Welcome to A Flatpack History of Sweden! In this perhaps too long introductory episode, we say hello to our new podcast, explain the format and give a brief lowdown on what we are going to be talking about on our journey through Swedish history!

Update: We have just re-released the first 8 episodes of the podcast, so people can enjoy the first episodes with an improved sound quality! We give a longer explanation at the start of the episode.

We kick off our podcast with a look at how Sweden physically formed after the last ice age. We meet the first people to move in after this change and see how they lived during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic Ages. Expect Mammoths, hunter-gatherers and a very special lady - Bäckaskogskvinnan! 

Please do follow us on Twitter on too! @FlatpackSweden 

They have arrived! The Vikings are finally here. In the first of many episodes on this famous period of Swedish history, we give a rough introduction to the Viking period as we look at origins of the name Viking, where they lived, what they got up to and what kind of people they were. Were they even all Vikings?

We also hear from Jerry of the Presidencies Podcast as he reads out a quote from us, so do check out his great podcast. You can find him on Twitter at @Presidencies89 and at presidencies.blubrry.com for his website.

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!

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!

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 Denmark. King Kristian also has to learn how to use the new mortar he is renting from Germany and Sweden gets its first university...

We also hear from possibly our oldest listener, and here is the song mentioned in his email, Hälsa De Där Hemma on YouTube.

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, just like a new castle built over in Finland...

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 suggestions for what we should cover as a special 100th episode topic!!

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 gets dragged into the fighting as well. It's a busy episode! 

If you're listening "live", remember to send us ideas for what we should cover in our special 100th episode!

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 long... 

Meanwhile, we also address the confusion around Sweden and Switzerland - here's a link to the video we mention in the episode!

And for those of you who want to check out the wreck of the Gribshunden ship that we mention in the episode, you can find that here. 

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... 

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!

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? 

In this episode we start the real chronological journey through the Viking period. We begin with a look at the first large Viking raids on western Europe, in the rough period of 790-850. The Vikings started their now famous raids in this period, with the pivotal moment being the attack on the Christian monastery of Lindisfarne in 793. We look at the reaction to this attack and the following raids over the next few decades, before having a look at what day to day life would have been like in rural Sweden during the Viking Age. Chris even dusts off some of his basic Maltese to thank our guest reader! 

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 and even has to escape through a toilet at one point to avoid the King's men. But will the peasants of Sweden unite behind this ambitious, snowshoe-wearing rebel leader? 

Here is the painting we mention in the episode.

And here is the museum we mention that is older than the USA! 

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 Gustav will take the throne. Is this what spells the end of the Kalmar Union once and for all? 

To celebrate the 100th episode, there's a particularly funny blooper left in at the end.

To celebrate our 100th regular episode, here's Special Episode 10! This time we cover just a couple of weeks in 1973. There's a big hostage situation in a bank, royal drama and a General Election! Somehow Swedes managed to process all these dramatic events over one late summer in the early 1970s.

Thank you to everyone for being on this journey with us!

Becoming King after a couple of decades of civil war, you can forgive Gustav Vasa for maybe needing a bit of a recap about what kind of country he had just become the King of and what state it was in. So, in this episode, we step into the eyes of Gustav Vasa as he takes a look around to see what Sweden looked like in 1523, and what problems he has to deal with first! 

Gustav Vasa is now embarking on his journey as King of Sweden. First up is making the country complete again by sending troops to Gotland, where there are also some fancy looking rocks! Back on the mainland, far from everyone is happy with the new King and a series of revolts break out. How will Gustav deal with them? 

Åsa also wants a disclaimer put in here to say that she had nothing to do with the blooper at the end of the episode...

And check out some Raukar here!

The ideas of a revolutionary German monk cause some ripple effects even as far away as Sweden. Gustav Vasa sees an opportunity to take advantage of these new ways of thinking about Christianity and moves to limit the power of the Swedish bishops and starts a process of Reformation throughout the Kingdom. Protestantism is here! 

