A Flatpack History of Sweden Podcast / Kingdom: Swedish Rulers

We're Chris and Åsa, with two podcasts about Swedish history with episodes out every Sunday! A Flatpack History of Sweden covers Swedish history from the Stone Ages to today, now covering the 1600s after over 125 episodes. In Kingdom, we judge and rank all the kings, queens and regents of Sweden!

Åsa is on a trip to Norway. Today she's in Bergen, the old trading town on the west coast that's featured several times in our story. And it'll feature again soon, when it'll play a key role in the events that will score an upcoming ruler on Kingdom several scandal points. So listen out for that!

In a bit of a first for Flatpack, we run through an entire giant topic in one episode! But don't worry, this is just so that we can go back to the proper deep dive in our upcoming episodes, including a very special interview episode coming out next time!

Gotland and the neighbouring smaller island of Fårö is famous for its rock formations called Raukar. The remnants of coral reefs long gone, they are as striking as they are cool. A real gem of Swedish geography!

The city walls of Visby are pretty incredible. Built over 700 years ago, with some later extensions, they surround nearly the entire old town. You can really see why the city was hard to take in battle and why they developed over time.

Flatpack have been on a visit to Gotland! We'll share some photos over the coming week of all the fun stuff we got up to! First up was a walk around the old town of Visby, a Hansa city still surrounded by its medieval walls. What a cool place!

Yesterday was a very special "holiday" in Sweden: the National Day of the Cinnamon bun 😋 We might suspect that it began as a marketing trick, but who are we to question the fact that we must celebrate it by eating tasty buns 😄

In today's episode we cover one of the most famous events in Swedish history, the sinking of the naval ship Vasa 1628! ⚓️ In fact, we don't just cover the sinking, but also the construction and raising of the wreck. And we do it in collaboration with the great podcast @beyondthebreakers.bsky.social

Something big is coming your way tomorrow... Check out the feeds of both Flatpack and @beyondthebreakers.bsky.social for some exciting maritime disaster content!

Unlike what we've been covering on Flatpack, today Sweden and Poland mainly fight it out during sporting events. We saw Sweden beat Poland (again!) in football tonight 🥳 ⚽️🏟

Today we cover the man between two Sten Stures! How will Svante Nilsson succeed Sten Sture the Elder and what was the crazy plan to make sure it all went off without a hitch? There's also more fighting with Denmark before our craziest Carving their Runestone round ever, looking at this seal!

Listen to the latest episode of @presidencies.bsky.social to hear your favourite Swedish history podcasters provide this episode's intro quotes!

Whilst away on Bornholm without Chris, Åsa took the opportunity to enjoy some food that she knows he won't like, namely a buffet of exclusively smoked and picked fish, predominantly herring, but also some eel 🐟🐠 Åsa was in heaven, Chris was glad he didn't come 😄

Whilst away on Bornholm without Chris, Åsa took the opportunity to enjoy some food that she knows he won't like, namely a buffet of exclusively smoked and picked fish, predominantly herring, but also some eel 🐟🐠 Åsa was in heaven, Chris was glad he didn't come 😄

Today is release day and Åsa is celebrating by visiting the Danish island of Bornholm, where she happened upon Denmark's largest rock carving site, full of Bronze Age rock carvings. They look pretty cool!!

Yesterday was no ordinary Sunday here in Sweden. It was a general election, for Parliament, county councils and municipalities 🗳 Åsa was a poll worker and got to spend the night counting the slips of different coloured paper that Swedes use to indicate their voting choice.

Earlier this week Åsa went to the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Opened in 1788, it's been in its current gold decorated building since 1908. Its permanent ensemble puts on a range of plays each season, including Shakespeare's Taming of a Shrew, which is what Åsa watched.

Yesterday, King Harald V of Norway was laid to rest. King Carl Gustaf of Sweden is to the left, behind Haakon VIII, his godson and the new monarch of Norway, as they salute the coffin. To the right is Frederik X of Denmark. This wouldn't be a typical image from the 14 or 1500s!

In today's episode of Flatpack we turn from the rulers to the people. We look at the lives of 17th century Swedes from a collective level. What were guilds, what role did the church play (spoiler: a big one) and how did they try to dodge the dreaded taxes? That and much more in today's episode.

Chris has been in Linköping and went by the cathedral. It's a great building that is having some work done to preserve it for the future. Bishops there have played important roles in history; Kettil Karlsson Vasa went as far as becoming Regent in the 1460s. We of course ranked him on Kingdom!

If you're lucky when you're travelling on the Stockholm underground you can "win" the Three Crowns 👑 👑👑 Or at least sit down on a seat where they are set into the air vent 😊 They are one of several symbols in the vents that you can have fun trying to find while travelling.

Sunday means Flatpack! Today we deep dive into what Axel Oxenstierna and Gustaf Adolf do with the Polish problem. The king has a lot of rules his army has to follow, but will some of his cavalry be able to keep some small cows they found on the battlefield? All this and more! 🐄

Tomorrow it is time for the epic finale of the story of longstanding podcast frenemy, KKB! We'll cover his second and third terms as king and see what he'll receive as a score, as well as a grand total for his entire life. It's going to be fun!

