In our 100th regular episode, Gustav Vasa and his merry band of Swedish rebels take on King Kristian and the Danes in a war that will see shifting allegiances, the nobility and peasants fighting side by side once more, and eventually even the birth of the Swedish Navy. King Kristian on the other hand, faces troubles on all fronts and eventually Gus…

The dust has settled on the Stockholm Bloodbath and King Kristian continues his early reign with more bloodshed. He thinks he has Sweden under his thumb but he has hasn't counted on the return of one young nobleman. After escaping custody thanks to a sneaky ruse, Gustav Vasa tries to gather support for a rebellion by visiting his old uni friends an…

After King Kristian II takes over Sweden, he goes a bit cray-cray... That means we have reached one of the most famous events of Swedish history; A vengeful King and an angry Archbishop combine to put the Swedish nobility to the sword. But why, and how?Bởi A Flatpack History of Sweden

We ended last episode with King Kristian II of Denmark sailing away with some Swedish hostages. This time he returns to Sweden to do more battle, during a cold winter, and he even brings some Scottish mercenaries along for the ride. Sten Sture and his wife lead the fight for the Swedes, with a bit of help from the Devil's Mother!…

One of the biggest political showdowns in Swedish history begins this week, and it is all to do with the Archbishop! The King of Denmark, the Regent of Sweden and the Archbishop himself all clash over the powers and property of the office. It's going to be dramatic...Bởi A Flatpack History of Sweden

Sweden seems to be stuck in a loop in the early 1500s: there's internal conflict, and there's conflict with Denmark. After their villages have been ravaged by Danish troops, a group of peasants writes to the regent saying "such fire and plunder was not useful", which is the understatement of the age. We also see someone get a new job, but not for l…

King Hans doesn't get to rest long on the Swedish throne before rebellion breaks out once more. This time a fish seems to be at least partly to blame! In the middle of all the fighting, rebel leader Regent Sten Sture starts to feel unwell, which leads to a comedic sequence of events involving some trickery and disguises! Meanwhile, Queen Kristina g…

We're squeezing in a final episode of 2023! We look at a major siege and battle over on the Russian border in Finland before turning back to look at political developments in Sweden. King Hans is on the move and Swedish Regent Sten Sture has his work cut out for him as even his own archbishop starts getting a bit agitated! Please let us know your s…

There are expeditions and battles in the east of the Baltic Sea region this week and we see changes in the political landscape back home too. Sweden also makes a big cultural and scientific leap as the printing press arrives on our shores! The first few books might not exactly be best sellers and they also aren't that imaginatively named either, ju…

We're back and back with a bang! Or back with a battle at least! King Kristian of Denmark slogs it out with Swedish Regent Sten Sture in a battle long remembered. Both before and after the battle, we see a lot of nationalistic chat on both sides of the border, as the Kalmar Union descends into a conflict Sten Sture wants to define as Sweden vs Denm…

KKB as King, peasants revolting, marriage alliances, political bishops, regents, splits in the nobility, angry Danes, oh, and a plague. This episode has it all! Listen for more details!Bởi A Flatpack History of Sweden

This episode feels a bit like déjà vu, as all sides in Scandinavia recycle plans they've used before. Once again, there's conflict with Denmark, the nobility in in disagreement, the peasants revolt, and guess what - KKB is back! This is the podcast you're looking for, just with a fancy new logo. Hope you like it!…

Whilst Kings Kristian and KKB battled it out for the control of Sweden and Norway in the last episode, one Norwegian nobleman was busy playing an interesting in Norwegian society at the time. We look at the life of Olav Nilsson Skanke and his indefatigable wife Elise, how their actions fit into the grand story of the Kalmar Union and why their rela…

It is time for our longest episode for over two years! Sorry if you like the shorter stories, there is too much madness with KKB to cover this time around. After the sad, untimely death of King Chris, the Swedes and the Danes disagree about who should be King of the Kalmar Union. There isn't even really any unanimous decision within Sweden either..…

We're on the road again! We thought we had maybe neglected Östergötland a little, considering its importance to the story of Sweden, so during the summer we headed south and went on a bit of a trip. We visited Linköping castle and cathedral, Vadstena Abbey and the island of Visingsö with its castles and woods. Taking our microphone for a ride, we l…

King Kristoffer is on the throne! Of Denmark at least... There will be some wrangling with the council first, before he can ascend the throne of Sweden and the Kalmar Union can once again be under the rule of one monarch. We dedicate an entire episode to the reign of Chris' namesake king, looking at who he was, what he did, and if the introduction …

To arms, all guards to the battlements! Castles have become increasingly important over the last century or so in our story and it is time we look into them in a bit more detail. How were castles built, what purpose did they serve and who worked and lived in them? We look into castles and fortresses in medieval Sweden and focus on a few examples to…