Gustav Vasa's religious reforms didn't go unopposed. The Church and even ordinary Swedes showed their opposition to the changes the King wanted to make in a number of ways, including getting extremely angry about the removal of of local church bells. This time we look at all the ways in which the process of the Reformation in Sweden didn't exactly always win the full throated approval of the people. 

Even though he's been on the throne for a decade at this point, Gustav Vasa is still not sitting entirely comfortably as 1534 comes around. That's because an old enemy has risen from the ashes of political oblivion and is attempting to take back his lost Kingdoms. This time Kristian the Tyrant returns! 

Just when you thought Gustav Vasa was safe on his throne and their couldn't possibly be more rebellions, there's time for at least one more! And this is the biggest one yet! Famous eel-snatcher Nils Dacke leads rebells in Småland who are not onboard with Gustav's way of running the country. 

Check out our new YouTube video, in which Chris' vists Visby and talks about the 1361 battle!

Edit: Enjoy a special early release due to us pressing the wrong button...! 

Gustav Vasa has decided he needs to reform how Sweden is run. He enlists the help of a number of clever German civil servants who have some ideas on how to build up an administration and end the King's shouting. However, if Gustav Vasa is your boss, you can count on one thing; You won't stay in his good books for long!

In this episode, the Vikings get a visit from our most interesting character so far. Ansgar is the fascinating first Christian missionary to Sweden, who tirelessly tries to spread his religion throughout Sweden, in the town of Birka. We meet many other interesting characters, including the Viking "Kings" Björn and Anund, Father Witmar, Gautbert, King Louis the Pious and a host of supporting characters in this exciting story of exploration, violence and religion. We also look in detail at Birka itself to see what life was like in Viking towns. 

Gustav Vasa was a powerful, stubborn and angry man, but he did have also time for a family, when he wasn't shouting at his German advisors that is. This time we take a look at his wives, his children and all the various marriage alliances he managed to arrange for himself and them. There's also some home education he organises for everyone! 

An old, hurting and angry Gustav Vasa is plodding towards his end. Before he goes though, there's still time for a war with Russia and getting his affairs (and funeral!) in order. We look back at a reign that changed Sweden for good and go through all the multiple faces of this quite unique king!

It's time for another special episode! We're dedicating an entire episode to the life and cultural impact of eels, an animal that we've already seen play a part in Swedish history. We'll get better aquainted with the world's (potentially) oldest eel, who spent his life in a well in southern Sweden, go on a Freudian search for the eels' reproductive parts and hear about the time Åsa went into what she calls an eel coma. 

Gustav Vasa is dead. His son Erik calmly takes control over Sweden and is crowned King in an elaborate coronation. The new King has some changes he wants to make and new advisors he wants to put in charge. His ideas will annoy some people, especially his younger brothers; but how bad can it be? 

We also give a shoutout to The Popeular History Podcast; Check them out on Spotify here, or wherever you find your podcasts! 

Now Erik XIV is well and truly on the throne, it is time to get involved in foreign policy. After teetering on the edge for a couple of decades, it is now time to see the end of Livonia, and everyone is invited to the going away party! Poland, Russia, Denmark and Sweden will all decide to fight over the remnants. We promise you it is going to get messy...

Denmark and Sweden come to blows once again and both kings are eager for some quick successes. But alas, the armies mainly end up chasing each other back and forth across Scandinavia and dying of starvation or disease... We do get to see an angry King Fredrik deliver a one-liner worthy of James Bond though! 

Shoutout once again to the excellent Presidencies of the United States podcast! Check them out wherever you get your podcasts or online at https://www.presidenciespodcast.com

Well, where do we start? In this episode, King Erik completely loses all grip on reality and others will pay the price. What can the Swedish state and nobility actually do when a monarch goes on a killing spree? The events over a few fateful days in 1567 will go down in history as The Sture Murders. Find out why!

We're also now giving Bluesky a go again. Check us on: @flatpacksweden.bsky.social

King Erik recovers from his insanity long enough to tell the Council he's married his lowborn girlfriend Karin. There's no honeymoon period for the happy couple though, as this tips the already angsty nobility into outright opposition. With Erik's two brothers also on their side, things will turn violent pretty quickly. 

