Helena, Queen of Sweden

Queen Helena (or Elin), also known as "Maer", "Mär" or "Mö" (Old Nordic; "Maiden") (born in the 11th century, dead after 1110), was a Swedish queen, consort to King Inge I of Sweden and sister of King Blot-Sweyn of Sweden.

King Inge was king of Sweden and parts of Sweden several times between 1067 and 1110, but the exact years are uncertain, and he is famous for being the king who defeated the pagans in the religious wars who took place in Sweden between 1022 and 1088 and abolished freedom of religion, requiring everyone to profess the Christian faith. His greatest opponent and enemy in this fight was the pagan king Blot-Sweyn.

King Inge was said to have married Blot-Sweyn's sister Maer, or Mö, but in official sources, she is referred to as queen Helena. There is sometimes said, that she was of Greek or Russian origin, but this is not confirmed, nor is it very likely. The marriage between king Inge and the sister of Blot-Sweyn is well pointed out in history, where Sweyn is always talked about as being the brother-in-law of Inge, and Inge's wife is also said to have been of the old Swedish royal family, a sideline of Ynglingaätten. Because of this, it is therefore sometimes believed that he was married two times.

However, "Maer" is not an actual name, it is simply an old Nordic word for "Maiden", and "Helena" is the usual Latin spelling of the Swedish name Elin; the other spellig of the name, "Mö", is still well known as an old-fashioned word for "maiden" or "virgin". We can therefore assume it is the same person; the maiden Elin, to the foreigners from the Christian countries spelled as Helena in Latin; sister to the pagan king Blot-Sweyn.

The genealogy of the old Viking families is very hard to follow, in spite of the many songs which describe them, but as sister of Blot-Sweyn, she could have been a daughter of Prince Ingvar Vittfarne of Sweden, son of King Emund the Old of Sweden, and thereby cousin of her husband King Inge; they were perhaps married for political reasons, to unite the Pagan and Christian fractions.

Not many things are known about her, but she was most likely a pagan like her brother when she married, and convinced, willingly or by force, to submit to the Christian faith; she may have received the name Helena by her christening, as her daughters also were given Christian names from Europe. It is not known which side she favoured between the Pagans and Christians; perhaps she mourned her brothers' and the paganism's death in 1087-1088, but to the end of her life, she was, or gave the impression to be a Christian; after the defeat of the pagans, she founded Sweden's first nunnery, the Benedictine Vreta Abbey, in 1090 or in 1100, and as a widow, she became a nun there herself in 1110. The convent was given twenty properties in Östergötland upon its foundation, properties believed to have been the queen's, possibly as a dowry, or as her inheritance after her brother.

Queen Elin/Helena has in history long been confused with Saint Helena of Skövde (d.1135), who lived in Sweden during the same period. This is, however, a misunderstanding which nowadays has no support by historians.

Children

# Kristina, married Grand Duke Mstislav I of Kiev, [http://runeberg.org/nfbl/0346.html The article "Inge" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1910).] ] and ancestress of several Kievan and Novgorod princes.Fact|date=February 2007
# Ragnvald, who died before his father and who was father of Ingrid, who first was married to the Danish prince Eric Skatelar, and later to the Norwegian king Harald Gille. ] She was the mother of pretender (and alleged murderer) Magnus Henriksson.Fact|date=February 2007
# Margaret Fredkulla, married (1) Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway, and later king Niels of Denmark; ] through her second marriage, she was the mother of King Magnus the Strong of Västergötland and claimant of Denmark.Fact|date=February 2007
# Katarina, married a Danish "Son of King", Björn Ironside Haraldsson, ] with whom she had a daughter Christina Bjornsdatter who married the future Eric IX of Sweden.Fact|date=February 2007

ee also

*List of Swedish queens

References

* Svensk Uppslagsbok, 1947 års Utgåva. (In Swedish)
* cite book
author =Lars O. Lagerqvist
title = "Sverige och dess regenter under 1.000 år",("Sweden and its rulers during 1000 years").
publisher = Albert Bonniers Förlag AB
id = ISBN 91-0-075007-7
date = 1982
language = Swedish

Succession