As we continue the theme of Forgotten Royal Women, we stay in the era of the Kalmar Union. Our last story ended with queen Philippa’s death in 1430. The story of Christine of Saxony begins…
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…
Philippa, the youngest of six siblings, was born on July 4th 1394, as the daughter of English nobleman and member of the royal family Henry Bolingbroke, and Mary de Bohun. Mary died shortly after the…
Meet Philippa: An English Princess who became a Scandinavian Queen. As a young girl, she saw her father take the crown of England as king Henry IV. At 12 years old, she married Erik, the…
In the last post, we saw the Norwegian princess Ingeborg Håkonsdatter being the leader of the rebellion to free her husband, duke Erik, from his imprisonment. After Erik’s death in 1318, she claimed the Swedish…
This theme is about forgotten royal women, and the first is Ingegerd Olofsdotter, princess and later – saint. But to understand her story, it needs to be put it in a bigger perspective. Therefore, let’s…
History is full of men. Especially kings and warriors. In history books we can read about wars and battles, the forging and disintegration of empires. Women occasionally glimpse past in these great stories, in the…
In Medieval history, most women played subordinate roles, appearing mostly as mothers, wives or daughters, in the shadow of men. But of course there are exceptions. One such exception in the Nordics is Queen Margrete.…
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…