History UsefulNotes / NotableSwedishMonarchs

His eldest daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she has become an adult and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568, and back then it was mostly seen as a sign that he was utterly and completely insane. Being highly respected, and seen as intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

Christina abdicated in favour of her cousin, '''Charles X'''. Charles would spend more or less his entire reign fighting, first against Poland, then against Denmark. Managed to pull off a CrowningMomentOfAwesome by ''walking his entire army from the mainland to Sjaelland on the ice''. Eventually, according to historians, "[[AdiposeRex achieved the perfect form of a sphere]]" and died of pneumonia.

'''Christian II''' a.k.a. '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Christian the Tyrant]]''' (1 July 1481 ? 25 January 1559): The most infamous of the union kings, both due to propaganda from his successor and [[TheCaligula his own murderous actions, which have caused some to label him as a schizophrenic]]. After a complicated set of turns (involving several different Swedish families with the same name, and the king's father and grandfather, as well as a pretty nifty statue of Saint George) Christian II had managed to (somewhat) assume control over the kingdom of Sweden. He then did what any renaissance prince would: He invited his enemies to a party, [[TheHeretic accused them of heresy]] for having deposed a bishop who was an ally of him, and [[NastyParty had them all publicly executed]] (all except one bishop who had the foresight to affix a note proclaiming his innocence to his seal when signing said deposition). The so-called Stockholm Bloodbath predictably lead to yet another uprising, led by the son of one the executed noblemen (see below).

'''Erik XIV''' was the son and successor to Gustav Vasa, son from his first marriage and... [[TheCaligula not quite right in the head]]. During his reign his paranoia and poor advice from advisors lead to him eventually [[AxCrazy stabbing people and running off into the woods]]. He also married a commoner, tried to kill his brother(s) and was eventually deposed and poisoned, according to legend with arsenic-laced peasoup.

His eldest daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she has become an adult and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568, and back then it was mostly seen as a sign that [[TheCaligula he was utterly and completely insane]]. Being highly respected, and seen as intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

'''Erik XIV''' was the son and successor to Gustav Vasa, son from his first marriage and... [[TheCaligula not quite right in the head]]. During his reign his paranoia and the advice of his EvilChancellor lead to him eventually [[AxCrazy stabbing people and running off into the woods]]. He also married a commoner, tried to kill his brother(s) and was eventually deposed and poisoned, according to legend with arsenic-laced peasoup.

Gustav Vasa is relatively commonly featured in plays and novels, but curiously absent from movies or TV. Very much a MagnificentBastard.

The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath. Due to the accidental and sudden death of Crown Prince Gustalf Adolf in a plane Crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustav became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known at the time as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologiest who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). Having ascended the throne in 1973, he is set to become the longest reigning monarch in Swedish history in April 2018[[note]]the current record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[/note]]. A constitutional change in the 70s made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria.

* He gets his own song in the Music/{{Sabaton}} album ''Carolus Rex''.

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status, in which the monarchs get to keep a purely ceremonial role as long as they promise to not get involved in politics in any way. The last king to wield any political power was '''Gustaf V''', who reigned throughout both world wars, and who despite being personally very conservative and prone to meddle in politics helped back the introduction of universal suffrage and constitutional monarchy [[OhCrap once he saw what the Russians did to the tsar]]. Due to the accidental and sudden Death of his son Crown Prince Gustalf Adolf in a plane Crash in 1947, his one year old grandchild the future Carl XVI Gustav became the new Crown Prince, typically known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) due to him being a infant, child and Young Adult as his grandfather grew ever older.

A constitutional change in the 70s made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath. Having ascended the throne in 1973, he is set to become the longest reigning monarch in Swedish history in April 2018[[note]]the current record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[/note]].

His daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she has become an adult and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568, and back then it was mostly seen as a sign that [[TheCaligula he was utterly and completely insane)]]. Being highly respected, and seen as intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

His daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she has become an adult and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568. Being highly respected, and seen as intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status, in which the monarchs get to keep a purely ceremonial role as long as they promise to not get involved in politics in any way. The last king to wield any political power was '''Gustaf V''', who reigned throughout both world wars, and who despite being personally very conservative and prone to meddle in politics helped back the introduction of universal suffrage and constitutional monarchy [[OhCrap once he saw what the Russians did to the tsar]]. A constitutional change in the 70s made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath. Having ascended the throne in 1973, he is set to become the longest reigning monarch in Swedish history in April 2018[[note]]the current record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[/note]].

His daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties as she has become an adult and the King grows older, though the king has stressed that he has no intention of abdicating completely in her favour. After marrying her personal trainer in 2010 she became [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568. Being highly hespected, and seen as intelligent and dutiful, you occasionally hear people mutter that ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will eventually be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "kung", the Swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified.[[note]]He suffers from serious dyslexia, as does the crown princess.[[/note]] We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!")... Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble and kind of harmless guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At a 2018 ceremonial inspection of the Swedish Military, a reporter shouted out ”What does your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?” and without blinking he simply answered ”The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing![[note]](Military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme in Swedish as in english)[[/hote]]”

Because of DarthWiki/TropersLaw, this article will mostly describe the monarchs who tends to show up in fiction, with a brief overview of what happens in between. It should be noted that the numbering of Swedish kings is made up: The current king is numbered as Charles XVI, for instance, but there are only something like eight Charleses before him. These traditional numbers were made up in the 16th century, and, as was the custom at the time, trace the Swedish royalty all the way back to [[Literature/TheBible Noah]].

Medieval Swedish kings tends to have bynames that makes them sound either badass or just odd. They are usually [[MeaningfulName significant in some way]] although technically they are often bestowed by their enemies, or at least successors... Hence names like "Ragvald Littlehead" and "Eric the Lisp and Lame".

King Björn and King Olaf (technically Olaf I) are confirmed by Saint Ansgar as Swedish kings in mid 9th century. Other than their invitations of missionarys to Uppland, nothing is known of them. Most Swedish historians consider their actions as friendly gestures.

'''Erik Segersäll''' (c. 945 - c. 995): Famous viking king. "Segersäll" is a compound of two words meaning "Happy" and "Victorious". "Glad because he won" is one possible translation, although "brings victory" probably comes closer. According to the [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Norse sagas]] he defeated his nephew [[Literature/TaleOfStyrbjorn Styrbjörn "the Strong"]] at the Battle of Uppsala. (This battle is attested on several runestones.) Stories set during the later part of the viking ages tends to include a cameo from him, since he had the favour of [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]]. According to tradition he was married to a woman named Sigrid the Haughty, who had a tendency to set [[ImpossibleTask impossible tasks]] for her suitors.

'''Olof Skötkonung''' (around the year 1000): The first Christian king of Sweden, otherwise relatively unremarkable. Exactly what his byname means is unclear, but it may have to do with "sköte", which means vagina. The story that goes along with it is that he was declared king while his mother was still pregnant with him.

After these two followed a bunch of kings of which we know little and who tends to be short-lived and forgotten, including at least one Russian (Anund Gårdske) and conflicts between pagan and Christian kings. Lots of fanciful names, like "Sweyn the Sacrificer" (Blót-Sveinn), "Eric of Good Harvests" (Eirikr hinn Ársæli), Ragnvald Round-Head (Ragnvaldr Hnapphöfuð) and "Magnus the Strong" (Magnús Sterki).

'''St. Eric''' (c. 1120 - May 18, 1160) and the '''Sverker-Eric feud''': Successor of a king named Sverker the Elder, Erik Jedvardsson, better known as St. Eric is not an official Catholic saint, but was revered as such in Sweden for most of the MiddleAges. According to legends (almost certainly completely fictional) did all the standard saintly stuff, wore a shirt of hairs, lead crusades to Finland, and was killed inside a church. Note that the *other* version is that he got drunk, fell off his chair and died.

