Crowning of Erick XIV June 29, 1561

Erik XIV was born December 13, 1533, as the oldest son of king Gustav Vasa and his mother was Katarina of Sachsen-Lauenburg. He was crowned king in the cathedral of Uppsala. His actions as king did not make his brothers or his nation happy and it led to Erik capulating to his brothers July 12, 1568. He was kept prisoner in different castles in Sweden and Finland until he died February 26, 1577, after eating pea soup. It is believed that he was poisoned by his brother Johan who had become king and research of his remains has shown that he had a high level of arsenic in his body when he died.

During his youth Eric spent a lot of time in Kalmar at the castle and it is worth a visit. There is a room that Erik partly decorated himself and he did the intarsia for the door. It was also here that he kept his mistress Agda Persdotter, which she was 1558-1561 and possibly 1563-1565. Their daughter Virginia was born in Kalmar January 1, 1559. Virginia had all the benefits of a legal child and was married to the nobleman Håkan Knutsson Hand. They lived in the parish of Odensjö in western Småland where their seven children were born and grew up. A lot of people in Sweden and all over the world are through these children related to Sweden's most famous king, Gustav Vasa. When I started with genealogy I learned about Virginia because Odensjö is where my father's father was born and grew up as a farmer's son. I thought that  maybe this would be my connection to royalty. It was not. I was very surprised when I found a connection through my mother's father who grew up in Södermanland. He came from a line of iron and marble workers and there was no knowledge about royal blood.

Erik and Agda's second daughter Constantia was born in Stockholm. Erik proposed to the queen of England, Elisabeth I but was turned down. Agda married Joakim Eriksson Frlemming but probably became Erik's mistress once again when she became a widow. All his mistresses were set aside once he met Karin Månsdotter. She was fifteen when she became his mistress and they got married July 4, 1568. They had a small quiet wedding and she was crowned queen the day after. The couple had however already gotten married in secret July 13, 1567. A lot of people were displeased with Erik's interest in Karin since she was not of noble birth but the daughter of a simple prison guard. Karin followed her husband in captivity and were freed after his death. She was given the farm Liuksiala in Finland and lived there the rest of her life.

Picture: Eric XIV of Sweden
Public Domain
By: Domenicus Verwilt
http://nationalmuseum.se/

Sources:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_XIV
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agda_Persdotter
http://odensjohistoria.se/

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