The Stockholm Bloodbath on November 7–9, 1520, during which Kristian II had more than 100 persons executed on charges of heresy, is a turning point in the history of the Northern kingdoms. This bloodbath eventually led to Kristian II’s lifelong incarceration, the rise of the Swedish Vasa dynasty, and the end of the Kalmar Union. It has commonly been perceived both as part of Swedish-Danish conflict and also as part of a Swedish civil war. In this volume, fifteen researchers offer new insights both into the events themselves and also, most significantly, into their background and aftermath, which stretch far beyond Stockholm and the year 1520.

The Baltic crusades are usually associated with conflicts against the pagan tribes of the region, but an element that is often overlooked is that they also included fellow Christians among their targets. This chapter will analyse the historiography as well as the reasons why these crusades were called and how they were perceived at the time. It will focus in particular on the crusade in support of the Kalmar Union-one of the best examples of crusading against Christians in the region. The Union was established in 1397 and comprised of the three Scandinavian kingdoms and dependencies, stretching from Russia to North America and from Nordkap to Hamburg. In 1401, Pope Boniface IX ordered the archbishops in the provinces of Scandinavia to preach a crusade against the enemies of the Union, “be they Christian or pagan.” This was a highly unusual formulation, but the ecclesiastical and political situation was also extraordinary. The Latin church was divided between two or three popes at the time, and Boniface needed all the help he could get. The bull was issued in response to a request from Queen Margaret, the de facto leader of the Kalmar Union. The Union was disputed from within and it had also inherited numerous external enemies. The Swedes had fought against Orthodox Russians for decades, the Danes had fought against or together with the Teutonic Order, and the Lithuanian-Polish union, established in 1386, had created a Catholic superpower with strong interests in the Baltic. Normally, the popes carefully denounced their enemies as heretics before they declared a crusade against them, but this was not the case in 1401, maybe because the enemies of the Kalmar Union were so many and so well established as Catholics.

This chapter seeks to argue, first, that Saxo’s Gesta Danorum fitted perfectly into the political and social situation in the kingdom of Denmark in the years immediately after 1208, and that it very much made sense to end it with 1185. Second, it will look in more detail at how Slavic groups or individuals living around the Baltic were described by Saxo, and especially to what extent they changed during the more than thousand years of history he covered. Saxo’s understanding of the Slavs has not been investigated in much detail. Some researchers have stressed Saxo’s creation of a hostile image of the Slavs, claiming he followed a general tendency in the 12th century whereby relations between Danes and Slavs became increasingly acrimonious. Others have countered Saxo’s description by pointing to actual cooperation between the two groups, often referring to archaeological evidence.

The Order of the Hospitallers had a privileged role in Scandinavia. In spite of this, only relatively few scholars have worked with the Order’s Scandinavian history, and none specifically with its relationships to women. The aim of the present article is to discuss women’s important role as donators and benefactors, what kind of agreements they could make of the Order, and the importance for the Order’s planning and expansion of estate.

Scandinavia went through momentous changes throughout the Middle Ages, emerging out of the Viking and Norse age towards 'Christianization'. Alongside this came social, economic and cultural changes which completely transformed the region into the kingdoms which existed in the Early Modern Period. Scandinavia in the Middle Ages covers the entire Middle Ages and integrates all areas of Scandinavia political, religious, cultural and social history into a coherent analysis. Within the broader narrative the historiography of the period and specific topics such as Norse literature, runes and neglected topics such as minorities, like the Sami and Jews, are discussed. Each chapter includes numerous textboxes, which explore central themes, persons and events in greater detail, ensuring students can quickly gauge the key information. The book is divided into three chronological parts 900-1200, 1200-1400 and 1400-1550, which guides the reader through the period in easily digestible sections. This book is essential reading for students of, as well as all those interested in, medieval Scandinavia and Europe more broadly.