Background
John was the son of King Sverker II of Sweden of the House of Sverker and Queen Ingegerd of the Bjälbo dynasty.
John was the son of King Sverker II of Sweden of the House of Sverker and Queen Ingegerd of the Bjälbo dynasty.
King Sverker had been beaten in the Battle of Lena and later killed in the Battle of Gestilren in 1210. When King Eric died suddenly in fever in 1216, the teen-aged John was hailed king by the Swedish aristocracy against the will of the Pope in Rome. John was crowned in 1219 and remained king until his death on March 10, 1222.
John died unmarried and childless.
During the brief reign of King John, a Swedish presence was established in Estonia. Defeat in the Battle of Lihula left no Swedish presence and discouraged the Swedish expansion to Estonia for more than 300 years.
The events were described in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia and the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle.