History UsefulNotes / NotableSwedishMonarchs

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). Due to her upbringing as the heir, she was the most well educated woman of her day in the entirety of Europe. 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]], leading to centuries of historians speculating on her sexuality. (The fact that her cousin grew up into something of [[TheCasanova a womanizer]] didn't help). She ended up abdicating her throne to her cousin Charles, converting to Catholicism and retiring to Italy. She also managed to kill off René Descartes by hiring him as court philosopher, forcing him to get up early in the morning and not heating his rooms enough.

!!!Sigismund

Due to the untimely death of Prince Gustaf Adolf in a plane crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustaf became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

Born as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, the son of a lawyer from Pau in France, making his story something of a RagsToRoyalty story. He served in the french army under [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon I]] and eventually became Marshall of France (as well as marrying one of Napoleon's old flames, Désirée Clary, whom he dumped for UsefulNotes/JosephineDeBeauharnais). 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 Leipzig), which lead to Norway being taken away from Napoleonic ally Denmark and enrolled in a union with Sweden. The ensuing, and very short, 1815 war between Sweden and Norway is notable as the last war Sweden has fought in to date.

!! Viking Kings

'''Erik Segersäll'''[[note]]"Victorious"[[/note]] (c. 945 - c. 995): Famous viking king. 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. It may also refer to him being the first king to impose taxes.

!! The Houses of Erik and Sverker
'''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, though recent examinations of his remains do indicate that he was killed by multiple sword wounds.)

!! The House of Bjälbo
'''Birger Jarl''' (c. 1200 - 21 Oct 1266): Not a king, but something more along the lines of RegentForLife, Birger was Jarl, something (in Sweden) equivalent to a prime-minister, and ruled first in the name of Eric the Lisp and Lame. Almost a case of EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep, if it wasn't for the fact that he was the last guy to ever hold the title of Jarl; apparently it had become too associated with Birger.

'''Magnus Eriksson''' (c. 1316 - December 1st 1374, ruled 1319-1364) 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 and the nickname "Magnus the Caresser". 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.

!! The Union of Kalmar

'''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, ended up getting fired from the throne and trying his hand at piracy before going back home to Pomerania. 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]] .

'''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 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 promising them amnesty for all crimes against the crown, then [[ExactWords accused them]] of [[TheHeretic 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).

In later years a story 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.

!! The House of Vasa
'''Gustav Eriksson''' a.k.a. '''Gustav Vasa'''[[note]]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.[[/note]] (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 at the Stockholm Bloodbath]]. 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 shitload of loans from the Hansa) and was finally proclaimed king in 1523, ''de facto'' ending the Union of Kalmar.

'''Erik XIV''' was the son and successor to Gustav Vasa, son from his first marriage and... not quite right in the head. During his reign his paranoia and poor advice from advisors lead to him eventually 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.

'''Johan III''', the brother of Erik XIV, married a Polish princess and built lots of fancy castles. Also probably poisoned his brother in prison.

'''Sigismund''', Johan's son, 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 Charles would eventually stage an uprising and crown himself king. The resulting SuccessionCrisis would lead to an on-again, off-again war between Sweden and Poland for the next 60-years or so.

'''Charles IX''' was the one of the sons of Gustav Vasa who was 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 and Gustav Adolf possibly eyeing the imperial throne. However, his untimely death in battle meant that 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). Due to her upbringing as the heir, she was the most well educated woman of her day in the entirety of Europe. 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]], leading to centuries of historians speculating on her sexuality. (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 hiring him as court philosopher, forcing him to get up early in the morning and not heating his rooms enough.

!! The House of Palatinate-Zweibrübcken
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 an awesome moment 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.

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 reigned 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).

'''[[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]]''', who ascended to the throne at only 15, had a biography written by Creator/{{Voltaire}}. He spent his entire reign fighting: Poland, Denmark and Russia (See UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar). The war went well for him at first, but eventually the Russian Tsar beat him by utilising scorched earth tactics and the cold Russian winter, which led to his defeat and the end of Sweden's period as a Great Power. His death at the siege of Fredrikshald is somewhat of a [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Stock Unsolved Mystery]], with people arguing whether he was killed by a Norwegian soldier, a war-weary Swede, or an agent of his brother-in-law, Frederick, who went on to be Frederick I of Sweden. Among the weirder theories is the one that he was shot with a button [[ImmuneToBullets due to the rumours that said he was immune to regular bullets]]. A relatively common subject for novels and other stories.

