A Flatpack History of Sweden Podcast / Kingdom

Intelligent Speech is this weekend! Come along and listen.

We're on stage at 1600 and 2030 CET (1000 and 1430 Eastern Time) to talk about Swedish brotherly rivals and then our favourite historical pets 😃

What's this? New Flatpack episodes being recorded earlier today!

In your feeds at the end of March 😃 Resubscribe to the feed, follow the podcast, put on notifications, keep an eye out here or do whatever you prefer to make sure you don't miss "The Return" 🥳

Last night we went to a talk at the Royal Palace about a search for a long-dead king, Magnus Ladulås (III).

For over a decade, researchers have been trying to find his remains in Riddarholmen Church. They've excavated tombs but not found it yet. They think they're close though!

Oh, that does sound unreasonably warm. It's never good when it goes too extreme either way, weather wise.

This weekend Chris went to see a historical site in central Stockholm that's temporarily more visible than usual, due to some strange weather conditions!

The ship is a wreck from the 1600s and you can find out more by watching the video. #kastellholmen

While Chris was investigating shipwrecks in Stockholm, Åsa was visiting her ancestral lands, Skåne 😄

Being in the middle of an unusually cold and snowy winter, Åsa was freezing in the icy winds 🥶🥶

Here's some more info from the signs on location!

This weekend Chris went to see a historical site in central Stockholm that's temporarily more visible than usual, due to some strange weather conditions!

The ship is a wreck from the 1600s and you can find out more by watching the video. #kastellholmen

Perfect combination 🥳

A new Kingdom episode is here and it is about a man who was king of Norway for far longer than he was in Sweden.

Håkan supported his father against his brother Erik's rebellion and Albert's invasion of Sweden, but how many points will his loyalty gain him in the ranking?

Tomorrow we are back with another Kingdom episode, but planning and writing is in full swing for Flatpack's return.

Get ready for some shenanigans in the 1600s as A Flatpack History of Sweden returns to your ears at the end of March!

Opening of a royal grave:

Interesting news from Finland! Karin Månsdotter's grave has been opened in Åbo (Turku) cathedral whilst it is being renovated and modern techniques will be used to find out more about her background, DNA, health and history!

Karin and Erik's wedding in 1568 was the final straw for Swedish nobles who were fed up with Erik's rule. The wedding became a signal for the rebellion to start and Erik was removed from power. Karin was queen for only 87 days and she was buried in Turku after she died in 1612.

Karin was fourteen when she met future husband Erik XIV of Sweden. Her relationship and marriage to Erik caused quite a stir. Mainly because Karin was a commoner and this was a big deal. A king had never married a commoner before and wouldn't do so again until the 1970s!

Opening of a royal grave:

Interesting news from Finland! Karin Månsdotter's grave has been opened in Åbo (Turku) cathedral whilst it is being renovated and modern techniques will be used to find out more about her background, DNA, health and history!

😂😂

We surrender!

Or just try and beat Sweden in football!

For the first time in a while, the water outside Stockholm City Hall has properly frozen over.

We've talked a few times on the podcast about how ice and winter had either helped or hindered various attempts at taking the city and now it is easy to see why!

'Do you love me?': The Viking messages unearthed on Sweden's rune stones Runic inscriptions from the Viking Age still turn up in Sweden 1,000 years after they were written – revealing fascinating stories of love, loss and epic battles.

The other day we posted a photo of our local runestone. The cool thing with Sweden is that they are still being discovered every now and then.

This was a pretty nice one and very typical of the sort of thing that can be found on them when they do turn up!

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Ahh amazing, glad to hear we inspired you; it is one of our favourite places! We need to go back again!

Runestone carvings on a standing stone

Tower on the ruins of a 12th century church with a deep blue sky background

Inspired by your Sigtuna podcast from a while back, I travelled there this past summer and walked around to see many of the runestones and the 12th century church ruins. An incredible place!

Snow continues to fall in central Sweden and our local runestone is looking great once again!

We're in the middle of planning the return of Flatpack, but meanwhile, today there's a new episode of Kingdom!

Unhappy with his role, Erik rebels against his father Magnus IV and takes the throne. But as we all know, taking the throne is one thing, holding on to it is another...

Flatpack HQ is now back in Sweden. Stockholm welcomed us with some snow, a little different to Colombia! 🇨🇴🇸🇪

Next weekend we'll jump into planning new episodes of A Flatpack History of Sweden. We'll let you know once we have sorted out exactly when the first will be released!

Today we conclude the two part story of King Magnus IV 🤴

How does he deal with the Black Death and why is Åsa so annoyed with him in the ranking? Listen to find out 😊

Flatpack HQ is still on the road in South America! There's no new episode today but next week we'll see the second part of our Kingdom look at Magnus IV's bumper reign.

Meanwhile, here are some photos of what we've seen recently!

Head to intelligentspeechonline.com for more information and to get your tickets.

Use the code SWEDEN to get 10% off!

A reminder that we will be joining lots of fellow podcasters at the Intelligent Speech Conference on 28th February! It’s where history podcasters and others join to present and discuss all things history.

The theme of the 2026 conference is Companions and Rivals.

New episode out now! 👑

After many moons, we're back to talk to you about another 1300 years of history! But first, let us remind ourselves of what happened in the previous 92 episodes before we jump into the rise of Islam.