* St. Eric shows up very briefly (only to get murdered) in Jan Guillou's ''Literature/ArnTheKnightTemplar'' trilogy (which was also made into a pair of movies).

Birger is one of the most important medieval rulers of Sweden, he successfully centralized the kingdom and essentially created it's medieval form. He also brought most of Finland under Swedish control. His letters contain the very first historical mention of Stockholm and Birger is often seen as the founder of the city.

After a brief rule by a German prince named Albrecht the significant [[BigScrewedUpFamily intermarriage]] between the Scandinavian royal families produced someone who was the closest heir (or, backed with an army, close ''enough'') to all three Scandinavian kingdoms. This remarkable person was named ''' Queen Margareta''' (also known as "King Pantsless", because well... [[CaptainObvious women did not wear pants]]). She had to deal with German {{pirates}}, but otherwise remained ruled relatively peacefully. Since her son died young and she lived in a HeirClubForMen king of society she adopted a cousin to succeed here. This did not end well.

'''King Erik of Pomerania''' (he was the son of the duke of Pomerania, and his original name was the far less Scandinavian Bogislaw) and managed to provoke [[TorchesAndPitchforks one of the biggest peasant uprisings in Swedish history]], mainly by setting taxes a mite too high. He pissed off the nobility at the same time, which is never good. The next hundred years (roughly the 15th century) was a chaotic period where angry peasants, angry nobility and angry monarchs (usually, but not always, the union kings based in Denmark) vied for control. Special mention should be given to Karl Knutsson (Bonde) for managing to become king... [[RuleOfThree Three times]].

* The Engelbrekt Rebellion, which takes place during Erik's reign, is a relatively common era for plays and novels, especially during the 60's and 70's.

'''Christian II''' a.k.a. '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Christian the Tyrant]]''' (1 July 1481 ? 25 January 1559): The most infamous of the union kings, both due to propaganda from his successor and [[TheCaligula his own murderous actions, which have caused some to label him as a schizophreniac]]. After a complicated set of turns (involving several different Swedish families with the same name, and the king's father and grandfather, as well as a pretty nifty statue of Saint George) Christian II had managed to (somewhat) assume control over the kingdom of Sweden. He then did what any renaissance prince would: He invited his enemies to a party, [[TheHeretic accused them of heresy]] for having deposed a bishop who was an ally of him, and had them executed (all except one Bishop who had the foresight to affix a note proclaiming his innocence to his seal when signing said deposition). This predictably lead to yet another rising.

In later years a story has emerged in Sweden [[AHeroToHisHometown that he was known as Christian the Good in Denmark]]. [[SubvertedTrope This, however, isn't actually true]]. The Danes never game him any epithet and just call him Christian II.

'''Gustav Eriksson''' a.k.a. '''Gustav Vasa''' (6 June 1523-29 September 1560): Usually seen as the founder of the modern Swedish state, Gustav was the son of a member of the high nobility (he sometimes spelled his name "Gösta Jerksson", which is [[BilingualBonus fitting but unintentional]]) who was sent as a hostage to king Christian , who then promptly took off with the hostages. Gustav managed to escape and make his way back to the capital only to find that [[YouKilledMyFather his father had been among the executed]]. He then made his way to the province of Dalarna [[FairyTaleMotifs experiencing many public-domain adventures along the way]], allegedly being hidden in cellars, in wagonloads of hay and generally acting KingIncognito, despite not being king yet. With a RousingSpeech he managed to convince the peasants of Dalarna to [[LaResistance rise up against the Danish king]]. He managed to succeed (aided by a noble's rebellion in Denmark and a with a shitload of loans from the Hansa) he was finally proclaimed king in 1523. ''De Facto'' ending the Union of Kalmar.

A "Vasa" is a kind of bundle of sticks put a river to attract fish. It was featured on the family's coat-of-arms.