Plus, some breaking news! On New Year's Day, we're launching a brand new podcast called Kingdom. We're going to be judging and ranking all the Swedish Kings, Queens and Regents in the "Rexypod" format! More news in this episode and on our social media channels:

Bluesky

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King Johan officially takes over Sweden after his brother Erik is deposed and there's a long to-do list for the new monarch. We cover Erik's "retirement", his brother's coronation and the end of war the with Denmark. There's even some disagreement between the Riksdag and the Council regarding what to do with Sweden's supplies of gunpowder, bullets and arrows...

No, this title isn't the name of an old Swedish folk band, but rather part of the theme of this episode: King Johan's dealings with religion! The King had been both academically and spiritually interested in religion for a long time, but now it is time for him to make some changes. The problem is, even though he has support from people like Abbey Joe, a lot of the country think the changes are too catholic for their liking.

Oh, and a monster terrorises a lake near Västervik. Maybe... 

We begin this episode by getting to know the Rus in more detail, a name for the Swedish Vikings as they headed east towards modern day Russia, Ukraine, Greece and Turkey. We see how the Byzantine and Arabic sources describe these new arrivals and determine exactly how "Swedish" they remained after their many trips to the region. We also talk about how some of these Rus ended up back in western Europe, as part of a Byzantine diplomatic mission to Louis the Pious from the last episode, and how this explains in more detail how these Vikings could be Rus and Swedish at the same time.  

Welcome to our brand new podcast, Kingdom: Swedish Rulers! 

In this new adventure, we are going to be ranking and judging all the Swedish kings, queens and regents, from Olof Skötkonung to Carl XVI Gustaf. In this episode we cover the background to the podcast, go through how we are going to judge each ruler and explain a little bit more about how the format works. 

Be sure to search for Kingdom: Swedish Rulers and follow the feed there to get all the episodes going forward. Only episodes 1 and 2 will be posted here on the Flatpack feed. This may take a day or so to appear, depending on your podcast player of choice. You can also find out more information on our website: https://aflatpackhistoryofsweden.com/kingdom-swedish-rulers/ 

P.S. The podcast is called Kingdom: Swedish Rulers, but we will use the fancy Swedish Ö letter in some of the logos, because we like it!

For some reason the first upload of this episode didn't work on the Flatpack feed, so here's the re-release! 

It is time to judge our first ever ruler, the first king of Sweden, Olof Skötkonung!

We cover the life of this interesting character who straddled eras, as we enter a country in the dying days of the Viking period. Will Olof do enough to win the coveted Kingdöm prize of The Three Crowns, or is his life story a bit of a bore?

Here are some maps which might handy too: https://aflatpackhistoryofsweden.com/about-the-podcast/maps/

Be sure to search for Kingdom: Swedish Rulers and follow the feed there to get all the episodes going forward. Only episodes 1 and 2 will be posted here on the Flatpack feed. You can also find out more information on our website: https://aflatpackhistoryofsweden.com/kingdom-swedish-rulers/ 

P.S. The podcast is called Kingdom: Swedish Rulers, but we will use the fancy Swedish Ö letter in some of the logos, because we like it!

Following in the footsteps of your father, who also happens to be the first king of Sweden, can’t be easy. Anund certainly has his job cut out for him, but he has learnt a few lessons from his dad Olof Skötkonung that he puts to good use. Will it be enough for him to walk away with The Three Crowns?

Be sure to search for Kingdom: Swedish Rulers and follow the feed there to get all the episodes going forward. This is the final Kingdom episode to be posted here on the Flatpack feed.

You can also find out more information on our website: https://aflatpackhistoryofsweden.com/kingdom-swedish-rulers/ 

P.S. The podcast is called Kingdom: Swedish Rulers, but we will use the fancy Swedish Ö letter in some of the logos, because we like it!

We're shifting our focus across the Baltic Sea to Estonia, Finland and Russia, to see what happens when war once against inevitably breaks out between Sweden and Russia. This time, it's personal! Tsar Ivan the Terrible and king Johan of Sweden really don't get along and their differences spill over into a drawn-out conflict. One particularly dramatic event involves a dispute between Johan's German and Scottish mercenaries! 

