Torkel Knutsson

Torkel (Tyrgils or Torgils) Knutsson, known well as Marshal Torkel, (?–1306) of Aranäs, was constable, privy council (riksråd), and virtual ruler of Sweden during the early reign of King Birger Magnusson (1280–1321).

When Tavastland was attacked by the Republic of Novgorod in 1292, marshal Torkel led the third Swedish crusade against Novgorod.

Torkel hailed from an old noble family of West Geatish ancestry and was related to the Folkungs, the royal family, and like them, he had a lion in his coat of arms. He was first mentioned in 1282. In documents from 1288, he is mentioned as a knight and a member of the privy council (riksråd).

Torkel was married twice. His first wife, whose origins are unknown, gave him a daughter named Kristina, who married Torkel's godson and later enemy duke Valdemar. She appears to have been repudiated by the duke upon her father's execution (as Valdemar is soon reported to have married with Ingeborg Eriksdottir of Norway). Torkel's second wife was the countess Hedvig of Ravensberg.

When King Magnus Ladulås died, Torkel became regent for the underage King Birger, being the highest state official and because Magnus' foreign-born widow, Hedwig of Holstein, was not trusted to such powerful position yet.

When Tavastland had been attacked by the Republic of Novgorod, in 1292, marshal Torkel led the third Swedish crusade against Novgorod, in 1293 and conquered parts of Karelia, where he founded the stronghold of Viborg. In 1299-1300, he led an attack against the Novgorodians, and on the Neva River, he founded the fortress of Landskrona

...
Wikipedia