In fourteenth-century Sweden, several depositions of kings (in 1318, 1364, and 1389) were followed by the production of literary depictions of those kings’ reigns, pointing out their many faults, the wickedness of their advisors, or the tyrannical nature of their rule. Thus, Latin and vernacular literature could serve a legitimating function, presenting both the actions of the rebels and the succeeding regime as lawful. These texts were composed shortly after the events in question, giving one faction’s view of a recent conflict; they portray motivations, modes of composition, and a historical consciousness distinct from regnal history writing.