Once made king, Gustav proceed to get rid of anyone who had ever helped him come to the throne: Beating down and executing as rebels anyone who opposed his new, more centralized style of rule (including most of the people who had supported him in the first place) declaring war on his creditors, confiscating church land and introducing the reformation, and retiring as the richest man in Europe.

'''Sigismund''' was made king of Poland at a young age and sent off there; he never liked Poland very much but became a staunch Catholic, problematic as he also became king of Protestant Sweden. His uncle would eventually stage an uprising and crown himself king. The resulting SuccessionCrisis would lead to an on-again, off-again war for the next 60-years or so.

'''Charles IX''' of the sons of Gustav Vasa the one most like his dad. Highly and successfully involved in the above SuccessionCrisis while he was still Duke Karl of Södermanland. Mostly famous for being the father of his son:

'''Gustav II Adolf''' or '''Gustavus Adolphus''', Sweden's greatest warrior-king, best known for his pivotal role in the UsefulNotes/ThirtyYearsWar. Really ''did'' do the entire KingIncognito thing when looking for a bride. For most of his reign, he worked closely together with his chancellor (not ''particularly'' evil) Axel Oxenstierna in something of a BrainsAndBrawn combination (although Gustav was far from stupid himself) his reign was spent almost entirely on horseback. The Swedish Empire was at its greatest extent under him, with about half of Germany conquered. However, his untimely death meant it was never consolidated.

'''Queen Christina''': The daughter of Gustav II Adolf, at birth she was apparently [[ViewerGenderConfusion mistaken for a boy]] and while it was quickly cleared up her father decided to raise her to become his successor (aided by not having any other legitimate children). She grew up together with her [[KissingCousins cousin]] the soon-to-be Charles X. There was even a ChildhoodMarriagePromise involved, but as she grew she decided that she [[DoesNotLikeMen did not want to get married at all]]. (The fact that her cousin grew up into something of [[TheCasanova a womanizer]] didn't help). She ended up abdicating her throne, converting to Catholicism and retiring to Italy. She also managed to kill off René Descartes by forcing him to get up early in the morning and not heating his rooms enough.

Christina abdicated in favour of her cousin, '''Charles X'''. Charles would spend more or less his entire reign fighting, first against Poland, then against Denmark. Managing to pull of something of a CrowningMomentOfAwesome by ''walking his entire army from the mainland to Sjaelland on the ice''. Died of pneumonia.

His son, '''Charles XI''' was a shy unassuming kid who grew up into something of a badass, mainly by slaughtering his way through the Swedish forests (he was fond of hunting). He managed to make himself an absolute monarch, crushed the power of the high aristocracy and reigning relatively peacefully. According to legend, he spent much of his time as KingIncognito, spying on corrupt officials. In these stories he is portrayed as hiding his BlingOfWar under a grey cloak until the time to reveal himself, earning him the nickname ''Gråkappan'' (The Grey Cloak).

His sister '''Ulrika Eleonara''' ended up succeeding him but abdicated in favour of her husband. Both her succession and her abdication gave the equivalent of parliament a chance to reduce royal power dramatically ushering in the so-called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Age of Liberty]] when the country was ruled by the Riksdag (Parliament), with the king having very little power.

The first king of this dynasty, '''Adolf Fredrik''', was relatively harmless, his wife however, was the sister of UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat and had an ambition to match. They failed to reassert royal control though; when the king refused to sign decisions into law, the Riksdag simply used a rubber stamp with his signature instead.

'''Gustav III''' is probably the Swedish king that appears the most in media: At least two or three television dramas have been created about the king, and an innumerable amount about his contemporaries. A complicated figure, he managed to stage a revolution, restoring royal power and ending the Age of Liberty. He was fond of theatre and the arts, and was eventually assassinated during a masquerade ball. UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories are usually involved, mostly including his brother (who acted remarkably suspiciously) but sometimes tying in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

After the assassination of his father, '''Gustav IV''' came to the throne. He's something of TheScrappy of the Swedish monarchy, failing at almost everything he did, most importantly losing Finland to the Russians through his diplomatic inflexibility and his belief that UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte was TheAntiChrist. He eventually was deposed and went mad.

