UNION OF CROWNS.—Waldemar III. (1340-1375) regained the conquests of Waldemar II. This brought on a general war, in which the Hanseatic League, as well as Sweden, were among his antagonists (1363). Denmark, having control of the entrance to the Baltic, and exacting tolls of vessels, was a second time involved in war with that great mercantile confederacy and its allies, and was worsted in the conflict (1372). Waldemar's second daughter, Margaret, married Hakon VI., King of Norway. Hakon's son Olaf was a child at his father's death, and the regency was held by his mother. Olaf (1376-1387) was elected by the Estates king of Denmark. His mother, now regent in both countries, became queen in both after Olaf's death. In 1388 Margaret accepted the crown of Sweden; the Swedes having revolted against the king, Albert, who was defeated and captured at Falkoeping (1389).
SWEDEN.—War existed for centuries between the Swedes and the Goths, the inhabitants of the southern part of the peninsula. Each race contended for supremacy. Political union began with Waldemar (1250-1275), son of Birger Jarl (Earl Birger). Stockholm was founded in 1255. Private wars and judicial combats were suppressed, commerce was encouraged, and the condition of women improved. Large duchies were established, afterwards a source of discord. Magnus I. (1279-1290) was surnamed Ladulas, or Barnlock, for protecting the granaries of the peasants from the rapacious nobles. His reign was succeeded by war between his sons. As the result of a popular revolt in 1319, Magnus Smek, an infant, became king, and during the regency succeeded, by right of his mother, to the crown of Norway, where he (1350) placed on the throne his son Hakon. But when Magnus attempted to rule without the senate, he was deposed, and Albert of Mecklenburg was elected king (1365). But the nobles were supreme: in 1388 they deposed Albert, and gave the crown to Margaret of Norway and Denmark. Albert was held a prisoner for six years, and then renounced his claim to the throne.
NORWAY.—Magnus III. (1095-1103), called from his Scottish dress Barefoot, united the Hebrides and Orcades into a kingdom for his son Sigurd, and invaded Iceland, where he died. Sigurd inherited the spirit of Harold Fairhair (860-about 933), through whom Norway had been made a united kingdom. He made a voyage to Jerusalem through the Mediterranean, and was a renowned crusader. After his death (1130), there were fierce contests for the throne, the more fierce as illegitimate sons had the same right in law as those born in wedlock. In 1152 a papal legate established a hierarchy in Norway, which interfered in the struggle. Conflicts arose between the clerical party and the national party, in which the latter at length gained the day. Under Hakon VI., Iceland was conquered (1260). Magnus VI. (1263-1280) brought in an era of quiet, without stifling popular freedom. The cities engaged actively in manufactures and commerce. Magnus strengthened and organized the military and naval force. By him the Hebrides were ceded to Scotland. Under Eric (1280-1299), called Priest-hater, there was a struggle to curb the power of the clergy and nobles, in which the king was aided by the peasants. He was worsted in the conflict with the Hanse towns, and compelled to join their League. The accession of Magnus Smek, the son of his daughter, to the throne of Norway (1319), led eventually to the Union of Calmar (1397), in which Sweden, Norway, and Denmark were brought together.
"The situation of Norway, during the Middle Ages, might be shortly described as an absolute monarchy resting almost directly on one of the most democratic states of society in Europe." The greater families, by the partition of their estates, became a part of the class of small land-owners. Between them and the king there was no intermediate class.
AFTER THE UNION OF CALMAR.—After the death of Margaret, who governed the united kingdoms after the union, Eric XIII. of Pomerania succeeded. The union was shaken by the revolt of Schleswig and of Holstein, and was dissolved on the death of Christopher of Bavaria (1448), who had been chosen king. The Swedes broke off, and made Charles Canutson king, under the name of Charles VIII. Denmark and Norway remained united; and under Christian I. of the house of Oldenburg, whom they made king, Schleswig and Holstein were again attached to Denmark (1459).
