A Flatpack History of Sweden

To celebrate our 100th regular episode, here's Special Episode 10! This time we cover just a couple of weeks in 1973. There's a big hostage situation in a bank, royal drama and a General Election! Somehow Swedes managed to process all these dramatic events over one late summer in the early 1970s. Thank you to everyone for being on this journey with us!

In our 100th regular episode, Gustav Vasa and his merry band of Swedish rebels take on King Kristian and the Danes in a war that will see shifting allegiances, the nobility and peasants fighting side by side once more, and eventually even the birth of the Swedish Navy. King Kristian on the other hand, faces troubles on all fronts and eventually Gustav will take the throne. Is this what spells the end of the Kalmar Union once and for all? To celebrate the 100th episode, there's a particularly funny blooper left in at the end.

The dust has settled on the Stockholm Bloodbath and King Kristian continues his early reign with more bloodshed. He thinks he has Sweden under his thumb but he has hasn't counted on the return of one young nobleman. After escaping custody thanks to a sneaky ruse, Gustav Vasa tries to gather support for a rebellion by visiting his old uni friends and even has to escape through a toilet at one point to avoid the King's men. But will the peasants of Sweden unite behind this ambitious, snowshoe-wearing rebel leader? Here is the painting we mention in the episode. And here is the museum we mention that is older than the USA!

After King Kristian II takes over Sweden, he goes a bit cray-cray... That means we have reached one of the most famous events of Swedish history; A vengeful King and an angry Archbishop combine to put the Swedish nobility to the sword. But why, and how?

We ended last episode with King Kristian II of Denmark sailing away with some Swedish hostages. This time he returns to Sweden to do more battle, during a cold winter, and he even brings some Scottish mercenaries along for the ride. Sten Sture and his wife lead the fight for the Swedes, with a bit of help from the Devil's Mother!

One of the biggest political showdowns in Swedish history begins this week, and it is all to do with the Archbishop! The King of Denmark, the Regent of Sweden and the Archbishop himself all clash over the powers and property of the office. It's going to be dramatic...

Sweden seems to be stuck in a loop in the early 1500s: there's internal conflict, and there's conflict with Denmark. After their villages have been ravaged by Danish troops, a group of peasants writes to the regent saying "such fire and plunder was not useful", which is the understatement of the age. We also see someone get a new job, but not for long... Meanwhile, we also address the confusion around Sweden and Switzerland - here's a link to the video we mention in the episode! And for those of you who want to check out the wreck of the Gribshunden ship that we mention in the episode, you can find that here.

King Hans doesn't get to rest long on the Swedish throne before rebellion breaks out once more. This time a fish seems to be at least partly to blame! In the middle of all the fighting, rebel leader Regent Sten Sture starts to feel unwell, which leads to a comedic sequence of events involving some trickery and disguises! Meanwhile, Queen Kristina gets dragged into the fighting as well. It's a busy episode! If you're listening "live", remember to send us ideas for what we should cover in our special 100th episode!

We're squeezing in a final episode of 2023! We look at a major siege and battle over on the Russian border in Finland before turning back to look at political developments in Sweden. King Hans is on the move and Swedish Regent Sten Sture has his work cut out for him as even his own archbishop starts getting a bit agitated! Please let us know your suggestions for what we should cover as a special 100th episode topic!!

There are expeditions and battles in the east of the Baltic Sea region this week and we see changes in the political landscape back home too. Sweden also makes a big cultural and scientific leap as the printing press arrives on our shores! The first few books might not exactly be best sellers and they also aren't that imaginatively named either, just like a new castle built over in Finland...

We're back and back with a bang! Or back with a battle at least! King Kristian of Denmark slogs it out with Swedish Regent Sten Sture in a battle long remembered. Both before and after the battle, we see a lot of nationalistic chat on both sides of the border, as the Kalmar Union descends into a conflict Sten Sture wants to define as Sweden vs Denmark. King Kristian also has to learn how to use the new mortar he is renting from Germany and Sweden gets its first university... We also hear from possibly our oldest listener, and here is the song mentioned in his email, Hälsa De Där Hemma on YouTube.

KKB as King, peasants revolting, marriage alliances, political bishops, regents, splits in the nobility, angry Danes, oh, and a plague. This episode has it all! Listen for more details!

This episode feels a bit like déjà vu, as all sides in Scandinavia recycle plans they've used before. Once again, there's conflict with Denmark, the nobility in in disagreement, the peasants revolt, and guess what - KKB is back! This is the podcast you're looking for, just with a fancy new logo. Hope you like it!

Whilst Kings Kristian and KKB battled it out for the control of Sweden and Norway in the last episode, one Norwegian nobleman was busy playing an interesting in Norwegian society at the time. We look at the life of Olav Nilsson Skanke and his indefatigable wife Elise, how their actions fit into the grand story of the Kalmar Union and why their relationship with the Hansa in particular was something to remember! It's a blockbuster ride, so strap in...

It is time for our longest episode for over two years! Sorry if you like the shorter stories, there is too much madness with KKB to cover this time around. After the sad, untimely death of King Chris, the Swedes and the Danes disagree about who should be King of the Kalmar Union. There isn't even really any unanimous decision within Sweden either... As always, Norway is the odd one out and has to deal with the power hungry ambitions of the two main candidates... Let's get going!

We're on the road again! We thought we had maybe neglected Östergötland a little, considering its importance to the story of Sweden, so during the summer we headed south and went on a bit of a trip. We visited Linköping castle and cathedral, Vadstena Abbey and the island of Visingsö with its castles and woods. Taking our microphone for a ride, we look at these historical places and the important roles they've played in the story so far. A special thanks to everyone at the Vadstena Abbey and Monastery Museum for showing us around their great museum and even more thanks to Linn for singing for us during the visit! As always you can check out our website www.aflatpackhistoryofsweden.com and find us on Facebook and Twitter (X).

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.

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.

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.

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.