This is the second part of the story of the Engelbrekt Rebellion, read the first part here. The truce that Engelbrekt and king Erik had negotiated didn’t last very long. The king continued to appoint…
This is the story of one of the most famous and – initially – succesful peasants’ revolts in Nordic History – The Engelbrekt Rebellion in the 1430s. In the 15th century, the Nordic countries were…
In history, the plight of the common people is often overlooked. Except when ordinary people had enough, and with weapons in hand stood up to their oppressors. We can glimpse them in the history books,…
In the last post about Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, we learned that her daughter, Kristina, was taken from her by her enemies in the Privy Council, who ruled Sweden while Kristina was a minor. For…
This is the second post about Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg; read the first part here. The Thirty Years War, which had broken out in Europe in 1618, was a religious war that arose from the…
Just like her mother-in-law, Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg have been vilified throughout history. But the criticism of Maria Eleonora has been the opposite of that of Kristina – she was too extravagant, too emotional and…
Read part 1 here. Kristina of Holstein-Gottorp’s husband, king Karl IX died on October the 30th, 1611. Kristina then became the first Vasa queen to see her child inherit the throne, and the only one…
In the post about Anna of Austria, Kristina’s predecessor, we saw how Sigismund, king of Sweden and Poland, was challenged by his uncle, duke Karl, over the rule of Sweden. The conflict between uncle and…
In the last post about trolls, the concept of ”bergtagning”, where trolls kidnaps people, were explained. One version of this story is the Changeling, where the trolls take a human child from the cradle and…
As with giants, there is different types of trolls. In some stories, they seem related to the giants of the Folklore – large, brutal and rather stupid. But actually, in most Folktales, trolls are not…