The Griffin and the Pride - A Gotland Monarchist AAR

[Apelstav]

I might have to rearrange Erik's heraldic devise in the future to get the Griffin on top.​

So, back when the Lions of the North-DLC came out I had this great Gotland game where Erik of Pomerania got the Talented Daughter-event and thought "well, this would make a nice AAR", but didn't end up writing it after doing a bunch of research. Over Christmas I played another Gotland game and decided to do it this time; thus I give you The Griffin and the Pride. Its mainly going to be an history-book AAR.

I'm going to play vanilla EU4 with Gotland->Denmark->Scandinavia, though I'm going to make some slight alterations to the mission tree in narrative: Initially I'm going to treat the Imperial loan Gotland can get as one from the Hanseatic League since it would have made more sense if they were to oppose the ascension of Christian I of Denmark rather than the distant court of Frederick III. The one thing I'm going to do is to give myself a Talented Daughter - Margrete II - so the point of divergence is mainly 1431 when Erik's wife Philippa of England died in childbirth, though I might get up to some minor shenanigans as to insert certain characters into the story.

 

[Apelstav]

Happenstance, appearing as intent

Part I: On Valdemar and Magnus​

When the 14th century drew to its close it must have seemed to the three Nordic Kingdoms that they lived in blessed days, for what troubles ever ailed them nothing could be as bad as it had been in their fathers’ days. The past few generations had lived through incessant wars and dynastic struggles, within and between the three, but also involving several North German and Wendish dynasties. Denmark had almost collapsed entirely; the majority of its land being pawned unto the counts of Holstein. Norway had seen the inglorious end of its far-famed Yngling-dynasty, the Fair-hairs that had ruled the kingdom ever since its very inception whilst Sweden had seen its rise as a modern, European kingdom stopped in its tracks as dynastic struggles within the House of Bjälbo had led the crown into debt, leading to a vicious cycle that might have ended with Sweden in the same position as Denmark. Take into account as well the ever-growing economic dependence upon the German traders of the Hanseatic League, the Black Plague – not only in its initial and most deadly outbreak but also from the aftershocks that threatened to rip the very fabric of society apart.

Later, many historians would look to the 14th century and reach the conclusion that its trials and tribulations must have spurred the Nordic people towards their eventual first union. It’s of course quite impossible to disprove this, and it would be facetious to claim that the various power players, German and local burghers, bishops and abbots, knights and nobility, were unaware of the chaos their fathers had lived through but it would be as false to deny the remarkable causal chain that brought Margrete I to power.

When Valdemar the Dawnbringer (Nordic: Atterdag) had finally been able to ascend to the throne of Denmark in 1340 it was after an eight-year long interregnum where Duke Gerhard of Slesvig, also Count of Holstein-Rendsburg as vassal to the Holy Roman emperor, had reigned over the greater part of the realm. Most of what was left had been pawned to local Danish nobility or to Gerhard’s kin as to pay for a series of costly wars by Valdemar’s father and uncle. Gerhard, in German sources known as ‘der Grosse’ whilst in Danish often referred to as the Bald Count (Greve Gert den Kullede), had managed to defeat Valdemar’s father and brothers and claim guardianship of both Denmark and the absent prince.

The Danish Interregnum of 1332-1340​

Valdemar had been sent into exile and protection and was raised at the imperial court of Ludwig the Bavarian, his brother-in-law, and only returned after Gerhard had been murdered by a group of Danish nobles at Randers. What kingdom Valdemar had to reign over was limited to the northern quarter of Northern Jylland, and that he aquired only by marrying the daughter of one of his debtors. Helvig Valdemarsdotter, who’s father was duke of Southern Jylland, would give Valdemar four children; their only son Christoffer, and three daughters; Margrete the Elder who died young, Ingeborg who would wed Heinrich the Hangman of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Margrete the Younger who would one day be known as Margrete I. Their marriage, as the relations between the two Valdemars, would eventually sour. Valdemar had experienced the end of his father’s weakness and would ever stride to reclaim land and rights from his overbearing nobility, and in 1355 Helvig seems to have separated from her husband and lived out the remainder of her life in the cloister at Esrum.

From 1343 onwards Valdemar spent his days campaigning against his enemies, and whilst the Black Plague almost shattered many kingdoms and dynasties it would prove something of an advantage to the young Danish king. Many of his debtors would die leaving Valdemar to reclaim some lands without having to, in the literal sense, pay for his forebearers’ mistakes.

The perhaps greatest loss Denmark had suffered was that of Scania to Sweden, but Valdemar again found opportunity there when he eventually turned his gaze eastward. Medieval Sweden had ever been in the shadow of Denmark, but as Danish power had waned Sweden had grown under the auspices of the Bjälbo-dynasty. This apparent rise to power came to an abrupt end during the harsh 14th century and the reign of Magnus Eriksson. Magnus’ mother was Ingeborg Håkonsdotter, sole child to Håkon Longleg (Hålägg) and last member of the Yngling-line, and through his descent Magnus succeeded his maternal grandfather in 1319 at the tender age of three. Norway was not, as Denmark and Sweden, an elective monarchy, though the Norwegian nobility still held great power in the realm.

Magnus Erikson, King of Sweden, Norway and Scania​

In Sweden Magnus would ascend to the throne at the ripe age of five instead. Magnus father was Duke Erik Magnuson, younger son of Magnus ‘Barnlock’ (Ladulås) – Barnlock was perhaps, along with his uncrowned father, Birger the Earl (Jarl), the person most responsible for Sweden’s rise – and brother to the previous king Birger Magnuson. Erik, Birger and their third brother, another Valdemar, had feuded for many years and their struggle ended in the likely executions Valdemar and Erik both in 1318. Rather than end the feud this instead led to their supporters rising up against Birger. The nobility deposed him, and Birger’s son, confusingly enough another Magnus, was executed in 1320. Birger died shortly thereafter.

Magnus Erikson’s came into his rule in the early 1330’s and one of his first acts as king was to aquire Scania from Johann von Holstein, son to another Gerhard who ruled Holstein-Plön and Holstein-Kiel who had aquired the land in exchange for putting Valdemar’s powerless father back upon the Danish throne. This was part of a strange Holsteiner dynastic struggle which played out upon Danish soil, with Danish lands as the prize. Eventually Johann would have to submit to Gerhard of Holstein-Rendsburg, but he would keep Scania until 1332 when the peasantry rebelled and turned instead to Sweden and Magnus. Thus it came to be that the Swedish king bought Scania from the Holsteiner counts and added a third crown to the two he already held, for Magnus styled himself as King of Sweden, King of Norway and King of Scania thereafter. Valdemar the Dawnbringer would contend with Magnus over Scania even in 1343, but this first time the Danish king would prove unsuccessful and Magnus would instead be left to turn his attention eastwards across the Baltic Sea.

