Birger, King of Sweden

Birger
Birger's memorial portrait at St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted
King of Sweden
Reign	18 December 1290 – March/April 1318
Predecessor	Magnus Ladulås
Successor	Magnus Eriksson
Born	1280
Died	31 May 1321 (aged 40–41)
Burial	Ringsted, Zealand
Consort	Martha of Denmark
Issue	Magnus Birgersson Eric Birgersson Agnes Birgersdotter Katarina Birgersdotter
House	House of Bjelbo
Father	Magnus III of Sweden
Mother	Hedwig of Holstein
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Birger (Swedish: Birger Magnusson; 1280 – 31 May 1321) was King of Sweden from 1290 to 1318.

Birger was the son of King Magnus III and Hedwig of Holstein. He was hailed king of Sweden when he was four years old. This was done by his father in order to secure the succession. In 1275, King Magnus had led a rebellion against his elder brother, King Valdemar, and ousted him from the throne. King Magnus ordered his kinsman Torgils Knutsson, the Constable of the Realm, as the guardian of Birger. In 1293, Birger was crowned at Söderköping after marrying Martha, the daughter of King Eric V of Denmark.

Birger was only ten years old when his father died, at which time Torgils Knutsson was the most influential statesman in Sweden. In 1293, Torgils Knutsson led the Swedes to a victory which won a part of western Karelia. This expedition has traditionally been dubbed as the Third Swedish Crusade. When Torgils Knutsson returned from leading the crusade in Finland, a feud had developed between the brothers. Torgils Knutsson supported King Birger.

Birger came of age when there was a conflict within the Church of Sweden over interpretation of the Privileges of 1280, which had been the cost of the support of the Church for his father's usurpation. The king's brothers Erik Magnusson, Duke of Södermanland and Valdemar Magnusson, Duke of Finland took advantage of this conflict. Duke Eric tried to establish an independent kingdom around Bohuslän, which he had received as part of his marriage to the Norwegian princess Ingeborg, and Halland at the boundary between Sweden, Norway and Denmark. A civil war broke out, but by 1306 emotions had cooled to the point where the dukes acknowledged the son of Birger, Magnus Birgersson, as the successor to the throne. Torgils Knutsson, who was Duke Valdemar's father-in-law, was executed in 1306 as a token of reconciliation between King Birger and his brothers. The same year, in an event known as the Håtuna games (Håtunaleken), Birger was taken captive by his brothers on the Håtuna royal estate in Uppland and taken as prisoner to Nyköping Castle (Nyköpingshus).