List of Swedish monarchs

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This is a list of Swedish monarchs, that is, the Kings and ruling Queens of Sweden, with Regents and Viceroys of the Kalmar Union up until the present time.

The earliest record of what is generally considered to be a Swedish king appears in Tacitus' work Germania, c. 100 AD (the king of the Suiones). However, due to scant and unreliable sources before the 11th century, lists of succession traditionally start in the 10th century with king Olof Skötkonung, and his father Eric the Victorious, who also were the first Swedish kings to be baptized.

There are, however, lists of Swedish pagan monarchs with far older dates, but in many cases these kings appear in sources of disputed historical reliability. These records notably deal with the legendary House of Yngling, and based on the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, Erik Segersäll and Olof Skötkonung have often been classified as belonging to the Swedish house of Ynglings. However, according to Icelandic sources this line of kings was broken (see Ingjald and Ivar Vidfamne), and trace them back to Sigurd Ring and Ragnar Lodbrok (whom Saxo, on the other hand, considered to belong to the House of Yngling). As there is no evidence that Eric and Olof ever used the Yngling name themselves, modern historians instead refer to their family as the House of Munsö, the Old Dynasty or the House of Uppsala.

In the 16th century, Johannes Magnus constructed a mythical line of Swedish kings, beginning with Magog, the son of Japheth, to demonstrate the antiquity of the Swedish throne. On the basis of his list, Eric XIV and Charles IX adopted their high ordinals; previous monarchs with those names are traditionally numbered counting backward from Eric XIV and Charles IX.

In addition to the list below, the Swedish throne was also claimed by the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1599 to 1660. Following his abdication Sigismund continued to claim the throne from 1599 to his death in 1632. After his death the claim was continued by his sons Władysław IV (from 1632 to 1648) and John II Casimir (from 1648 to 1660).

Contents

[edit] Monarchs and Regents of Sweden

For lists of the prehistoric kings of Sweden see

[edit] The House of Uppsala

[edit] The House of Stenkil

[edit] The Houses of Sverker and Erik

[edit] The House of Bjälbo

[edit] Monarchs of the Kalmar Union and Regents (Riksföreståndare)

Charles VIII
Charles VIII

[edit] The House of Vasa

Gustav I
Gustav I

[edit] The House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken

Also known as The House of Wittelsbach Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Kleeburg or The House of Pfalz
Charles XI
Charles XI

[edit] The House of Hesse

[edit] The House of Holstein-Gottorp

Gustav III
Gustav III

[edit] The House of Bernadotte


[edit] References

  • The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Vol.I. Cambridge University Press, 2003 (ISBN 0521472997).
  • Morby John E. Dynasties of the World. Oxford University Press, 2002 (ISBN 0-19-860473-4).
  • Liljegren, Bengt. Rulers of Sweden. Historiska Media, 2004 (ISBN 91-85057-63-0).
  • Lagerqvist Lars O., Åberg Nils. Kings and Rulers of Sweden. Vincent Publications, 2002 (ISBN 91-87064-35-9).

[edit] See also

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