Sweden would go crusading against Novgorod, a Christian city since centuries earlier, but Baltic crusades were often pointed against heretics rather than against heathens, though the latter were carried out as well. These first attempts at expanding into Russia would prove disastrous for Magnus, for whilst he managed to take the city of Nöteborg in 1448, forcibly baptizing its inhabitants as Catholics and shaving their beards, he soon returned to Sweden and Novgorodian forces reclaimed the city. When the Black Plague struck this was interpreted as God’s punishment for Magnus’ failure and he once again took the city in 1350, but the outcome was much the same. The crusades impoverished Sweden and Magnus’ financial issues caused him to anger both church, nobility and peasantry. Large portions of the realm were put in pawn to Hanseatic merchants and during the 1350’s it looked as if Sweden would follow the trajectory of her western neighbor. Magnus also was troubled by opposition from the future Saint Birgitta who lambasted him and his wife for their ungodliness, Magnus' effeminate nature and weakness, naming him Magnus Softhand (Smek).

The first rebellion against Magnus was led by his son and heir, Erik, who together with the Swedish nobility forced Magnus to divide his realm between the two. The feuding between father and son continued however, but Erik allied himself with Valdemar in Denmark and together they forced Magnus to accept Erik as co-king. The price of Danish aid was Scania, but Erik died in 1359 and Valdemar would have to invade to reclaim the eastern half of his realm.

Brandskattningen (lit. Fire-taxation) of Visby​

In 1361 Valdemar would attack the Hanseatic city of Visby and the island of Gotland, technically part of Sweden but largely independent. That freedom had spared Gotland from many woes befalling her mother-kingdom, though the plague is believed to have struck the island harder than many other Swedish lands. Its main port of Visby was the wealthiest city in all of Sweden, perhaps in any of the Nordic Kingdoms and Valdemar’s invasion was mainly an attempt to take its riches, though there would be some handwaving attributing it to Magnus’ deceitfulness. The invasion would be opposed by the free Gute peasantry, and the very last battle took place just outside the gates of Visby. The burghers did little to aid their neighbors and later acquiesced with little to no resistance when Valdemar “taxed” the city. Why they chose to leave the peasants to die rather than allow them to stand and fight upon the walls of the city is not known, but it can be assumed that the two councils of Visby, one German and one Gute, might have seen the inevitable failure in fighting professional soldiers and feared a complete sack. Gotland would thereafter be claimed by Denmark and Sweden both, though the distinction would soon become rather nominal.

Meanwhile the woes of Magnus Erikson continued. His Norwegian realm was the most hard-struck by the plague, perhaps the worst afflicted land in all Europe by that pestilence. It is commonly held that every other Norwegian died in the first wave of disease, and out of the nobility four out of five family lines were snuffed out. Technically, Magnus’ second son, Håkon, was king of Norway since 1343, but his father acted as his regent and it seems as if this continued even after Håkon reached his majority in 1355. It was only after Erik’s death that Norwegian dissatisfaction with Magnus rule would come to a head. When his brother died, Håkon seems to have assumed regency over Norway and was approached by his brother’s supporters. Their aim was to depose Magnus and elect Håkon as the new king of Sweden as well, but father and son instead came to terms and agreed to rule jointly. The disgruntled Swedish nobility then turned to Albrecht of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, husband to Magnus’ sister Euphemia and proposed that their son, also named Albrecht, would be chosen to be King of Sweden should Mecklenburg aid them against Magnus and Håkon. The Albrechts accepted and in 1364 the House of Bjälbo was ousted from their native land.

Albrecht (Sometimes written Albert) von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, King of Sweden​

As Albrecht of Mecklenburg was made king in Sweden, Valdemar’s success finally started to falter. His invasion of Gotland was ill-viewed by the Hanseatic League. Visby was of prime importance for the Baltic trade as it laid in the middle between Russia and the Wendish shore, and thus brought them into his growing cadre of enemies. Albrecht of Mecklenburg allied himself to the German traders, for Valdemar’s meddling in the Bjälbo dynastic struggles had led to him marrying his youngest daughter to Håkon Magnuson. Håkon had already been betrothed to Elisabeth of Holstein – the daughter of Gerhard the Bald – but when her ship stranded on the Danish isle of Bornholm Elisabeth was imprisoned and forced into a nunnery. The alliance between Håkon and Valdemar was sealed by marriage in 1363, meaning that Valdemar now supported Håkon’s claim to the Swedish throne. Valdemar also continued his war against the Hansa, and he sent out his fleets to drive them out of the Danish Sound.

Lübeck responded by sending a fleet against the castle of Helsingborg, the lock that held Danish control of the Sound and led by Johann Wittenborg, one of the city’s four mayors the German disembarked to assault the castle. Valdemar instead assaulted their fleet, leaving the Germans stranded though his only son Christoffer was wounded in the battle and died shortly therafter. The German alliance had greater success elsewhere though, and with Holsteiner and Mecklenburger support they sacked Copenhagen in 1368 and forced Valdemar to abandon Denmark for a while. The eventual Treaty of Stralsund was sealed in 1370 and gave the Germans both fishing rights and trade exemption in Danish waters, as well as rights to several Danish fortresses in Sjaelland and Scania. This peace would leave Valdemar’s legacy somewhat muddled in its glory when he died in 1375.

Valdemar IV of Denmark​

Valdemar was the last male member of the House of Estridsen that had ruled Denmark for some three-hundred years, and his death left two main claimants for his throne. Whilst Denmark was an elective monarchy, custom dictated that a member of the royal line was to be elected before any other, so it was to Valdemar’s grandsons the nobility looked. Part of the Treaty of Stralsund had been that Albrecht, son of Ingeborg and Heinrich would be Valdemar’s heir as the eldest son of the king’s eldest daughter. The second claimant was Margrete’s son Olaf, prince and heir to Norway and pretender to the Swedish crown.

That Margrete and her husband would oppose the ascension of Håkon’s rivals from the House of Mecklenburg seems obvious, but the Germans faced plenty of foes even on their side of the Wendish Shore for the Hanseatic League strove to avoid any form of greater unity between the realms they worked in. Such unity would surely threaten their business after all, and with a Mecklenburg King of Sweden it was well if one was not put upon the Danish throne as well. In due time they would come to rue this turn, but even so Olaf was elected as King of Denmark, King of Gotland, Heir to Norway and Rightful Heir to the Swedish Throne. The last part is said to have been insisted upon by Margrete herself.

 

[Idhrendur]

A well-written intro!

 

[Koweth]

Loving the first part so far. The introduction of the three monarchies in Scandinavia and their feuding definitely drew me in, and Valdemar's woes and wins were interesting to read. Certainly looking forward to seeing more.

 

[HistoryDude]

I will be following this.

Does this intro mean that the Kalmar Union hasn't formed yet? Or is that spoilers?

 

[Apelstav]

I will be following this.

Does this intro mean that the Kalmar Union hasn't formed yet? Or is that spoilers?

No spoilers, its just how the Kalmar Union was formed historically, or at least how it will form in the next part of the intro that takes us to 1412 and Margrete I's death. The alt-history begins (carefully) in the 1430's.