It’s time for a surprise special episode, on a Friday no less! We’re so happy to have teamed up with Mikael from The Scandinavian History Podcast. We’ve both spent so much time recently talking about the Kalmar Union and so we thought that we would mark the 500th anniversary of Sweden leaving the Union (spoilers!) by looking into a crystal ball to …

Erik Puke is dead and with his death the peasant revolt he led dies down. The Swedish council meets in Strängnäs to try and solve the "peasant problem" once and for all, putting a number of restrictions on those they looked down on. But will this just mean that the nobility will start fighting amongst themselves about who gets to take advantage of …

When Venetian merchant Pietro Querini left Crete for Flanders in 1432, little did he know that his voyage would take him much further afield. We follow the unfortunate Venetian as he and his crew struggle their way through poor shipbuilding, storms, starvation and desolate environments. The story also includes a guest appearance by one of our favou…

The revolt that is tearing Sweden apart is starting to split apart, just like Engelbrekt's head. There are now two distinct groups, with the high nobility being led by Karl Knutsson Bonde, with Erik Puke taking up Engelbrekt's cause of wanting lower taxes for the peasants. Forget about King Erik, the real dispute is internally within the rebellion!…

Engelbrekt really does mean business. His revolt is continuing to grow after peace talks with King Erik don't really come to much. Engelbrekt storms around Sweden, lighting the fires of rebellion, but will some personal disputes get in the way for the rebel leader? What does end in this episode though is the war with Holstein over Schleswig, so at …

We're back with the chronological narrative and things start piling up for King Erik. He clearly didn't listen to this episode's Swedish Phrase of the Week... Without Queen Filippa keeping an eye on Swedish public opinion, discontent spills over into outright rebellion, led by a man so good they named him twice, Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. But is it…

After some excellent listener feedback, we're righting a wrong and focusing on animals throughout Swedish history. We start by looking at the lives of animals during the current period of the podcast, investigating what pigs, sheep, horses, dogs and other animals were up to in the medieval period. We then look at some famous royal horses and examin…

This time we focus on King Erik's disastrous war with Holstein over Slesvig, as things take a turn for the worse when the Hansa join in. Queen Filippa helps out with the war effort and tries to get the discontented Swedes on side, before an unfortunate event means she is unable to help as the situation deteriorates... We then end the episode with a…

Last time we saw King Erik head out on a trip across Europe, looking for marriage alliances and help with Slesvig, before spending some quality time in Jerusalem. Whilst he is away, Queen Filippa takes the reins in Scandinavia. For almost two years she rules the Kalmar Union, introducing new coins and travels a lot around the realm. We have also ha…

Knowing he has a competent Queen back home, Erik can afford to go on a long road trip! He's heading off to Jerusalem, but on the way he wants to get some help with Slesvig from his cousin, the Holy Roman Empire strongman Sigismund. He's also in the market for a marriage alliance and more than happy to invite himself to some parties along the way, s…

Following Margareta's departure from the story, King Erik is now ruling Sweden and the rest of the Kalmar Union on his own. He has plenty of meetings dealing with the fall out of Margareta's death and it starts off really well for him. However, things will soon go from bad to worse in the war with Holstein over Slesvig and Erik will land himself in…

Do not adjust your podcast player, this is a new style of episode! We are introducing an episode called Tangent Time, because we have finally snapped and gone off on a long tangent about something only vaguely related to the main narrative... We cover the pivotal Battle of Grunwald (or Battle of Tannenberg) between the Teutonic Knights and the forc…

The story of the Kalmar Union continues, as political intrigue engulfs the religious world when Sweden needs a new archbishop... There's also a lot of fighting on the battlefield as we cover a disaster for both the Teutonic Knights over in Poland and also for our friend Father Abraham down in Holstein. And then, we see the surprise departure of a s…

Queen Margareta and King Erik are taking some time off from fighting German knights and reducing the property ownership of the nobility to attend to some personal matters, because it is time for King Erik to get married! After some scouting around for suitable wives, the choice falls on an English Princess, Filippa. We delve deep into the marriage …

First up in this action and intrigue-packed episode is a story that took Scandinavia by storm in the early 1400s. Margareta receives a letter from someone long gone and the revelations threaten to tear apart her Kingdom. A strange man arrives at court but doesn't exactly receive a warm welcome. The same applies to Margareta's men sent to deal with …

Of course the first episode back after a Swedish Christmas has to include a healthy dose of herring! We round off the 1300s with a quick tale about Novgorod and more developments on Gotland, before diving into the great herring markets of Skåne to start off the new century. The 1400s was a time of great trade in Skåne and herring was of vital impor…

