A Flatpack History of Sweden

We're squeezing in a final episode of 2023! We look at a major siege and battle over on the Russian border in Finland before turning back to look at political developments in Sweden. King Hans is on the move and Swedish Regent Sten Sture has his work cut out for him as even his own archbishop starts getting a bit agitated!  Please let us know your suggestions for what we should cover as a special...

There are expeditions and battles in the east of the Baltic Sea region this week and we see changes in the political landscape back home too. Sweden also makes a big cultural and scientific leap as the printing press arrives on our shores! The first few books might not exactly be best sellers and they also aren't that imaginatively named either, just like a new castle built over in Finland...

We're back and back with a bang! Or back with a battle at least! King Kristian of Denmark slogs it out with Swedish Regent Sten Sture in a battle long remembered. Both before and after the battle, we see a lot of nationalistic chat on both sides of the border, as the Kalmar Union descends into a conflict Sten Sture wants to define as Sweden vs Denmark. King Kristian also has to learn how to use th...

KKB as King, peasants revolting, marriage alliances, political bishops, regents, splits in the nobility, angry Danes, oh, and a plague. This episode has it all! Listen for more details!

This episode feels a bit like déjà vu, as all sides in Scandinavia recycle plans they've used before. Once again, there's conflict with Denmark, the nobility in in disagreement, the peasants revolt, and guess what - KKB is back! This is the podcast you're looking for, just with a fancy new logo. Hope you like it!

Whilst Kings Kristian and KKB battled it out for the control of Sweden and Norway in the last episode, one Norwegian nobleman was busy playing an interesting in Norwegian society at the time. We look at the life of Olav Nilsson Skanke and his indefatigable wife Elise, how their actions fit into the grand story of the Kalmar Union and why their relationship with the Hansa in particular was somethin...

It is time for our longest episode for over two years! Sorry if you like the shorter stories, there is too much madness with KKB to cover this time around. After the sad, untimely death of King Chris, the Swedes and the Danes disagree about who should be King of the Kalmar Union. There isn't even really any unanimous decision within Sweden either... As always, Norway is the odd one out and has to...

We're on the road again! We thought we had maybe neglected Östergötland a little, considering its importance to the story of Sweden, so during the summer we headed south and went on a bit of a trip.  We visited Linköping castle and cathedral, Vadstena Abbey and the island of Visingsö with its castles and woods. Taking our microphone for a ride, we look at these historical places and the important...

King Kristoffer is on the throne! Of Denmark at least... There will be some wrangling with the council first, before he can ascend the throne of Sweden and the Kalmar Union can once again be under the rule of one monarch. We dedicate an entire episode to the reign of Chris' namesake king, looking at who he was, what he did, and if the introduction of a new law code is really as boring as it may so...

To arms, all guards to the battlements!  Castles have become increasingly important over the last century or so in our story and it is time we look into them in a bit more detail. How were castles built, what purpose did they serve and who worked and lived in them? We look into castles and fortresses in medieval Sweden and focus on a few examples to get a bit more colour on these unique locations...

It’s time for a surprise special episode, on a Friday no less! We’re so happy to have teamed up with Mikael from The Scandinavian History Podcast. We’ve both spent so much time recently talking about the Kalmar Union and so we thought that we would mark the 500th anniversary of Sweden leaving the Union (spoilers!) by looking into a crystal ball to see what might have happened had the Union survive...

Erik Puke is dead and with his death the peasant revolt he led dies down. The Swedish council meets in Strängnäs to try and solve the "peasant problem" once and for all, putting a number of restrictions on those they looked down on. But will this just mean that the nobility will start fighting amongst themselves about who gets to take advantage of the situation? We then cover a brilliant Danish in...

When Venetian merchant Pietro Querini left Crete for Flanders in 1432, little did he know that his voyage would take him much further afield. We follow the unfortunate Venetian as he and his crew struggle their way through poor shipbuilding, storms, starvation and desolate environments. The story also includes a guest appearance by one of our favourite characters in the main narrative so far!  Que...

