Magdalena of Gothenland (The Kalmar Union)

Magdalena was briefly Queen of Gothenland at the start of the 15th century. She would be the last direct Piast ruler of the kingdom.

The only child of Prince Casimir, the younger brother of John IV, and his Dutch wife, Catharina van Holland, the young Magdalena was a major landowner in Gothenland even before her marriage to the even wealthier Karl Tott in 1404. The Tott family were originally Danish, they gained land in both Gothenland and Svealand during Sverker I's's reign, establishing branches in both kingdoms. They expanded their holdings, principally in Östergötland, Pomerelia and Södermanland, thanks to military service and significant loans to the crown(s), for instance supporting the conquest of Svealand by Olaf III, and by the turn of the 15th century controlled an impressive share of the trade between the two kingdoms.

Karl Tott, and by extension Madgalena, was a prominent member of the 'Hook' faction in the Riksdag, who largely aimed to maintain the power of the major lords at the cost of the smaller landowners, towns and merchant classes. Eric III tried to balance the Hooks and Herring factions but his brother Benedict neglected to do the same supporting the Hooks wholeheartedly. When he in turn was succeeded by his sister Catherine the pendulum swung the other way and the Herrings rose to power. Their attempts to reign in the major lords resulted in rebellion and they actively began championing Magdalena as the rightful queen over the 'weak-willed' Catherine.

Initially successful the Hook rebels were soon beaten back by Catherine's husband, Eric Lejonbalk. Whilst many Hook families came to terms with Eric (acting as regent on behalf of his son Christopher), others such as the Totts and Frössviks escaped to Pomerelia. Madgalena then travelled on to Krakow to curry support from Poland. Polish courtiers were impressed by the rebel queen; though the lands and assets of the Gothenlandic Totts had been confiscated their Svealandic breathren had made their supoort unconditional and Magdalena had access to their treasury which she used to grease the Polish court and maintain an air of majesty. Wladyslaw II needed little encouragement to sow division in Gothenland and even when Eric Lejonbalk's initial attacks on Pomerelia were successful the Polish king made sure the rebels were quickly able to recover their position.

Eric Lejonbalk was assassinated in April 1420. Hussite pikemen, paid for by Wladyslaw II, were duly wresting back Pomerelia for the rebels and soon Karl Tott had crossed the Baltic restarting the rebellion in Gothenland proper. Magdalena and children arrived back in Gothenland in May 1423 to join her husband and to rally the Hook faction. Karl Tott provided the hammer-blow to the Herring faction at the Battle of Hallesaker in October. Christopher was ousted but magnamiously he and his uncle's family, were exiled and given passage to Europe.

Magdalena was crowned on December 1st and then in a ceremony on the 1st April 1424, her eldest son Nils was crowned co-king. The confiscated Tott estates were restored, briefly. Eager to pacify the kingdom and provide a lasting settlement Magdalena and her advisors tried to forge a peace which would calm the Riksdag. Essentialy the lands of the Hook faction would be left untouched, as would those of the Herrings. It would be the Tott and Lejonbalk estates which would be divided up, the crown retaining a sizable but not extravagent portion, with much of the rest either goign to towns with new or restored charters or minor landowners. The seat of the Lejonbalk family at Valle would go to Magdalena's eldest daughter Katharina and this estate would henceforth be a possession of the 'crown-princess'. To avoid accusations of dominance by her husband, Karl Tott excused himself from Gothenland, undertaking a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Much of the rest of her reign would taken up with reforming the kingdom's legal code and settling land disputes with the church.

Magdalena would die in 1427 of complications following the birth of her 5th child. Nils would henceforth assume full kingship.