Margaret dominated Scandinavian politics for almost forty years, but since she was a woman, she wasn’t allowed to rule as queen in her own right. Instead, she had to rule through her son Olav. When he died young, Margaret adopted her sister’s grandson, making him king. That worked fine until she eventually died and he was left to actually run the show on his own.

In his attempts to hold on to his Swedish crown, Albert of Mecklenburg outsourced his naval affairs to a bunch of glorified pirates. Shockingly, when he no longer needed them, they went on being pirates.

In the Middle Ages, trade in Northern Europe was dominated by the Hanseatic League. At its peak, the Hansa had a virtual monopoly on international trade in Scandinavia and the members of the League weren't shy about protecting their privileges. By any means possible.

For hundreds of years, the descendants of the colonists Erik the Red had tricked to come with him to Greenland thrived on their chilly (but not particularly verdant) outpost in the North Atlantic. But in the second half of the 14th century things changed.

Life in Scandinavia in the Middle Ages wasn’t always great, and in the summer of 1349 it took a sharp turn for the worse. For a lot of people it also ended abruptly in considerable agony. The reason was that the Plague had arrived. The ramifications would be felt for generations to come.

After her husband’s death, the aristocratic Bridget Birgersdotter started to have visions where Jesus, Mary and various saints and prophets unloaded on the rich and powerful. Despite making many influential enemies this way, Bridget was canonized after her death and is today one of the six patron saints of Europe.

Magnus Eriksson became king of two kingdoms when he was only three years old. He peaked as a toddler, ruling over Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Sweden and Finland. But it was all downhill from there. Through a combination of unruly aristocrats, foreign invasions and the Plague Magnus Eriksson eventually lost everything.

The Swedish usurper king Magnus Birgersson won the acceptance of the Church and the aristocracy by granting them tax exemptions and other privileges. Paradoxically, he’s also remembered as a friend of the common man for trying to limit greedy noblemen’s ability to abuse peasants. He had three sons, and to say that they didn’t get along would be an understatement.

Even though he never became king, Jarl Birger Magnusson dominated Swedish political life (and the actual king) for many years. He led a crusade, gave women the right to inherit and founded the city of Stockholm. Maybe.

After years of decay and foreign control over Denmark, a new king was elected in 1340. Valdemar IV had his mind set on regaining control over the kingdom–no matter what. And he didn’t let German aristocrats, peasant rebellions or the Plague stand in the way of achieving his goal. For his efforts, he was given the nickname Valdemar Dawn.