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Emund (d. 1056), the last of his royal house , on whose death
hostilities broke out between the Götar, who were now inclined
in favour of Christianity and the more northern and less civilised
Svear, who were still sunk in paganism. Emund had been
indifferent about religion . hut his successor Stenkil Ragnvaldsson
was a zealous Christian and was keenly opposed by the Svear. On
the death of Stenkil about 1066 open war broke out between the
Christian and the pagan parties. When his successor Inge
Stenkilsson ( d. 1112), in whose reign the archbishopric of Lund was
erected (1103), forbade heathen sacrifices, the Svear set up his
brother-in-law Blot-Sven as a rival king, but Inge and his nephews
and successors, Inge II. (d. about 1120) and Philip (d. about 1130),
succeeded in maintaining their independence. These dissensions
greatly weakened the resources of the kingdom. Stenkilsson fought
successfully against Magnus Barfod of Norway and acquittedhimself
honourably at Kongshelle (1101), but his successors often allowed
the Norwegians to invade their territory with impunity.
On the death of Philip, Magnus, a Danish prince, and
grandson of Stenkilsson, assumed the title of king in Götaland, but
was defeated and slain in 1134 by Sverker I., who had been elected
king two years previously. Sverker was next opposed by Erik
Jedvardsson, who was proclaimed king by the Svear, and on
Sver-ker’s death in 1156 this Erik, commonly called the ‘Ninth’ and
surnamed the ‘Saint’, obtained undivided possession of the throne.
Eric, a zealous churchman, converted the temple of Upsala into a
Christian place of worship, and conquered and Christianised
the S.W. part of Finland. In 1160 he was attacked and slain by
Magnus Henriksson, a Danish prince, who laid claim to the throne,
and who in the following year was defeated and slain by Karl
Sverkersson. The latter in his turn was slain by Erik Knutsson in
1167, and the contest between the rival houses of Sverker and
Eric lasted down to 1222. Eric died in 1195, his successor Sverker
Karlsson in 1210, and Jon Sverkersson, the son of the latter and
the last of his family, in 1222, whereupon Erik Læspe (‘the
lisping’), a son of Eric Knutsson, ascended the throne unopposed.
Meanwhile the Svear, or Swedes in the narrower sense, had been
converted to Christianity. The church was at first presided over
by missionary bishops only, but in the reign of Olaf Eriksson a
bishopric was erected at Skara, and under Stenkil another at
Sigtuna. Under King Sverker a bishop of Öster-Götland was
appointed, with his residence at Linköping, one for the diocese of
Upper Sweden at Upsala, and others for Södermanland and
Vester-manland at Strongnäs and Vesterås, while several monasteries
were also founded. The primacy of Sweden was granted to
Archbishop Eskil of Lund by Hadrian IV. (Nicholas Breakespeare) about
the year 1154, but in 1163 was transferred to Stephanus. the
newly-created Archbishop of Upsala.
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