!! The House of Gottorp
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. Died of overeating.

'''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, founding the Swedish Academy and sponsoring the great writers of his time including Music/CarlMichaelBellman, and was eventually assassinated during a masquerade ball. Conspiracy theories 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 was eventually deposed and went mad, living out the last years of his life in Switzerland under the name [[KingIncognito Colonel Gustavsson]].

'''Charles XIII''' has to be mentioned, being the heirless and somewhat senile 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 suddenly die under more-or-less suspicious circumstances 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.

!! The House of Bernadotte

'''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. He served in the french army under [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon I]] and eventually became Marshall of France (as well as marrying one of Napoleon's old flames, Désirée Clary, whom he dumped for UsefulNotes/JosephineDeBeauharnais). 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 Leipzig), which lead to Norway being taken away from Napoleonic ally Denmark and enrolled in a union with Sweden. The ensuing, and very short, 1815 war between Sweden and Norway is notable as the last war Sweden has fought in to date. Charles 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 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 [[KnowWhenToFoldEm helped back the introduction of universal suffrage and constitutional monarchy]] [[OhCrap once he saw what the Russians did to the tsar]].

The current king of Sweden is '''Carl XVI Gustaf''', married to Queen Silvia Sommerlath (much like Jean-Baptiste, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where she was working as a hostess). Music/{{ABBA}} even performed "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBM-qJpEz4 Dancing Queen]]" at the Royal Swedish Opera the day before their wedding on 19 June 1976. Due to the accidental and sudden death of Prince Gustaf Adolf in a plane crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustaf became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

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 [[LIsForDyslexia 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)[[/note]]”

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 (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) 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 (and he admittedly was, but this probably wasn't related to that). Being highly respected, and seen as both 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.

'''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. He 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 Leipzig), which lead to Norway being taken away from Napoleonic ally Denmark and enrolled in a union with Sweden. The ensuing, and very short, 1815 war between Sweden and Norway is notable as the last war Sweden has fought in to date. Charles 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 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]].

'''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]], leading to centuries of historians speculating on her sexuality. (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 hiring him as court philosopher, forcing him to get up early in the morning and not heating his rooms enough.

'''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, founding the Swedish Academy and sponsoring the great writers of his time including Music/CarlMichaelBellman, 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 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, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority 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... 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.

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 (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) 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 (and he admittedly was, but this probably wasn't related to that). 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 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 (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) 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 (and he admittedly was, as explained further up this page, but this probably wasn't related to that). 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 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 (and later, one assumes, her boyfriend) 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.

His sister '''Ulrika Eleonora''' ended up succeeding him but abdicated in favour of her husband '''Frederick I'''. 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 current king of Sweden is '''Carl XVI Gustaf''', married to Queen Silvia Sommerlath (much like Jean-Baptiste, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where she was working as a hostess). Music/ABBA even performed "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBM-qJpEz4 Dancing Queen]]" at the Royal Swedish Opera the day before their wedding on 19 June 1976. Due to the accidental and sudden death of Prince Gustaf Adolf in a plane crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustaf became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

The current king of Sweden is '''Carl XVI Gustaf''', married to Queen Silvia Sommerlath (much like Jean-Baptiste, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where she was working as a hostess). Due to the accidental and sudden death of Prince Gustaf Adolf in a plane crash in 1947, the future Carl XVI Gustaf became the new Crown Prince at a very young age, and was known as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

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 nine 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]].

