Martha Eriksdotter

Martha Eriksdotter (Märta Bonde) was the alleged daughter of Erik X, King of Sweden,[1] flourishing in the first half of the 13th century. However, knowledge about her is derived from a genealogy added to a 15th-century copy of the Erikskrönikan. This genealogy may have been part of the ambition of Charles VIII of Sweden (d. 1470) to prove his right to the throne by presenting a more impressive family background.[2] The existence of Martha Eriksdotter and her marriage have therefore been doubted by some modern Swedish historians, who think she was just made up by Charles or his chancellery. Nevertheless, a few historians have maintained that her position cannot be entirely explained as a forgery.[3]

Martha Eriksdotter
SpouseNils Sixtensson Sparre
IssueSixten Nilsson Sparre
Abjorn Nilsson Sparre
HouseHouse of Eric (by birth)
FatherErik X of Sweden

Family life

According to the genealogy she was married to Nils Sixtensson Sparre, a Marshal in Sweden.[4] Martha’s paternity and her marriage are recorded in the book Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor by PG Berg and Wilhelmina Stålberg, Page 274. The title of the book in English is: Notes on Swedish women. (A biographical dictionary from 1864, covering only Swedish women.)

In Swedish the page reads:

Märtha, dotter af Erik X, som blef gift med Nils Sixtensson till Tofta, och, genom detta äktenskap, stammoder för Sparre- och Oxenstjerna-slägterna.[5]

English translation:

"Martha, daughter of Erik X, who was married to Nils Sixtensson of Tofta, and, through this marriage a progenitress strain for the Sparre and Oxenstjerna families."

Children

Allegedly, they had 2 children together,

  • Sixten Nilsson Sparre
  • Abjorn Nilsson Sparre

Ancestry

References
  1. Remmé, Richard. "Martha Eriksdotter (± 1210-????) » Genealogy Richard Remmé, The Hague, Netherlands » Genealogy Online". Genealogy Online. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  2. Bjarne Beckman, Matts Kättilmundsson och hans tid, Vol. I. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1953, p. 344-6.
  3. Bjarne Beckman, Matts Kättilmundsson och hans tid, Vol. I. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1953, p. 88.
  4. C.G. Starbäck & P.O. Bäckström, Berättelser ur svenska historien, Vol. II. Stockholm: Beijers, 1885, p. 121.
  5. PG Berg and Wilhelmina Stålberg, Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor, p. 274.
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