The House of Trolle is the name of a noble family, originally from Sweden. The family has produced prominent people in the histories of Sweden and Denmark (where it is sometimes spelled Trold) since the Middle Ages and is associated with several estates in both countries. [1] [2]
Historically attested male-line family members are known as far back as the 14th century. The earliest was the knight Birger Knutsson, also known as Birghe Trulle. The earliest known generations held the estate of Bo in Småland, Sweden. Birger Trolle, High Councillor of Sweden, inherited Bergkvara castle from his half-brother Håkan Karlsson. [3]
Arvid Birgersson and Eric Arvidsson were among mightiest in the country and both almost became Regents of Sweden in their time, in competition against the Sture family. Gustav Trolle was Archbishop of Uppsala. The original Swedish line of the family died out in the late 16th century. [4]
Eric's younger half-brother Joachim (d 1546) inherited Lilloe in Skåne from his mother and settled in Denmark. The Danish family line continued through his relations, becoming an important house of high nobility. One of his sons was Danish admiral Herluf Trolle and one of great-grandsons, Niels Trolle (Nils Trolle til Trollesholm og Gavnø), was Statholder of Norway. [5]
Sweden again had a branch of the family when Niels Trolle's son Arvid Nielsen Trold, Lord of Trollenäs Castle, swore loyalty to Sweden (and was in 1689 given a seat among Sweden's nobility) after Skåne, his native land, had become a permanent part of Sweden. The head of the House received in 1816 by primogeniture the hereditary title of baron in Sweden for the House. All currently extant branches of the House of Trolle descend from him; the remaining Danish branches having died out in 1787.
The family name comes from the family coat of arms that depicts a headless troll. According to tradition, the family had taken these arms on the basis of a legend that a common ancestor must have killed a troll and robbed a drinking horn, which was called Våxtorpshornet el.
Gustav I, commonly known as Gustav Vasa, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Riksföreståndare) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Gustav rose to lead the Swedish War of Liberation following the Stockholm Bloodbath, where his father was executed. Gustav's election as king on 6 June 1523 and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later marked Sweden's final secession from the Kalmar Union.
Eric Trolle was elected regent of Sweden in 1512, during the era of Kalmar Union. He was Justiciar of Närke and a Lord High Councillor of Sweden from 1487.
The Swedish nobility has historically been a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, and part of the so-called frälse. The archaic term for nobility, frälse, also included the clergy, a classification defined by tax exemptions and representation in the diet. Today the nobility does not maintain its former legal privileges although family names, titles and coats of arms are still protected. The Swedish nobility consists of both "introduced" and "unintroduced" nobility, where the latter has not been formally "introduced" at the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset). The House of Nobility still maintains a fee for male members over the age of 18 for upkeep on pertinent buildings in Stockholm.
Christina Nilsdotter Gyllenstierna of Fogelvik was a Swedish noblewoman. She was married to the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Younger, and led the Swedish resistance against Christian II of Denmark after the death of her spouse. In her own lifetime she was simply referred to as Fru Kristina, but she has become known in history as Kristina Gyllenstierna because of the house of nobility to which she belonged.
The Swedish War of Liberation, also known as Gustav Vasa's Rebellion and the Swedish War of Secession, was a significant historical event in Sweden. Gustav Vasa, a nobleman, led a rebellion and civil war against King Christian II. The war resulted in the deposition of King Christian II from the throne of Sweden, effectively ending the Kalmar Union that had united Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. This conflict played a crucial role in shaping Sweden's national identity and history.
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Herluf Trolle was a Danish naval hero, Admiral of the Fleet and co-founder of Herlufsholm School, a private boarding school at Næstved on the island of Zealand in Denmark.
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Arvid Birgersson, Lord of Bergkvara was a Swedish magnate and politician in the last decades of Middle Ages. He was justiciar of Östergötland and then of Tiohärad, as well as a Lord High Councillor of Sweden, and once a candidate for Regent. His family coat of arms depict a headless troll whereby some have retrospectively called him Arvid Trolle.
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