WI: Queen Philippa Of Lancaster Bears King Erik An Heir

I was actually thinking more of the three first Oldenburger kings, although it can be argued that the fate of Eric lived on as a reminder through the example of Christian II. Christian IV, one of the most under-estimated Danish kings, was interestingly enough also threatened with the prospect of rebellion at one point of his reign.

So, the question then arises, short of giving Erik a lobotomy, what would the best way for him to be to avoid getting deposed and more importantly, that his son can succeed him?

1) Keep Philippa alive! Because of her possessions in central Sweden she usually acted as a sort of viceroy in the Eastern part of the union during the absence of the king. During her tenure she had the right to appoint feudal officials, which satisfied the Swedes. After her death, the local aristocracy became increasingly irate over the appointment of 'foreign' tax-collectors and bailiffs, which planted the seeds for rebellion.

2) Win the war in Schleswig and end the feud with the dukes of Holstein. The increased taxation for what was by many in the other Nordic realms perceived as a purely Danish matter was what spurred on the peasant revolt of Engelbrecht Engelbrechtsson, which eventually obtained the support of the Swedish aristocracy (which at first was rather hostile towards the lowly noble Engelbrechtsson). The Swedish revolt then set in motion a chain of events that led to Eric more or less declaring, "Screw you guys, I'm going to Gotland" and left the realms to become a pirate king in the Baltic.

3) Compromise with the Swedish nobility. Arguably, if the two first points are succeeded then this shouldn't be an urgent matter, but if Eric agreed to keep the feudal rights (the right to administer the slotslen/slottslän) in Sweden, solely for the 'native' aristocracy, he would've mellowed the nobility's hostility considerably. That's not exactly in character for Eric though. He firmly believed that he was governing the realm(s) as the constitution stipulated and any regress to royal authority was pervieved as a personal slight (he said something along the lines of "I will leave the realm as I received it from Madam Margrethe").

In short, keep the wife alive and busy keeping the Swedes politically satisfied, end/win the war in Holstein (easier said than done) to avoid peasant revolts in Sweden (and if it happens, break character and compromise with the Swedish aristocracy, even if Eric thought he was in the right).

All of this is not to say that Eric won't face more problems down the line. Aristocratic constitutionalism was just about to come to the forefront of the political landscape, so it's almost certain that a surviving Pomeranian union would have to deal with rebellions in Sweden at one point or another.
 
Calling @Zulfurium and any other Scandinavians on the board.

How might a lasting Pomeranian dynasty in Kalmar affect the development of Northern Europe/Scandinavia in general, do you think?

How did I miss this? Oh, guess I have been busy and distracted this week.

The Kalmar Union was a very complex organizational structure which was extremely dependent on balancing the different Kingdoms between each other without surrendering too much power to the nobility of either Denmark or Sweden.

Erik personally does not seem to have understood this at all, acting more like a bull in a china shop than anything else. He doesn’t seem to have had either the interest nor the ability to accomplish this. It took rulers like Margaret and Hans I to truly master with the others either taking too strong a grip, not caring enough either way or surrendering too much power.

I think having Erik II come in and drive his father from the throne and drawing on both Margaretian and Valdemarian (hand of steel in a silk glove so to say) styles of rule he would be able to succeed. But particularly the early Kalmar Union requires a male genius with heirs securing royal positions and pushing back on noble priveleges.

I think other than Olaf, Erik and Karl or Gustav, they could very easily move back to using Valdemar as a name. A son born as early as possible would probably be optimal in this case.

Alternately, could Erik - knowing he has an heir in whom he can inculcate his ideas etc - be persuaded to take a slower route to enact his centralisation policies?

Erik never came across as someone with the disposition of an elected ruler. He would have fit better as a later member of the dynasty rather than the first major ruler. He was rash, lacked an understanding of the population and did not have the willpower to do the job. He is honestly one of the worst rulers in Danish history.

To be fair, the Oldenburgs did some pretty impressive stuff, and the only one who got the boot was Christian II. Frederik II was a drunk/fratboy and Christian IV was a bigamist and Christian VII was insane with an adultress for a wife, and still got more slack than Christian II.

So, the question then arises, short of giving Erik a lobotomy, what would the best way for him to be to avoid getting deposed and more importantly, that his son can succeed him?

Christian II got off to a poor start, having been forced to make enemies of the Norwegian nobility before he came to the throne, and ran into crisis after crisis. He was too ambitious and ruthless, but probably had the potential to be among the greatest Danish rulers if the Kalmar Union had not been weakened so greatly prior to his father’s reign.

