People
The lives of the North
The people whose lives ran through these walls: kings and queens, builders and prisoners, the grasping and the devout. Their stories cross from castle to castle and country to country.
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Sverre Sigurdsson
c. 1151, Faroe Islands-1202, Bergen
The priest who became a warrior-king — leader of the Birkebeiner
Håkon IV
1204, Folkenborg, Norway-1263, Kirkwall, Orkney
The golden-age king: ended the civil wars, built Tønsberg's castle
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Håkon V
c. 1270-1319, Oslo
King of Norway 1299–1319, founder of Akershus
Valdemar Atterdag
c. 1320, Denmark-1375, Gurre Castle
The king who bought a broken Denmark back from the pawnshop — and fathered the queen who united the North.
Bo Jonsson Grip
c. 1330s-1386
Medieval Sweden's mightiest man — he held all of Finland
Margrete I
1353, Søborg, Denmark-1412, Flensburg
Ruler of three crowns, founder of the Kalmar Union
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Erik av Pommern
c. 1382, Darłowo, Pomerania-1459, Darłowo
He was given three crowns. He lost all three.
Gustav Vasa
1496-1560, Stockholm
The man who broke the Kalmar Union and built the Swedish state
Catharina Jagellonica
1526, Kraków-1583, Stockholm
The Polish princess who brought the Renaissance to Turku
Erik XIV
1533, Stockholm-1577, Örbyhus (poisoned)
The most gifted of the Vasa sons — and the most tragic: deposed, imprisoned, poisoned
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Johan III
1537, Stegeborg-1592, Stockholm
The middle Vasa brother — prisoner, then king, and the man who turned the church toward Rome
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Karin Månsdotter
1550-1612, Liuksiala
A jailer's daughter, a queen for a year, and thirty-five quiet years in Finland
Christian IV
1577, Frederiksborg-1648, Copenhagen
The builder-king of Denmark-Norway, founder of Christiania
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Per Brahe
1602-1680
Count and Governor-General of Finland — "in the count's time"
Augustin Ehrensvärd
1710, Fullerö, Sweden-1772, Saris, Finland
The officer-artist who gave his life to Sveaborg — and never saw it finished
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Gustav III
1746, Stockholm-1792, Stockholm (assassinated)
The theatre-king — absolute monarch and patron of the arts, murdered at a masked ball
Carl Olof Cronstedt
1756, Helsinki (Botby)-1820, Herttoniemi, Helsinki
The naval hero who surrendered Sveaborg — and with it, Finland
Gustav IV Adolf
1778, Stockholm-1837, St. Gallen, Switzerland
The king who lost Finland — deposed at Gripsholm, died in exile
Lars Hætta
1834, Kautokeino-1896
Sámi prisoner who translated the Bible from his cell
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Haakon VII
1872, Charlottenlund, Denmark-1957, Oslo
The king who said no — fled in 1940, came home in 1945, lies in the rock
Vidkun Quisling
1887, Fyresdal-1945, Akershus (executed)
The traitor whose name became the word