The dynastic union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden achieved at Kalmar, Sweden, where in 1397 Eric of Pomerania was crowned king of all three kingdoms. In 1523 Sweden broke away from the Union, which was dominated by Denmark, but Norway was united with Denmark until 1814.
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This article is part of the Scandinavia series |
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| Geography |
| Mountains Peninsula |
| The Viking Age |
| Viking Age Varangian Viking Thing (assembly) |
| Unions |
| Kalmar Union Denmark-Norway Sweden-Norway Monetary Union Defense union |
| History |
| Scandinavia Denmark Norway Sweden |
| Sports |
| Royal League |
| History of Sweden |
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| Prehistoric Sweden Viking and Middle ages Early Vasa era A New Great Power Swedish Empire Age of Liberty Absolutism of Gustavus III Union with Norway Oscarian era Industrialization World War II Post-war Sweden Military history |
The Kalmar Union (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish: Kalmarunionen) was a series of personal unions (1397–1521) that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single monarch.
Union
The union was formed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412) in the Swedish town of Kalmar, then close to the Danish border, after Danish and Swedish troops in 1389 had defeated the Swedish king, Albert of Mecklenburg, and he subsequently failed to pay the required tribute of 60,000 silver marks within three years after his release . The unity of the union eroded in the 1430s, even to the point of armed rebellion (the Engelbrecht rebellion), leading to the expulsion of Danish forces from Sweden. In the power vacuum that arose following Christopher's death (1448), Sweden elected Charles VIII king with the intent to reestablish the union under a Swedish crown. Charles was elected king of Norway in the following year, but the counts of Holstein were more influential than the Swedes and the Norwegians together, and made the Danish Privy Council appoint Christian I of Oldenburg as king. While independence had been reclaimed the election of King Gustav of the Vasa on June 6, 1523, restored sovereignty for Sweden and finally dissolved the union.
Final dissolution
The last structures of the Kalmar Union remained until 1536 when the Danish Privy Council, in the aftermath of a civil war, unilaterally declared Norway to be a Danish province , without consulting their Norwegian colleagues.
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