism, creating major scandal
1658February 26 Treaty of Roskilde: Denmark-Norway cedes provinces of Blekinge, Bornholm, Bohuslän, Scania, Trøndelag and Halland to Sweden
1663Colony of the Swedish Gold Coast seized by Denmark, and integrated into Danish Gold Coast
1666Foundation of Lund University
1668Foundation of Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank
1674December 24Sweden invades Brandenburg, triggering Swedish-Brandenburg War
1675Denmark invades Scania, triggering Scanian War
1676June 1 Battle of Öland
August 17 Battle of Halmstad
December 4 Battle of Lund
1677June 26 Siege of Malmö
July 14 Battle of Landskrona
1678 Invasion of Rügen
1679August 23 Treaty of Fontainebleau signed, restoring all Danish conquests during the Scanian War to Sweden
1680 City of Karlskrona founded
Great Reduction of 1680 enacted, returning to the Swedish Crown lands that had earlier been granted to the nobility
1697May 7Castle of Tre Kronor burns down, destroying a significant portion of Sweden's national library and royal archives

18th century

YearDateEvent
1700February 22Alliance consisting of Denmark-Norway, Saxony, Poland and Russia declares war on Sweden, initiating Great Northern War
Battle of Narva
1702July 8 Battle of Kliszów
1706February 3 Battle of Fraustadt ends in slaughter of captured prisoners by victorious Swedish army
1706October 13Invasion of Poland by Sweden results in Treaty of Altranstädt forcing King Augustus the Strong to renounce claim to Polish throne and break Treaty of Narva, his alliance with Russia
1708January 1Charles XII crosses Vistula, opening attempted Swedish invasion of Russia
1709June 27 Battle of Poltava: destruction of Charles XII's invading Swedish army by defending Russian forces of Peter the Great marks beginning of Sweden's decline as a great power
1710February 28 Battle of Helsingborg: final failed attempt by Denmark to regain Scania
1713February 1 Skirmish at Bender, battle to remove Charles XII and the remnants of his army from the Ottoman Empire
1718November 30Charles XII killed at Frederikshald
1719 Treaties of Stockholm, requiring Sweden to cede parts of Swedish Pomerania to Prussia and Bremen-Verden to Hanover
1720 Treaty of Frederiksborg, requiring Sweden to cede Schleswig to Denmark-Norway
1721 Treaty of Nystad, requiring Sweden to cede Estonia, Livonia and Ingria to Russia
1731Foundation of Swedish East India Company
1732 Carl Linnaeus departs on his Expedition to Lapland
1732 Civil Code of 1734 establishes unified code of law for Sweden
1735First edition of Linnaeus' Systema Naturae
1737Swedish language Theater of Bollhuset founded
1739June 2Foundation of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
1741August 23 Battle of Villmanstrand
1742 Anders Celsius proposes Celsius temperature scale
1743 Fourth Dalecarlian Rebellion breaks out
1747 Olof von Dalin begins publication of his Swedish history, Svea Rikes Historia
1749 Storskifte Enclosure Act begins long period of major land reform in Sweden
1756Quelling of attempted coup d'état by Queen Louisa Ulrika and a few devoted nobles to reinstate absolute monarchy in Sweden
1757Sweden enters Seven Years' War (1756-1763)
1762May 22 Treaty of Hamburg concludes Sweden's involvement in Seven Years' War
1766Freedom of the Press Act enacted: censorship abolished apart from limitations on vocal opposition to the king and the Church of Sweden
1768 December Crisis (1768) fails to increase royal power
1772 Absolute monarchy reintroduced through the Revolution of 1772
1773Discovery of oxygen by Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Royal Swedish Opera founded
1782Sweden purchases Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy from France
1786March 20Foundation of Swedish Academy
1787First secondary education school in Sweden for girls, Societetsskolan , founded in Gothenburg
1788Sweden declares war against Russia, initiating Russo-Swedish War (1788-90)
1790 Treaty of Värälä concludes Russo-Swedish War, confirming status quo ante bellum with respect to borders
1792March 16King Gustav III assassinated at a masked ball

19th century

YearDateEvent
1807 General Enclosure Act of 1807 intensifies land reform measures
1808Outbreak of Finnish War
1809Conclusion of Finnish War: Sweden cedes Finland to Russia
Deposition of King Gustav IV Adolf in coup of 1809
1810Foundation of Karolinska Institutet
1814Sweden and Norway unite (1814-1905)
1832Completion of Göta Canal, providing route from Gothenburg (west coast) to Söderköping (east coast)
1848Series of riots, the Marsoroligheterna , in Stockholm
1855Construction begins on Sweden's first railway line
1864Daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter established
1867Telecommunications company, Ericsson, founded by Lars Magnus Ericsson
Alfred Nobel invents dynamite
1873Sweden and Denmark form Scandinavian Monetary Union
Swedish krona replaces Swedish riksdaler as national currency
1876Office of prime minister (statsminister) instituted
1878Island of Saint Barthélemy sold back to France
1884Daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet established
Fredrika Bremer Association, Sweden's oldest women's rights organization, founded
1889 Swedish Social Democratic Party founded
1897 Arctic balloon expedition of Salomon August Andrée
1898Formation of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) [5]

