Kalmar Union Unites Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
In the closing years of the fourteenth century, Queen Margaret I of Denmark had already secured control over Denmark and Norway following the death of her son Olaf. Facing threats from German expansion and internal noble conflicts in Sweden, she maneuvered to place her great-nephew Eric of Pomerania on multiple thrones. After Eric's election as king in each realm during 1396, Margaret convened the councils of state from all three kingdoms at Kalmar in Sweden. On June 17, 1397, Eric was crowned in a joint ceremony in Kalmar Cathedral, and a union treaty was drafted establishing a single monarch over Denmark, Sweden, and Norway while preserving some separate institutions. The agreement aimed to create a stable northern bloc but left...