OLAV IV OF NORWAY

(Redirected from Olaf IV of Norway)

'Olav IV Haakonsson' (1370 - August 23, 1387) was king of Denmark as Oluf III (1376–1387) and king of Norway as Olav IV (1380–1387). He also had designs on the throne of Sweden (in opposition to Albert of Mecklenburg) from 1385 until 1387.
Olav was son of Haakon VI of Norway and Margaret of Denmark. Haakon was son of King Magnus II of Sweden and Norway, and Margaret daughter of King Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark. After Olav, no Norwegian king was to be born on Norwegian soil for more than 550 years, until prince Harald was born in 1937. His death was also the end of the male line of the Folkung dynasty in Sweden.
Olav was heir to the Norwegian throne when he was elected King of Denmark in 1375. On his father's death, he inherited the throne of Norway in 1380. Norway and Denmark were thus united in a personal union. The two countries were to have the same king, with the exception of short interregnums, until 1814. In 1385 he came of age, and was hailed as king in Scania, which had been held by the cities of the Hanseatic league since 1370.
Following his premature death in 1387, his mother Margaret was able to unite the three Scandinavian kingdoms in personal union under one crown, by the Kalmar Union in 1389.

Contents

The false king Olav

References

The false king Olav

In 1402 a group of merchants in Denmark declared that they had found the real Olav, now a poor and pitiful man. The impostor was captured and burnt at the stake by order of queen Margaret.^[1]

References

1. Rosborn+ ''När hände vad i nordens historia'' 1996. p.69.ISBN 91-7643-350-1