If you can avoid the catastrophes of Erik I’s reign, at least the later ones, and secure a more stable succession then the Union is likely to hold. There is no reason the Kalmar Union couldn’t have gone the way of the Spanish dynastic union under better circumstances.

In my view the best solution would be to have Erik run into the problems of OTL, but then have his son replace him. Erik II will be the obvious choice for a successor and could be far more popular than his father, having been born and raised in Denmark and Sweden. His mother’s popularity in Sweden could help overcome some of the issues surrounding the Danish-Swedish power balance. Oh, and keep a close eye on the Hanseatics, they are likely to jump in and meddle if they see an opportunity.

I was actually thinking more of the three first Oldenburger kings, although it can be argued that the fate of Eric lived on as a reminder through the example of Christian II. Christian IV, one of the most under-estimated Danish kings, was interestingly enough also threatened with the prospect of rebellion at one point of his reign.

1) Keep Philippa alive! Because of her possessions in central Sweden she usually acted as a sort of viceroy in the Eastern part of the union during the absence of the king. During her tenure she had the right to appoint feudal officials, which satisfied the Swedes. After her death, the local aristocracy became increasingly irate over the appointment of 'foreign' tax-collectors and bailiffs, which planted the seeds for rebellion.

2) Win the war in Schleswig and end the feud with the dukes of Holstein. The increased taxation for what was by many in the other Nordic realms perceived as a purely Danish matter was what spurred on the peasant revolt of Engelbrecht Engelbrechtsson, which eventually obtained the support of the Swedish aristocracy (which at first was rather hostile towards the lowly noble Engelbrechtsson). The Swedish revolt then set in motion a chain of events that led to Eric more or less declaring, "Screw you guys, I'm going to Gotland" and left the realms to become a pirate king in the Baltic.

3) Compromise with the Swedish nobility. Arguably, if the two first points are succeeded then this shouldn't be an urgent matter, but if Eric agreed to keep the feudal rights (the right to administer the slotslen/slottslän) in Sweden, solely for the 'native' aristocracy, he would've mellowed the nobility's hostility considerably. That's not exactly in character for Eric though. He firmly believed that he was governing the realm(s) as the constitution stipulated and any regress to royal authority was pervieved as a personal slight (he said something along the lines of "I will leave the realm as I received it from Madam Margrethe").

In short, keep the wife alive and busy keeping the Swedes politically satisfied, end/win the war in Holstein (easier said than done) to avoid peasant revolts in Sweden (and if it happens, break character and compromise with the Swedish aristocracy, even if Eric thought he was in the right).

All of this is not to say that Eric won't face more problems down the line. Aristocratic constitutionalism was just about to come to the forefront of the political landscape, so it's almost certain that a surviving Pomeranian union would have to deal with rebellions in Sweden at one point or another.

All of this is also a very good way of getting around the troubles of Erik I. That said, I don’t think he had the capabilities to accomplish most of this. It is quite simply about getting a more competent head of state in place without Erik doing too much damage. An accident or death in battle could also solve this.
 
I like the idea of Erik dying ahead of schedule (perhaps on his Crusade or abroad? Although this would give rise to some pretenders every time someone doesn't like something the government does a la Pugachev) and Philippa somehow winding up as regent for her son (who may or may not be of age - IDK what the Nordic age of majority was). Philippa seems to have been a Margareta 2.0. Their son maybe taking a little more after his mother's family and Margareta than Erik.
 
I like the idea of Erik dying ahead of schedule (perhaps on his Crusade or abroad? Although this would give rise to some pretenders every time someone doesn't like something the government does a la Pugachev) and Philippa somehow winding up as regent for her son (who may or may not be of age - IDK what the Nordic age of majority was). Philippa seems to have been a Margareta 2.0. Their son maybe taking a little more after his mother's family and Margareta than Erik.

I don't think you would get pretenders at this point, you usually only get those when the figure is either very young when they die/dissapear or are relatively unknown neither of which would fit. More likely you see more False Olafs if anything IMO.

I would assume the Nordic age of maturity is anywhere between 16 and 20 depending on Regent-Ward relations and the like.

That would certainly be interesting. I wonder what the impact of blood ties between Lancaster and Gryf dynasties would have on the 100YW and, if we run into something like the War of the Roses, on the subsequent inheritance struggles.
 
