In 1103 the bishopric of Lund was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric, yet not becoming perfectly independent of the archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. The archbishop of Lund received the title of Primas of Sweden, preserved long after Sweden had obtained its own archbishop.
King Inge died in 1111, receiving, by the appendix to the West Gothic law, credit for “having ruled Sweden with manliness, without breaking the law which governed each province.” About his brother Halsten, who died before him, the same source says: “He was sagacious and good-natured; the cases brought before him were bettered, and Sweden became worse through his death.” At the time of Inge’s death, Jemtland was persuaded to pay scat to the Norwegian king, but it remained in connection with the church of Sweden.
Inge’s son Ragnvald died before him, and Halsten’s sons, Philip and Inge the Younger, ascended the throne. They were of a more peaceful disposition toward the heathen than their predecessors, Christianity making great progress during their reigns. Philip died in 1118, Inge following him in 1125; his death was said to have been caused by poison. The epitaph over the two runs thus: “Sweden fared well while they lived,” in the terse language of the source quoted above. With them the race of Stenkil became extinct in the male line.
In 1123 the Norwegian king, Sigurd Jorsalafare, undertook a crusade to the eastern parts of Smaland, which were still heathen. “Crusades” of this kind were not uncommon during that period, and were hardly anything else than Viking expeditions in Christian disguise.
Great confusion ensued through the extinction of Stenkil’s line. Ragnvald Knaphœfde, probably the son of Olof Næskonung, was chosen king, but lost his life through the contemptuous neglect of an ancient custom. The newly elected king should always make a tour of the realm, receiving homage and giving assurance of his good faith to the population of the various provinces. The provincial laws had stipulations as to the nature and number of the gisslan (hostages) to meet and escort him through each province. This tour, called Eriksgata, Ragnvald undertook without accepting hostages upon entering West Gothland. He was killed at Karleby, in 1130, by the peasants, indignant at what they considered an insult to all the West Goths. These had, moreover, made another choice in Magnus Nilsson, the son of Margaret Fredkulla in her second marriage. Magnus never made claim to the Swedish throne, endeavoring to become king of Denmark, after his father, Nils Svendsen, but losing his life in the attempt.
Sverker, who had married the widow of the younger Inge, was in 1133 chosen king by the East Goths, and the Up-Swedes (in the provinces north of Lake Mælar), having no special choice of their own, also agreed on him. After the death of Magnus Nilsson, the West Goths joined by formally acknowledging King Sverker, who, born in East Gothland, has been supposed to be the son of Eric Arsæll, without solid reasons. During Sverker’s reign ecclesiastical matters developed. The old bishoprics of Birka and Sigtuna were changed into that of (Old) Upsala, where the pagan temple seems to have been at last changed into a church. New bishoprics were created in Linkœping, Strengnæs, Westeros and Vexio. The whole of Swedish Finland formed one diocese. The famous Bernard of Clairvaux was asked by King Sverker and his queen Ulfhild to send monks of his order, and several Cistercian convents were founded. The quiet and scholarly monks from France, no doubt, soon began to exert a beneficial influence of importance, through the means of their superior culture. A papal legate, Nicolaus of Alba (later Pope Hadrian IV.), visited Sweden in 1152, meeting all the dignitaries of Church and State for a conference at Linkœping. The legate was willing to give to Sweden an archbishop, but the matter was postponed, since no agreement could be reached in regard to the archbishopric’s seat. Measures for the establishment of the Church on a firmer basis and the payment of Peter’s pence to Rome were agreed on.
Sverker was a good and peaceful monarch, but seems with old age to have lost some of his authority. A war with Denmark was brought on through an escapade of his son John, who had carried away two Danish women of noble birth. He returned them, and was himself killed by the peasants at a Thing. Yet the Danish king, Svend Grade, had the excuse for an invasion and entered Smaland with an army in the winter of 1153-54. The brave inhabitants of Værend gave him a hearty welcome, and he soon returned to Denmark. It is an old tradition that a woman by the name of Blenda was chiefly instrumental in this result. When the peasants feared to attack the superior enemy, she had a splendid meal spread for the foe. After the Danes had partaken heavily of its eatables and drinkables, they were surprised and routed by their hitherto invisible hosts and hostesses.
King Sverker, now called “the Old,” was murdered by his valet while starting for the Christmas matins in 1155 or 1156. The murder was, without doubt, committed at the instigation of the Danish prince Magnus Henricsson, who on his mother’s side was a great-grandson of Inge the Elder, and who in this manner made his first attempt to reach the throne of Sweden.
Already, in 1150, the Up-Swedes had in Eric, the son of Jedvard, found a man in their opinion better suited to rule Sweden than Sverker the Old. His mother is said to have been the daughter of Blot-Sven and the sister of Kol, while his father was “a good and rich yeoman.” Through a mistake he was named Eric IX., but is more commonly known as St. Eric. One source calls him “lawgiver,” although nothing is definitely known of his activity in this direction. At the death of Sverker, his son Charles was certainly of age, but the growing fame of King Eric made it useless for him to force his right, and Eric was recognized as king of the whole realm.