'''Charles XIII''' has to be mentioned, being the heirless uncle of Gustav IV. He was placed on the throne by the Swedish nobles after the coup of 1809. A succesion crisis soon followed, where several princes were offered the crown of Sweden. Among them the Danish governor of Norway, Christian August, who accepted, only to be killed off, or dying, theories vary, suddenly in 1810. The Swedish crown was then offered to the ''extremely genre savvy'' French general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who accepted. Charles died in 1818, proudly naming himself king of Norway and Sweden for four years.

'''Charles XIV John''': Reigning from 1818, although by then he had already been the de-facto ruler for eight years. Born as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, the son of a lawyer from Pau in France, making his story something of a RagsToRoyalty story. Served in the french army under Napoleon and eventually became Marshall of France (as well as marrying one of Napoleon's old flames) he was contacted by a Swedish colonel in Paris and [[OfferedTheCrown asked if he wanted to become King of Sweden]]. He did. As the Crown Prince of Sweden he was expected to go against Russia (to somehow recover Finland) but chose instead to join the alliance against Napoleon (which included Russia). Thus he ensured himself a seat at the victor's table (having made himself useful in the battle of Liepzig), which lead to Norway being taken away from Napoleonic ally Denmark and enrolled in a union with Sweden. He never learned how to speak Swedish (which he himself was sorry for) and spent a good deal of his reign ruling from his bedchamber because he felt it was too cold to get up. Being the most notable of the union kings of Sweden and Norway, he features in a number of poems written by Creator/HenrikWergeland, usually because of his revolutionary role, and because he [[ThrowTheDogABone actually gave Wergeland a steady job]]. His relationship with Norway was shaky at best, conflicted at worst. The fact that he never forgave Norway for electing Danish prince Christian Frederik over him, nagged him to the point that he actually forbid the celebrations of May 17 (Norwegian constitution day). When the Norwegians decided to celebrate it anyway, it nearly came to blows, and the king had to give in, for the sake of a stable union. He also called in the army a couple of times when the Norwegian parliament opposed him. His son Oscar I is also granted at least one poem by Henrik Wergeland.

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status, in which the monarch gets to keep a purely ceremonial role as long as they promise to not get involved in politics in any way. The last king to wield any political power was '''Gustaf V''', who reigned throughout both world wars, and who despite being personally very conservative and prone to meddle in politics helped back the introduction of universal suffrage and constitutional monarchy [[OhCrap once he saw what the Russians did to the tsar]]. A constitutional change in the 70's made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath. Having ascended the throne in 1973, he is set to become the longest reigning monarch in Swedish history in April 2018 (the current record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century, see above).

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "kung", the Swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified. (He suffers from serious dyslexia, as does the crown princess.) We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!") Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At an 2018 ceremonial inspection of the Swedish Military, a reporter shouted out ”What does your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?” and without blinking he simply answered ”The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing! [(military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme and acceptable mishearing in Swedish as in english)]”

His daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties during the last decades as she has become an adult and the King grows older. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative She's the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568. Being Highly Respected, and seen as Highly Intelligent and Serving her Role to a 100%, a rather mean but kind of true comment keeps being uttered: ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is also a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies or a sudden resurgence of republicanism, Sweden will be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

His daughter Crown Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties during the last decades as she has become an adult and the King grows older. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative She's the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]], the first one being Eric XIV in 1568. Being Highly Respected, and seen as Highly Intelligent and Serving her Role to a 100%, a rather mean but kind of true comment keeps being uttered: ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is also a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies, Sweden will be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

'''Magnus Eriksson''' (c. 1316 - December 1st 1374 ) became king at a very young age, king in fact of both Sweden and Norway. He also ended up [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney buying Scania]] from the German prince who had received it as payment for the debts of the Danish crown. A very unlucky king, he ended up not only reigning during TheBlackDeath, but also had to face significant internal opposition, amongst other things by St. Birgitta (the only officially acknowledged Swedish saint, and something of a badass). His tendency to surround himself with [[HoYay pretty young men]] lead to frequent condemnation. At his death he was broke, most of his realm was in revolt and depopulated by the plague. His dynastic shenanigans would have important consequences however.

