Not a town but the oldest seat of the Swedish kingship: a great village of royal and church farms on the ridge north of the Fyris plain, the largest village in Uppland, beside the great royal mounds.
Its stone cathedral (begun in the 11th century, finished in the 12th) has been the seat of Sweden's archbishop since 1164, and King Erik (St Erik, killed in 1160) is buried in it. The thing of all the Svear and the Disting fair meet here each year at the end of February or early March. The harbour and market lie 5 km downriver at Östra Aros (Östra Aros); the see and the name Uppsala move there only in 1273.
Who holds it
- Name
- King Sverker II; Archbishop Olof Lambatunga (since 1198; Church map)
- Title
- the king (royal farm) and the archbishop (cathedral and its land)
- Since
- 1195-96 (king); 1198 (archbishop)
- Confidence
- high
en.wikipedia Gamla Uppsala, Uppsala öd, Stones of Mora; campaign notes Part 6 J and Part 8
Lord in 1200
King Sverker II holds the royal farm and the Uppsala öd through his bailiff (not named). The cathedral, its clergy and the archbishop's farms are Archbishop Olof Lambatunga's (Church map; campaign notes Part 6 J).
How things stand that morning
Quiet. The king's farm and the archbishop's see stand side by side. Two church cases touch the see that winter (campaign notes): Lund's claim to be primate over Uppsala, and Innocent III's order that Olof remove two bishops consecrated by his predecessor who were sons of priests.
Charter
None: a royal and episcopal village, not a chartered town.
Council
None. The thing of all the Svear and Tiundaland's thing, under the lawspeaker of Tiundaland, the senior lawspeaker of the Svear (not named for 1200).
Communities
The king's bailiff and household; the archbishop, the cathedral clergy and their servants; the farmers of the village.
Fairs and markets
The Disting fair, held with the thing at the end of February or early March (en.wikipedia, Gamla Uppsala); the 1200 fair falls in the coming weeks.
Militia
None of its own: the farmers of Tiundaland in the levy.
Walls and castle
None: a royal farm and a stone cathedral, no walls.
Trade and crafts
A winter fair on the frozen roads: furs and hides from Norrland, iron from the Bergslagen, butter, cattle, grain, salt and cloth. Crafts serve the royal farm and the cathedral.
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.
In 1200
- late February or early March 1200The Disting fair and the thing of all the Svear.Depends on: Custom and peace. Stopped by: War or a rising in Uppland.
Later, on the likely course
- 1240 and 1273 (after this year)The cathedral burns (1240); the see moves to Östra Aros (1273), which takes the name Uppsala.
Places of note
- Old Uppsala cathedral: archbishop's cathedral since 1164; King Erik's grave
- Mora stones: acclamation place of the kings, 10 km south-east
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The cathedral, the archbishopric (1164), the royal farm and the fair are attested in outline; who ran the royal farm in 1200 is not known, and the fair's medieval dates come from Snorri and later law.
On the map: The tierra is the village with its fields; the king's and the archbishop's farms lay scattered across Uppland.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.