To arms, all guards to the battlements! 

Castles have become increasingly important over the last century or so in our story and it is time we look into them in a bit more detail. How were castles built, what purpose did they serve and who worked and lived in them? We look into castles and fortresses in medieval Sweden and focus on a few examples to get a bit more colour on these unique locations in the storyline. 

It’s time for a surprise special episode, on a Friday no less!

We’re so happy to have teamed up with Mikael from The Scandinavian History Podcast. We’ve both spent so much time recently talking about the Kalmar Union and so we thought that we would mark the 500th anniversary of Sweden leaving the Union (spoilers!) by looking into a crystal ball to see what might have happened had the Union survived any longer than it did. Was the collapse of the Kalmar Union even a good thing anyway?

Check out Mikael’s podcast The Scandinavian History Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Erik Puke is dead and with his death the peasant revolt he led dies down. The Swedish council meets in Strängnäs to try and solve the "peasant problem" once and for all, putting a number of restrictions on those they looked down on. But will this just mean that the nobility will start fighting amongst themselves about who gets to take advantage of the situation?

We then cover a brilliant Danish insult as King Erik gets into more trouble, this time with politicians from Sweden's neighbour. 

You can find Roberto's Tsar Power on Twitter here, as well as The History of Saqartvelo Georgia.

When Venetian merchant Pietro Querini left Crete for Flanders in 1432, little did he know that his voyage would take him much further afield. We follow the unfortunate Venetian as he and his crew struggle their way through poor shipbuilding, storms, starvation and desolate environments. The story also includes a guest appearance by one of our favourite characters in the main narrative so far! 

Querini also manages to capture the culinary imagination of his fellow Italians on his return... 

The revolt that is tearing Sweden apart is starting to split apart, just like Engelbrekt's head. There are now two distinct groups, with the high nobility being led by Karl Knutsson Bonde, with Erik Puke taking up Engelbrekt's cause of wanting lower taxes for the peasants. Forget about King Erik, the real dispute is internally within the rebellion!

We also hear about the wonderful life journey of a man who went from from young nobleman, to murderer, to fugitive, to pirate, back to being nobleman again, and then councillor and a lawman. Exhausting stuff!

Engelbrekt really does mean business. His revolt is continuing to grow after peace talks with King Erik don't really come to much. Engelbrekt storms around Sweden, lighting the fires of rebellion, but will some personal disputes get in the way for the rebel leader? What does end in this episode though is the war with Holstein over Schleswig, so at least the King can be happy with that, can't he? 

We're back with the chronological narrative and things start piling up for King Erik. He clearly didn't listen to this episode's Swedish Phrase of the Week... Without Queen Filippa keeping an eye on Swedish public opinion, discontent spills over into outright rebellion, led by a man so good they named him twice, Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. But is it possible to rebel against a King of three realms and what should the rebellion's plan be called? We discuss all this and more! 

After some excellent listener feedback, we're righting a wrong and focusing on animals throughout Swedish history. We start by looking at the lives of animals during the current period of the podcast, investigating what pigs, sheep, horses, dogs and other animals were up to in the medieval period. We then look at some famous royal horses and examine an English dog scandal with a bit of a Swedish twist! 

Note: This episode was originally released on 30th April 2023 but due to an editing error it is now being republished. 

This time we focus on King Erik's disastrous war with Holstein over Slesvig, as things take a turn for the worse when the Hansa join in. Queen Filippa helps out with the war effort and tries to get the discontented Swedes on side, before an unfortunate event means she is unable to help as the situation deteriorates...

We then end the episode with a look at archery in naval combat and what life might have been like for your average Hansa merchant sailing the Baltic sea.  

Last time we saw King Erik head out on a trip across Europe, looking for marriage alliances and help with Slesvig, before spending some quality time in Jerusalem. Whilst he is away, Queen Filippa takes the reins in Scandinavia. For almost two years she rules the Kalmar Union, introducing new coins and travels a lot around the realm. 

We have also had the pleasure recently of featuring on the great Presidencies of the United States podcast, in a special episode rating the life and career of Attorney General Caesar A Rodney! Check out the episode here and follow Jerry and Presidencies on Facebook and Twitter.