While Philippa was a competent ruler in Sweden, her husband Erik’s main concern was usually the border conflicts between Denmark and the dukedom Schleswig-Holstein. It was a protracted conflict and in August 1423 Erik traveled to the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund so that he would settle the conflict, after which he would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He would not be back until 1425, so he needed someone he could trust as regent.
That someone was Philippa. Contemporary sources indicate that she was very active in her reign, traveled a lot, met representatives of each country’s respective privy council, settled disputes, etc.
A few years earlier, Erik had started minting copper coins of a lower value than the silver coins, which had lowered the currency’s value and negatively affected trade. Philippa made an agreement with her privy councils and a number of German trading cities to restore the coin value and create a monetary union. The economy stabilized and trade flourished again (but when Erik returned two years later, he retracted on the agreement and reinstated the copper coins).
In the summer of 1424, the Holy Roman Emperor ruled in Erik’s favor in the matter of Schleswig-Holstein. Erik then traveled on towards Jerusalem. However, the Holstein count turned to the Pope. Through open letters, which were posted on church doors, the Pope called Erik in for questioning about the matter. Erik doesn’t seem to have been told about this.
But Philippa was told, and she immediately went to work. By writing her own open letters and spreading information about the emperor’s sentence and through what we would today call advocacy work, she got the Pope to drop the case.
Philippa’s time as regent has been assessed favorably, both by contemporary sources and later historians. During her two years as sole regent, there was peace within the Union.
But peace doesn’t last forever…
After Erik’s return to Denmark in 1425, Philippa continued to rule Sweden. And he would need her popularity and diplomatic skills more than ever before.
The war against Schleswig-Holstein continued, which meant that Erik needed money and troops, and the Swedish Privy council was not very interested in giving him either. It was Philippa who managed to persuade them.
The war raged on for three years. In April 1428 something happened that is historically linked to Philippa – the attack on Copenhagen. Holstein had allied with the Hanseatic Leauge, and they invaded Copenhagen while Erik and the main part of his army was at the southern borders. Traditionally, it was Philippa who organized the defence of the city.
She is said to have rallied the men and encouraged them to defend the city, and after held a victory banquet for them. Unfortunately, we dont know if it is true, as no contemporary sources remain. Philippa’s role could be overstated as a part of the slander of Erik’s character after his deposition much later. It is not very likely that she herself fought in battle, but that she remained in the city might have been encouragement enough for the men who did.
Whoever led the defense of Copenhagen was in any case successful.
Philippa’s next war venture would not be.
A large Nordic fleet attacked Stralsund in May 1429 and suffered a humiliating defeat with much loss of both ships and men. The attack was said to have been ordered by Philippa. There is a story that Erik became so enraged that he beat her so badly she lost a child she finally had been pregnant with.
There is reason to doubt that story however. Again, there is no contemporary sources to support it, and no mentions that Philippa was ever pregnant. And though Erik did have a bad temper, this story could very likely be a part of the historic vilification of his character.
During Christmas that year, Philippa once again traveled to Sweden, to the abbey at Vadstena where she would have council with the Swedish nobles. However, soon after arriving she fell ill and died suddenly on January 5th. She was 35 years old.
And here is another riddle, because she was buried inside the church the same night, which was not common practice. We don’t know why they were in such a hurry to bury the queen. Maybe they thought she died of some infectious disease, but there is no mention in the Abbey’s records of this, or of other people falling ill or dying around the same time.
Maybe it was her own wish to be buried in Vadstena – as she cared deeply for the Abbey and had become ”soror ab extra”, an external sister – and they feared she would be moved and buried somewhere else. But she is still there to this day.
After Philippa’s death, the Union broke apart. Erik would be deposed as king of Sweden no less than three times, and eventually he lost the crown of Norway and Denmark as well. For a while he settled in Gotland and engaged in piracy, but eventually withdrew to Pomerania, where he lived out his days as duke.
One can not help but wonder what would have happened if Philippa had lived.
She was undoubtedly an able regent, a skilled diplomat and the glue that held the Union together. She was a defender, maybe of a city under attack but certainly of her husband and his rights.
Philippa was de facto regent in Sweden throughout the 1420s, and yet is almost completely forgotten. Even the inscription on her tombstone emphasizes her solely as the wife of one king and the daughter of another.
But here, I hope I have told her story as a woman of great power and influence, in her own right.
Sources:Flemberg, Marie-Louise. Filippa. Engelsk prinsessa – nordisk unionsdrottning. (2015)
Högberg, Stefan. Svenska kvinnor historien glömde. (2019)
Lindqvist, Herman. Erik. Nordens härskare och sjörövarkung. (2021)