Charles VII Sverkersson, or Karl Sverkersson in Swedish, was ruler of Gothenland, and then King of Sweden from circa 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated.

He was known as Karl Sverkersson during his reign and is the first historically known king of Sweden with the name Karl.

Life

Charles had rivalled Eric IX of Sweden (whom later generations dubbed martyr and saint) and held some power in Gothenland ("jarlship") already during Eric's reign. It has been claimed that Eric's murder by minions of their rival Magnus Henricson was also backed by Charles.

After the fall of Magnus, Charles received general recognition in Sweden as king. It was also during his reign that the Archbishop of Uppsala was established.

In the spring of 1167, King Charles was killed on Visingsö (in lake Vättern) by underlings of Knut Eriksson, head of the rival Eric dynasty, who so overtook the throne. Charles was buried in Alvastra monastery.

Starting from Charles' death, his kinsmen (probably his half-brothers) Burislev and Kol together opposed Canute's kingship and were rival kings, recognized in some Gothenlander parts of Sweden; but last of them was killed in 1173, after which Canute's government got recognized overall.

Family

Charles' wife was Kirsten Stigsdatter, a Danish lady, daughter of Stig Hvitaleder, a Seelander magnate, and his wife who was sister of Valdemar I of Denmark.

Their sole historically attested child was Sverker Karlsson, a young boy when Charles died, and who later became the chosen king Sverker II of Sweden (1195-1208/10) after the death of Charles' rival king Canute I.

Ordinal number

Charles VII was the first Swedish king with the name Charles. Six Charleses are not mentioned in any sources earlier than Johannes Magnus's 16th century book Gothorvm sveonvmqve historia, and are believed to have been Magnus's invention. The first Swedish monarch to actually use a regnal number was Erik XIV in 1560.

Notes

References

• Lindström, Fredrik; Lindström, Henrik Svitjods undergång och Sveriges födelse. Albert Bonniers förlag. ISBN 91-0-010789-1 .