House of Eric
| Swedish Royalty |
| House of Eric |
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| Eric IX |
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| Canute I |
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| Eric X |
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| Eric XI |
The House of Eric (Swedish: Erikska ätten) was one of the two clans that were rivals for the kingship of Sweden between 1150 and 1220. The other was the House of Sverker. The first king from the House of Eric was Eric IX of Sweden also known as Saint Eric. Almost all the subsequent kings of Sweden have been descendants of the House of Eric.
The House of Eric favored the Varnhem Abbey, and several of its members are interred there.
Foremother of the dynasty was Eric IX's wife Christina Björnsdatter, whom legend claims to have been the maternal granddaughter of King Inge I of Sweden.
The female first name Catherine seems to have been favored within the Erik dynasty.
History
Two branches of the dynasty came into conflict in 1226. Canute the Tall, allegedly the adult heir of Filip, younger son of Eric IX, deposed the underage Eric XI, the Lisp and Lame (läspe och halte), who resumed the kingship in 1234. Conflict continued between the royal senior branch and Canute's two sons until the sons were executed in 1248 and 1251.
Eric XI was the last king of the agnatic line of this dynasty. He died in 1250 and apparently left no surviving children. Though some romantic genealogies, and later research influenced by them, have attributed one or two daughters to him, they were more likely daughters of his sister and Birger jarl. Eric XI's nephew, the then underage son of his sister Ingeborg, was elected king Valdemar I of Sweden, under the regency of his father Birger Jarl.
Descent from this house was regarded as such hard currency in medieval and early modern power games that some aspirants (most notably Charles VIII of Sweden) even fabricated a descent (see Tofta, Adelsö) to show that they too were heirs of the House of Erik.
References
See also
| House of Eric | ||
| Preceded by House of Sverker |
Ruling House of the Kingdom of Sweden 1156–1160 1167–1196* 1208–1216 1222–1229 1234–1250 * In 1167–1173 not in the province of Östergötland. |
Succeeded by House of Bjelbo |