| Inge the Elder | |
|---|---|
 image of his 16th century cenotaph | |
| King of Sweden | |
| Reign | c. 1080 – c. 1110 |
| Predecessor | Håkan the Red |
| Successor | Blot-Sweyn |
| Born | c. 1040 |
| Died | c. 1110 (aged 69–70) |
| Burial | Hånger then moved to Varnhem Abbey |
| Spouse | Helena |
| Issue | Christina, Grand Duchess of Kiev Ragnvald Ingesson Margaret, Queen of Norway and Denmark Katarina Ingesdotter |
| House | Stenkil |
| Father | Stenkil |
| Mother | Ingamoder Emundsdotter |
Inge the Elder (Swedish: Inge Stenkilsson; Old Norse: Ingi Steinkelsson; died c. 1105–1110) was a king of Sweden.[1] In English literature he has also been called Ingold.[2] While scant sources do not allow a full picture of his term of kingship, he is known to have led a turbulent but at length successful reign of more than two decades. He stands out as a devout Christian who founded the first abbey in Sweden and acted harshly against pagan practices. The kingdom was still an unstable realm based on alliances of noblemen, and Inge's main power base was in Västergötland and Östergötland; one of the earliest chronicles that mention his reign knows him as rex gautorum, king of the Geats.[3]
- ^ Dick Harrison, "Inge den äldre", Nationalencyklopedin, http://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/l%C3%A5ng/inge Archived 5 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gary Dean Peterson Warrior Kings of Sweden: The Rise of an Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries ISBN 978-0-7864-2873-1 p. 8 Archived 3 August 2023 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Peter Sawyer, När Sverige blev Sverige. Alingsås: Viktoria, 1991, p. 37.