List of Swedish monarchs


List of Swedish monarchs


This list records the monarchs of Sweden, from the late Viking Age to the present day. Sweden has continuously been a monarchy since the country's consolidation in the Viking Age and early Middle Ages, for over a thousand years. The incumbent royal dynasty of Sweden is the House of Bernadotte, established on the throne in 1818.

History

There were organized political structures in Sweden before the kingdom was unified; based on archaelogical evidence, early tribal societies are believed to have transitioned into organized chiefdoms in the first few centuries AD, perhaps spurred by contacts with the Roman Empire and the rest of Europe. In the period AD 500–800, Scandinavian societies began adopting cultural elements from the newly established Germanic kingdoms in Europe, transitioning further into petty kingdoms.

Archaeological evidence suggests that were numerous petty kingdoms throughout modern-day Sweden. Foreign sources and later native sources describe the later medieval kingdom as being composed of two main regions: Svealand (particularly around Lake Mälaren) and Götaland. Sources from as early as the Roman author Tacitus (c. 56–126) mention two main peoples or tribes in modern Sweden: the Svear (Swedes) and Götar (Geats); the Svear are mentioned in more foreign sources than the Götar, credited with military activities at sea. The securely attested Swedish rulers in the Viking Age, predecessors of the later line of Swedish kings, ruled from the religious and political center of Old Uppsala; though its history before the Viking Age is poorly attested, it is probable that Old Uppsala had been a political and religious center since the Migration Period.

The earliest historically attested Swedish rulers are 9th-century petty kings from the Vita Ansgarii, an account written c. 870 by Rimbert partly concerning Saint Ansgar's visit to Svealand. Some kings of Old Uppsala are also mentioned in later Icelandic texts and sagas. The line of legendary Swedish kings from Icelandic tradition, called sagokungar in Swedish, are not generally treated as historical figures, though some may be based on actual chieftains or petty kings. Some later king-lists deliberately extended the sequence of kings for nationalistic purposes, such as Johannes Magnus's Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus (1554); supposed ancient kings mentioned in such sources are clearly fictional.

The petty kingdoms eventually gave rise to more complex political structures and what is today considered the beginning of the Swedish kingdom developed over the course of the Viking Age and the subsequent Middle Ages. For a consecutive list from then, the first Swedish king of whom anything definite is known is the 10th-century Eric the Victorious, though the information reported about him in different sources is scarce. Eric's son Olof Skötkonung was the first king to be baptized in Sweden and is credited with founding a Christian kingdom. The early and then medieval Swedish kingdom was an elective monarchy, with kings being elected from particularly prominent families; this practice did however often result in de facto dynastic succession and the formation of royal dynasties, such as those of Eric (intermittently c. 1157–1250) and Bjelbo (1250–1364) as well as infighting between rival families.

From 1389 to 1523, Sweden was often united with Denmark and Norway under the kings of the Kalmar Union. Sweden's full independence was restored under Gustav I in 1523. He is often credited as the founder of modern Sweden, and in 1544 he formally abandoned the previous elective monarchy in favor of hereditary succession. Initially adopting the medieval "King of Swedes and Geats", Gustav I later adopted the lengthier title rex Svecorum Gothorum Vandalorumque ("king of the Swedes, Geats and Wends"). The last monarch to be titled as king of the Swedes, Geats and Wends was Gustaf VI Adolf (r. 1950–1973) since his successor, the present king Carl XVI Gustaf, upon his accession adopted the shortened title "King of Sweden".

In 1980, the rule of succession was changed from agnatic to absolute primogeniture, to the benefit of Princess Victoria (born 1977), the current heir apparent.

Monarchs and regents of Sweden

House of Munsö (970–1060)

House of Stenkil (1060–1125/1130)

Houses of Sverker and Eric (1125/1130–1250)

House of Bjelbo (1250–1364)

House of Mecklenburg (1364–1389)

Monarchs and regents during the Kalmar Union (1389–1523)

House of Vasa (1523–1654)

House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken (1654–1720)

House of Hesse (1720–1751)

House of Holstein-Gottorp (1751–1818)

House of Bernadotte (1818–present)

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Collection James Bond 007

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: List of Swedish monarchs by Wikipedia (Historical)



 


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