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status, in which the monarch gets to keep a purely ceremonial role as long as they promise to not get involved in politics in any way. The last king to wield any political power was '''Gustaf V''', who reigned throughout both world wars, and who despite being personally very conservative and prone to meddle in politics helped back the introduction of universal suffrage and constitutional monarchy [[OhCrap once he saw what the Russians did to the tsar]]. A constitutional change in the 70's made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden since 1973 is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath.

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "kung", the swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified. (He suffers from serious dyslexia, as does the crown princess.) We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!") Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At an 2018 cerminorial inspection of the Swedish Military (whos state has become a big political issue due to Russia) a reporter shouted out ”What does your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?” and without blinking he simply answered ”The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing! [(military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme and acceptable mishearing in Swedish as in english)]”

His daughter Crown-Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties during the last decades as she has become an adult and the King grows ever older. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative She's the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]] (the first one was Eric XIV in 1568). Being Highly Respected, and seen as Highly Intelligent and Serving her Role to a 100%, a rather mean but kind of true comment keeps being uttered: ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”. Her oldest child is also a girl, Princess Estelle, which means that barring any tragedies, Sweden will be ruled by women for the forseeable future.

His daughter Crown-Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties during the last decades as she has become an adult and the King grows ever older. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative She's the second Heir to the throne to marry a person whose parents were both Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]] (the first one was Eric XIV in 1568). Being Highly Respected, and seen as Highly Intelligent and Serving her Role to a 100%, a rather mean but kind of true comment keeps being uttered: ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the job”.

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status, in which the monarch gets to keep a purely ceremonial role as long as they promise to not get involved in politics in any way. A constitutional change in the 70's made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden since 1973 is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath.

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "kung", the swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified. (He suffers from serious dyslexia, as does the crown princess.) We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!") Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do. He knows his reputation and knows how to use it. At an 2018 cerminorial inspection of the Swedish Military (whos state has become a big political issue due to Russia) a reporter shouted out ”What do your Majesty think about the Swedish Military?” and without blinking he simply answered ”The Swedish Winter? [looked up in the cloud free blue sky, smiled] Amazing! [(military and Winter being about as close to a rhyme and acceptable mishearing in Swedish as in english)]”

His daughter Crown-Princess Victoria has gradually taken on more and more duties during the last decades as she has become an adult and the King grows ever older. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative The second Heir to the throne to marry a person whos both parents were also Swedes (and also a commoner but so was her mother)]] (the first one was Eric XIV in 1568). Being Highly Respected, seen as Highly Intelligent and Serving her Role to a 100 procent a rather mean but kind of true comment keep being uttered: ”I don’t wish The King to be dead, but I certainly think Victoria would be better at the Job”.

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "kung", the swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified. (He suffers from serious dyslexia, as does the crown princess.) We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!") Said during a speech in Arboga. All the same, he's generally respected by the Swedes as a humble guy doing a job that nobody else really wants to do.

* Two {{Opera}}s, ''Il ballo di maschera'', by GiuseppeVerdi, and ''Gustave le troisiéme, ou le bal masque'' by Francois Auber are based on the assassination of Gustav III.

