Magnus IV of Sweden

Sigillum ad causas for Magnus II of Sweden

Magnus Ericson, Magnus VII of Norway, the fourth Magnus to have been proclaimed king of Sweden (1316 – December 1, 1377), King of Sweden, Norway, and Terra Scania, son of Duke Eric Magnusson of Sweden and Ingeborg, daughter of Haakon V of Norway. Also known by his nickname "Magnus Smek" (Eng. "Pet-Magnus").

Magnus had already succeeded to the Norwegian throne when at age four he was elected king of Sweden in 1320. Under the Regencies of his Grandmother Queen Helvig and his Mother Duchess Ingeborg the countries were ruled by Knut Jonsson and Erling Vidkunsson.

In 1332 the king of Denmark, Christopher II, died as a "king without a country" after he and his older brother and predecessor had pawned Denmark piece by piece. King Magnus took advantage of his neighbour's distress, redeeming the pawn for the eastern Danish provinces for a huge amount of silver, and thus became ruler also of Terra Scania.

In spite of his many formal expansions his rule was considered a period of decrease both to the Swedish royal power and to Sweden as a whole. Foreign nations like Denmark (after its recovery 1340) and Mecklenburg intervened and Magnus himself does not seem to have been able to resist the internal opposition. He was regarded a weak king and criticised because an alleged favourite rule.

In 1336 he married Blanche of Namur, daughter of Count Jean of Namur and Marie of Artois, a descendant of Louis VIII of France. In 1343 their son Haakon was designated to succeed his father to the Norwegian throne as Haakon VI, even though Magnus remained regent during his minority.

Magnus' young favorite courtier was Bengt Algotsson, his relative, whom he elevated to Duke of Finland and Halland, as well as Viceroy of Skane.

Because of the raise in taxation to pay for the acquisition of the Scanian province, some Swedish nobles supported by the Church attempted to oust Magnus, setting up his elder son Eric as king (Eric XII of Sweden), but Eric died supposedly of the plague in 1359, with his wife Beatrice of Brandenburg and their two sons.

King Valdemar IV of Denmark conquered Terra Scania in 1360. In 1363 Magnus was deposed from the Swedish throne being replaced by the Duke of Mecklenburg's son Albert of Sweden. Magnus was seeking refuge with his younger son in Norway, where he drowned in 1377.

See also: Unions of Sweden