A special episode for a special time of year! We celebrate the festive season with a visit to one of Sweden's most famous Christmas symbols and a discussion about symbols of the country in general. From the flag to the Three Crowns, we discuss the most common things people think of when they think of Sweden - we even include the Dala Horse by speci…

A surprise arrival on the island of Gotland leads to our biggest digression yet! There's drama all over the north of Europe as we cover the backstory of these new players in the Swedish story - although some of them aren't that new. The Teutonic Knights are here and they're ready to take some new land! Note: The joke section at the end is not the a…

We have building up to this big meeting for quite a while now and trust us, it is worth it! A formal union between old enemies Denmark, Sweden and Norway is agreed in a major historical milestone. Erik will be crowned King of this new entity and it is a certainly a win for Margareta. But what was actually agreed on and was the meeting even that imp…

Margareta is now truly in charge after capturing King Albert in battle last time around. In Sweden, her heir Erik is elected king at Mora Stenar, despite Margareta really being in charge. A sign of this power is how she curtails noble power and continues to make laws strengthening royal control over her three countries. Meanwhile, the Baltic Sea is…

The situation on the Baltic Sea is about to go from bad to worse as piracy takes hold. The Dukes of Mecklenburg assemble a giant fleet to try and keep Stockholm resupplied and terrorise all merchants foolish enough to risk a voyage on the water. It gets so bad that even the Dutch and the English are annoyed! Just like 100 years previously, icy wate…

The 1380s is drawing to a close and the decade ahead has been described by historians as "one of the most troublesome, bloody and unstable times in the history of the nations around the Baltic sea.” Queen Margareta has lost her son King Olof and now her enemies in Mecklenburg won't give in. It is time for the two sides to meet in battle, namely at …

We're back in the late 1380s after our two recap episodes. We pick up the story of Scandinavia after the death of the last of the Bjälbo dynasty, King Olof of Norway and Denmark. But fear not, his mother Margarete is ready to step up and take the reins. We'll see how she enforces her will on both Denmark and Norway, with the help of her allies in t…

We continue with part two of our double episode recap. We start with the first Swedish King and end up with King Albert in the late 1300s, where we left off in the last chronological episode. We see royal drama, powerful jarls, dukes, Queens, Kings and much more. There's so much to cover, so let's get going! Remember to follow us on Facebook and Tw…

After two and a half years, and after a request by a listener, we thought it was a good time to start recapping everything we have covered in the podcast so far. We open the Flatpack Archives and discuss a few highlights from each episode in the first half of our back catalogue. We'll finish this recap next time! Remember you can find all our episo…

In the spirit of a title from Åsa's favourite TV show, this is the one where everyone dies. Sorry about the spoilers... In this episode, everything we have come to know and love/hate about Scandinavian politics for the last 30-40 years or so and that we have covered over the last 10 episodes comes crashing down. Who will be left standing at the end…

We continue with the whirlpool that is late 14th century Swedish politics. Rebelling Swedish noblemen, with Bo Jonsson Grip at the helm, are ready to take the fight to King Magnus, with the help of their new allies Mecklenburg. Young Albert of Mecklenburg will eventually be placed on the Swedish throne, but he's really just a figurehead, as behind …

We're back on track with our chronological narrative. We pick up where we left off after the battle of Visby in the summer of 1361. Gotland continues to suffer under its new Danish masters, but before long King Magnus decides to strike back. What follows is a Danish-Swedish-Norwegian-German-Hanseatic conflict in which alliances change quicker than …

It is time for another special episode! We recently spent a whole week in the county of Skåne and got to see a load of historical gems. In the chronological timeline, King Magnus has just possession of Skåne, so let's take a look at what he has had taken away from him. Listen as we talk about the tower watchman of Ystad, the stone ship Ale Stenar, …

We've talked about her on and off for a while now, so we thought it was time for a biographical special! Known as Birgitta up until now in the timeline, minor spoilers as we examine the life of the lady known in Swedish history as Saint Birgitta. It will be a journey, both literal and metaphorical, filled with visions, politics and death. She also …

This is an extra special episode for two reasons! For the first time we have enough information to spend a whole episode focusing on just one battle, the Battle of Visby in 1361, and it is also our first ever interview episode. We speak to Thomas Neijman, PhD candidate in History at Stockholm University, an expert on the Battle of Visby and its mod…

This week it is all change in the Bjälbo dynasty in another action packed episode! We start off with King Magnus' son Håkon finally taking the throne of Norway as planned, in a relatively rare peaceful transition of power. This annoys elder brother Erik who attempts to grab more power for himself... We also see the Hanseatic League actually become …

Novgorod and Sweden have been involved in on and off conflict for a couple of centuries as we reach the end of the 1340s. Things go into overdrive at the end of the decade, as King Magnus of Sweden heads east, determined to convert the Novgorodians to his version of Christianity and take control over vital trade routes. Battles centre around the Or…