Military orders · Kingdom of the Swedes and the Götar · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Hospitallers, Tuna

The only house of a military order in Svealand: brothers of the Hospital of St John at Tuna in Rekarne, Södermanland, by the church where the English missionary St Eskil was buried about 1080, when Tuna was his bishop's seat; the see moved to Strängnäs before 1120 (de.wikipedia), and the place is later called Eskilstuna after him.

Swedish histories date the gift to King Knut Eriksson about 1185; no founding charter survives and the date is not checked here. In 1200 it is a small house with a hospital and the pilgrims' church at the saint's grave, living on farms in Rekarne given by its founder. It is tied by its foundation to the Erik line, but nothing shows it acting in politics.

Who he is

Name
not named
Title
prior or preceptor of the brothers of St John at Tuna
Since
house founded, by Swedish tradition, by King Knut Eriksson about 1185
Confidence
low

general knowledge of Swedish church history; en.wikipedia Saint Eskil and Eskilstuna (which confirm the shrine and the later monastery but not the founder or date)

Overlord

the Order of St John (the Hospital at Acre and its priory for the North, not pinned) and the king's protection

What it holds

  • the church and grave of St Eskil at Tuna
  • a hospital for pilgrims and the sick
  • farms round Tuna in Rekarne (not listed in any source for 1200)

How it was acquired

Royal gift of King Knut Eriksson, about 1185 (tradition).

Allies and rivals

Under the king's protection; the founder's grandsons, Knut Eriksson's sons, live at Sverker's court. The bishop of Strängnäs, whose diocese Tuna lies in, claims the saint's cult (Eskil's martyrdom is placed at Strängnäs).

How things stand that morning

A quiet religious house under King Sverker's peace on 1 January 1200.

Wealth

Farm rents, gifts and pilgrims' offerings at St Eskil's grave.

Military

None in Sweden: the order's fighting brothers serve in the East. No fortification at Tuna.

Threats

  • Loss of royal favour if the crown turns against the Erik line's foundations (speculative)

Where the sources disagree

  • de.wikipedia (Eskilstuna), as read in this run, ties the Johanniter at Tuna to Torshälla and gives a move to Strängnäs in 1170, which does not fit the usual account of a foundation about 1185; not relied on.

Evidence: The Hospitallers' presence at Eskilstuna and the royal castle built on the site after the Reformation are well known; the founder and date (Knut Eriksson, about 1185) rest on the usual Swedish account and could not be checked online in this run.

On the map: The parish of Tuna stands for the house and its near farms; the order's holdings in 1200 are not known in detail.

Primary sources for Sweden

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • The Danish annals of Lund, Ryd and other houses (12th and 13th centuries; Lund continued to 1307, Ryd to 1288). Short dated entries from Lund, the archbishop's seat, and from Ryd in Schleswig. Read online
  • Deeds of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus (about 1185 to 1208). Saxo was writing at Lund in 1200 under Absalon, who died in March 1201, and his last books are an insider's history of Valdemar I and Knud VI to 1185: the Wendish wars, the taking of Rügen, the submission of Pomerania in 1185, the Danish fleet, Absalon's power and the Danish quarrel with the Empire. Read online
  • The saga of King Sverre of Norway, Karl Jónsson and a continuator (begun about 1185 under Sverre's own supervision, completed about 1210 to 1220). The king's own authorised saga. Read online
  • The sagas of the Baglers (about 1210 to 1220, in a shorter and a longer version). Begins with Sverre's death in March 1202 and the reigns of Hákon Sverrisson, Guttorm and Inge Bårdsson against the Bagler kings Erling Steinvegg and Philippus, so it has nothing for 1200 itself. Read online
  • The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
  • The Danish diplomatarium: charters and letters concerning Denmark, with Danish translation (documents of 789 to 1448; the online edition is continuing). Twenty-seven documents are dated to 1200: Innocent III's letters of February and March 1200 to Philip Augustus and Queen Ingeborg and his order for the interdict on France, Otto IV's letter to the pope expecting King Knud VI to move into Saxony, the reports of the legate Octavian and the French bishops on the lifting of the interdict in September, the pope's letters to Knud VI asking him to send advocates for his sister, Knud VI's ordinance on manslaughter for Skåne of 28 December 1200, and private gifts to Roskilde and Næstved. Read online
  • The Swedish diplomatarium and its main register, SDHK (documents of 817 to 1540). The register of every known Swedish medieval letter, with full texts for the early centuries. Read online
  • The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia (en): Saint Eskil
  2. Wikipedia (en): Eskilstuna
  3. Wikipedia (de): Eskilstuna
  4. Wikipedia (en): Knut Eriksson

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.