V. POLAND AND RUSSIA.
THE SLAVONIC TRIBES.—The settlement of the Hungarians (Magyars) in Europe had the effect to divide the Slavonic tribes into three general groups. The northern Slaves were separated from the Slaves south of the Danube,—the inhabitants of Servia, Croatia, Dalmatia, etc. The north-western Slaves bordered on the Western Empire. The states of Bohemia and Poland grew up among them. On the east of this group of Slaves were the Russians. Both Poland and Russia became independent kingdoms. In the course of history, a part of the north Slavonic lands, those which are represented by Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Saxony, were Germanized. Lands in the south-west, as Bohemia and Moravia, remained predominantly Slavonic in speech. A central region formed the kingdom of Poland. On the east were the Slavonic tribes which were the nucleus of modern Russia.
LITHUANIANS AND PRUSSIANS.—Both Poland and Russia were originally cut off from the Baltic by other races. Such were the non-Aryan Fins in Esthonia (Esthland) and Livonia (Livland). Such, also, were the Aryans of the Lettic branch, of whom the Lithuanians and the Prussians were the principal divisions. The Lithuanians formed at one time a strong state. The Prussians finally gave their name to the Teutonic kingdom in which they were absorbed.
THE POLES.—The Poles derive their name from a word meaning plains. They were inhabitants of the plains. They were the strongest of a group of tribes dwelling between the Oder and the Vistula, and holding the coast between their mouths. Between them and the sea, on the east of the Vistula, were the Prussians.
POLAND: ITS CONSTITUTION.—In the tenth century the Lechs, or Poles, on the Vistula, had acquired considerable power, and had a center at Gnesen, which remained the metropolis of Poland. There are legends of a first duke, Piast by name. A dynasty which bore his name continued in Poland until 1370; in Silesia, until 1675. Miecislas I. was converted to Christianity by his wife, a Bohemian princess. He did homage to the Emperor Otto I. (978). Boleslav I. (992) aspired to the regal dignity, and had himself crowned as king by his bishops. Gregory VII. excommunicated him, deprived him of the title of king, and laid Poland under an interdict. Boleslav III., the Victorious (1102-1138), subdued the Pomeranians, and compelled them to receive Christianity. He divided his kingdom among his four sons. Silesia became an independent duchy. A long crusade was carried on against the Prussians, a heathen people, who attacked the Poles, by the "Brethren of the soldiers of Christ," and the "Teutonic knights," two orders which were united (about 1226). The Teutonic knights at length became the enemies of the Poles. The savage Lithuanians assailed them on the north. From the anarchy that reigned, Poland was rescued by Casimir III., the Great (1333-1370), who defeated the Russians, and carried his eastern boundary as far as the Dnieper. Prior to this time, Poland was an important kingdom. Casimir framed a code of written laws for his people, and gave an impulse to commerce. But in order to secure the election of his nephew, Louis king of Hungary (1370-1382), he had to increase the powers and privileges of the nobles. The accession of Louis terminated the long rivalry of Poland and Hungary. He, like Casimir, died without children. The nobles made Jagellon, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, his successor (1386), who took the name of Vladislav II. Under a series of conquering princes, Lithuania had extended its dominion over the neighboring Russian lands, and become a strong state. Vladislav was chosen on the condition that he should espouse the daughter of the last king, and, with his nation, embrace Christianity. This event doubled the territory of Poland. The Teutonic Knights, who ruled from the Oder to the Gulf of Finland, were now overcome. The treaty of Thorn (1466) confined their dominion to Eastern Prussia. The misfortune of Poland was its political constitution. Although the monarchy was not yet completely elective, but hereditary in the house of Jagellon, the election of every king had to be sanctioned by the nobles. They alone took part in the diet, and held the offices and honors. There was no burgher class, no "third estate." Every man who owned and was able to equip a horse was counted as a noble. The burden of taxation fell on the peasants.