Magnus I of Sweden
King of Sweden
1106 CE to 1134 CE
Magnus I (Swedish: Magnus Nilsson; Danish: Magnus Nielsen) (born about 1106, died June 4, 1134 in the Battle of Fotevik), is a Danish duke who rules Gothenland in southern Sweden from 1125 to 1130.
His status as ruler of Sweden is disputed in his own time, but today he is recognized as one of the historical Swedish monarchs.
Snorri Sturlason invents an epithet for him: Magnus the Strong.
Magnus is the son of King Niels I of Denmark and Margaret Fredkulla, the second or eldest daughter of King Inge the Elder of Sweden.
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Eric, born around 1090 to king Eric I of Denmark and an unknown concubine, had been given some Danish isles by his half-brother Canute Lavard, and was jarl of Møn, Lolland, and Falster.
When Lavard was murdered in 1131, Eric had joined his half-brother Harald Kesja in a rebellion against the responsible king Niels of Denmark.
Eric had been elected Danish Antiking in Scania in April 1131, prompting Kesja to support Niels in jealousy.
Eric's army had lost several battles against Niels and his son Magnus the Strong, including Jelling in Jutland in 1131 and Værbro on Zealand, and he had fled to Scania.
His retreat had earned him the nickname Harefoot.
Eric had unsuccessfully tried to convince Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor, to support his bid for kingship, and had had no luck asking Magnus IV of Norway for help.
He returns to Scania in 1134, where Archbishop Asser of Lund joins his cause, and Lothair eventually supports him as well.
Magnus, Margaret Fredulka’s son by King Niels of Denmark, had in 1125 claimed the Swedish throne as the eldest grandson of Inge the Elder at the death of Margaret's first cousin King Inge the Younger.
Magnus had been recognized by the Geats (Göterna) of Gothenland, but according to the Westrogothic law, had to be accepted also by the Swea, another tribe to the north of the Geats.
The Swea, however, had selected Ragnvald Knaphövde.
According to Saxo Grammaticus, Ragnvald had shown disrespect towards the Geats by not taking a Geat hostage.
As retaliation, Ragnvald had been murdered by Magnus's supporters not long after.
Magnus in around 1127 had married Richeza, daughter of Boleslaw III of Poland.
Magnus had in 1130 backed Boleslaw III in conquering Rügen.
The Polish forces, together with a Danish fleet, had compelled the Rani to recognize Polish rule over the island.
Magnus is not mentioned as King in the law of Västergötland and was probably ousted from Sweden by his successor Sverker I of Sweden around 1130.
Magnus had in 1131 arranged the murder of his cousin and potential rival for the Danish throne, Canute Lavard, in order to position himself as heir presumptive to his father King Niels.
Although Magnus is eventually backed by Niels, he finds himself in a civil war against Lavard's half-brother Eric Emune.
King Niels has his strongest base of support in Jutland, and the church also supports him.
Moreover, he has secured support from the Holy Roman Empire by agreeing to subordinate the Danish Archdiocese of Lund in Scania to the German Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen, which had prompted Archbishop Asser of Lund to support Eric.
Eric, proclaimed king at Scania's landsting assembly at St Liber's Hill, makes Lund his capital city.
With the resounding victory at Fotevik, Eric is given the nickname the Memorable to replace Harefoot.