Editing Birger Jarl (section)

=== Later life and burial ===
Ingeborg died in 1254. In 1261, Birger married Queen [[Mechtilde of Holstein]], the widow of the Danish king [[Abel, King of Denmark|Abel]], who had allied herself with the Archbishop [[Jakob Erlandsen]] to protect her sons' interitance against King [[Christopher I of Denmark]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hørby |first1=Kai |last2=Olsen |first2=Rikke Agnete |date=21 February 2012 |title=Jakob Erlandsens skæbne |url=https://danmarkshistorien.lex.dk/Jakob_Erlandsens_sk%C3%A6bne |access-date=19 October 2024 |website=Danmarkshistorien |language=da |archive-date=3 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803163929/https://danmarkshistorien.lex.dk/Jakob_Erlandsens_sk%C3%A6bne |url-status=live }}</ref> The marriage produced no children. Birger died on 21 October 1266, at Jälbolung in [[Västergötland]].<ref name="Harrison2002p271">{{harvnb|Harrison|2002|p=271}}</ref> After Birger's death, Mechtilde returned to Denmark, where she died in 1288.<ref name="s232">{{cite book |last=Wilhelmsson |first=Caroline |title=The Queens and Royal Women of Sweden, c. 970-1330 |date=14 October 2024 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-032-49117-2 |at=Chapter: Mechtild of Holstein}}</ref>

Birger, his son Erik and Mechtilde were buried in [[Varnhem Abbey]].<ref name="s232" /> The grave was forgotten after a fire in the 16th century and was only rediscovered during restoration work in the 1920s. When opened, it was found to contain two male skeletons and one female skeleton. These findings were later questioned and the grave was reopened in May 2002. The remains were re-examined using modern methods, which confirmed the earlier conclusions. A DNA analysis <ref name="d088">{{cite journal |last1=Malmström |first1=Helena |last2=Vretemark |first2=Maria |last3=Tillmar |first3=Andreas |last4=Durling |first4=Mikael Brandström |last5=Skoglund |first5=Pontus |last6=Gilbert |first6=M. Thomas P. |last7=Willerslev |first7=Eske |last8=Holmlund |first8=Gunilla |last9=Götherström |first9=Anders |year=2012 |title=Finding the founder of Stockholm – A kinship study based on Y-chromosomal, autosomal and mitochondrial DNA |journal=Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=194 |issue=1 |pages=138–145 |doi=10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.014 |pmid=21596538 |issn=0940-9602}}</ref>

Following Birger's death, the title of jarl was replaced with [[duke]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Larrea |first1=Beñat Elortza |title=Polity Consolidation and Military Transformation in Medieval Scandinavia: A European Perspective, c.1035–1320 |date=13 March 2023 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-54349-2 |page=287 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Auv7EAAAQBAJ |language=en |archive-date=9 October 2024 |access-date=20 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009095940/https://books.google.com/books?id=Auv7EAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>