Benedict Ebbbesdotter

The information about Benedict is based on the genealogy of the Hvid family, made up in the 14th century Abbey of Sorø . According to this source, Benedict was born in Knadrup in Denmark between 1165 and 1170. She was the daughter of a noble man, Ebbe Sunesson of Hvide. The little Swedish prince Sverker Karlsson was brought to Denmark in 1167 after the murder of his father, and, obviously, was brought up by powerful relatives on the maternal line ^[1] . Most likely, there he met his future bride, a relative of his mother, and married her when he grew up. This could happen in the mid-1180s. Children:

• Helena (c. 1190 - after 1222), mother of the Queen of Sweden Katharina Sunesdotter
• (possibly) Carl (died. 1198), died in childhood
• (possibly) Christine (died 1252), wife of Heinrich Borvin II
• (possibly) Margarita (1192–1232), wife of Wisław I

In 1195 or 1196, Sverker became king of Sweden, and Benedict became queen. In the same year, her cousin, the priest Andreas Sunesson, returned to Denmark from France and became the leading politician in the Archdiocese of Absalon , also a relative of Benedicts. Queen Benedict probably shared her husband’s strictly scleric position and supported the aspiration of the church and the Archbishop Olov Lambatunga in Uppsala to power.

Since the next spouse of Sverker Ingegerd gave birth to a son in 1201, it is assumed that Queen Benedict died no later than in 1199 or 1200. The cause of her death is unknown, but suggest that she died in childbirth ^[2] .

• Åke Ohlmarks, Alla Sveriges drottningar (All the queens of Sweden; in Swedish). Stockholm: Gebers, 1973.
• Adolf Schück, "Till Sverker dy: s historia, 1. Sverkers familjeförhållanden", Historisk tidskrift 76, 1956.