Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Later Catholic Period in Sweden - F. Reign of Magnus Ericsson
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Magnus Ericsson 77
Insubordination of the Nobles. During Magnus
Ericsson’s minority, the great lords, or nobles, became
more and more powerful and defied the law and later
the king. How was the king to curb these powerful
lords when the military power rested with them and
their numerous retinues of armed knights? They were
just as likely to turn against the king as to go with
him. But was there not the respect for the king’s per-
son? The Folkung family, to which the king belonged,
was only one of the powerful noble families, the king
only a lord among other ambitious lords. Magnus com-
plained that he had tried with entreaties and threats
to root out the evil practices of the lords, but all in
vain. Instead the lords combined against him and over-
powered him.
The Dissolution of the Union. The first great mis-
fortune of King Magnus was the loss of Norway. The
Norwegians wished to have their own separate king.
They complained that the "union king" neglected their
land. They demanded of Magnus that his son H&kan
should be Norway’s king. Magnus had to yield. Thus
was the weak union broken.
The Black Death. In the summer of 1349 some Nor-
wegian fishermen discovered a ship adrift near Bergen.
There was no crew on board, only some corpses, which
were cast into the sea. The fishermen steered the ship
into the harbor, happy over their good fortune, for the
ship carried a valuable cargo. Merchants came on
board, bought goods, and the unlading was soon ac-
complished. But the following day the new ship own-
ers took sick, and after them, all the rest that had come
in contact with the ship and its cargo. Black swellings,
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