Margaret were in a league of her own. If Erik's heir becomes even half the ruler she was the Kalmar Union is in good hands.
 
That's... a bit of a stretch ;) She was a competent administrator, but possessed nowhere near the political acumen of the Most Sovereign Lady and Ruler.

My apologies, I didn't mean to imply that she and Philippa were in the same league, simply that Philippa learned far more competency at Madame Margareta's knee than did Erik.

Margaret were in a league of her own. If Erik's heir becomes even half the ruler she was the Kalmar Union is in good hands.
Agreed
 
IOTL Eric was interested in marriage of his cousin Bogislaw IX (whom he wanted to make his heir) and Hedwig Jagiellon, daughter of Władysław II Jogaila and heiress of Poland (born 1408, proclaimed heiress of the Kingdom in 1413). If Eric had son, or even better-sons, he would like one of them to marry heiress of Poland, Jogaila certainly would be interested in getting potential ally against Teutonic Order and with bit of luck Griffites could get fourth throne.
 
IOTL Eric was interested in marriage of his cousin Bogislaw IX (whom he wanted to make his heir) and Hedwig Jagiellon, daughter of Władysław II Jogaila and heiress of Poland (born 1408, proclaimed heiress of the Kingdom in 1413). If Eric had son, or even better-sons, he would like one of them to marry heiress of Poland, Jogaila certainly would be interested in getting potential ally against Teutonic Order and with bit of luck Griffites could get fourth throne.

Would the Poles be willing to bite though? And would it prevent Jogaila from remarrying in hopes of getting a male heir?
 
Would the Poles be willing to bite though? And would it prevent Jogaila from remarrying in hopes of getting a male heir?
IOTL Hedwig was bethroted to Frederick Hohenzollern, who was even send to Cracow to learn language and prepare to rule, Jogaila had in fact more problems with securing succession of his sons from his non-dynastic marriage than Frederick (or hypothetical Eric's son) would face. Even after Hedwig's death Frederick was considered heir in case of childless death of Jogaila's sons. And birth of Jogaila's sons could be easily prevented-their father was in his 60s or 70s when they were born, also if third wife of Jogaila survived him (he married to 45 years old 3 times widow Elżbieta Granowska, that was his only wife whom he really loved-she shared his passion for hunting, but obviously there was no hope for children from that marriage).
 
IOTL Hedwig was bethroted to Frederick Hohenzollern, who was even send to Cracow to learn language and prepare to rule, Jogaila had in fact more problems with securing succession of his sons from his non-dynastic marriage than Frederick (or hypothetical Eric's son) would face. Even after Hedwig's death Frederick was considered heir in case of childless death of Jogaila's sons. And birth of Jogaila's sons could be easily prevented-their father was in his 60s or 70s when they were born, also if third wife of Jogaila survived him (he married to 45 years old 3 times widow Elżbieta Granowska, that was his only wife whom he really loved-she shared his passion for hunting, but obviously there was no hope for children from that marriage).

Didn't Jogaila also have to concede some privileges/rights to the nobility in exchange for them swearing loyalty to his non-dynastic heirs? Or could we see something like in @Zulfurium's 100YW TL where Poland and Lithuania go their separate ways once Jogaila dies?

Also, assuming even if Erik's son is more like Philippa/Queen Margareta, would he be able to control such a personal union? Or would he end up falling foul of at least one of the crowns and be forced to abdicate?
 
Didn't Jogaila also have to concede some privileges/rights to the nobility in exchange for them swearing loyalty to his non-dynastic heirs? Or could we see something like in @Zulfurium's 100YW TL where Poland and Lithuania go their separate ways once Jogaila dies?

Also, assuming even if Erik's son is more like Philippa/Queen Margareta, would he be able to control such a personal union? Or would he end up falling foul of at least one of the crowns and be forced to abdicate?
Yes, Jogaila had to give priviledges, because his fourth wife was of relatively low birth, without blood ties to Piast dynasty (unlike of his second wife Anna of Cili, who was granddaughter of Casimir the Great), Hedwig was already proclaimed heiress and she and Frederick were much older than Jogaila's late sons, who would require regency.

And if Eric had only one son then yes, such union would be rather unmanagable, but with two Eric could send one to Cracow, maybe even older one-Jogaila was 20-30 years older than Eric, so Eric should predict, that Polish throne would be vacant before Danish one, and even with one son by the time of OTL Eric's death he should have adult grandchildren.
 
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