Eriksgata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eriksgata is the name of the newly elected medieval Swedish kings tradition to travel through the important provinces and have their election confirmed by the local assemblies. The actual election took place at the Stone of Mora in Uppland and participation was originally restricted to the people in Uppland or Svealand, hence the need for having the election confirmed by the other regions. The Eriksgata gradually lost its influence when representatives from almost all parts of Sweden participated in the election at the stone of Mora from the 14th century. After 1544 the Swedish king was no longer elected and instead inherited his throne. This meant that the Eriksgata thereafter had only symbolic importance. The last king to travel the Eriksgata according to the old law was Charles IX (1604-1611). Later kings have made visits to Swedish provinces and called them a "Eriksgata", but those visits have no resemblance to the old medieval tradition.
The earliest reference of a Eriksgata is from Saxo Grammaticus who c. 1200 wrote about the struggle for the Swedish crown in the 1120s in his Gesta Danorum. But the tradition is probably much older than that.
