Jon Jarl

Jon Jarl
Earl
Earl of Sweden [sv]
Reign?–1206
PredecessorJohan Sverkersson
SuccessorKnut Birgersson
Other titles"Terror of the Heathen"
BornJon
Diedc. 1206
Asknäs, Ekerö, Sweden
BuriedLinköping Cathedral (disputed)
Noble familyPossibly Sverker
OccupationPrivateer

Jon Jarl was a Swedish jarl at the end of the 12th and in the early 13th centuries. He is mentioned in the Eric Chronicle from the 1320s to have spent years fighting against Russians and Ingrians in the early Swedish–Novgorodian Wars.

According to 15th-century historian Ericus Olai, he was murdered at his home in Asknäs in Ekerö parish by the Lake Mälaren in 1206, allegedly by Russian pirates.[1]

According to the Eric Chronicle, Jon Jarl was a Swedish earl in the east tasked with the protection of the kingdom against Russians and Ingrians. Sven Tunberg considers it likely that the earl belonged to the Sverker family and that he was King Sverker the Younger's "Finnish earl" for nine years.[2]

  1. ^ Line, Ph (2007-01-01). Appendix 1. Families And Their Landholdings. Brill. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004155787.i-700.77. ISBN 978-90-474-1983-9.
  2. ^ Siege of Sigtuna 1187, by Adolf Schück, Fornvännen 215-219