Olof Skötkonung as depicted on a coin of his from around 1030

This one did not necessarily happen exactly 1000 years ago for the exact date remains unknown. But sometime during the winter of 1021 and 1022, the King of Sweden, Olof Skötkonung, dies at the age of 41 - or 42 - in the village of Husaby in southwestern Sweden. He had ruled Sweden since 995, i.e. since his teenage years.

Olof was the son of Eric the Victorious, and the first Swedish ruler about whom there is substantial knowledge. He is regarded as the first king known to have ruled both the Swedes and the Geats.

The reign of Olof Skötkonung is furthermore considered to be the transition from the Viking age to the Middle Ages. He was the first Christian king of the Swedes (rumoured to have allowed himself to be baptised at a well by the Husaby church in 1008 possibly by the English missionary Saint Sigfrid of Sweden), who were the last to adopt Christianity in Scandinavia, although Norse beliefs persisted in parts of Sweden until the 12th century.

Olof’s son Anund Jacob had been co-ruler with his father since 1019, jumping in to support the peasantry whenever his father caused too much internal trouble. In 1022, Anund Jacob becomes the sole ruler of Sweden.

Updated 17.1.2022