 

[Apelstav]

Happenstance, appearing as intent
Part II: Margrete and Albrecht​

Whilst Margrete proved an adept ruler, Albrecht in Sweden had a rougher time of it after driving out Magnus and Håkon. Albrecht had been summoned by a group of powerful Swedish noblemen led by the powerful Bo Jonson Grip, but when attempting to rule his new kingdom he found himself curtailed by Grip and his so called allies. They had not toppled Magnus only to have another powerful ruler imposing his will upon them. Albrecht would instead rule by their leisure and was forced to grant large tracts of land away from the crown. Some historians have argued that Grip’s acquisitions was an attempt to keep the Mecklenburger from building a stable powerbase, but his legacy has not been a kind one even so. He is often described as a greedy and power-hungry man and when his first wife were to die in childbirth it's told that Grip had a caesarian cut performed upon his first wife after her death solely so that his child could be baptized. A baptized child would inherit his mother, and in turn be inherited by the father rather than the wife's family. No matter how gruesome it seems to us, the practice was not unheard of during the period and might even have been viewed as the proper thing to do. Baptism would save the soul of the unborn child, even if they were few to die immediately after. In this case the child would live however, and he would grow up to be Bo Jonson’s only son that survived through childhood.

Albrecht’s early years had been quite different. Magnus and Håkon attempted to retake Sweden in 1365 but were repulsed. Magnus was even captured, and would be kept in captivity until 1371 when Håkon attempted once more to reclaim his native land. He was to fail again, leaving Albrecht victorious, but the victory would seal the German king’s fate as a puppet. His support in Sweden had never been strong outside the circle of nobles that had invited him. Albrecht’s German nationality, his German followers and his favoring of German merchants all alienated the Swedish commoners and those noble families outside of his inner circle, and so it was to the high nobility Albrecht had to turn when Håkon besieged Norrmalm outside of Stockholm. They did come to his aid, but they requested a Royal Writ severely limiting Albrecht’s powers. Håkon was forced to retreat, being allowed to ransom his father. Magnus would then live out the remainder his life at the Norwegian court. Albrecht remained King of Sweden, but under his Council's thumb, particularly that of Grip until the man finally died in 1386.

Bo Jonson Grip's holdings in dark yellow​

When he died Grip held a full third of the Swedish realm, most notably the entirety of Finland, and when he died Albrecht attempted to secure the guardianship of Grip’s widow and children. In this he failed, leaving his supporters to flee to Denmark and Margrete. His actions soon spurred rumors that Albrecht would attempt a reduction of noble holdings, leaving him solely with the support of his German mercenaries and some German burghers, notably those in Stockholm. He still had the support of his kin in Mecklenburg however, and they would come to his aid when he needed them.

Margrete had become a widow in 1380, and despite being only thirty years of age she would not take another husband but instead dedicated herself to her role as regent of her son Olaf. Of the boy-king little is known, for even though he reached his majority he would never reign in his own right. It might be that he was involved in the rule but left his talented mother to handle many negotiations, such as the case when the fortresses Valdemar had been forced to pawn off to the Hanseatic merchants were to be renegotiated in 1380’s. Denmark’s answer was as follows:



Now when the king is dead, so are your privileges.



In the preceding years piracy had become a rising scourge upon the Hansa’s ships in the Danish Sound, and when they approached Margrete to quell this she had proclaimed her deepest regret and promised to do whatever could be done to hunt down these bandits. The effort, if any was made at all, proved quite ineffective and the suspicion that Margrete herself funded privateers was widespread but without proof. If the Danish regent wasn’t behind the plunderers, then at least we may assume that her lack of progress against them was intentional, for she would manage it quite well once the Danish fortresses were back in her control. The Hanseatic representatives in Helsinborg were faced with both the Danish and the Norwegian High council once the treaty ended in 1385. Three letters were presented to them, in order; a sternly worded one from King Olaf, a formal request from representative Henning Podebrusk and last a mild and concerned one from Margrete offering to mediate. The negotiations would soon secure the return of all Danish castles in exchange for a combined effort against piracy, and as said, the issue was quickly done with. In later years when the Hanseatic merchants would continue to accuse Denmark of aiding the pirates, demanding recompense for their losses, Margrete suggested that they’d put the matter to an impartial tribunal. No recompense would be paid.

Olaf Håkonsen, King of Denmark, of Norway and Gotland, Rightful Heir to the Throne of Sweden​

Little is known of Olaf, for he would die suddenly in 1387. His death is generally believed to have been by consumption, though there were some rumors that Margrete poisoned her son, or that he had not died at all but fled after such an attempt was made. Serious historians have tended to ignore these accusations, for whilst Margrete surely was concerned with her own power and kept control after her foster son Erik was crowned, such tales always seem to spread when a powerful woman retains power much in the way as a king would crown his successor years before their eventual partaking in ruling their lands. There is an account of Olaf being located by Danish merchants in Prussia in 1402, and the man was sent to Denmark by the Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order to be questioned by Margrete. Apparently the man spoke not a single word of Danish and was quickly revealed to be an imposter, and his reward for claiming the royal lineage was to have the letters he produced attesting his identity bound into a crown to wear upon the pyre of his death.

Olaf’s obvious heir was still his cousin, Albrecht von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, but Margrete met little resistance when she was elected as Queen of Denmark. The Norwegian nobility soon followed and ratified her inheritance of that kingdom from her son. She was granted the newly-minted style of “Righteous lady and husband and Guardian of all of Denmark” in return for the “good will and kindness we have known from her”. She would of course have to sign a Royal Writ, accepting and promising to safe-guard all noble privileges granted to her subjects - among those the right of her Council to choose a successor - however only the following day another Royal Writ was signed before a group of priests and Imperial notaries whereby Margrete was granted full right to remain Queen and to elect an heir alone. In Norway the Council would go as far as to grant Margrete’s descendants sole right of inheritance, discounting both the claims of the last (non-royal) Bjälbos and the admittedly weak Mecklenburger claim through Magnus’ sister Euphemia, who was mother to King Albrecht. Margrete also assumed Olaf’s Swedish claims and such titled herself Queen of Sweden, for the Swedish nobility had now come seeking Danish support against their king.

There remains some confusions of Margrete’s titles throughout her reign, whether or not she was Queen (or Lady and King, as was the phrasing), especially in regards to Sweden where it might be that the Council only ever accepted her as regent and postponed the election of a king unto her passing. Anyhow Albrecht was overlooked once again, and some Danish chroniclers have even gone as far as to attribute his death the following year to the pure indignity he must have felt.

It was perhaps expected that Margrete would take a husband and mother an heir to her to kingdoms, but if so, her subjects would be disappointed at least in regard to that. Instead, she looked past her German kin to the son of one of Ingeborg’s daughters, namely the son of one of the Dukes of Pomerania. The Pomeranians remained far more Wendish than their western neighbors and were the weakest of the three dynasties upon the Wendish Shore. As Mecklenburg and Holstein, Pomerania had devolved into several lesser partitions of whom all claimed ducal dignity. Perhaps it was this very weakness that caused Margrete’s choice, for Pomerania could hardly threaten her position in Denmark, whilst Mecklenburg and Sweden surely would be at her throat. Bugislav, who would soon be re-christened as Erik, was the son of Wartislav of Pomerania-Stolp and only six years old when he travelled to Denmark and became heir to the greatest realm in Europe. He would be regarded as an intelligent, vigorous child that would secure the Nordic Kingdoms a bright future.

