Swedish (Civ3)/The Middle Ages/Civilopedia

Medieval Sweden was much more a motley collection of Viking provinces and personal domains than a coherent nation. Individual Swedish chiefs were often extremely opportunistic, expanding deep into Russia and dominating trade along the great Russian rivers (particularly with the Muslims, whose own expansion enabled them to control the southern ends of these rivers). Swedish warships preyed constantly on coastal territories along the Baltic and in England, and occasionally came to fight with the other Viking nations. In the 12th century C.E., they even fought a war against the Hanseatic League towns in northern Germany (which, surprisingly, they lost). Around this time Sweden became Christianized through the efforts of Frankish missionaries and monks, abandoning the traditional Norse pantheon they had worshipped for centuries before.
Sweden became feudal around 1245, when religious reforms led to the creation of a formal taxation authority and the church's right to crown the Swedish king. After a civil war, in which both Denmark and Norway intervened, the balance of power swung once again away from the church and back to the nobles, who favored the old tradition of electing their kings rather than having them named by divine authorities. The nobles enshrined this in a new legal code that would bind all Swedish provinces, and also made the first attempt at forming a national trade policy (so as to improve and enrich the commercial relationship Sweden had with the Hanseatic League).
Around 1362 C.E. the Swedish nobles, disgusted with the Swedish king Magnus' military setbacks and attempts to rein in their influence, persuaded an exiled duke named Albert to rally his support and attack Sweden. Their plan was to back Albert and then dominate him from behind the throne. Albert had other ideas, and once Magnus was overthrown, he ruthlessly exerted his will on the nobles who had supported him. They tried to resist, but eventually had to appeal to Norway and Denmark, ruled by the amazing Queen Regent Margaret. She saw an opportunity to forge an empire for her son, in whose stead she already ruled two Viking nations, and defeated Albert in battle in 1389. Grinding guerrilla warfare persisted for almost a decade, until Margaret's forces were finally victorious and her nephew, Erik, was crowned king of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This dynastic union created a Viking empire that would last two hundred years.