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was distinguished for the beauty of his person, and
was now in his twentieth year; his nuptials with
the Danish princess Sophia were solemnized with
great pomp at Jenkœping in 1262. At this time
earl Birger made the law, that a sister should
inherit half as much as a brother [1], for before this
time the daughter only inherited when there was
no son; in other cases the law said, “cap, come in;
hood, begone [2].” By him was also introduced the
general land’s-peace, called Edsöre, because “it
was confirmed by the oath of the king, and all the
principal men of the realm [3].” By this covenant
was guaranteed under severe penalties, the peace
of the domestic hearth, of women, of churches, of
courts of justice, and the exercise of irregular
revenge was forbidden, for the power of the law
did not yet extend further. Whosoever broke the
pact, was to be proclaimed throughout the kingdom
as having lost his peace; he forfeited all that he
possessed “above ground,” and was not allowed to
atone for his transgression by fine without the
intercession of the complainant. To earl Birger’s
legislation appertains also the abolition of the
ordeal by red-hot iron as a legal proof, and the
interdiction of gift-thralls (gafträlar), as those were
called who had voluntarily given themselves up to
servitude, with several other ordinances, which the
Law of East-Gothland more especially has preserved.
The foundation of the town of Stockholm has
also been ascribed to Birger, although a settlement
had been in progress upon this site since the
destruction of Sigtuna by the Finnish pirates in 1187.
The little island lying between the two outlets of
lake Mälar, which contained the first town, was
now fortified [4] for defence against the piratical
incursions of the Finns. These were still so formidable
in this age, that a papal bull of the year 1259
exhorted the kings of Sweden and Denmark to
make a joint effort to check the ravages of the
pirates on the Swedish coast. Stockholm was a
castle before the Mälar, says the Rhyme Chronicle;
its earliest author enumerates seven towns upon
the banks of that lake, and the rise of these is also
attested by several commercial treaties. With
Lubeck and Hamburg reciprocal freedom of trade
was established, which was not long afterwards
extended to Riga. In the renewed treaty with
Lubeck, reference is made to the alliance which
had already subsisted between Sweden and the
German towns since king Canute Ericson’s time.
Birger sought also to form connections with
England. In the disputes of Denmark and Norway
his mediation was received with deference, and he
afforded shelter in his court to a Russian grand
duke [5]. Earl Birger, king without the name, the
last and most powerful of the earls of Sweden, died
on the 21st of October, (a. d. 126G,) lamented after
his death, whatever blame might have attached to
many of his actions during life. Old and young, it
is said, mourned for him, and the women, whose
rights and peace he had taken under his guard,
prayed for his soul.
Waldemar now began really to reign, but he
now also yielded up the provinces which his
father had allotted to his brothers. Magnus
obtained Sudermania with the castle of Nykœping;
in Waldemar’s time he alone among the brothers
bore the title of duke. Eric, whose fief is not
specified, did not receive the title before the
accession of Magnus, and died shortly afterwards, in the
year 1275. Bennet, the youngest, who entered
the spiritual state, is styled, during the reign of
Magnus, his brother’s chancellor; he was made
duke of Finland in 1284, bishop of Linkœping two
years afterwards, and died in the possession of these
dignities in 1291. He was mild and well-beloved,
and sought, though vainly, to preserve harmony
between his brothers, of whom the elder two were
speedily at strife with the king. Waldemar thought
only of his own enjoyments; the queen scoffed at
her brothers-in-law. Eric, whom from his insignificance,
she nicknamed Good-for-nought, repaired to
Norway, and made the king’s ear the receptacle of
his complaints. Magnus, who was lean and
dark-complexioned, she called Tinker. But he kept a
far more splendid court than the king, and his
numerous retainers excelled in all knightly
exercises. A love-intrigue at length lost Waldemar
his crown. His consort Sophia, who had already
brought him several heirs [6], received in 1273 a visit
from her sister Jutta, who left her cloister and
came to the Swedish court, “fair as an angel from
heaven,” as the Rhyme Chronicle has it. Her
guilty intercourse with the king, of which a child
was the fruit, produced discord in his house,
degraded him in the eyes of the people, and drew
down upon his head the censures of the church.
That he was obliged to expiate his offence by a
pilgrimage to Rome is probable, as the bull of January
9, 1274 [7], by which the pope forbids the choice of
another king in Sweden, appears to have been
procured by Waldemar during this journey. No
letters from Magnus with the kingly title are found of
earlier date than the beginning of 1275, but as in a
subsequent document he mentions the year 1285
as the twelfth of his reign, he seems to have
included in it his regency during the absence of
Waldemar. The duke felt by no means inclined
to restore the reins of power to the king on his
return. A conference of all the four brothers took
place in the summer of 1274, at which the
youngest, for the promotion of amity, vainly offered
to renounce his governments. It led to no salutary
result; and in the following year intestine war broke
out. Magnus and Eric concluded a league with
king Eric Glipping in Denmark, who assisted them
with troops, they engaging to pay six thousand
marks silver. The royal army, consisting chiefly
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