Margrete invaded Sweden the following year. Albrecht sailed to Mecklenburg to return with a host of German mercenaries whilst attempting to goad Margrete, naming her King Pants-less and even sent her a whetstone for her needles. Her answer came at Åsle outside of Falköping where her armies defeated the Germans and even managed to capture Albrecht and his son. The son was, of course, also named Erik. Even if Albrecht was defeated and his Swedish supporters gone there were still some who called for his release and reinstatement, mainly the German burghers of Stockholm. The city was not yet the capital of Sweden, neither Sweden nor Denmark had a true capital until the 15th century, but it was her most important city, controlling the important iron trade with the continent. The city would hold out for several years, but of greater importance for the Baltic Sea was perhaps the actions of Albrecht’s kin in Mecklenburg. His family had hired privateers to assault Nordic shipping, and ships refused to return home and instead turned pirate in Albrecht’s name, forming the nucleus of what would become the Victual Brothers.

The favored ship of the Baltic Sea, the cog. Here a partially reconstructed model of a wreck from 1380. The cog would later be replaced by the hulk​

The pirates would remain in diminishing numbers until the 1430’s when some of their numbers would join Erik in his exile upon Gotland, but their strength peaked during their first decade, with some 5000 men upon 100 ships making up their numbers. In 1393 they sacked Bergen, the most important trading port in Norway and in 1394 they took Gotland and Visby and held it as their home port. In 1395 Margrete freed Albrecht to either pay some 60 000 silver marks or give over Stockholm to Margrete after three years. Albrecht returned home to Mecklenburg and after that the Victual Brothers became a free guild of pirates and even managed to defeat a joint Nordic-German fleet in 1396. Their almost complete reign over the Baltics would only come to an end in 1398 when the Teutonic Order managed to invade Gotland and seized Visby, bringing even more misfortune upon that once proud town.

Margrete would find greater success upon land. Albrecht never could manage the payment, nor did he continue the war against Margrete and Stockholm was seized back by Sweden in 1398. Meanwhile she also managed to gain such leverage over both Danish and Swedish nobility that she could repeal their rights to build fortifications and forced Bo Jonson’s son to return all holdings that he held in bail for Albrecht’s great debts to his father. Her great work came to a head in 1397 when the Danish and Swedish Councils met with Margrete in Kalmar to negotiate the Treaty of Kalmar, though historians have debated the legality of this treaty. The Letter of Union appears to have been a mere draft, perhaps to be brought to Norway for their approval before being officially sealed by all three Councils. What it details is a still an elective monarchy, but one where all three realms pledge to ever keep the same king and to remain “loving brothers”. At the same time a Royal Writ was produced at Erik’s concurrent coronation whereby his heir would inherit the three kingdoms and which granted himself and Margrete extensive powers, and Erik saw little to no opposition when he assumed his role of sole king upon his foster mother’s death, but the question would be raised in other ways during his and his nephew Christopher the Bavarian’s rule.

The Nordic kings had long been in the habit of importing German administrators, particularly to hold their castles and to serve as tax-collectors (fogd). The importance of these German’s had risen under Albrecht’s short years of freedom between Grip’s death and his capture at Åsle, and it continued to a lesser degree under Margrete only to increase once again after her death. Margrete seems to have preferred to use Danish officials, popular in Denmark and largely uncontested in Sweden but when Erik’s continued warring made him unpopular due to increased taxes and hindered trade the Danish and German tax-collectors would be pointed to as evidence of him breaking with ancient custom and the Letter of Union.

The Kalmar Union under Margrete, though the map falsely includes all of Holstein and the Free Land of Ditmarschen. The inclusion of Greenland is sometimes made, though contact with surviving Greenlander settlers would remain infrequent until the reign of Margrete II​

Those days was some thirty years off still, however, and Margrete and Erik were instead free to turn their attention to Denmark and Slesvig. Slesvig lay at the heart of the old conflict with Holstein, since Gerhard III’s heirs still ruled there as vassals to Denmark. When Valdemar ascended to the throne, he had been forced to abide by the Constitutio Valdemariana, a Royal Writ that stipulated that no man may be at once King of Denmark and Duke of Slesvig. Margrete argued that the Holsteiners had lost their right to the title in betraying Denmark and their liege lord and spent the last years of her life buying, negotiating and warring to reclaim it but her success was limited. When she died she was at ship outside Flensburg, on her way to a meeting with representatives of the Holsteiners but her body was returned and put to rest by her natural sons side, leaving Erik to rule alone.

Though initially quite successful, he would almost bring all her good work to ruin.

 

[HistoryDude]

That ending is ominous. Is this foreshadowing of a breakdown of the Kalmar Union more complete than OTL's?

 

[Apelstav]

That ending is ominous. Is this foreshadowing of a breakdown of the Kalmar Union more complete than OTL's?

Rather a breakdown as complete as OTL's. The union never really came together again after Erik's deposition, and whilst Sweden stuck with Christopher of Bavaria they were basically independent. When he died Sweden did leave and crowned Karl Knutsson Bonde (who with his three separate reigns as Swedish King remains record-holder to this day). Bonde almost became King of Norway as well, and from then on the Swedes basically used the Danish King's as an ally in their internal squabbles until Sten Sture the Elder and Brunkeberg.

Since the game starts well before that I'm just going to set up Christopher's death and Karl Knutsson becoming an independent king, but from then on we'll see.

 

[Nikolai]

Wonderfully written, historybook style AAR? Count me in!

 

[Apelstav]

Happenstance, appearing as intent
Part III: Erik and Philippa​

Erik Margretesen is perhaps one of the most debated characters in Nordic history. What contemporary accounts we have describe a proud man, strong and quick to anger, and much concerned with his royal dignity who was balanced by the softer touch of his wife, Philippa. The traits aren’t necessarily to be taken as a negative, and its rather difficult to argue that Erik, who managed to keep together three great realms – in size if not in population – for almost twenty years, was a poor ruler. Erik’s reign only truly started to fall apart once Philippa died in 1431. English historians in particular have shown the tendency to attribute her all that was good, a Good Queen Philippa to contrast the brutish Erik, but such an arrangement between king and queen was not uncommon. Ruling a kingdom was a family affair foremost and as Margrete had relied upon Erik in Gotland or in the war against Holstein, Erik relied upon his wife. The marriage would see but a sole child surviving infancy and what attempts Erik made to arrange an adoption such as his own was hindered when push came to shove. When historians do criticize Erik, it is the last decade of his reign that they point to, and those last few years when all seemed to fail around the king have often been viewed as evidence for some integral flaw in his reign. He would of course lose all credibility in his last years, when he became the scheming pirate-king upon Gotland, not to mention how Erik went into exile. There were attempts to whitewash this period as soon as his daughter, who brought those schemes to their fruition, came into her own. Both the Greifskrönike and the Karlskrönike treat Erik rather kindly, the latter somewhat less so, but only in modern times has proper and valid criticism again been aired against this first Griffin King of the Nordic Kingdoms.

