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Scandinavian kingdoms: 9th-14th century
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The story of medieval Christian Scandinavia, after the various regions convert in the 10th and 11th century, is of dynasties in Denmark, Norway and Sweden struggling to establish stable kingdoms - with sometimes the added ambition of bringing the other two into a unified realm.
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This is first achieved with the union of the crowns in 1363. For the next century and a half the union sometimes holds, sometimes fragments. The last king to hold all three crowns is Christian II, who does so briefly in 1520.
Thereafter the story of Scandinavia is best told in terms of its three constituent kingdoms - together with Finland, which from the 12th century becomes a disputed territory between Sweden and Russia.
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