King of the Goths
The title of King of the Goths (Swedish: Götes konung, Danish: Gothernes konge / De Gothers Konge, Latin: gothorum rex) was for many centuries borne by both the Kings of Sweden and the Kings of Denmark, denoting sovereignty or claimed sovereignty over the antique people of the Goths.
To kings of Denmark, it chiefly meant the island of Gotland, traditionally regarded as the original home of the Goths, and to kings of Sweden, it meant the other of the two constituent parts of that kingdom (see Lands of Sweden), the Gothenland, southern "half" of Sweden.
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[edit] Preludes
It is believed[who?] that a note in a papal letter from about 1100 mentions Inge and Halsten as Kings of the Goths—they had recently lost the upper svear part of their kingdom.
In a papal letter dated 5 September 1164, king Charles VII of Sweden (Karl Sverkersson) (c 1130–67; reigned 1161–1167) was addressed as "rex Sweorum et Gothorum".
[edit] Sweden's title
The first Swedish king to regularly use the title was King Magnus III of Sweden, particularly after he had in c 1278 had his final win over his deposed brother Valdemar who had hitherto held lands of Västergötland. First Sveriges och Götes Konung up to later decades of Gustaf I of Sweden, then Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung, was used in official documentation. Between 1814 and 1905 Sveriges, Norges, Götes och Vendes Konung was used, adding Norway. Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung was used again from 1905 up to the accession of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1973, who was the first monarch officially proclaimed Sveriges Konung ("King of Sweden") and nothing else.
[edit] Denmark's title
The first Danish king to use the title was King Valdemar IV (reigned 1340 to 1375), who adopted it in 1362[1] after conquering Gotland the previous year. The Danish Kings continued to use the title over the next six hundred years until 1972, when Queen Margrethe II succeeded. She abandoned the use of all her predecessors' titles except her title as Denmark's Queen, which is the royal style today.
First documented 1449,[1] the arms of the Danish monarchs contained until 1972 a subcoat representing the title King of the Goths: on gold, a blue heraldic leopard over nine red hearts. Originally derived from the arms of the dukes of Halland which again was derived from the Danish arms. This symbol is consequently unrelated to Gotland's arms featuring the Agnus Dei, although the latter symbol was also formerly represented in the arms of Denmark.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Svane, Erling: Det danske Rigsvåben og Kongevåben, Odense University Press, 1994, p. 172 (Danish)
[edit] See also
- kings of the Goths known by name before the 3rd century split into Visigoths and Ostrogoths:
- King of the Visigoths
- King of the Ostrogoths
- King of the Geats
- King of the Wends