Margrete had arranged the marriage between Erik and Philippa to seal a defensive alliance with England and Henry Bolingbroke, Philippa’s father. There were extensive negotiations to have Erik’s sister Katarina wed Henry V as well, but the they fell apart as the English demanded that Henry’s children by Katarina would inherit Erik’s realms if Erik died childless, a strange irony given the Great Venture of Charles I & V. More worrying was perhaps the demand for Erik to join England in their struggle against France. Katarina would instead wed Johann von Pfalz-Neumarkt, and by him give birth to Erik’s nephew and eventual usurper Christopher, commonly known as ‘the Bavarian’.

Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Sweden and Norway​

The nuptials were held in 1405, Philippa came to Denmark a mere child of eleven years old alongside an English retinue. She would settle in Kalmar alongside her new husband, remaining there for some three years before joining her husband as he travelled to Visby in 1408, forming something of a Swedish court around them. The Swedes would keep her in high regard for the rest of her life, and when Margrete died and Erik went to Köbnehavn Philippa was granted large tracts of land in Sweden and settled in Helsingborg, a short journey from her husband but still close to the Swedish border. At least this would have been the case if Erik had not spent almost the entirety of his first decade as king down in Slesvig.

Erik’s detractors have often pointed to this as evidence of his neglect of his two other Kingdoms, and there is merit to this. Erik continued to appoint Danish men to hold Swedish castles, though much fewer were the Swedes that were granted equal positions in Denmark. If the intent was some grand integration of the realm, as some have claimed, then Erik’s (and his foster-mother’s) aim was set squarely at creating a Greater Denmark rather than a united Nordic kingdom.

Still the most troubled part of the Three Kingdoms was most definitively Denmark, and Slesvig in particular. The Nordic Kingdom’s had long been dependent upon Germans, to the extent that we often ascribe even the conception of the union to Lübeck’s hold over the Baltic Sea. This is a somewhat reductive view of history, but one of Erik’s main opponents – for they were the opponents of any centralized ruler controlling trade throughout the Baltic Sea – was the Hanseatic League. They supported Holstein, allowing that war to drag on for several years before the eventual interference of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1423. Emperor Sigismund demanded that the warring end and mediated a treaty whereby southern Jylland would be evacuated by the Counts of Holstein. Erik had been victorious, and had finally succeeded where Margrete and Valdemar both had failed, or at least so he thought.

Erik influenced the outcome by embarking on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, carrying him by the Imperial Court and also providing us with the rather interesting description of him by the future Pope Pius II:

“…of beautiful body, with reddish-blonde hair and a rosy face, and a long slender neck. Alone, and without touching the stirrups he leaped upon his horse. He drew all women to him, particularly the Empress who looked upon him with longing.”​

Contemporary depiction of John VIII Palaiologos (left), Emperor Sigismund (centre), and Erik​

Philippa was left to govern the kingdoms in his absence. The couple remained childless, and there are no mentions of any pregnancy until 1427 when their first child was stillborn, and the lack of an heir was troubling. When Erik’s father died an uncle had assumed the ducal title of Pomerania-Stolp, but the uncle died as well in 1418, leaving Erik to serve as guardian for his cousin Bugislav. Erik would make several attempts to have the Danish Council appoint his young cousin as his heir, barring the birth of any child to him and his wife, but the Danes seems to have been reluctant, or it may well be that any document ratifying the adoption has been lost to history. Erik do name Bugislav as “my beloved son Valdemar” in what few letters between the two have survived in German archives. However, general consensus among historians is that it was the Danes themselves that remained calcitrant. This was an opportunity to re-assert some of their control over the throne by choosing between Bugislav and Christopher, should the young son of Katarina’s survive into manhood, or perhaps they were simply reluctant to follow Erik’s lead. His wars, continuing as the Holsteiners proved slow in leaving Slesvig even as Erik returned from Jerusalem, were expensive and ever more unpopular. Even more in Sweden than in Denmark.

Erik managed to have Sweden grant him greater taxes thanks to Philippa’s deftness in managing the Swedish Council, but she would warn him of their increasing reluctance. The Hanseatic League had joined Holstein in full in 1426, further alienating the Swedes, for they relied upon the German merchants to export iron and copper to the continent. Now those same merchants were using their ships to assault the Nordic coasts, and Stockholm was all but a Hanseatic stronghold on Swedish soil. At the same time fortune turned against Erik. His enemies attacked Köbnehavn in 1428, managing to defeat and sink the Danish navy though Philippa held the city walls against their assault. The navy would soon be rebuilt, but the great cost emptied Erik’s coffers again and this time Philippa made it clear that any further attempts of wringing gold out of Sweden would be met with resistance, perhaps even rebellion.

Erik needed a new source of income, lest he’d have to capitulate, and he found it in Denmark’s geography itself. Denmark had always profited from their control of the passage between the Baltic and Northern Seas, but it was only now that they forced all passing vessels to pay a toll to pass through their waters. The main toll-port would become Helsingör, just across the water from Helsinborg, but several fortresses would be built or expanded to keep the inner straits of the Danish Isles locked. Whilst Lübeck was at war with Denmark the other Hanseatic cities that still plied their trade would have to pay their due, as would their Dutch rivals, and whilst Philippa wasn’t able to gather another round of taxation in Sweden she did gather a Swedish fleet and sailed with it to assault the city of Stralsund, bringing some new hope for an end to the conflict, but it would not be. The war continued as the Queen fell pregnant again in 1430.

Map of the Danish Sound, Helsinör and Helsingborg lies close to the top​

It is said that when Margrete II was born in Helsingborg the king looked upon her and exclaimed “I have a son”, for the girl was born hairy and her cries sounded “manly and strong”. Only when the child was washed was the truth revealed, and by then the king was screaming and was bashing his head against a door as he’d learned that Philippa had died only an hour after giving birth. Erik had gained an heir, or at least a princess that one day could wed someone who’d rule his kingdoms after him. Despite Margrete I’s example the concept of cognatic inheritance was not one easily accepted by any of his three kingdoms. The Councils instead proposed to have a great Council where they would decide upon the matter, and more importantly whom the girl would be betrothed to and whom Erik was to marry. The King was still young enough to father sons after all.

Erik would go to the meeting, but something seems to have been broken in him after Philippa’s death. He might always have been headstrong – the long war against Holstein and the reluctance to any treaty barring his whole acquisition of Slesvig proves this – but never again would he manage a deft diplomatic solution even inside his own kingdoms. Perhaps it was that this part of their strength had always been Philippa’s, or perhaps it was the loss of her that finally made the stress of his reign felt.

The Great Council of Lund was held in 1433. Erik proposed that his cousin Bugislav would wed his daughter and was decried. No papal dispensation was presented, and the Swedish Bishops of Uppsala and Linköping denounced the very notion immediately. It is said that Erik left the meeting vowing never again to treat with the Swedish Nobles. If so is true, Erik would keep to his word, for even as Sweden was set ablaze the next year he remained in Denmark.

