Ragnvald Knaphövde

Ragnvald Knaphövde was a King of Sweden whose reign is estimated to have occurred in the mid-1120s or c. 1130. His cognomen Knaphövde is explained as referring to a drinking vessel, the size of a man's head or meaning "round head" and referring to his being foolish. Ragnvald is mentioned in the regnal list of the Westrogothic law as the successor of King Inge the Younger.

His parentage is uncertain: King Inge the Elder of Sweden had a son named Ragnvald, and historian Sven Tunberg has suggested him as identical with Ragnvald Knaphövde. However, another tradition presents King Ragnvald as the son of an Olof Näskonung (Neskonungr meant "king of a ness" or "petty king", in Old Norse), and the regnal list of the Westrogothic law does not mention that Ragnvald had any connection with the old line of kings.

Ragnvald Knaphövde had been elected king by the Swedes in Uppland and then acknowledged by the East Gothlanders in Östergötland, but when he entered Västergötland, he did so without taking Geatish hostages. In Karleby, he was murdered by the Geats who instead had elected the Danish prince Magnus Nielsen who became King Magnus I of Sweden.

The Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus explained later in the same century that the election of Magnus and the murder of a rightful king of Sweden was part of a Gothic (Geatish) plan to arrogate the right of electing the king from the Swedes:

[1] Interea Sueticarum partium rege absumpto, Gothi summam, cuius omne penes Sueones arbitrium erat, Magno deferre ausi, alieni privilegii detrimento dignitatis sibi incrementa quaerebant. [2] Quorum Sueones auctoritate contempta, veterem gentis suae praerogativam in aliquanto obscurioris populi invidia deponere passi non sunt. [3] Igitur antiquae dignitatis speciem intuentes, titulum iniusta collatione praereptum novi regis electu cassarunt. [4] Qui mox a Gothis trucidatus, morte Magno imperium cessit.

However, the king of Sweden was dead and in spite of the fact that it was the privilege of the Swedes to elect a new king, the Geats arrogated this dignity by putting aside the right of others and ventured to give the kingship to Magnus. The Swedes did not want to allow the Geats any kind of right in this respect and considered it improper that a lesser nation should claim a right that had belonged to the Swedes since time immemorial. As they claimed their old rights, they declared the election of Magnus invalid, because the Geats had no right to elect king, and elected a new one. This new king was soon killed by the Geats and at his death the dominions passed to Magnus.

...
Wikipedia