Charles VII of Sweden

Charles VII
King Charles as shown on his seal
King of Sweden
Reign	1161–1167
Predecessor	Magnus II
Successor	Canute I
Born	c. 1130
Died	12 April 1167
Spouse	Christina Hvide
Issue	Sverker II
House	Sverker
Father	Sverker I

Charles VII (actually Charles I) or Carl, Swedish: Karl Sverkersson, (c. 1130 – 12 April 1167), was ruler of Götaland, and then King of Sweden from c. 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated.

He is the first historically known king of Sweden by the name of Karl, but use of Charles VII is widespread (see notes).

Charles was the son of Sverker I, who was assassinated in December 1156. A pretender from another family, Eric IX (whom later generations dubbed martyr and saint), ruled over parts of Sweden in the following years. However, Charles was chosen king by the people of Östergötland in c. 1158, apparently in opposition to Eric. A letter from pope Hadrianus IV (d. 1159) knows him as ruler of regnum Gothorum although Eric is known to have held power in Västergötland. It is claimed in a late medieval chronicle that Eric's murder by minions of their rival Magnus Henriksson in 1160 was also backed by Charles.

Magnus Henriksson had a brief reign after killing Eric, but was himself killed by Charles in 1161 in a battle in Örebro. After the fall of Magnus, Charles received general recognition in Sweden as king. In fact he is the first Swedish ruler to be expressly titled rex Sweorum et Gothorum (King of the Swedes and Götar) in a papal letter from 1164.

The brief reign of Charles is important from a number of aspects. The early medieval Swedish kingdom resembled a network of shifting aristocratic alliances rather than a state, but during the second half of the 12th century it slowly began to converge with the Catholic-European state model. It was during his time that the Archbishop of Uppsala was established, although Sweden was still ecclesiastically subordinated to the Danish archbishop in Lund. After a request by the king, his jarl Ulf, and the Swedish bishops, the pope appointed Stefan, a former monk in Alvastra Abbey, as the first archbishop. Shortly afterwards, the people of Värend at the border to Denmark offered money to the king if he supported the installation of a particular bishop in Växjö. Charles is also known to have donated land and privileges to Vreta Abbey and Nydala Abbey. The donations suggest that his main interests lay in the provinces of Östergötland and Småland, while the provinces around Lake Mälaren may have been supervised by Ulf Jarl. The first known non-epigraphic document was issued in his time, which also contains the earliest known royal seal.