Olaf, the only son of Haakon Magnusson and Margaret, was proclaimed King of Norway at his father's death. Five years earlier he had, after the death of his maternal grandfather, been elected king of Denmark. As he was yet a child, his mother Margaret and the Council of the Regency conducted the government in his name. Thus commenced the union of Norway and Denmark, which lasted without interruption for 434 years, and which proved so disastrous to the former country. Olaf died at the age of seventeen at Falsterbro in Skaane.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
NORWAY DURING THE KALMAR UNION.
Olaf was succeeded both in Denmark and Norway by his mother, Margaret, who became reigning queen. The real heir to the Norwegian throne was, in accordance with the law of succession, the Lord High Steward (Drost) Haakon Jonsson, a grandson of Agnes, an illegitimate daughter of Haakon Longlegs. But he did not possess the power to assert his claim against Margaret, who, by skilful intriguing, had induced the archbishop, Vinald, and the majority of the clergy to take her side. The Norwegian Council of Regency, in which the partisans of the queen likewise preponderated, seemed ready to do any thing which she demanded, and even yielded to her wish in pledging themselves to choose her grand-nephew, Erik of Pomerania, as her successor (1388). In accordance with this promise they declared Erik, during the following year (1389), king of Norway, under the guardianship of Margaret, until he should reach his majority.
The ambitious queen now turned her attention to Sweden, where she had a bitter and determined foe in Albrecht of Mecklenburg. He was remotely related to the royal house of Norway, and therefore believed himself to be the nearest heir to the throne. He was boiling over with animosity toward Margaret, whom he called "Queen Breechless," and never referred to, except with opprobrious epithets. As this kind of harmless ammunition produced no effect, however, he boldly assumed the title of king of Denmark and Norway, and prepared to enforce his claim. But he had reckoned without his host, when he supposed that the Swedes would support him in this enterprise. The Swedish nobility, which possessed greater power than the king, had long been dissatisfied with Albrecht, because he had surrounded himself with Germans, to whom he had given fiefs and posts of honor. They had long desired to rid themselves of him, and when Margaret made overtures to them, they seized the opportunity to accomplish their purpose. In February, 1389, Albrecht had to confront a united Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian army. The battle, fought at Falköping, in Vestergötland, was fraught with great results. Albrecht, who was unacquainted with the region, ventured with his heavy cavalry out upon a frozen marsh, fell through, and was taken prisoner. Margaret had him now in her power and determined to make him pay the penalty for the liberty he had taken with her name. Instead of the crown of Denmark, which he had meant to wear, she put upon his head a fool's cap with a tail 28 feet long, and mocked him mercilessly. He was then imprisoned in the castle of Lindholm, in Skaane, where he spent six years.
After the battle of Falköping Margaret's army met with no resistance in the southern provinces; but Stockholm had to be subjected to a long siege, during which it suffered greater depredations from internal than from external foes. Bloody feuds between two contending parties raged within the city. A brotherhood of pirates, the so-called Vitalie Brethren, furnished the citizens with provisions, thereby delaying their surrender. These pirates had for the nonce entered into an alliance with Rostock and Wismar, two cities of Mecklenburg, which sympathized with the imprisoned Albrecht. In the end Stockholm was forced to open its gates to Queen Margaret, in accordance with a compromise which was concluded in 1395. Albrecht was to pay a ransom of sixty thousand marks, and in case of his failure to provide this sum, within three years, he should either return to his prison or surrender Stockholm. He chose to do the latter.
Margaret had now reached the goal of her desires. She was the ruler of the whole Scandinavian race. She might have placed the triple crown upon her head, but preferred to secure this proud prize to her nephew, Erik of Pomerania, by having him crowned while she was yet alive. To this end she summoned representatives of the three kingdoms to a meeting in Kalmar, where a draft was made for a constitution, upon which the union was to be based. Although the document was signed by the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish magnates present, it was scarcely legally binding upon their countrymen. It bears the date of July 20, 1397, and contains the following stipulations:
1. The three kingdoms were to be eternally united under one king.