| Karl Sverkersson | |
|---|---|
 King Karl as shown on his seal | |
| King of Sweden | |
| Reign | 1161–1167 |
| Predecessor | Magnus Henriksson |
| Successor | Knut Eriksson |
| Born | c. 1130 |
| Died | 12 April 1167 |
| Spouse | Christina Hvide |
| Issue | Sverker II |
| House | Sverker |
| Father | Sverker I |
Karl Sverkersson or Charles VII[1] (c. 1130 – 12 April 1167) was ruler of Götaland, and then King of Sweden from c. 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated in a military attack by Knut Eriksson who succeeded him as king.[2]
He is the first historically known king of Sweden by the name of Karl, but use of the ordinal VII is widespread.[3]
- ^ Article Karl in Nordisk familjebok
- ^ Lindkvist, Thomas (2008), "The Emergence of Sweden", The Viking World, Routledge, pp. 692–698, doi:10.4324/9780203412770-61, ISBN 978-0-203-41277-0
- ^ This was the first Swedish king by the name of Charles (Karl). Charles VII is a posthumous invention, counting backwards from Charles IX (1604–11) who adopted his numeral according to a fictitious history of Sweden. Six others before Charles Sverkersson are unknown to any sources before Johannes Magnus's 16th-century book Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus, and are considered his invention. The first Swedish monarch of the name to actually use a regnal number was Charles II (later retrospectively renumbered VIII), on his queen's tombstone (1451) at Vadstena.