Human history in
Sweden began only after the
glaciers of the
ice age covering the whole of
Scandinavia started
retreating. The earliest evidence of
human colonization in Sweden was
logically found in the very south, near
Malmö. The finds date
from approximately 8000 BCE, and testify to a stone age society of
hunters and gatherers.
First signs of
agriculture and
cattle raising, along with permanent
settlements, appeared in the Late
Stone Age, between 2500 and 1800
BCE. The emergence of megalithic burial tombs shows a change in culture
as well, arguably due to a new people conquering the land and creating
a class society. The
Bronze Age in Sweden lasted from about 1800 to
500 BCE. A flourishing culture began to develop, leaving many artifacts
of arts and crafts. There are also first traces of
trade with the
British Isles.
The Roman
Iron Age spans between approximately the year 0 and 500 AD.
Iron had already been in use before, but of this era there are many
artifacts testifying to trade links between Scandinavia and the
Roman
Empire. It was also the Romans who left the first written accounts on
Scandinavia, namely
Tacitus in "
De Germania" from about 100 AD.
Sweden is described as a land of many tribes, each under their own
chieftain.
The so-called
Vendel Period took place between 600 and 800 AD. It is
named after the Vendel Church in
Uppland where many characteristic
ship-burial sites were found. There the Vendels used to bury their
powerful chieftains with full armor, weapons and articfacts for a
journey to the underworld.
In the years from 800 AD to 1050 AD the Scandinavian people left their
mark on European history, and they became known as the
Viking Age.
The first evidence of a Viking raiding party dates from the year 793
AD, when
Lindisfarne Monastery, on an island off the English coast,
was plundered. Later on the Vikings even traveled into the
Mediterranean Sea, and in the beginning of the eleventh century King
Canute the Great's empire spanned besides Denmark and Norway also
much of England. The Swedish Vikings, on the other hand, were mainly
oriented to the east, across the Baltic Sea. They became known as far
as
Byzantium as the "
Rus". On
Gotland many arabic coins were found,
documenting a livily trade. But after 1050 AD, that suddenly stopped.
The theory among historians is that
the Crusades brought the
Mediterranean once again into the center of attention and rendered the
trade routes through
Russia unimportant.
The Scandinavians originally worshipped the
Nordic gods like
Odin,
Thor and
Frej. But in 830 the christian monk
Ansgar set foot into
Sweden and founded the first church at
Birka. In the next hundred
years not much did happen in that respect though. In the end of the
10th century English missionaries surface in
Västergötland,
but only in the end of the 11th century did Christianity take hold in
the Swedish heartland in the east. In 1164 the first archbishop of
Sweden took residence in
Uppsala, which had hitherto been the cult
center of the old religion. Christianity marks the transition from a
tribal society to a organized state.
It is not quite clear when Sweden was first united under a single king.
The
Beowulf saga and archeology seemed to indicate that it may have
been the case as early as in the 8th century, proof however only dates
from 1130, when
Sverker the Elder definitely ruled the whole of
Sweden. Both theories assumed though that unification was the work of
the Svea tribe from the
Mälaren basin around
Uppsala, after
all, that's why it's called Sweden. Still another theory states that
unification started from
Götaland in the west, together with
christianization.
Anyway, in the 11th and 12th century justice and administration were
the duties of the magistrate (
jarl) of every province. Only in
the late 13th century did a strong central power for the whole country
develop. The 13th century was generally a period of expansion. New land
was made arable, towns were founded. Through the
Hanseatic League,
trade increased greatly. The kingdom became organized in fiefs (
län),
each with its central fortress for taxation and administration. The
king had a council with a Lord Chief Justice (
drots) for the
law, an Earl Marshal (
marsk) for the army and a Chancellor (
kansler)
for the administration. In the 14th century enhanced communications led
to an increasing influence from continental Europa.
In 1250 power passed into the hands of
Birger Jarl. This was the
beginning of the
Folkunga dynasty, which lasted until 1364. Around
1300 Sweden conquered
Finland. During the whole time many revolts and
assassinations took place, so the king was often an infant and power
rested with the council. In 1319 the 3-year-old Magnus Eriksson was
made king under the provisions of a
Letter of Privilege. This was
Sweden's
Magna Charta and its first constitution. In the same year
the infant inherited the crown of
Norway. Throughout his reign, he
had to face much opposition from the nobility, and finally, in 1364, he
was driven into exile after the Danes had conquered much Swedish
territory. In 1388 Queen Margaretha of
Denmark and
Norway became
also Queen of
Sweden, thus uniting the three Scandinavian kingdoms
under one rule.
This peroid is called the
Kalmar Union, named after the town of
Kalmar where in 1397 Margaretha formally undertook not to interfere
with each people's laws and privileges. The important positions in the
respective governments were all to be filled by native Danes,
Norwegians and Swedes. This, of course, did not work out, but it was
only under Erik of Pomerania, who ruled from 1412 to 1439, that the
tensions broke out.
Erik tried to curb the influence of the Hanseatic League, but this only
served to cripple Sweden's economy. A revolt started in the mining area
of
Dalarna, led by
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. After initial
successes, Engelbrekt was murdered, but
Karl Knutsson Bonde carried
on the struggle and was made "
Protector of the Realm". The union was
retained in the end, but only formally, while power rested with the
Swedish nobles, who fought one another as well as the crown during the
latter half of the 15th century.
It was
Sten Sture the Elder who held the power most of the time from 1471 until his death in 1503. In the ensuing civil war finally King
Kristian II of
Denmark intervened in 1517. In 1520 he managed to take
Stockholm,
and, though he had promised amnesty, had about 100 of his leading
opponents beheaded in the market place of the city. This event became
known as the
Stockholm bloodbath. It was the end of the Kalmar Union.
Gustav Vasa led the rebellion and was crowned king in 1523. He would
reform Sweden, make it a modern kingdom, and pave the way for its rise
to a European superpower in the early 17th century.
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