20th century

YearDateEvent
1901First Nobel Prizes awarded
1903Foundation of Swedish Employers' Association (SAF) [6]
1904 Moderate Party (Moderaterna) founded
1905 Personal union between Sweden and Norway peacefully dissolved
1906Official spelling reform of Swedish language, simplifying previous forms
1909 Stockholm School of Economics (Handelshögskolan i Stockholm) founded
General Strike of 1909
1919 AB Svensk Filmindustri established
1921June 30Capital punishment abolished for all crimes committed in peacetime
1934 Crisis in the Population Question (Kris i befolkningsfrågan) by Alva and Gunnar Myrdal published and plays major role in design of Sweden's welfare policy
1938 Saltsjöbaden Agreement establishes rules for collective bargaining and trade relations
1943Food packaging company, Tetra Pak, founded by Ruben Rausing
1945January 17 Raoul Wallenberg detained by Soviet authorities in Budapest and subsequently disappears
1947Furniture company, IKEA, founded by Ingvar Kamprad
1954October 29Sweden conducts its first television broadcast
1957 Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet)
1967September 3 Right-hand traffic introduced
1971The Riksdag becomes unicameral
1973 Norrmalmstorg bank robbery and hostage crisis
1974April 6 ABBA song, Waterloo , becomes the group's first global hit
1976January 30Swedish authorities arrest internationally acclaimed film-maker Ingmar Bergman for alleged tax evasion and Bergman suffers nervous breakdown; charges declared unfounded and dropped, 23 March
1986February 28Murder of Prime Minister and Social Democratic leader, Olof Palme
1994 MS Estonia sinks en route from Tallinn to Stockholm; 852 people on board lose their lives
1995Sweden joins in the European Union
1999 Church of Sweden separates from state and becomes independent organization

21st century

YearDateEvent
2000July 1 Øresund Bridge opened, creating road and railway connection between Sweden and mainland Europe
2003 Voters decide not to adopt euro as the country's official currency
2009May 1Same-sex marriage legalized in Sweden
2010 Military conscription paused
2018Military conscription reactivated
2024March 7Sweden joins in NATO

See also

Cities in Sweden

Related Research Articles

This is a timeline of Polish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Poland and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Poland. See also the list of Polish monarchs and list of prime ministers of Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingvar Carlsson</span> Prime Minister of Sweden (1986–1991; 1994–1996)

Gösta Ingvar Carlsson is a Swedish politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Sweden, first from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1996. He was leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1986 to 1996. He is best known for leading Sweden into the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Chinese history</span>

This is a timeline of Chinese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in China and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of China. See also the list of Chinese monarchs, Chinese emperors family tree, dynasties of China and years in China.

This is a timeline of French history, comprising important legal changes and political events in France and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of France. See also the list of Frankish kings, French monarchs, and presidents of France.

This is a timeline of German history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Germany and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Germany. See also the list of German monarchs and list of chancellors of Germany and the list of years in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maud Olofsson</span> Swedish politician

Maud Elisabeth Olofsson is a former Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 2001 to 2011, Minister for Enterprise and Energy from 2006 to 2011 and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2010. She was a member of the Riksdag from 2002 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Russian history</span> Timeline of notable events in the history of Russia and its predecessor states

This is a timeline of Russian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Russia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Russia. See also the list of leaders of Russia.

This is a timeline of Japanese history, comprising important legal, territorial and cultural changes and political events in Japan and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Japan.

This is a timeline of Estonian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Estonia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Estonia. See also the list of rulers of Estonia.

This is a timeline of Syrian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Syria and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Syria.

This is a timeline of Swiss history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Switzerland and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1884 in Sweden</span> Sweden-related events during the year of 1884

Events from the year 1884 in Sweden

<i>Stockholms-Tidningen</i> Swedish daily newspaper (1889–1984)

Stockholms-Tidningen was a Swedish-language morning newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden, between 1889 and 1984 with an interruption from 1966 to 1981. It was one of the major dailies in the country together with Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1898 in Sweden</span> Sweden-related events during the year of 1898

Events from the year 1898 in Sweden

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1909 in Sweden</span> Sweden-related events during the year of 1909

Events from the year 1909 in Sweden

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Reykjavík, Iceland.

The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Gothenburg, Sweden.

References

  1. Enn Tarvel (2007). Sigtuna hukkumine. Archived 2017-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Haridus, 2007 (7-8), p 38–41
  2. ES Ol&sig=ACfU3U26Khx WrE932NT-ME5khWBSHp92w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjsvd2Uw6rgAhUGShUIHfztBL4Q6AEwCnoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=treaty%20of%20helsingborg%201310&f=false Lester B Orfield, The Growth of Scandinavian Law (2002), p.140
  3. Sanderson Beck, Scandinavia, 1250-1400
  4. Elizabeth Elgán, Iren Scobbie: Historical Dictionary of Sweden (2015), p.236
  5. Schön, Lennart (2012). An economic history of modern Sweden. London: Routledge. ISBN   9780415671309.
  6. Schön, Lennart (2012). An economic history of modern Sweden. London: Routledge. ISBN   9780415671309.

Further reading