Editing Kalmar Union (section)

=== Inception ===
The union was the work of Scandinavian aristocracy who sought to counter the influence of the [[Hanseatic League]], a northern German trade league centered around the Baltic and North Seas. Denmark in particular was in a [[Danish-Hanseatic Rivalry|power struggle with the League]] and had recently suffered a humiliating defeat in the [[Danish-Hanseatic War (1361-1370)]] that allowed the League to become even more powerful. On the personal level, the union was achieved by Queen [[Margaret I of Denmark]] (1353–1412). She was a daughter of King [[Valdemar IV of Denmark]] and had married King [[Haakon VI of Norway]] and Sweden, who was the son of King [[Magnus IV of Sweden]], Norway and [[Scania]]. Margaret succeeded in having her and Haakon's son [[Olaf II of Denmark|Olaf]] recognized as heir to the throne of Denmark. In 1376, Olaf inherited the crown of Denmark from his maternal grandfather as King Olaf II, with his mother as guardian; when Haakon VI died in 1380, Olaf also inherited the crown of Norway.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The History of Iceland|last = Karlsson|first = Gunnar|year = 2000|page = 102}}</ref>

Margaret became regent of Denmark and Norway when Olaf died in 1387, leaving her without an heir.<ref name="BritannicaMargaret">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-I|title=Margaret I {{!}} queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden|language=en|access-date=5 June 2017|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> She adopted her great-nephew [[Eric of Pomerania]] the same year.<ref name="BritannicaErik">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erik-VII|title=Erik VII {{!}} king of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden|language=en|access-date=5 June 2017|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> In 1388, Swedish nobles called upon her help against King [[Albert, King of Sweden|Albert]].<ref name="BritannicaSwedenCodeOfLaw">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sweden/Code-of-law|title=Sweden – Code of law {{!}} history – geography|language=en|access-date=5 June 2017|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> After Margaret defeated Albert in 1389, her heir Eric was proclaimed King of Norway.<ref name="BritannicaMargaret" /> Eric was subsequently elected King of Denmark and Sweden in 1396 under the banner of the [[House of Griffin]].<ref name="BritannicaMargaret" /> His coronation was held in [[Kalmar]] on 17 June 1397.<ref name="BritannicaKalmarUnion">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kalmar-Union|title=Kalmar Union {{!}} Scandinavian history|language=en|access-date=5 June 2017|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

One main impetus for the union's formation was to block German expansion northward into the [[Baltic region]]. The main reason for its failure to survive was the perpetual struggle between the monarch, who wanted a strong unified state, and the Swedish and Danish nobility, which did not.<ref>For a somewhat different view see {{Cite book |title=Politics and reformations: communities, polities, nations, and empires essays in honor of Thomas A. Brady, Jr |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-16173-3 |series=Studies in Medieval and Reformation traditions |location=Leiden |pages=471–472 |chapter=The Union Of Calmar —Nordic Great Power Or Northern German Outpost?}}</ref>

The Union lost territory when [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]] were [[pledge (law)|pledged]] by [[Christian I of Denmark|Christian I]], in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the [[dowry]] of his daughter [[Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland|Margaret]], betrothed to [[James III of Scotland]] in 1468.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Bagge|first=Sverre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFJNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|title=Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms from the Vikings to the Reformation|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-5010-5|pages=260–268|language=en}}</ref> The money was never paid, so in 1472 the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] annexed the islands.<ref>Nicolson (1972) p. 45</ref>