Olaf (king of Sweden)

Olaf Schötkönung can be considered the first king of Sweden. He is the first king of sveis , whom the Getae voluntarily recognized as their ruler. Olaf is the first Swedish ruler to be known from reliable written sources. About his father - Eric VI the Victorious - is known only from legends and sagas recorded only in the XIII century . King Olaf was the first Christian monarch, but only for half of Sweden. Pursuing a policy of spreading Christianity, he failed in Svealand, ruled from Gotaland, but did not renounce his faith until his death. When it began the minting of the first silver coins in Sweden. Olaf Schötkönung, along with his father, is considered the possible founder of Sigtuna in Sweden.

Sweden was the strongest Scandinavian power at the time of the proclamation of Olaf Schötkönung as king. Denmark was conquered by Eric the Victorious, the Danish king Sven I the Great Beard was in exile. The Baltic tribes of the Curonian and Prussians paid tribute to the Swedish king every year. However, Olaf quickly squandered all the achievements of his father. Under the influence of his mother, Gunhild (aka Sigrid Proud ), who remarried Sven the Viloborody, Olaf refused any rights to Denmark.

Baltic tribes stopped paying tribute. Inside the kingdom, fermentations began, the label of Goethe lands began to show separatist sentiments. Olaf Shetokonung had to act. Having married, the king became related with a noble Goetian clan and restored the balance between the Svei and Getae tribes. But in order to finally reassure his subjects, a victorious military campaign was necessary.

In alliance with Sven Viloborodom, Olaf gathered a powerful fleet against Norway. As a result, the battle at sea took place in 1000: the battle of Svolder. Some historians consider the site of the battle the island of Rügen off the German coast, and some of the islands of Vienna in the strait between Sweden and Denmark ^[1] . After the victory of the Swedish-Danish fleet, the problem was resolved.

In 1015, Olaf Haraldson , one of the descendants of Harald the Fair-haired , captures the Norwegian throne. Very quickly, he regains control of the lands captured by Olaf Shetkonung.

In 1017, the Norwegian king attempted to resolve the Norwegian-Swedish border conflict, and an embassy was sent to Sweden. One way to resolve the conflict was to marry Olaf II to the daughter of Olav Sjötkönung Ingergerde , and the decision on this marriage was made at a ting in Uppsala . For the Swedes, this marriage was desirable for peace, and they persuaded Olaf Shetkonunga to swear that he would extradite Ingergerd as Olaf II. Moreover, it is known that his daughter wanted this marriage.

The wedding was supposed to take place in the fall on the border of two states on the banks of the Elv River. But the Swedish king broke his promise, and in 1019 he married his daughter to Prince Yaroslav the Wise , who reigned then in Novgorod . In the dowry, Princess Ingegerda received the city of Aldeigüborg (Ladoga) with adjacent lands, which have since received the name Ingermanlandia (the land of Ingegerdy). Ingergerda’s maternal relative, the Jarl of Westergötland , Regnwald Ulvson, was appointed the lodger of the Ladoga (Aldeigüborg). Olaf II was asked to marry the second daughter of Olav Sjetkonung - Astrid.

The wife of Olaf Schötkönung was Astrid of Mecklenburg , the daughter of the Prince of Roots. In this marriage two children were born ^[2] :

• Anund Jacob (July 25, 1007-1050) - King of Sweden (1022-1050)
• Ingegerda (died February 10, 1050) - wife of the Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise

Olaf’s children from an extramarital affair with the concubine Edla (daughter of the Vendian prince from Germany) were two more children ^[2] :

• Emund Old (died 1060) - King of Sweden (1051-1060)
• Astrid - wife of King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway

• Ryzhov K. V. “All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe". - M .: Publishing house "Veche", 2001. - 560 p.
• Ouspensky F. B. "Name and power: the choice of a name as an instrument of dynastic struggle in medieval Scandinavia." - M .: Languages ​​of Russian culture, 2001. - 144 p.
• Stringolm A. “Viking Campaigns” / Translation from it. lang A. Shemyakin. - M .: LLC "Publishing house AST", 2002. - 400 p.

• Snorri Sturluson. "Circle of the Earth" Saga of Olaf Saint
• All monarchs of the world: Olof (III)