Birger

Youth

The representative of the influential Folkung family, the son of Magnus Minnelskjold from Ingrid Ilva . Born and raised in the Bölby estate. The first mention of Birger in the chronicles dates back to 1237, when he married King Eric Shepelyavoy’s sister Ingeborg Ericksdotter , who was at least the fourth cousin of Alexander Nevsky ^[3] . Although the annals (in particular, Eric’s chronicle ) indicate the “private” nature of Birger’s matchmaking, it must be borne in mind that by then Birger’s cousin Ulf Fase was the Jarl for about 15 years, and the heirs of the seriously ill (and who did not really control the country) king did not have.

Military career

Allegations of Birger’s participation in the Neva Battle of 1240 are based only on Russian sources, in the absence of the original.

After the death of Ulf Fasse in 1248, Birger, defeating his rivals, became a Swedish jar and headed the army on an aggressive campaign in Finland , which had to be interrupted after receiving news of the king’s death (1250).

The Swedish nobility opposed Birger becoming the new king, but he managed to put his eldest son Valdemar , who was then eleven years old, on the throne. Birger himself became the regent with him. In 1251, however, a rebellion was launched against him, led by his closest relatives. As a result, the rebel army was defeated, Philip Knutson (the son of King Knut Long ) and Knut Magnusson (grandson of the Jarl Knut Birgerssson and King Knut Ericsson ) were executed, and the son of Ulf Fase Jonker Karl was expelled from the country.

Domestic Policy

Having dealt with competitors, Birger began to pursue a policy aimed at strengthening the state and social stability. He married the son of Waldemar to the daughter of the Danish king , married his daughters to representatives of the ruling houses of Norway and the North German principalities, and signed trade agreements with Lübeck , Hamburg and England . In Finland, he founded the Tavastgus fortress, laid the foundation of the Stockholm castle , around which the current capital of Sweden will grow.

Birger is also known as a lawmaker - in particular, he forbade torture with a red-hot iron (which has been common practice since the Vikings), recognized his daughters' right to inheritance (at least half of his son’s inheritance), and encouraged the construction of churches as centers of culture and literacy. Support for the church, along with dynastic ties with neighboring countries, allowed the dynasty he founded to rule in Sweden and Norway until the middle of the next century.

Death and Legends

Birger Magnusson died in Yalbolung in 1266. He is buried in a modern Cisterian monastery in Warnham; after the construction of the Stockholm City Hall , it was believed that the remains of Birger were transferred there, but this turned out to be a myth - the grave in Stockholm remained empty. On the tombstone is an image of the jarl himself, his second wife Mehthilda Holstein and his son Eric . Their graves were opened in May 2002 - osteological studies of the remains and DNA analysis proved that Jarl Birger was really buried.

The tombstone image was identified by Professor Svanberg as the image of the Jarl Birger. At the time of his death in 1266 he was 50-55 years old. That is, he was born no earlier than 1210. Traces of a serious injury were found in the area of ​​the right eye socket ^[4] , which echoes the words of the chronicler about a skirmish on the battlefield between Alexander Nevsky and Birger: “Put the seal on your face with your sharp copy” But since the Jarl’s military career was stormy and the very fact of his participation in the battle with the Russians is not confirmed by anything other than later Russian sources, the wound can be of any origin. Most importantly, Birger became a jarl in 1248, and the Battle of Neva took place in 1240.

• Gregers (+1276), illegitimate son from an unknown mother.

from marriage with Ingeborg , daughter of Eric X (V) Knutson

• Rikitsa (1238–1288), married to Hakon Hakksson , king of Norway, then to Henry Verlsky
• Waldemar I Birgerson (1239-1302), King of Sweden in 1250-76
• Magnus Ladoulos (1240–1290), King of Sweden since 1276
• Kristina
• Katarina (1245–1289), married to Siegfried of Anhalt
• Eric (1250–1275), Duke of Smoland
• Ingeborg (1254-1302), married to Johann of Saxony
• Bengt (1254–1291), Bishop of Linkoping and Finland

from marriage to Mehthilde of Denmark (since 1261)

• Christina Birgersdotter

In Stockholm there is a square and a monument to Birger Jarl. Birger Jarlsgatan (Swede. Birger Jarlsgatan) - one of the longest streets in the center of Stockholm.

In 2008, the Russian film “ Alexander. Battle of Neva ”, in which the image of Birger Yarla was embodied by actor Dmitry Bykovsky-Romashov .

Birger identified the Y-chromosome haplogroup I1 and mitochondrial haplogroup H , his son Eric identified the Y-chromosome haplogroup I1 and mitochondrial haplogroup Z1a . His second wife Mehthilda identified the mitochondrial haplogroup U5b1 ^[5] .

• Birger // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.