The revolt that is tearing Sweden apart is starting to split apart, just like Engelbrekt's head. There are now two distinct groups, with the high nobility being led by Karl Knutsson Bonde, with Erik Puke taking up Engelbrekt's cause of wanting lower taxes for the peasants. Forget about King Erik, the real dispute is internally within the rebellion! We also hear about the wonderful life journey of...

Engelbrekt really does mean business. His revolt is continuing to grow after peace talks with King Erik don't really come to much. Engelbrekt storms around Sweden, lighting the fires of rebellion, but will some personal disputes get in the way for the rebel leader? What does end in this episode though is the war with Holstein over Schleswig, so at least the King can be happy with that, can't he? 

We're back with the chronological narrative and things start piling up for King Erik. He clearly didn't listen to this episode's Swedish Phrase of the Week... Without Queen Filippa keeping an eye on Swedish public opinion, discontent spills over into outright rebellion, led by a man so good they named him twice, Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. But is it possible to rebel against a King of three realms...

After some excellent listener feedback, we're righting a wrong and focusing on animals throughout Swedish history. We start by looking at the lives of animals during the current period of the podcast, investigating what pigs, sheep, horses, dogs and other animals were up to in the medieval period. We then look at some famous royal horses and examine an English dog scandal with a bit of a Swedish t...

This time we focus on King Erik's disastrous war with Holstein over Slesvig, as things take a turn for the worse when the Hansa join in. Queen Filippa helps out with the war effort and tries to get the discontented Swedes on side, before an unfortunate event means she is unable to help as the situation deteriorates... We then end the episode with a look at archery in naval combat and what life mig...

Last time we saw King Erik head out on a trip across Europe, looking for marriage alliances and help with Slesvig, before spending some quality time in Jerusalem. Whilst he is away, Queen Filippa takes the reins in Scandinavia. For almost two years she rules the Kalmar Union, introducing new coins and travels a lot around the realm.  We have also had the pleasure recently of featuring on the great...

Knowing he has a competent Queen back home, Erik can afford to go on a long road trip! He's heading off to Jerusalem, but on the way he wants to get some help with Slesvig from his cousin, the Holy Roman Empire strongman Sigismund. He's also in the market for a marriage alliance and more than happy to invite himself to some parties along the way, so he's got a busy journey ahead of him! 

Following Margareta's departure from the story, King Erik is now ruling Sweden and the rest of the Kalmar Union on his own. He has plenty of meetings dealing with the fall out of Margareta's death and it starts off really well for him. However, things will soon go from bad to worse in the war with Holstein over Slesvig and Erik will land himself in trouble that will only spiral from here. He earns...

Do not adjust your podcast player, this is a new style of episode! We are introducing an episode called Tangent Time, because we have finally snapped and gone off on a long tangent about something only vaguely related to the main narrative...  We cover the pivotal Battle of Grunwald (or Battle of Tannenberg) between the Teutonic Knights and the forces of Poland and Lithuania. We mentioned this bri...

The story of the Kalmar Union continues, as political intrigue engulfs the religious world when Sweden needs a new archbishop... There's also a lot of fighting on the battlefield as we cover a disaster for both the Teutonic Knights over in Poland and also for our friend Father Abraham down in Holstein. And then, we see the surprise departure of a significant figure in the story so far... 

Queen Margareta and King Erik are taking some time off from fighting German knights and reducing the property ownership of the nobility to attend to some personal matters, because it is time for King Erik to get married! After some scouting around for suitable wives, the choice falls on an English Princess, Filippa. We delve deep into the marriage negotiations, preparations and practicalities arou...

First up in this action and intrigue-packed episode is a story that took Scandinavia by storm in the early 1400s. Margareta receives a letter from someone long gone and the revelations threaten to tear apart her Kingdom. A strange man arrives at court but doesn't exactly receive a warm welcome. The same applies to Margareta's men sent to deal with the situation on Gotland, with the leader of this...