'''Gustav III''' is probably the Swedish king that appears the most in media: At least two or three television dramas have been created about the king, and an innumerable amount about his contemporaries. A complicated figure, he managed to stage a revolution, restoring royal power and ending the Age of Liberty. He was fond of theatre and the arts, and was eventually assassinated during a masquerade ball. ConspiracyTheories are usually involved, mostly including his brother (who acted remarkably suspiciously) but sometimes tying in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

'''Charles XIII''' has to be mentioned, being he heirless uncle of Gustav IV. He was placed on the throne by the Swedish nobles after the coup of 1809. A succesion crisis soon followed, where several princes were offered the crown of Sweden. Among them the Danish governor of Norway, Christian August, who accepted, only to be killed off, or dying, theories vary, suddenly in 1810. The Swedish crown was then offered to the ''extremely genre savvy'' French general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who accepted. Charles died in 1818, proudly naming himself king of Norway and Sweden for four years.

'''Magnus Eriksson''' (c. 1316 - December 1st 1374 ) became king at a very young age, king in fact of both Sweden and Norway. He also ended up [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney buying Scania]] from the German prince who had received it as payment for the debts of the Danish crown. A very unlucky king, he ended up not only reigning during TheBlackDeath, but also had to face significant internal opposition, amongst other things by St. Birgitta (the only officially acknowledged Swedish saint, and something of a BadAss). His tendency to surround himself with [[HoYay pretty young men]] lead to frequent condemnation. At his death he was broke, most of his realm was in revolt and depopulated by the plague. His dynastic shenanigans would have important consequences however.

His son, '''Charles XI''' was a shy unassuming kid who grew up into something of a BadAss, mainly by slaughtering his way through the Swedish forests (he was fond of hunting). He managed to make himself an absolute monarch, crushed the power of the high aristocracy and reigning relatively peacefully. According to legend, he spent much of his time as KingIncognito, spying on corrupt officials. In these stories he is portrayed as hiding his BlingOfWar under a grey cloak until the time to reveal himself, earning him the nickname ''Gråkappan'' (The Grey Cloak).

Medieval Swedish kings tends to have bynames that makes them sound either BadAss or just odd. They are usually [[MeaningfulName significant in some way]] although technically they are often bestowed by their enemies, or at least successors... Hence names like "Ragvald Littlehead" and "Eric the Lisp and Lame".

'''Gustav III''' is probably the Swedish king that appears the most in media: At least two or three television dramas have been created about the king, and an innumerable amount about his contemporaries. A complicated figure, he managed to stage a revolution, restoring royal power and ending the Age of Liberty. He was fond of theatre, and was eventually assassinated during a play (70 years before [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln]]). ConspiracyTheories are usually involved, mostly including his brother (who acted remarkably suspiciously) but sometimes tying in [[AncientConspiracy the Freemasons]].

While Swedish monarchs show up a lot less in media than their [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi French]] or [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily British]] or even [[HolyRomanEmpire Ge]][[PrussianKings rm]][[ImperialGermany an]] counterparts, they nonetheless occasionally show up in fiction, film and various other kinds of media. UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} is one of the oldest surviving monarchies in Europe, along with Britain, Denmark and the Papacy. The oldest verifiable Swedish king reigned at some point during the last half of the 10th century.

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status, in which the king gets to keep a purely ceremonial role as long as he promises to not get involved in politics in any way. A constitutional change in the 70's made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden since 1973 is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath.

Medieval Swedish kings tends to have bynames that makes them sound either BadAss or just odd. They are usually [[MeaningfulName significant in some way]] although technically they are often bestowed by their enemies, or at least successors...

His successors gradually lost power until they were reduced to their current figurehead status. A constitutional change in the 70's made the succession open to the eldest child, male or female, which made the current heir the Crown Princess Victoria. The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath.

C. XVI G. is typically portrayed in comedy as TheDitz. Since he has been known to misspell "kung", the swedish word for king, that portrayal might be completely justified. (He suffers from serious dyslexia, as does the crown princess.) We also have the line "Kära Örebroare!" ("Dear citizens of Örebro!") Said during a speech in Arboga.

The first king of this dynasty, '''Adolf Fredrik''', was relatively harmless, his wife however, was the sister of UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat and had an ambition to match. They failed to reassert royal control though.