Eric XI of Sweden

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Eric XI of Sweden

Eric XI Ericsson (Old Norse: Eiríkr Eiríksson) (1216 – February 2, 1250) den läspe och halte: "the lisp and lame," was king of Sweden 1222 – 1229 and 1234 – 1250. He was the son of king Erik X of Sweden and Richeza of Denmark.

According to the biased chronicle Erikskrönikan written in the early 1320s, he is said to have been partly lame. Eric was born posthumously and in the meantime the fifteen-year-old John I of Sweden from the rival House of Sverker had been hailed king by the Swedish aristocracy (against the will of the Pope, who wanted Eric as king).

When John I died in 1222, the five-year-old Eric was hailed King, with a distant male cousin, who was adult, first as leader of the regency council and then as co-King Canute II of Sweden. In 1229, Canute exiled Eric to Denmark and ruled alone.

After Canute's death in 1234, Eric returned and ruled until his own death in 1250. He was buried in the monastery of Varnhem in Västergötland. Eric was married to Queen Catherine, daughter of (Jarl) Sune Folkason of Bjälbo and an heiress of the House of Sverker. Commonly, sources say that Eric was childless, but some sources claim that he had a couple of baby daughters who died.

In 1236 King Eric XI's (apparently youngest) sister Ingeborg had been married to Birger Magnusson (this was Birger's first marriage) - he was son of a female heiress of the Sverker dynasty. Their underaged eldest son Valdemar was elected king 1250 to succeed Eric, possibly by-passing the sons (if such existed) of Ingeborg's elder sisters. Birger became the Regent.

Skáldatal reports that Óláfr Þórðarson was one of Eric's court skalds.