2021-07-17 Sat

Sverker II or Sverker the Younger was King of Sweden from 1195 or 1196 to 1208.

Sverker was a son of King Karl Sverkersson of Sweden and Queen Christine Stigsdatter of Hvide, a Danish noblewoman. Through his mother, he was a cousin's son of the Danish kings Canute VI and Valdemar Sejr.

King Sverker confirmed and enlarged privileges for the Swedish church and Valerius, the Archbishop of Uppsala. The privilege document of 1200 is the oldest known ecclesiastical privilege in Sweden. Around 1203, Canute's four sons, who had lived in Swedish royal court, began to claim the throne and Sverker exiled them to Norway.

His position as king became insecure from this point forward. The sons of Canute returned with troops in 1205, supported by the Norwegian party of Birkebeiner. Sverker, however, attacked and defeated them in the Battle of Algaras in Tiveden, where three of the sons fell. The only survivor, Eric, returned with Norwegian support in 1208. Sverker sought assistance from his Danish kinsmen, and such was provided. Popular tradition speaks of 12,000 Danish auxiliary troops, which is likely a gross exaggeration.

Pope Innocentius III's attempt to have the crown returned to Sverker did not succeed. Sverker made a new military expedition, with Danish support, to Sweden, but was defeated and killed in the Battle of Gestilren in July 1210. Depicted above is an image of a coin issued under King Sverker reign.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org