Middle Ages
In a letter from 1268, during the reign of Valdemar Birgersson, the title marscalcus of the king is mentioned. The holder of the prestigious title is a nobleman, but it is not possible to decide much about the assignments belonging to it. It is possible that the marsk, or the constable, replaced the stabularius that previously governed the king's mounted following.
Constable Torgils Knutsson was the foremost among the powerful men that ruled Sweden during the childhood of king Birger Magnusson in the late 13th century. Later constables seem to only occasionally be called upon by the king, without having regular tasks to fulfill. Queen Margaret, who tried to reclaim power that previous kings had lost, chose to have neither a Lord High Constable nor a Lord High Steward. Her successor Eric of Pomerania was forced by the Swedish noblemen to appoint a constable. Thus, in 1435, Karl Knutsson Bonde, a future Swedish king, became the first constable for quite some time. In a suggestion to a treaty of the Kalmar union from 1436, the constable got responsibilities in two areas: law/justice and heading the country's army in war time. For most of the remaining part of the 15th century, the office was vacant.
Read more about this topic: Lord High Constable Of Sweden
Famous quotes related to middle ages:
“In the middle ages people were tourists because of their religion, whereas now they are tourists because tourism is their religion.”
—Robert Runcie (b. 1921)