Euphemia of Sweden
Encyclopedia
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
, heiress of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, mother of king Albert of Sweden
Albert of Sweden
Albert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.-Background:...
.
Biography
Her father was Eric of SwedenEric, Duke of Södermanland
Eric Magnusson was a Swedish prince, Duke of Svealand, Södermanland, Dalsland, Västergötland, Värmland and North Halland and heir to the throne of Sweden. He was the father of King Magnus who became king of both Norway and Sweden.-Background:...
(b. c. 1282, murdered 1318), Duke of Södermanland, second son of King Magnus I of Sweden
Magnus III of Sweden
Magnus III Ladulås of Sweden, Swedish: Magnus Birgersson or Magnus Ladulås was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290....
, and her mother was Princess Ingeborg of Norway
Ingeborg of Norway
Ingeborg of Norway , was a Norwegian and by marriage Swedish princess and royal duchess with a position in the regency governments in Norway and Sweden...
(1301-c. 1360), the heiress and the only legitimate daughter of King Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
, whose hereditary Kingdom of Norway
Hereditary Kingdom of Norway
The Kingdom of Norway as a unified realm was initiated by King Harald Fairhair in 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway, resulted in the first known Norwegian central government...
thus became the inheritance of Eufemia and her brothers.
In 1319, her infant elder brother Magnus VII of Norway
Magnus IV of Sweden
Magnus Eriksson as Magnus IV was king of Sweden , including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway , including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania . He has also vindictively been called Magnus Smek...
(1316-1374) succeeded their maternal grandfather in the throne of Norway, and in 1319, Swedish nobles exiled their uncle king Birger of Sweden, after which the infant Magnus was elected King of Sweden. Their mother Ingeborg had a seat in the guardian government as well as the position of an independent ruler in her own fiefs, and played an important part dunring their minority.
The 24 July 1321 the marriage contract was signed on Bohus Castle in her mother's fief in Bohuslän. Her mother had plans to take control over Danish Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
, next to her duchy. The marriage was arranged with the terms that Mecklenburg, Saxony, Holstein, Rendsburg and Schleswig would assist Ingeborg in the conquest of Scania. This was approved by the council of Norway but not Sweden. when Ingeborgs forces under command of he rlover Knut Porse invades Scania in 1322-23, Mecklenburg betrayed her and the alliance was broken. Eventually, the affair of Eufemias marriage led to a conflict between Ingeborg and the governments of Sweden and Norway, which lead to the demise of Ingeborg's political position in the guardian governments. The marriage took place anywhay, after a fifteen years long engagement.
Euphemia was married (in Rostock 10 April 1336) to her distant kinsman Duke Albert II, Duke of Mecklenburg (1318-2 February 1379), a North-German lord deeply interested in obtaining some power in Scandinavia, e.g. fiefs or income. Later, Albert was to gain the nickname "Fox of Mecklenburg", to reflect his intrigues as well as avarice. Later the same year, the couple returned to Sweden with Rudolf of Saxony and Henry of Holstein to be present at the coronation of her brother and sister-in-law Blanche of Namur.
Euphemia lived long enough to see her brother's branch of the family get into severe difficulties, albeit its extinction (which happened in 1387) was not necessarily foreseeable then. Euphemia saw her own second son depose her brother from the Swedish throne, and ascend as King Albert of Sweden
Albert of Sweden
Albert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.-Background:...
. Already in Euphemia's lifetime it was easy to see that her genealogical position became a pivotal point to many future claims to the Scandinavian thrones.
Although her husband married a second time when widowed, all his legitimate children were born of Euphemia.
Issue
At the time of her death, she had five surviving children:- Duke Henry IIIHenry III, Duke of MecklenburgHenry III, Duke of Mecklenburg was Duke of Mecklenburg from 1379 until his death.- Life :Henry was the first son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and his wife Euphemia of Sweden, the sister of King Magnus II of Sweden....
of Mecklenburg (c. 1337, d after accident at tournament in Wismar 24.4.1383). Married firstly Ingeborg of Denmark (b. 1.4.1347, d. c. 1370), eldest daughter of sonless King Waldemar IV of DenmarkValdemar IV of DenmarkValdemar IV of Denmark or Waldemar ; , was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375.-Ascension to the throne:...
. Claimants to Denmark. They had children: Albert (Claimant to position of hereditary Prince of Denmark), Euphemia, Mary and Ingeborg. Duke Henry III married secondly Matilda of Werle.
- Duke Albert III of Mecklenburg, better known as Albert of SwedenAlbert of SwedenAlbert was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412.-Background:...
(1340-1412), King of Sweden 1364-89. Married firstly 1359 Richardis of Schwerin (d. 1377 as queen of Sweden); they had children: EricEric I, Duke of MecklenburgEric I, Duke of Mecklenburg was Duke of Mecklenburg.Eric was the eldest son of Albert III, Duke of Mecklenburg and Richardis, a daughter of Count Otto I of Schwerin....
(hereditary prince of Sweden) and Richardis Catherine. Duke Albert III married secondly Agnes of Brunswick-LüneburgAgnes of Brunswick-LüneburgAgnes of Brunswick-Lüneburg was a Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg by birth and by marriage Duchess of Pomerania and later Duchess of Mecklenburg. She was the daughter of Duke Magnus II of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Catharine of Anhalt-Bernburg Agnes of Brunswick-Lüneburg (born: before 1356; died:...
(d. 22.12.1434).
- Duke Magnus IMagnus I, Duke of MecklenburgMagnus I, Duke of Mecklenburg was Duke of Mecklenburg from 1383 until his death. Magnus was the third son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and his wife Euphemia, the sister of the King Magnus Eriksson of Sweden...
of Mecklenburg (d. 1.9.1385), married 1369 Elisabeth of Pomerania-Rügen. Children: at least son JohnJohn IV, Duke of MecklenburgJohn IV, Duke of Mecklenburg was sole ruler of the Duchy of Mecklenburg from 1384 to 1395 and co-regent from 1395 to 1422.- Life :...
, possibly the daughter Euphemia was already born. His plentiful issue continues through centuries to this day.
- Ingeborg of Mecklenburg, d. c. 1395. She married firstly (Berlin February 1360) Louis VI the RomanLouis VI the RomanLouis the Roman was the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian by his second wife, Margaret II, Countess of Hainault, and a member of the House of Wittelsbach. Louis was Duke of Bavaria as Louis VI and Margrave of Brandenburg as Louis II...
, Duke of Bavaria (b. Munchen 12.5.1330 d. Berlin 17.5.1365), this marriage remained childless; and married secondly Count Henry II of Holstein (b. c. 1317, d. 16.11.1384), of which marriage several children Gerhard, Albert, Henry, and Sophia.
- Anna (d. 1415), married 1362/6 Count Adolf of Holstein (d 1390), but died childless. Her line extinct by her own death in 1415.