Eriksgata

As Eriksgata the journey is called, at which the newly elected at the stone of Mora Swedish kings of the Middle Ages could confirm. They crossed while the various provinces of the country and recognized by the heads of the regional jurisdiction. At the same time the new king and his entourage were given the right to be supplied by the numerous so-called Königsgutshöfe ( kungsgårdar ), which were distributed all over the country.

The trip was especially important, as only representatives from the central Svealand were present initially at the election of the king on the stone of Mora and so recusal confirmation by the other regions. The trip gradually lost interest after, representatives from almost all the provinces of Sweden to the election of a king in the 14th century.

When this custom was, today is not known. It is possible that originally used to be the route that took the car to the fertility goddess in its annual round trip across the country. It is also thought that the course of the itinerary changed over time. An early description can be found in the work of Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum. Detailed documentation only existed from the 14th century. This is how a state law of Magnus II Eriksgata the following ways:

Then the King will ride his Eriksgata, and men of the country to follow him ... so that it is protected and safe ... And the king should promise every part of the country and every jurisdiction that it will comply with them against all his oaths, which he in Uppsala swore, where he first became king.

Now he is riding with the sun by his country. And they that dwell in the court area of Uppsala, should follow him until after Strängnäs.

In the text of the law, a description of the journey through Södermanland, Östergötland, Småland, Västergötland, Västmanland and Orebro followed back to Uppsala. The text continues:

So the king has come lawfully to country and kingdom and is the Eriksgata ridden. He will now be selected as required by the law, and has provided with oaths and words, his country and his countrymen what he owed them, and this what they were to him who owed him.

After returning from the Eriksgata the new king was crowned by the Archbishop in the Cathedral of Uppsala. After Gustav Vasa, who introduced the hereditary succession to the throne, the Eriksgata had only symbolic. The last king, who conducted the Eriksgata according to the old laws, Charles IX was. ( 1550-1611 ). Later kings visits to the Swedish provinces made ​​and called this " Eriksgata ", but these trips had nothing in common with the medieval tradition.