Magnus IV of Sweden

Magnus Eriksson (* 1316, † December 1, 1374 ) was from 1319 to 1364 and King of Sweden from 1319 to the division of his empire to his two sons in 1355 king of Norway.

He was son of Duke Erik Magnusson and his wife, the Norwegian Princess Ingebjørg Håkonsdatter. Thus he was the grandson of the Swedish King Magnus I. Birgersson. He married Blanche of Namur in 1335, by her mother Marie descendant of Louis VIII of France.

His life

Magnus is king

Magnus Eriksson inherited three years in 1319, the Norwegian king's crown from his grandfather Håkon V. Magnusson and was elected the same year to the Swedish king. The regency, which was provided by the Council aristocracy was able to expand their power in the next few years, and as Magnus Eriksson around the year 1331 took over the rule, the state finances were so bad that he lacked the means to push back the aristocracy. Nevertheless, he succeeds as a first measure during his stay in Oslo Christmas 1332 to enforce a law, supported by the large farmers, after which it was forbidden to keep Setesvein without the king's permission. Thus, the most hated farmers Hirðaristokratie was made, which had previously claimed this privilege for themselves. In 1336 he was crowned by the Dorpat bishop Engelbert of Dolen.

Lack of finances and the excommunication

He tried unsuccessfully to borrow money from the Hanseatic League. Then he got forced loan from the church. This meant that the excommunication was imposed on him. An unsuccessful "crusade" to Finland 1348-1351 and the outbreak of the plague aggravated the financial situation even more. Also an inappropriate close relationship with the young Swedish nobleman Bengt Algotsson hurt his reputation. Added to this was the sharp criticism of him by Birgitta of Sweden, later St. Birgitta. She had close ties to his family and practiced through these connections influence on the policy. She pushed at his unseemly connection with Bengt Algotsson and the fact that he attended the Holy Mass in spite of the ban. Whether he actually lived a homosexual partnership, is not certain. Bengt Algotsson was the brother of Knut Algotsson, the son- Bridget.

Magnus divides his kingdom to his sons on

1343/44 he made ​​his children Håkon and Erik as heir to the throne of Norway and Sweden respectively chosen. But that was been in times of great plague, when most office and positions of power had been unoccupied. Therefore, and because he intended to continue a crusade against Karelia and wanted to keep the back free, he repeated this establishment in 1350 in Bergen. For himself he kept Helgeland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands. Håkon got in 1355 the Norwegian royal crown, while Magnus Eriksson continued to rule in Sweden. Bengt Algotsson crack 1355 the possessions of the Archbishop of Lund in itself, as this was in Rome to receive the pallium. This was contrary to the Church's prohibition of reducing church assets. The Swedish nobility suspected that Bengt Algotsson had taken place with the approval of the king. He allied himself with Erik and Magnus ' brother Albrecht of Mecklenburg. Dissatisfaction Erik, who had hoped the Swedish royal crown, was fueled by the Council's aristocracy. He took the title of king, and in 1356 he placed himself at the head of a rebellion against his father. In a comparison of 1357 there was an administrative division of the kingdom between father and son. Erik received while Finland and the Danish territories except North Halland by Bengt Algotsson. But Erik died two years later. Waldemar Atterday tried in vain to take the opportunity to regain Skåne again. 1359 is reconciled the two kings and sealed the new peace with the engagement between Håkon Magnusson and the daughter of Valdemar, Margaret I.

Magnus ' son, Erik dies

In the same year died ( as already mentioned ), his son and co-regent Erik and shortly after his pregnant wife, leaving no heirs. Magnus moved immediately a previous dominion Eriks. 1360 succeeded Waldemar Atterday regain Skåne. This generated the indignation of the Swedish nobility and also made the Hanseatic League and the North German areas restless because Denmark now again controlled the Øresund. Magnus allied with the Hanseatic League, to regain Skåne, but that failed. Instead, his son Håkon imprisoned him in Kalmar Castle. After comparing it was released, and Håkon, built in 1362 in place of his dead brother's Swedish co-regent.

Magnus and Håkon lose Sweden

The next rebellion of the Council aristocracy in the power struggle for the kingdom took place in 1364, after the Norwegian king Håkon Magnusson and Swedish heir to the throne had married the daughter of the Danish king Waldemar Atterday. Albrecht of Mecklenburg was brought to Sweden and in 1364 elected king. In the following War of King Magnus Eriksson and his son Håkon Magnusson were defeated. Magnus Eriksson was captured and released after six years. He moved to his son to Norway, where he perished in a shipwreck in 1374.

Progeny

  • Erik, co-regent of Sweden
  • Haakon, co-regent of Sweden and King of Norway
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