Arvid Trolle

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Arvid Birgersson, Lord of Bergkvara (c. 1440 – 20 February 1505), was a Swedish magnate and politician in the last decades of Middle Ages. He was justiciar of Östergötland and then of Tiohärad, as well as a Lord High Councillor of Sweden, and once a candidate for the Regentship. Arvid Birgersson was his era's biggest landowner of Scandinavia.

[edit] Life

Arvid was born as second son of Birger Birgersson, Lord of Bo and Bergkvara, and his royally-descended wife Cecilia Knutsdotter of Aspenäs. His and his father's escutcheon depict a headless troll, whereby some have (particularly retrospectively) called him "Arvid Trolle". His elder brother Erik Birgersson was murdered in Lubeck in c 1460, which left Arvid as the heir of their parents' lands.

In 1460s, lord Arvid sympathized and somewhat supported king Charles VIII of Sweden and thus opposition against Nordic union. He was married with Beate, daughter of Iver Axelsen of Lilloe, fiefholder of Gotland, who was in almost open opposition against Danish central government, and himself became a son-in-law of Charles VIII.

Iver (in Swedish, Ivar), Charles' mightiest and chief ally in late 1460s, had once been promised succession after him by king Charles, but Charles' nephew Sten Sture the Elder managed to wrest the regentship.

Iver supported Arvid's election to regentship to replace lord Sten, and they actually once succeeded in a coup in Stockholm, so the Swedish High Council chose Arvid, but they soon lost their base to Sten who had the support of burghers and peasantry.

In 1487 Iver died and Beate inherited his lands in Skåne. It had been the intention that Beate and Arvid succeed him also in Gotland, but Iver had lost it to the Danish king during his last year and the island was never recovered. Soon Beate died, and her sizable inheritance in Eastern Denmark became property of the couple's underage children, under guardiansip of Arvid.

After Arvid's third marriage with daughter of High Constable Ture Turesson of Kråkerum, the leading union-supporter in Sweden, lord Arvid took a clear stance in support of union with Denmark.

Arvid was a leader of the 1497 rebellion against regent Sten, which led to enthronement of king Hans of Denmark as ruler of Sweden, and the regentship was abolished (for four years). In 1501 Swedes revolted against king Hans and Sten Sture returned to regentship. Lord Arvid had to flee to Denmark, where he died.

Lord Arvid was his era's biggest landowner of Scandinavia. Almost 1000 manors in Sweden were in his allodial possession, and additionally he received over 475 manors more in Eastern Denmark jure uxoris upon the death of Iver Axelsen, Overlord of Gotland, his second wife's father, in 1487. He also sometimes held as fief counties of Nyköping, Stegeborg and Borgholm.

[edit] Family

Arvid Birgersson married thrice:

firstly c 1459 with Kerstin Jonsdotter of Fållnäs (family of Gädda), who died c 1465
secondly 1466 with Beate Iversdatter of Lilloe (Skånish family of Thott) c 1440- 5 December 1487 (succumbed to plague)
thirdly 23 September 1488 with Brita Turesdotter of Kråkerum (family of Bielke), died 1513

He had children from all his three marriages. Eric Trolle was his son of first wife, and in turn became father of archbishop Gustav Trolle. Admiral Herluf Trolle was Arvid's grandson through the second wife. Danish and Swedish high nobility largely descended from him ^[1] after a century or so of marriages by his numerous descendants.