The Swedes of Bergslagen had finally had enough of Erik’s wars and rose up against his Danish tax-collectors. They were led by Engelbrecht Engelbrechtson, the son of a German immigrant and knight who owned several mines in central Sweden. Later Danish chroniclers would accuse him of being a Hanseatic pawn paid to undermine Erik’s rule, but there is honestly no evidence of this, nor many other details known of the man besides his rapid progress and assaults against several key castles in Sweden. The Swedish Council was strong-armed into recognizing Engelbrecht as Regent, and his forces were growing by the day.

When news of the rebellion finally Erik he was forced to come to the table and signed the Treaty of Vordingsborg with German foes. Denmark would leave Slesvig to the Germans and the Sound Toll would be abolished. He sent word to Stockholm and bid his loyal subjects to put down their arms and return to their homes, but there were no armies gathering to sail north. Instead Erik bid his men return home to Denmark. It is possible that his reluctance in acting truly was an attempt at repentance, for one of the aims of the rebels seemed to be to drive Danish appointees out of Sweden and finally forcing Erik to abide by the Letter of Union from 1396. If so the attempt failed. As Engelbrecht started to face opposition from the Swedish nobility – he was after all a foreigner and an upstart, and his appointment as Regent at Arboga had been forced out of them. At least so they claimed when they instead appointed Karl Knutsson Bonde to the same position the following year. Bonde would not go openly against Engelbrecht, but the man was slain only a few months later. The main source on Engelbrecht claims that this was by one of his own followers, angered over a monetary dispute, though this is from Bonde’s commissioned Karlskrönike (Lit. Charles’ Chronicle) and even at the time many suspected that Engelbrecht was assassinated. Erik made no opposition against Bonde’s position and Sweden was at least nominally left inside the union.

Sculpture of Karl Knutson Bonde, King of Sweden​

But it was a union without a king, or at least with a king who had chosen to leave his kingdoms, for Erik was sailing to Visby. He had made a last attempt to have the Danish Council nominate Bugislav as his heir, and accepting the betrothal between him and Margrete and had again been denied. Rather than accept this curtailment of his power Erik chose exile in 1436, though most likely he left expecting the Danes or Swedes to soon summon him back. Instead it would be the Norwegians, his least regarded and sadly least powerful subjects that would remain true the longest. The Danes, rather than summoning Erik home instead called upon his nephew Christopher. The youth came to Denmark in 1439 and was swiftly made king. That same year he travelled to Sweden and was acclaimed there as well, in exchange of recognizing Karl Knutson’s position as Regent. The Norwegians would hold out under Sigurd Jonson, the leader of their Council, but upon Sigurd’s withdrawal from politics in 1442 Christopher would be crowned King of Norway as well. Erik was left in Visby alone with some few German mercenaries and his daughter, and would never again leave the island.

 

[Apelstav]

So that's the last of the prologue, bringing us up to game-start. Now I just need to get around to finishing my latest Be the Light-chapter as well.

 

[HistoryDude]

So... Erik lost control over the Kalmar Union, but he remains in Gotland. Is his daughter married? If not, that might be a good start to making some allies.

The successors of Erik in Gotland want to reclaim their lost lands, right? That should make for an interesting tale.

 

[Apelstav]

So... Erik lost control over the Kalmar Union, but he remains in Gotland. Is his daughter married? If not, that might be a good start to making some allies.

The successors of Erik in Gotland want to reclaim their lost lands, right? That should make for an interesting tale.

Erik is going to die (by console command) rather early as to leave place for Margrete II since that's the story I'm setting up. Margrete is unwed, and that's going to come up with various suitors coming into play as to help her regain her throne.

In game she actually married a Lancaster, but since they'd all be her uncles or first cousins I decided to invent another marriage for her that made a wee bit more sense.

 

[Apelstav]

The Griffin and the Pride
Part I: The Failure of Kalmar​

The ousting of Erik would lead not to a restoration of Hanseatic control over the Nordic realms, instead the old King had gathered to him the remnants of the Victual Brothers and set them loose against his enemies. At this point this seems to have included mostly everyone with a port between Bergen and Nöteborg. He had settled in Visborg, the castle of Visby that he himself had ordered built some thirty years, and there he had brought his sole daughter and heir as well as his morganatic wife Cecilia.

Of her we know least of all, for she is excluded from the Greifskrönike apart from the one line that states that she went with Erik to Gotland, and later one that states that she remained at Visborg when Margrete sailed to Denmark. It’s believed that she was the Cecilia Jensdatter that’s mentioned in some contracts whereby Jensdatter buys land in Sjaelland during the 1430’s, but the only proof of this is that no other Cecilia is mentioned among the Danish nobility at the time. What is known is that hers and Erik’s marriage caused something of a scandal. When the King was told to seek another wife the Danish Council expected him to seek the daughter of some foreign Lord or Prince, preferably one of their choice. Cecilia was but a mistress, a secondary wife (frille) and hers being unable to become a proper consort tells us that she was of relatively low station. Holding a frille wasn’t improper, but from such a relation no heir could be born, though the children had some legal protection and rights to inheritance.

The old exile would in time gather a great treasury in Visby, since neither he nor his pirates had much to spend it on. Gotland was isolated from the rest of the Baltic Sea and relied only upon its hinterlands and what spoils could be brought back to the island. Erik did attempt to conspire against his nephew but found little luck. He sent emissaries to the Lowlands and to England, as well as to Poland, Pomerania and even to Novgorod. Only the Dutch traders did offer some support, for they had come into conflict with their German counterparts regarding the herring that had moved their spawning from the Danish Sound to the North Sea. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and master of most of the Lowlands supported their efforts half-heartedly, but the effort would mark the start of the friendship between Burgundy and Margrete II.

Philip the Good, Penultimate Duke of Burgundy​

The Dutch-Hanseatic War of 1438-1441 has commonly been viewed as a Dutch victory, but this is perhaps due to later hindsight. What the Dutch did manage was to break the Hanseatic grain monopoly over the Baltic Sea, as well as granting equal fishing rights in the North Sea but the prize was hefty as the Dutch basically had to pay for these rights through reparations. Erik saw now real gain from the conflict, and after he would become increasingly irrelevant outside his impact upon trade, and now the Dutch could be counted among his foes.

Of their final years at Visborg we have little substantial knowledge. Whether it was done by Margrete’s expressed wishes or by mere caution by its author, Paulus Gothicus, who had been present during those years as a Franciscan brother in Visby, the Greifskrönike glosses over Erik’s last years. Most tales that have come down to us were based on folktales that gained particular popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries and tells of a king resigned to his fate, but much concerned with that of his daughters. These stories were perhaps in turn influenced by Marlowe’s account in his Margareth II, supposedly based on accounts by Charles I & V in later years. The scene at Erik’s death bed in Margareth II is likely the one deepest ingrained in public consciousness, where a young Margrete waits by her father’s side as he is dying and promising him that he shall “rest one day in Denmark, at the side of your wife, my mother, the good Queen Philippa. Your enemies vanquished; your people finally freed from the Usurper’s yoke”. Cecilia then cries out as the King draws his final breath, and the scene ends.