We're nearing the end of King Johan's reign, but there's still time for him to try and sort out the issues surrounding his son Sigismund, and the Polish succession. After years of strife and arguing over religious reform, added to the trials of war abroad, Johan isn't sitting on a large pile of political capital, and so has to struggle with the Swedish nobility. Plus, someone has the bright idea to actually count how much money is left in the treasury!

For the first time since his father Johan III died, Sigismund is back in Sweden and looking forward to his coronation as ruler of Sweden. But before that happens, he needs to agree on some rules with the Swedish regency council and deal with the fallout of a big religious meeting in Uppsala. Will Sigismund become a slave to the Swedish nobility and why is his child being held hostage by the Polish council? We also take the time to finish off "The Long Wrath" or even the "Nordiska tjugofemårskriget" in Swedish! 

The end of the 1500s is fast approaching, but there's still time for some classic Swedish history events! This time we see a peasant revolt, religious turmoil as the Archbishop goes on a tour of the country and of course some more family feuding in the top dynasty of the country. We also visit a place that will become much more famous in the 20th century! 

After much back and forth, it is time for King Sigismund to face his uncle Duke Karl in battle for the throne of the Sweden. Karl is using every trick and tactic in the book, but Sigismund has a load of cannons and even a dragon! But how will it end and who will end up in charge of the Swedish kingdom? 

Uppsala Cathedral is a place that has appeared multiple times in the podcast; hosting rebellions, funerals and coronations. In this episode, we do a deep dive into the history of the cathedral and its construction, including the lengthy building process and even the original French contractors! 

Some images to help you along:

The final floor plan

A timeline floorplan:Dark red: 1270s, Red: 1287-1331, Blue: 1360s-1380s, Light Blue: c.1400, Light Green: 1430s, Dark Green: 1440s or later

The first in a two-part special about famous Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. We look at the life of the man who opened more factories than anyone could count! This biography looks into his exploits, inventions and explosions, from his childhood to last days spent in Italy. Next time we'll dive deep into the history of the famous prizes created by him by his will. 

In this episode we continue the story of our Swedish Vikings as they venture both east and south, heading towards Kiev, the Black Sea and Constantinople. The Rurik dynasty of rulers take hold of a few major towns in the region, such as Kiev and Novgorod and begin to set up a bit of a power base. We look at about 50 years of relations between these Rus and the Byzantine Empire, covering attacks, trade and treaties as we delve into what happened during this dramatic period in Viking expansion eastwards.

In a very special episode, we interview the Speaker (Talman) of the Swedish Parliament, Andreas Norlén. The Speaker reflects on the history behind his historic office, the period in history he would have most liked to have been Speaker and how he sees the reign of current king Carl Gustaf XVI. Bonus content includes Swedish poetry, tomatoes, a historical clock and how heavy the parliamentary gavel is!

Links to some of the topics covered

The poet Karin Boye

Speaker Olof Håkonsson from the 1700s

The Speaker's instagram account

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I ett mycket speciellt avsnitt intervjuar vi Riksdagens talman, Andreas Norlén, på engelska. Talmanen reflekterar över historien bakom sitt historiska ämbete, den historiska perioden han helst skulle ha varit talman och hur han ser på regeringstiden för nuvarande kung Carl Gustaf XVI. Med bonusinnehåll såsom talmannes favoriter i svensk poesi, tomater, en historisk klocka och hur mycket rikdagens klubba väger! 

Last time in our two-part look at the life and achievements of Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, we covered his life and contributions to science and business. This time we are looking at the prizes named after him.

Why does Norway award the Nobel Peace Prize, why was the Swedish king angry about this, who has won the most Nobel Prizes and why has Åsa interviewed a prize winner? All this and more in this episode!

We mention Norwegian writer and Nobel Literature Prize winner Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in this episode. Here he is!

It is here! Our first Q&A episode has arrived and we have some excellent things to talk about. We'll discuss the avocado of Sweden in 1500s, how the Reformation changed attitudes towards sexuality and meet the medieval version of Huey, Dewey, and Louie!

Thank you to everyone for sending in the great questions!