The king is the supreme ruler in the era of the Mature Middle Ages.

Among the fans of the Scandinavian myths are the names of OlafSaint, Eric Ryzhego and Ragnar Lodbrok are particularly popular, each of the adherents of these warriors will say that they were worthy kings. And how they became kings, what it all means and who else glorified this honorary title, we will consider in more detail below.

Social ladder in the Scandinavian Middle Ages

In the Scandinavian countries in the era of the Middle Ages (with6th to 15th century tentatively) the system of hierarchy among the population was quite extensive and depended on the origin of a person, his type of activity and military merit.

The main division of the estate looked like this:

• Tignarmans are the “cream” of society, notable peoplepedigree or combat exploits. Among them were: king - it is the supreme ruler; Earl - in today's society, an analogue is the deputy director, the prime minister. Often Labels vied for the right to rule, as they had extensive possessions, sometimes exceeding the king's estates. This periodically spawned civil wars and battles for territory. The Ottingirs also belonged to this class - well-to-do people, quite often they were children of kings who did not claim the throne. There was also the title of Landrman, who was in charge of the king's squad, and hevdinga, who was in charge of individual regions of the country.
• Carly - free population of Scandinavian countriesto which bonds belonged - landowners, khuskarly - employees and relatives of the bond. Also, landboars were poorer than landowners, tenants of land and free craftsmen, and also stabers - poor and beggars, but free.
• Trells (trells) - as the Scandinavians called slaves.
• Frals - former slaves, released by their masters to freedom for service or an honorable act or bought for accumulated money

There were still outcasts - people expelled from the settlementkonung for unworthy deeds or behavior, who had no right to anything: they were persecuted from everywhere, could with impunity kill and take their simple property. It is noteworthy that exiles became both permanently (forever) and temporarily (for a certain specified period of time).

King of medieval Scandinavia - king

This name comes from konungr, which in translation from the ancient North Germanic language means "leader ruling everything and everyone", like a king or king in later times.

The saying was often mentioned:"If the king is happy - his people too" or "The happiness of the people depends on the happiness of the king." This indicated that it was not easy to be such a ruler, because the king was a combination of several posts:

• was a priest: carried out various pagan rituals associated with local beliefs, conveyed the will of the gods to the people;
• Judge: in controversial issues between the local population, the voice of the king is the final word;
• He was a military leader during the periods of protecting his lands from raids, as well as during aggressive campaigns (many famous Vikings were kings).

It is interesting that the refusal to perform one of the duties could cost the king of the throne and the authorities, despite the generic status, because the title was often inherited.

How to become king in ancient Scandinavia?

Sometimes the leader had two or more sons, eachof which wanted to become king. This gave rise to dual power and internecine wars; therefore, the veche (people's council), in which a vote in favor of one or another ruler took place, was increasingly used. Also, any free person of necessary origin could seek the title of king at the same meeting.

At the same time, the power of the ruler was not absolute:he could not create and implement laws that were invented by himself - it was the people who decided on the ballot. Only from the 14th century, when the kings gradually began to be called kings “by the grace of God”, power gradually flowed into the hands of the ruler. The notion of “betrayal of the crown / king” appeared, which was not there before

Etymology of the word

There is an opinion that the word "konung" is a version of the Old Slavic "kunung". As is known, each letter of this language had a special sacred meaning, passed down from generation to generation.

"Kon" in the Scandinavian interpretation of the word "kun"meant something created by people and preserved with great care. This concept included both material: housing, lands and acquired property, and spiritual: tribal and family foundations (ways), rituals and rules of life, preserved and transmitted to descendants.

"Ung" is a transmitting or carrying messageto others, that is the keeper and traditions, and the correct way of life. Based on this, king is the carrier of all the most important, worthy in all respects.

Another version of the origin of the word

Some linguistic historians believe that the wordThe “king” was first mentioned in the Song of Riga, an Old Norse epic, about one of the sons of Odin, the supreme god of the Scandinavians, who became the progenitor of the people. It refers to the youngest of the pervodety Riga - Kon, who was nicknamed Young, that is, the name with the nickname sounded like Konr Ungr. He received the highest title - Rig-jarl. Since then, they began to call the supreme rulers konungs.

Famous kings

There are many famous and worthy rulers in the history of Scandinavia who left their mark:

• Eric the Fourth, the Swedish king, nicknamedVictorious, he achieved the approval of one-man rule: there were several kings and earls, but the supreme ruler was one, and the rest had to swear allegiance.
• Magnus Ladulos nicknamed Ambarny Castle rulessince 1240 in Sweden. The first officially divided people into classes, formed the concept of knighthood and became a persistent mediator between Norway and Denmark, inclining them to sign a peace agreement. This Swedish king got his nickname because of the law allowing the peasants not to pay tax to the clergy than incurred his wrath.
• Eirik Glipping, the Danish king, succeeded in succeeding to the throne in 1170.
• Anund from Gaydarik: konung of Sweden, deposed in 1071 for refusing to conduct pagan rituals since he was a Christian. He ruled no more than a year and was a native of Rurik, Russian kings.
• Haakon I, king of Norway, distinguished himself by trying to introduce Christianity in 960, but was a fiasco and was killed in the battle of Fityar.
• Haakon's father, Harald the Beautiful-Haired, was the first to call his country Norway. Got a nickname for long luxurious hair.

Worthy children of Ragnar Lodbroka

This semi-mythical Viking leader left behind several sons. All as one became famous in time and history:

1. Bjorn Zheleznobky - the great warrior who became king of Sweden. He distinguished himself by making raids not only on the local northern countries, but even reached Morocco and Provence.
2. Sigurd Snake-eyed - became the heir of Ragnar. An unusual nickname was due to the unusual color of the lens (in the form of a snake devouring its tail, popularly called Oroboros).
3. Ivar Boneless, who was considered a berserk for his despair in battle and unprecedented flexibility of the body, for which he received the nickname.