The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Queen Silvia Sommerlath (much like Jean-Baptiste, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where she was working as a hostess). Due to the accidental and sudden death of Prince Gustaf 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 as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Queen Silvia Sommerlath (much like Jean-Baptiste, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where she was working as a hostess). Due to the accidental and sudden death of Crown Prince Gustaf 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 as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to [[HotConsort Queen Silvia Sommerlath]] (much like Jean-Baptiste, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where she was working as a hostess). Due to the accidental and sudden death of Crown Prince Gustaf 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 as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to [[HotConsort Silvia Sommerlath]] (much like Jean-Baptist, she's also a RagsToRoyalty story, having met then-Crown Prince Carl at the 1972 Summer Olympics). Due to the accidental and sudden death of Crown Prince Gustaf 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 as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

The current king of Sweden is '''Charles XVI Gustav''', married to Silvia Sommerlath. Due to the accidental and sudden death of Crown Prince Gustaf 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 as ”Lillprinsen” (”The Little Prince”) during the reign of his grandfather Gustaf VI Adolf (an avid archaeologist who frequently went KingIncognito to go on digs). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

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)[[/note]]”

'''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]] .

* He gets his own song in the Music/{{Sabaton}} album ''Carolus Rex'', "The Lion from the North", which is mainly about his role in the Thirty Years' War.

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, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority 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.

'''[[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]]''', who ascended to the throne at only 15, had a biography written by Creator/{{Voltaire}}. He spent his entire reign fighting: Poland, Denmark and Russia (See UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar). The war went well for him at first, but eventually the Russian Tsar beat him by utilising [[ForeShadowing scorched earth tactics and the cold russian winter]], which led to his defeat and the end of Sweden's period as a Great Power. His death at the siege of Fredrikshald is somewhat of a [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Stock Unsolved Mystery]], with people arguing whether he was killed by a Norwegian soldier, a war-weary Swede, or an agent of his brother-in-law, Frederick, who went on to be Frederick I of Sweden. Among the weirder theories is the one that he was shot with a button [[ImmuneToBullets due to the rumours that said he was immune to regular bullets]]. A relatively common subject for novels and other stories.

'''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.

'''Magnus Eriksson''' (c. 1316 - December 1st 1374, ruled 1319-1364) 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.

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, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority 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.

'''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 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).

Once he was 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 ended up as the richest man in Europe.

'''[[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]]''', had a biography written by Creator/{{Voltaire}}. He spent his entire reign fighting: Poland, Denmark and Russia (See UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar). The war went well for him at first, but eventually the Russian Tsar beat him by utilising [[ForeShadowing scorched earth tactics and the cold russian winter]], which led to his defeat and the end of Sweden's period as a Great Power. His death at the siege of Fredrikshald is somewhat of a [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Stock Unsolved Mystery]], with people arguing whether he was killed by a Norwiegan soldier, a war-weary Swede, or an agent of his brother-in-law, Frederick, who went on to be Frederick I of Sweden. Among the weirder theories is the one that he was shot with a button [[ImmuneToBullets due to the rumours that said he was immune to regular bullets]]. A relatively common subject for novels and other stories.

His sister '''Ulrika Eleonara''' ended up succeeding him but abdicated in favour of her husband '''Frederick I'''. 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 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). As of April 2018, he's the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history, the previous record holder being Magnus Eriksson way back in the 14th century[[note]]unless you count Aun the Old, who according to the Heimskringla ruled for about 120 years in the 5th century, which modern historians tend to doubt[[/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.

'''Erik XIV''' was the son and successor to Gustav Vasa, son from his first marriage and... 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.

'''[[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]]''', had a biography written by Creator/{{Voltaire}}. Another AxCrazy guy, he spent his entire reign fighting: Poland, Denmark and Russia (See UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar). The war went well for him at first, but eventually the Russian Tsar beat him by utilising [[ForeShadowing scorched earth tactics and the cold russian winter]], which led to his defeat and the end of Sweden's period as a Great Power. His death at the siege of Fredrikshald is somewhat of a [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Stock Unsolved Mystery]], with people arguing whether he was killed by a Norwiegan soldier, a war-weary Swede, or an agent of his brother-in-law, Frederick, who went on to be Frederick I of Sweden. Among the weirder theories is the one that he was shot with a button [[ImmuneToBullets due to the rumours that said he was immune to regular bullets]]. A relatively common subject for novels and other stories.