Mrs. Larsen’s wishes for Bente’s forgetfulness would have to take a back seat to Ingrid’s wishes to go skiing and Mother Nature’s ability to make snow. Throughout the next five days, the only topic crossing Ingrid’s lips was the ski trip with Bente. This was in spite of Bente’s sole topic, her father’s crab party.
“Mr.; Hagen,” asked Bente, “What are you doing this next weekend?”
“Why do you ask?”
“My father is having his annual Krabbelag down on the wharf and I wanted to invite you.”
“I’d heard about it. I’ll be happy to join you.”
With that out of the way, Bente returned to her seat as Mr. Hagen returned to his history lesson.
“After the introduction of Christianity, many changes were in store for Scandinavia, especially during the 14th Century. While that included Norway, most of the problems centered round Sweden’s King Magnus Eriksson.
King Magnus had two sons. The oldest was named Erik and the youngest was named Haakon. King Magnus also had two kingdoms – Norway and Sweden. Because of this, the two countries formed a personal union. The often acted as one country in political and military decisions.
King Magnus decided Erik would be King of Sweden after he passed, while Haakon would become King of the less powerful Norway.
As it turned out, the second son would become the first King. As soon as Haakon turned fifteen years old, a group of Norwegian councilmen decided that Magnus should appoint Haakon as King.
While Haakon was King, his father became regent, still overseeing many, if not all, of the royal decisions for his son.
Soon after Haakon became King of Norway, Erik waged war upon his own father in Sweden. Erik was partially successful, ruling over southern Sweden while King Magnus ruled over the Northern half.”
Mr. Hagen moved to the right side of the chalkboard and drew five white rectangles. Then, he etched different colored crosses inside each rectangle. He filled in the remaining parts of the rectangles with red, blue, and white. Before he was finished, the children already recognized all of the Scandinavian flags, whether it was Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, or Norway.
“Why don’t you just draw one flag?” asked Ingrid.
“I’m proving a point,” he said as he finished shading the flags in their respective colors.
“Who knows what the design in the center is called?”
Every child raised his or her hand.
“”The Nordic Cross,” said a student.
Mr. Hagen nodded.
“While Norway still enjoyed a peaceable Kingdom, the strife in Denmark and Sweden continued. King Valdemar of Denmark had attacked two territories in southern Sweden. Meanwhile, he was warring with nearby territories.
In addition to dealing with Valdemar, King Magnus of Sweden was trying to reduce the power of Swedish noblemen. Magnus put the noblemen in exile, forcing them out of Sweden.
As King Magnus’ power diminished, his own sons fought over the title of Swedish King. During this time, Erik died mysteriously, leaving Magnus and Haakon as dual kings. Kings Magnus and Haakon raised taxes to pay for the wars against Erik.
The noblemen went to Valdemar, pledging their armies in a fight against Magnus and Haakon. With support from German tribes, Valdemar defeated the father and son as King of Sweden.
As soon as Valdemar became King, he turned against the noblemen and merchants. The Swedes decided to fight Valdemar just as they had fought with King Magnus.
During this time, Albert of Mecklenburg was appointed as King of Sweden. Albert was married to Erik’s daughter. This made Albert the great grandson-in-law of the former King Magnus.
In 1375, however, King Valdemar died. The only rightful heir was his a boy named Olav, who was just five years old.
His grandfather was King Valdemar of Denmark. Even worse, Olav’s father was King Haakon of Norway. Olav was appointed King, but was King in name only. His mother Margaret became a regent, ruling the throne. Olav would not be allowed to hold real power until his fifteenth birthday.”
Bente raised her hand.
“If Magnus is Haakon’s father and Haakon is Olav’s father, wouldn’t King Magnus be Olav’s grandfather, too?”
Mr. Hagen nodded.
“How could Olav have families in different countries?”
“Kingdoms have always been decided by bloodlines. It was important for these royals to marry each other so they could keep more power. When a King dies, his oldest son takes his place. If there’s no son, then it’s the oldest grandson. If there’s no true son or grandson, it becomes decided by arranged marriages”
“It’s so confusing,” moped Ingrid.
“All of this intermarrying between kings and queens and princes and dukes set the stage for the way Scandinavia was run for the next four-hundred years. When Olav died, he was barely seventeen years old. At that point, Margaret became the Queen of Denmark. Instead of having the fights continue between the Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes, she formed the Kalmar Union, which united them.
Each country had its own kingdom, but the Kalmar Union often acted as one kingdom, ruled by a single king or queen. It wasn’t until King Gustav became King of Sweden that the Swedes broke from the Union. After that, Denmark and Norway formed a personal union that lasted for another 300 years.”
Most of the children’s eyes were on the window, looking outdoors when the week’s final bell rang.
“Alright, students, I can see that I’ve lost most of you, so we’ll wrap it up for today. We’ll be skipping through the chapters on the Hanseatic League until the end of the year. I want you all to read about King Haakon and the Great World Wars.”
“King Haakon was there, too?” asked Ingrid.
“It’s a different King Haakon, the seventh.” Mr. Hagen wrote the King’s name on the chalkboard. ‘King Haakon VII’.
“I’ll see some of you this weekend at the Krabbelag on the Wharf. The rest of you I’ll see on Monday.”
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