85. Finally, a King Chris
King Kristoffer is on the throne! Of Denmark at least... There will be some wrangling with the council first, before he can ascend the throne of Sweden and the Kalmar Union can once again be under the rule of one monarch. We dedicate an entire episode to the reign of Chris' namesake king, looking at who he was, what he did, and if the introduction of a new law code is really as boring as it may sound at first.
13 Aug 202348min
84. A Swede’s Home is his Castle
To arms, all guards to the battlements! Castles have become increasingly important over the last century or so in our story and it is time we look into them in a bit more detail. How were castles built, what purpose did they serve and who worked and lived in them? We look into castles and fortresses in medieval Sweden and focus on a few examples to get a bit more colour on these unique locations in the storyline.
30 Juli 202351min
S9. A Cross-over Kalmar Union Special
It’s time for a surprise special episode, on a Friday no less! We’re so happy to have teamed up with Mikael from The Scandinavian History Podcast. We’ve both spent so much time recently talking about the Kalmar Union and so we thought that we would mark the 500th anniversary of Sweden leaving the Union (spoilers!) by looking into a crystal ball to see what might have happened had the Union survived any longer than it did. Was the collapse of the Kalmar Union even a good thing anyway? Check out Mikael’s podcast The Scandinavian History Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
21 Juli 202340min
83. KKB Tidies Up
Erik Puke is dead and with his death the peasant revolt he led dies down. The Swedish council meets in Strängnäs to try and solve the "peasant problem" once and for all, putting a number of restrictions on those they looked down on. But will this just mean that the nobility will start fighting amongst themselves about who gets to take advantage of the situation? We then cover a brilliant Danish insult as King Erik gets into more trouble, this time with politicians from Sweden's neighbour. You can find Roberto's Tsar Power on Twitter here, as well as The History of Saqartvelo Georgia.
16 Juli 202349min
TT 2. A Journey for the Ages
When Venetian merchant Pietro Querini left Crete for Flanders in 1432, little did he know that his voyage would take him much further afield. We follow the unfortunate Venetian as he and his crew struggle their way through poor shipbuilding, storms, starvation and desolate environments. The story also includes a guest appearance by one of our favourite characters in the main narrative so far! Querini also manages to capture the culinary imagination of his fellow Italians on his return...
2 Juli 202349min
82. Splits in the Revolt
The revolt that is tearing Sweden apart is starting to split apart, just like Engelbrekt's head. There are now two distinct groups, with the high nobility being led by Karl Knutsson Bonde, with Erik Puke taking up Engelbrekt's cause of wanting lower taxes for the peasants. Forget about King Erik, the real dispute is internally within the rebellion! We also hear about the wonderful life journey of a man who went from from young nobleman, to murderer, to fugitive, to pirate, back to being nobleman again, and then councillor and a lawman. Exhausting stuff!
18 Juni 202352min
81. More Uproar in Store
Engelbrekt really does mean business. His revolt is continuing to grow after peace talks with King Erik don't really come to much. Engelbrekt storms around Sweden, lighting the fires of rebellion, but will some personal disputes get in the way for the rebel leader? What does end in this episode though is the war with Holstein over Schleswig, so at least the King can be happy with that, can't he?
4 Juni 202335min
80. The Engelbrekt Rebellion
We're back with the chronological narrative and things start piling up for King Erik. He clearly didn't listen to this episode's Swedish Phrase of the Week... Without Queen Filippa keeping an eye on Swedish public opinion, discontent spills over into outright rebellion, led by a man so good they named him twice, Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. But is it possible to rebel against a King of three realms and what should the rebellion's plan be called? We discuss all this and more!
21 Maj 202341min
