Kings and their demesnes · Kingdom of the Swedes and the Götar · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Sverker II

Sverker's own ground as a man of his house, as against his rights as king.

His grandfather Sverker I came out of Östergötland, and the family's land lay under Omberg by Lake Vättern, where Sverker I's queen gave land for the Cistercians of Alvastra (1143) and where the house is buried. The island of Visingsö in Vättern, where Sverker's father was killed by Knut Eriksson's men in 1167, is a royal residence both houses used; the castle of Näs on its southern tip is named when Erik Knutsson dies there in 1216. Sverker grew up in Denmark and came back as king only in 1196, so his hold on these lands rests on his house's name and on the Church rather than on long residence.

Of his kindred in Östergötland little is known: his cousin Ingrid Ylva, if she was the daughter of Sune Sik, son of Sverker I (Olaus Petri; Sune's existence is doubted), is the wife of Magnus Minnesköld of Bjälbo (Magnus Minnesköld), which would tie the Bjälbo house to his own.

Who he is

Name
Sverker II Karlsson (Sverker the Younger)
Title
king of the Swedes and the Götar
Since
1196
Born
not pinned: about 1160 (de.wikipedia) or before 1167 (en.wikipedia)
Family
See Sweden. Son of King Karl Sverkersson and Kristina Stigsdotter Hvide; husband of Benedikta Ebbesdotter Hvide (dies 1200); father of Helena and perhaps of Kristina and Margareta.
Confidence
medium

The Sverker house's estates are known only from where its members founded, lived, died and were buried: Alvastra (founded 1143 on the family's land; Sverker I killed nearby at Christmas 1156; the house's burial church) and Visingsö (Karl Sverkersson killed there in 1167; Johan Sverkersson dies there in 1222).

What it holds

  • the Sverker family's lands round Alvastra under Omberg (extent not recorded)
  • the royal residence on Visingsö (Näs)
  • his share of the crown's farms in Götaland (not individually pinned)
  • patronage of Alvastra Abbey, the family's foundation and burial church (Church map)

How it was acquired

By inheritance in the Sverker house, recovered with the crown in 1196.

Allies and rivals

The Cistercians of Alvastra and the bishops; the Hvide in Denmark; Jarl Birger Brosa, whose seat at Bjälbo lies a day's ride away. Rivals: the Erik house, whose head Knut had his father killed.

How things stand that morning

Held quietly; no garrison or officer is recorded.

Wealth

Farm rents and dues of the Vättern plain, one of the best grain lands in Sweden; the lake's fishing and its traffic.

Military

The king's own followers; no castle on the mainland is recorded for 1200; Näs on Visingsö is the house's island refuge (its fortification in 1200 is not pinned).

Threats

  • King Knut's sons
  • the death of the jarl, which would leave the king alone against the great men

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1200 (en.wikipedia)Sverker marries Ingegerd Birgersdotter; Johan is born in 1201 and will die on Visingsö in 1222.Depends on: Queen Benedikta's death Stopped by: see sws-sweden

Places of note

  • Alvastra Abbey: founded 1143 on the Sverker family's land; the house's burial church (Church map)
  • Näs on Visingsö: royal residence; castle named in 1216

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: No charter lists the Sverker family's farms; the blocks rest on burial, foundation and death places.

On the map: Blocks of parishes round the places tied to the house; the real holdings were scattered farms, not a block.

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: Sverker II of Sweden
  2. Wikipedia (de): Sverker II. (Schweden)
  3. Medieval Lands (fmg.ac): Sweden, kings
  4. Wikipedia: Eric X of Sweden (Erik Knutsson)

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