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 countries was entrusted to his mother Margaret as regent, who, on the death of her son in 1387, became the actual sovereign.

The kingdom of Sweden had long been in a state of turmoil. On the one side were the nobles and hierarchy, eager only for their own aggrandizement, and ready to welcome any change by which their own power seemed likely to be increased; on the other hand, there was the great mass of the people still, in spite of the oppression of the nobility, full of national spirit and independence. To the nobles the idea of a foreign supremacy that might leave them free from all but nominal restraint seemed highly attractive. They resolved to invite Margaret to become the ruler of Sweden. But the Swedish people were not willing to acquiesce in the arrangement, and offered an active resistance under their king. Albert of Mecklenburg was soon captured in 1389, but Stockholm withstood a lengthy siege by the Danish troops, and did not actually come into the hands of Margaret until 1398, when it was surrendered in lieu of a ransom for the liberation of their monarch.

Already in June 1397 Eric of Pomerania, the grandnephew of Margaret, had, at her instance, been accepted as her successor, and crowned at Kalmar. As he was at this time only about fifteen years of age, Margaret was to act as regent, thus retaining an active control of affairs, which, indeed, she never relinquished during her lifetime. The following month witnessed the conclusion at Kalmar of the celebrated compact, known as the Union of Kalmar,