This has been bugging me for a great while, I'd very much like a Scandinavian elective inheritance system to better represent the history of the region. The current system, where only the great Dukes hold any power, represents the situation in the HRE somewhat accurately. It doesn't at all work for Scandinavia. And the fact that Paradox created tanistry for the Gaels, but neglected their own history seems just lazy to me.
Firstly, the system through which a monarch was elected during the later middle ages was called an Eriksgata in Sweden. It was fundamentally different compared to the process in Germany in that all of the Swedish people was represented. I'm not sure exactly how the process went in Denmark and Norway, so I'd be happy if someone more knowledgeable would elaborate on that.
The problem for Sweden is that we have very few sources from the earlier part of the high middle ages. We do know however that the later process consisted of the king being elected at Mora stenar, outside Uppsala in Uppland, and that the king then had to travel south and be accepted by the people of each of the major provinces. The law firmly states that "swear agho konongh at taka ok swa at wraekae", Swedes holds the right to take and evict kings.
Each province had to had to provide the king with a number of hostages as insurance. But this was seen as giving great honor and respect to the provinces, and we have an account of what happens when a king didn't respect the people. Enter king Ragnvald Knaphövde of the 1120's. He was a prideful man who refused to follow the common laws and customs by not taking any prisoners. This angered the people of Västergötland so much that they thus had him killed when he rode through the province.
We also have the situation of early high-medieval Sweden, between 1130 and 1250, where two different dynasties shifted the throne between each other, as if they took turn playing chess. See the house of Erik and the house of Sverker at wikipedia to get a picture of the extent of the practice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_monarchs#Houses_of_Sverker_and_Eric
This is the kind of dynamic shifts that i wish to see when a Scandinavian elective inheritance system.
Firstly, the system through which a monarch was elected during the later middle ages was called an Eriksgata in Sweden. It was fundamentally different compared to the process in Germany in that all of the Swedish people was represented. I'm not sure exactly how the process went in Denmark and Norway, so I'd be happy if someone more knowledgeable would elaborate on that.
The problem for Sweden is that we have very few sources from the earlier part of the high middle ages. We do know however that the later process consisted of the king being elected at Mora stenar, outside Uppsala in Uppland, and that the king then had to travel south and be accepted by the people of each of the major provinces. The law firmly states that "swear agho konongh at taka ok swa at wraekae", Swedes holds the right to take and evict kings.
Each province had to had to provide the king with a number of hostages as insurance. But this was seen as giving great honor and respect to the provinces, and we have an account of what happens when a king didn't respect the people. Enter king Ragnvald Knaphövde of the 1120's. He was a prideful man who refused to follow the common laws and customs by not taking any prisoners. This angered the people of Västergötland so much that they thus had him killed when he rode through the province.
We also have the situation of early high-medieval Sweden, between 1130 and 1250, where two different dynasties shifted the throne between each other, as if they took turn playing chess. See the house of Erik and the house of Sverker at wikipedia to get a picture of the extent of the practice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_monarchs#Houses_of_Sverker_and_Eric
This is the kind of dynamic shifts that i wish to see when a Scandinavian elective inheritance system.
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