Christopher had his own troubles, though most of the blame for them should be laid at Erik’s feet. Whilst the wars against Holstein dragged on, more and more land had been divested unto the Danish nobility. The peasantry faced raised taxes and, worse, increasing efficiency in collecting them. When the common folk finally had had enough, they rose, and some knights or lesser noblemen in Jylland joined them. Christopher answered with force, failed and had to grant liberties to any rebel who would put down their arms and return home. Only when their numbers were depleted could he manage to defeat them. The conflict is notable for two reasons – it saw the first usage of wagon forts in Danish histories, showing the rather quick spread of that practice out of Bohemia even to the Nordic Realms, but more impactful was Christopher’s slow but sure response in curtailing the free peasantry of Denmark.

The liberties granted would be revoked one after another as Christopher grew in strength, but he would remain an impoverished, curtailed ruler. Sweden would only accept a purely personal union with Denmark, declaring their right to freely elect and evict kings as in days of old. Bonde, initially remaining as Regent was granted most of Finland, but soon he’d be pushed away from his position by Swedish rivals and would ever after remain hostile towards Christopher, naming him weak and treacherous. To compound the issues facing the young King, the 1440’s saw a series of poor harvests in all of the Nordic realms and the Swedes branded him Barkkonung (lit. Bark-King) since they were forced to mix tree bark with their grains to keep starvation at bay.

Contemporary portrait of Christopher von Neumarkt-Pfalz​

Christopher’s rule would be a troubled one. He befriended the Hansa, though their friendship faltered rather soon after the conclusion of the Dutch-Hanseatic War, especially after his marriage to Dorotea of Brandenburg in 1445. Dorotea was the daughter to the overlooked Johann von Brandenburg-Kulmbach, commonly known as John the Alchemist, but the marriage had been negotiated by her uncle Friedrich II, Marcher-Lord-Elector of Brandenburg, and both Friedrich and his brother Albrecht Achilles were hostile towards Lübeck. The issue between lord and merchant was the same as before. The 15th century saw kings and princes grow in power and the ancient liberties – granted or invented after the fact – of the cities guarded a great source of wealth that would cause those lords to grow even greater. Whilst Christopher never went as far as to reintroduce the Sound Dues, he instead attempted to empower the Danish church and granted them rights to bring their exports directly to German cities, rather than to use Hanseatic go-betweens. The Hansa protested and went as far as to enter into negotiations with Erik. This would in time prove to become their and Christian I’s ruin.

On the matter of Erik and his piracy Christopher did little. He may have attempted to ally himself with the German Order who’d once driven the Victual Brothers out and might perhaps be able to do so again, but if so naught came of it. When an emissary from Lübeck came to Köbnehavn to plead for the Danish king to retake his own island and safe-guard the Baltic Sea, it is said that Christopher responded “even uncles must make a living”. The response might tell us more of Christopher’s reputation than his actual character. Posterity has been rather unkind to Christopher, particularly as he was kin to the man he supplanted. He would make one effort of curbing his uncle and travelled to Gotland to meet with Erik in late 1446. Erik was promised several castles in Denmark should he cease his piracy and leave Gotland, and the two promised to withhold from fighting for a year before meeting again. Instead they would both die, Erik in December of 1447 and Christopher in January of 1448, just as their truce ended.

The coincidence of their death, for no convincing proof that any hand moved against them has ever been presented, has provided several fiction writers with material to work with. The common culprit pointed to is of course Christian I himself for he saw the greatest gain from Christopher’s death, but the notion that this young nobleman recently come to Holstein from Oldenburg would have such sway in Denmark, not to say the isolated island of Gotland do stretch into the incredulous. There are other varieties of the story, whereby Christopher’s death was natural but Erik was poisoned by a Swedish emissary from Bonde, the Hansa or even his own daughter. There has been some who have called for the exhumation of their bodies in recent years to finally put the matter to rest, but the Crown has thus far been reluctant to allow any such desecration of their kin.

Margrete’s position was far from safe. Erik’s death was apparently sudden, despite his sixty-five years, and she but a maiden of seventeen, untried and inexperienced. Apparently his death was kept secret for a while, giving Margrete time to contact several members of the two City Councils as well as the captains of the ships in harbor and having secured their allegiance she imprisoned several persons of note. They would be kept as her guests, and would later be hosted by Cecilia, securing the loyalty of their families and peace in Visby. Only when Margrete had made sure that the garrison in Visborg and the city itself was loyal did she announce Erik’s death and let toll the church bells. The King was embalmed and put to rest, temporarily, in the Church of our Beloved Lady Mary. When this was managed she would make use of her father’s hoard and showered both soldier, sailor and city with gold and patronage. “Why would I sit upon my wealth, like some hen upon her egg, or even as some worm in elder days. No, let them have it, for I am naught without them. Neither gold nor precious stones shall buy me a throne, but loyal subjects may”, she answered Cecilia as her step-mother asked if it was prudent to squander so much gold.

In Denmark there was no heir to take the reins. Christopher’s death broke the line of descent from Valdemar and Margrete I in Denmark, for only Margrete now remained of their descendants. Margrete sent emissaries to Köbnehavn, Stockholm and Trondheim, who also carried with them the news of Erik’s death but though they were admitted and allowed to speak the nobles of all three realms remained resolutely against her assuming any throne. What troubled them was that though the Councils could agree that Margrete would not ascend, they couldn’t find a common candidate acceptable to all three realms and negotiations were dragging on. The Danes had settled on Christian von Oldenburg, nephew and heir of Adolf von Holstein-Rendsburg. For Denmark he was a good choice and his elevation would finally end the long and ruinous conflict with Holstein over Slesvig. The Swedes were reluctant to follow. What good had the union brought them? They had overlooked by Margrete, neglected by Erik and impoverished by Christopher, they stated. They had suffered grievously under these Germans and instead chose one of their own. Karl Knutson Bonde came rushing back to Stockholm from his Finnish holdings and was crowned at the Stones of Mora even before Christian. Karl seems to have been convinced, and had convinced the Swedes, that if they chose him as their ruler then Denmark would follow to keep the union intact. They were wrong.

Contemporary portrait of Christian von Oldenburg​

Norway would, as seems all too common, have the worst of it when both Denmark and Sweden called for them to elect their candidate. The Norwegian Council chose Christian as their King in 1449 but that same summer Bonde travelled to Trondheim and summoned the Norwegian estates to him, there he was raised as king as well, splitting the realm in two. Military action never came of it since the Swedes proved hesitant to follow Bonde when his predictions had failed, and instead the two kings would meet in Halmstad in 1450 to settle the matter. There Karl would abandon his Norwegian throne in return for an agreement that whosoever of the two kings survived the other would be his heir. The treaty heavily favored Christian, being twenty years younger than Bonde. The matter of Gotland, having been a Swedish land conquered by Valdemar IV, would be left for the future.

In the Greifskrönike, it’s claimed that Christian sent envoys to Visby, asking for Margrete’s hand in marriage. Marlowe’s version has the young King himself sail to Visby to propose to her instead. Her refusal is countered with “then, if you shall not have me as husband, I shall claim from you what poor dowry you may bring another, and the Griffin shall be drowned beneath the sea”. Whether or not this happened at all is disputed. The Danish Council seems to have insisted that Christian wed Dorotea, who’d been granted large estates upon Christopher’s death and was key to Christian being able to rule self-sufficiently. Regardless, Christian would return with an army in early 1451.

