Battle of Lena

In the period 1150-1250 there was a strong rivalry between the House of Sverkers and the House of Eriks , who succeeded each other on the Swedish throne. The main representative of the House of Eric Eric Knutsson returned from exile in Norway in 1207-08. There were family ties between his family and the Norwegian ruling elite, but rare sources of the time did not say whether the Norwegian troops supported him. Sverker II was forced to flee to Denmark , where he was raised before he became king. All this suggests that most of the Swedish nobility rejected the rule of Sverker. ^[one]

His relative, the Danish king Valdemar the Victorious, provided military assistance to Sverker, including the Czech detachment from the father-in-law Valdemar, king of Bohemia . The bulk of the troops, however, were assembled by influential relatives of Sverker, the stepbrother of the Sunessen. ^{[2] The} army was led by Ebbe Sunysen, brother of Archbishop Andreas Sunysen. Medieval sources, for the most part, estimate the size of the forces of Sverker from 12,000 to 18,000 people, although these figures can be greatly exaggerated. ^[3] Erik's warriors, according to later sources, were half the size of Sverker, numbering between 7,000 and 10,000. It is often believed that Eric's army was partly supplemented by the Norwegian allies. However, this was questioned by the Norwegian historian P.A. Munk , who considered it unlikely that Eric's ally, Earl Haakon Mad , would have warriors in reserve that he could provide to Eric, taking into account acute internal problems in Norway at that time . ^[4] In the opinion of other Norwegian historians, given that the break in the Norwegian civil war broke out in 1207, many Norwegian soldiers were ready to look for service in other places, which Eric Knutsson used to take to himself.

The invading army entered Westergötland in the middle of winter, apparently so that frozen lakes and rivers would facilitate the movement of troops. They met the enemy in Lena on January 31, 1208. No source of that time describes the battle in detail. We only know that the Danish troops suffered a crushing defeat, and that Ebbe Sunesen and his brother Lars were killed. The Icelandic Book from the Flat Island claims that “Prince Eric killed Ebbe Sunesen,” possibly implying a personal meeting on the battlefield. ^[5] From the Swedish side, Knut Jarl from the House Bielba was probably killed. Also killed in hand-to-hand combat was Magnus, possibly Uncle Knut Jarl Magnus Minnelsjold , Birger's father. ^[6] The Swedes may have taken advantage of winter weather because the Danish knights were shackled and vulnerable in deep snow.

Later Swedish and Danish legends, not being reliable sources, testify to the impression that a catastrophic battle made for descendants. The Swedish verse portrayed this event as an ordinary battle between Sweden and Denmark: “It happened in Lena / Two Danes ran after one (Swede) / And from Swedish husbands / got a good spanking.” ^{[7] The} Danish folk song underlines the tragic circumstances for the Swedes, as the relatives fought each other: "It was painful to stand in battle / When the son killed his father." ^[8] The song states that no more than 55 people were saved in a carnage and returned to Denmark:

Among the few survivors was Sverker II, who fled to Denmark. Dad showed interest in the deposed king's case and ordered Eric Knutsson to help Sverker regain the throne. When Eric refused to meet these demands, Sverker returned from his asylum in Denmark with a new army. This second invasion ended in the battle of Guestilren in July 1210. This time Sverker was killed, which secured the throne to King Eric. ^[9]

This battle marked the end of a long bloody struggle for the Swedish crown between the two dynasties from 1130 almost a century, because only after the death of Sverker Karlsson bloody feuds between the two royal houses turned into a more peaceful rivalry.

Eric Knutsson died in 1216, when he was peacefully replaced by Johan Sverkersson, son of Sverker Karlsson, on the throne. In 1222, the House of Erikov regained the crown with Eric Eriksson without any serious problems.