EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL STRUGGLES, C. 1200–1319

BY ‘the Scandinavian kingdoms’ are understood the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In modern English Scandinavia also generally includes Finland and Iceland, and these five countries are regarded, by foreigners as well as by the peoples themselves, as forming a coherent region, though in the Scandinavian languages the term ‘the Nordic countries’ is normally used for this extended area. In the Middle Ages, most of Finland was – like today – ethnically and linguistically distinct from the rest of the area. The country did not, however, form a separate political unity, but was gradually made part of the kingdom of Sweden. By contrast, Iceland was culturally and linguistically closely connected to Norway but was politically independent until the mid-thirteenth century. Further, whereas almost nothing is known about the oldest history of Finland, Iceland possesses an abundance of written sources and a literature of outstanding quality. It is therefore reasonable to pay some attention to Iceland, and rather less to Finland in the following account, though the main focus will be on the three kingdoms, which were politically the most important. The three Scandinavian kingdoms were established long before 1200, as were also – with some exceptions – the borders that were to remain until the great changes of the seventeenth century. When dealing with the thirteenth century, it is convenient to extend the period until 1319, when the first union between Norway and Sweden was established and the death of Eric Menved in Denmark initiated the most severe decline of this country in the Middle Ages.