398 years ago today, Sweden's most famous ship became Sweden's most famous shipwreck, and then eventually Sweden's most famous museum... We'll be telling the full story of the Vasa on the podcast quite soon. Keep your eyes out!

Pack your bags, we're off to create a new settlement called Gothenburg! It has taken a while for one of Sweden's most famous places to be founded, but it has now happened. Let's learn all about the rough start the town had and see what role the Dutch had to play. Out now!

Incredibly we're now a fair bit over halfway through our ranking of all the Swedish kings, queens and regents! Do you have a favourite person or a favourite story from those we've covered so far? Åsa's is Margareta's life story and Chris really enjoys Jons Bengtsson Oxenstierna!

Stockholm City Museum, we're ashamed to say we have only just visited you! But you made up for it. A super interesting place, all about the city's history from the middle ages onwards. Åsa even tried on some hats in one exhibition on department store! 👒

We know you're hungry for more Swedish ruler content, so here is EAT! Erik Axelsson Tott is here and ready to make the border nobility proud. But how will he try to succeed where so many others have failed in the recent past? Find out now!

Åsa joined the Stockholm Pride parade today 🏳️‍🌈 As a designated Pride parade it dates back to 1998 when the city hosted Europride for the first time. However, its roots are longer than that. Since the late 1970s there's been an LGBTQI+ parade/march in the city in some form.

Happy Birthday to half of Flatpack and Kingdom, Åsa! An excellent co-producer, co-host, travel buddy and excellent napper 🥳

Axel Oxenstierna is here, perhaps Sweden's most famous bureaucrat. But he's much more than just that. Here we look at how he begins to reshape the way Sweden functions as a country, from the courts to economic policies. He even hosts Sweden's first ever "trade show" in an attempt to spark new ideas!

Tomorrow on Kingdom, we're going to look into the fascinating life and rule of Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, one of the most momentous characters of this part of Swedish history. Most importantly though, we'll see if Åsa is going soft on torture the further we get... Tune in to find out!

In today's episode Flatpack goes to Stegeborg castle 🏰 It's featured several times in the podcast and played an important part in Swedish history. We recorded on-site and learned lots about the castle that we wanted to share with you. Listen out for a special flyby as well 🛩️

Tomorrow is a new episode of Flatpack but here's something unrelated! Last week we visited Ireland and enjoyed plenty of history, just nothing to do with Sweden. We saw several castles and old ruins, as well as some great scenery. What a lovely place!

This week's episode of Kingdom covered our first religious figure, as we saw how Bishop of Linköping Kettil Karlsson Vasa led two revolts and kicked out two kings before eventually becoming Riksföreståndare himself. But how will we rank his time as regent?

To finish off our recent Gotland theme, here's a short video Chris made a few years ago about the Battle of Visby in 1361! youtu.be/mJw0M1-uTcg?...

Happy Birthday to the Swedish Air Force who turn 100 today! They were even kind enough to ensure the big flypast flew literally above our flat. Congratulations 🎊

A trip to Gotland isn't complete without a visit to Visby; where the middle ages feel closer than ever, thanks to the preserved town planning, old houses, ruins & not least the ring wall. Åsa's plans to become a pirate queen on Gotland having failed, she's returned to Flatpack HQ 😆

Gotlandic farms are a bit different from those on the mainland. The iconic farm houses are made of locally quarried limestone. Åsa stopped in Bottarve on southern Gotland, where the local village preserve a farm from the 1700s. Well worth a visit if you're ever on Gotland!

It's Sunday and time for a new episode of Flatpack. Gustav Adolf (yes, that's what we're calling him 😂) is off to deal with Sweden's enemies in turn; first Denmark and then the big mess in Russia. Let's see how it goes, who wins and who loses, and at what cost...

Åsa's Gotlandic exploration continues! For centuries quarrying stones, in particular the island's characteristic limestone, was a major, but often small scale, industry on the island. Here's some pictures from what an old stone cutting place looked like!

Åsa is on her way to Gotland! Inspired by Erik of Pomerania she has decided to set up as a pirate queen and harass the Swedish and Danish kingdoms from her castle in Visby ☠️ 👸🏼 😂

Why read the same book once, when you can read it in two different languages??!! 😂 We're beginning research on one of Sweden's most interesting characters. This man is coming to your ears at the end of July!

Karl Knutsson Bonde gives up the rule in Sweden to the German born King of Denmark Kristian I and the Kalmar Union is once again ruled by the same monarch. But will Kristian be able to keep this unstable union together and will he follow our two simple rules for success?

Today is Midsummer Day and Åsa has woken up after part taking in a Swedish tradition/superstition. Having picked 7 different types of flower on Midsummer's Eve, she slept with them under her pillow, in the belief that it'll make her dream of her one true love ❤️ 🌼😄