When was the kalmar union

This would be the end of the strongly centralised government that Margrethe and Erik had maintained during their reigns. The Councils of the Realms in the individual countries had been responsible for this change in king, and thus increased the own power afterwards. Christoffer of Bavaria died at an early age in , leaving no children. Afterwards, the Swedes elected the Swedish magnate Karl Knutsson as king, while Denmark chose a distant relative of the Danish kings, Christian of Oldenburg.

Following this, a race began to claim the crown of Norway, which Christian I won in A few years later, Christian managed to take advantage of an internal disagreement in Sweden to become the king of Sweden in However, his reign there would only last until , where he was deposed and Karl Knutsson returned. Christian had made sure that his own son, Hans, would be his successor in all three kingdoms.

When all the details had been agreed upon, however, the Swedes bailed at the last minute, meaning that Hans had to settle for becoming king of only Denmark and Norway in In , the Swedish aristocracy was again in disagreement, which Hans used to become king of Sweden. It would only be four years, however, before he was deposed in His ambition was to strengthen the Royal power and reclaim Sweden, which — after yet more internal disagreements in Sweden — he succeeded at in The rebellion was led by the Swedish magnate Gustav Vasa, who was crowned king of Sweden in Christian II was deposed and replaced by his uncle, Frederik I.

Thus, the following years were characterised by a relative peace between the two countries, which in time would be called archenemies. The Kalmar Union was caused by the inability of the three old Nordic royal families to produce more than one acceptable candidate at a time, coupled with the persistently rebellious nature of the Swedish magnates during the 14 th century. During the s, it became obvious, that this rebelliousness was a symptom of factions vying for power in Sweden.

A number of Swedish magnates, due to connections through marriage and inheritances in several countries, had a vested interest in maintaining the Nordic personal union, while others sometimes saw an advantage in supporting the Danish kings in order to further their own positions in the power struggles. The union was dissolved by Gustavus I of Sweden in View all related items in Oxford Reference ». Search for: 'Kalmar Union' in Oxford Reference ». All Rights Reserved.

Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice. Oxford Reference. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Recently viewed 0 Save Search. Although the fortress city of Viipuri held out, the Muscovites avoided the city, and, almost unchecked, devastated large areas of Finland's borderlands and interior.

The Swedes made peace with Muscovy in , and the borders of were reaffirmed, but the Swedish-Finnish nobility had to defend Finland without much direct assistance from Sweden. A revolt, against the Kalmar Union, under the leadership of a Swedish noble named Gustav Vasa resulted in in the creation of a Swedish state separate from Denmark. Vasa became king of Sweden, as Gustav I Vasa, and he founded a dynasty that ruled Sweden-Finland for more than a century. He was generally credited with establishing the modern Swedish state.

Under his rule, Finland remained integrated with the Swedish state, and the Swedish-Finnish nobility retained its primacy over local affairs.