Margrete would hold the castle for two months before unexpected relief arrived. Bonde landed a force of some four thousand knights north of Visby and besieged the besiegers, claiming that Christian had betrayed the Treaty of Halmstad. Christian, faced with an outbreak of measles in the city, agreed to withdraw and was allowed to return home to Denmark. Now Margrete instead found herself besieged by a Swedish army, but Bonde instead proposed a marriage and an alliance between the two. Margrete would remain in control of Visby and would cease her piracy, and in a year’s time she would travel to Stockholm and wed Karl. The forty-three year old king had been married once before to a Swedish noblewoman who’d given him several daughters, but she’d died in 1446. Margrete accepted and Karl left her with a force of Swedish knights “to keep his betrothed safe, should the German usurper return”. According to Marlowe the young lady was reluctant, not necessarily to Karl himself but to the way the arrangement had happened. “I will not go to my husband’s home at sword-point, nor shall I go to his bed a beggar. Mine is the blood of kings and queens, and I shall stand next to him an equal. Or die the spinster.”

The commander of the Swedish force was Gustav Karlson, member of the Swedish Council and married to Karl’s half-sister and he soon summoned his wife to Visborg alongside her young son from her previous marriage, Sten Sture. Gustav is mentioned frequently in the Greifskrönike as Margrete’s “most beloved friend and subject” and it seems that she won over both him and his wife early on. At least they did nothing to stop Margrete from entering into negotiations with Lübeck during that summer and both Gustav and Sten would be granted Danish lands following her invasion of Denmark the following year.

The Hanseatic League at ca 1400 A. D. The Hansa would gradually devolve into separate entities during the 15th Century. Cities underlined once in red held so called Vittens, whilst those underlined twice held Kontors​

It was upon the Eve of Saint Lucy in 1451 that three ships laid anchor outside Visby harbor. They’d sailed out of Lübeck some three weeks earlier, led by Johann Kollman, one of the city’s four mayors and a trusted envoy on behalf of the Hansa. Kollman had been present almost a decade earlier when Christopher III negotiated a treaty between the Lübeck and her Dutch rivals, and he was present again when the Danish Council appointed Christian, giving Lübeck’s approval to him ascending to the Danish throne against promises of peace towards Lübeck, hostility towards the Lowlands and to finally drive Erik and his pirates out of Visby. Three years had now passed since Christopher’s death and little had been done. Adolf yet lived, but no clear plan for the succession of Slesvig had been arranged. Dutch cogs and hulks still passed unmolested through the Danish Sound, and whilst Erik had died Gotland remained outside of Christian’s control. His withdrawal the previous year had been an utter embarrassment, and worse, a financial disaster. Christian was, like his predecessors, strapped for funds, and he had borrowed heavily to build a fleet as well as to hire mercenaries. When the Hansa had come to collect after his retreat, he threatened to reestablish the Sound Dues if he was not given reprieve. The Hansa refused and Christian paid, but only months later he started reinforcing his castles at Helsingborg and Helsingör.

Marlowe makes much of Kollman’s surprise s meeting and Kollman’s surprise of “finding this flower of youth, this northern star, in place of the foeman of the old and stern king” but any such notion can be disregarded. The meeting wasn’t made on a whim but had been carefully planned through intermediaries, in this case in Pomeranian Stralsund under the auspices of the Lübecker ally Otto Voge. It was in Stralsund where the ships had stopped whilst sailing east as well, and Voge again got the chance to play the statesman as three out of the four current Pomeranian dukes met there with him and Kollman to give their support to Margrete. Only Pomerania-Stettin held out, or more likely weren’t even invited due to their connections to the Hohenzollerns in Brandenburg. Ties between Berlin and Köbnehavn had been growing as of late and this alliance troubled Lübeck, for Friedrich II Hohenzollern was not a friend of theirs. However, it troubled the Pomeranian Griffins even more. Brandenburg claimed that all of Pomerania was but an erstwhile vassal of theirs. The deal struck in Stralsund would later become known as the Golden Accord, whereby the dukes agreed to favor their Hanseatic cities in return for the promise of aid against Brandenburg. The alliance against Denmark was not written down, but Voge would later write to Margrete to ask her favor and to remind her of his “old friendship to her, when he brought her kinsmen into his home and brought their aid to her”.

The Greifskrönike sheds some light upon that day, describing how Margrete, alongside the Gute and German councils of Visby, its abbots and priests met with Kollman as he came ashore. The words and promises claimed to have been spoken are more difficult to evaluate and has to be measured by what happened after Kollman returned to Lübeck. Margrete claims that the Hansa granted their support against the promise of restoring their privileges in Denmark and holding to Valdemar’s promise, though Slesvig would be Danish leaving Christian with Holstein only, and a sworn oath to never again raise the Sound Due. They would then raise an army for her that would march upon Jylland, and their fleet would sail to aid hers at the Sound. The vast fleet of Gotland was gathered in Visby and set sail towards Denmark on the 21th of May in 1452, and upon that day the Northern Pivot was set in motion.

 

[Apelstav]

Next up Köbnehavn's Bloodbath. Gotta keep traditions strong.

Also if anyone is wondering I'm having a wee bit of an issue keeping apart Danish, my native Swedish and English spellings.

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, the Hansa's collapse is going to affect a lot.

Who will Margrete marry after Bonde dies?

I liked the mentions of how events would be remembered by history.

 

[Apelstav]

Well, the Hansa's collapse is going to affect a lot.

Who will Margrete marry after Bonde dies?

I liked the mentions of how events would be remembered by history.

I'm probably going to write it as something more akin to a more rapid decline than an utter collapse. Since I'm going for "somewhat more plausible" than the game really allows I'm probably not going to go in and, say, conquer Lübeck outright. I really wish Paradox would do something to make trade leagues and especially the Hansa more of a power politically. Maybe for EU5.

As for Margrete and Karl, and her later lovelife I'm going to put it in spoilers in case someone doesnt want to read it:

Spoiler

I haven't quite decided. I'm considering reviving Rudolf Hohenzollern, who was the stillborn son of John the Alchemist and brother to Dorotea. John was (apparently willingly) disinherited from Brandenburg by his father and instead granted some lands to the south where he had ample opportunity studying his hobby but I find the situation quite interesting if Rudolf had survived and been overlooked in favor of his uncle. This would also serve to explain my aquisition of Pomerania since Margrete could then side with Brandenburg against her kin (in-game I just got a personal union with Wolgast) and claim Pomerania as a fief to Brandenburg. Otherwise I just might let her go down the common route of having heirs and then remaining a widow for the rest of her life which seems less dramatic but also more plausible, but my main issue with this is that Margrete isn't in line of inheriting any significant part of Pomerania as Erik's daughter.

Thanks! I'm going for the historian who is contending with historiography-approach. Considered making the Greifskrönike an actual rimkrönika (rhyme-chronicle) as the OTL Karlskrönika is, but then I realized it would be in Danish and just no. I'm having enough issues with separating out my native Swedish, since I don't really understand how Danish works.