Editing Elective monarchy (section)

====Scandinavia====
Scandinavian kingship, according to the Germanic tradition, was elected upon the death of the previous king.<ref name="63–84"/> The selection was not always limited to the heirs of the previous king (e.g. in Sweden when the royal house was changing between the houses of Eric and Sverker between generations). Originally, kings were supposed to be elected from among the descendants of a previous king, which was connected to descent from gods. There could also be [[Diarchy|joint rule]] between multiple kings. Disputed succession was common because of a large number of sons sired by kings. However, when single rule appeared in the 9th century, civil wars grew in frequency throughout the region. Later, Christianisation led to the promulgation of primogeniture in Norway in 1163 and Denmark in 1170, but the elective idea still persisted in the requirement to be certified by a local assembly and subsequently the magnates would still elect the new king, albeit while the incumbent king was still alive. This demonstrated the enduring power of the nobles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillip Pulsiano |last2=Kirsten Wolf |title=Routledge Revivals: Medieval Scandinavia (1993): An Encyclopedia |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1351665018 |page=621}}</ref>

Originally, the [[Monarchy of Sweden|Kings of Sweden]] were elected by all free men at the [[Stones of Mora|Mora]] [[Thing (assembly)|Thing]]. Elective monarchy continued until 1544, when the [[Riksdag of the Estates]] designated the [[House of Vasa|heirs]] of King [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Vasa]] as the heirs to the throne. The [[Monarchy of Denmark|Danish monarchy]] was also officially elective, although the eldest son of the reigning monarch was usually elected. This continued until 1660, when a hereditary and [[absolute monarchy]] was instituted by [[Frederick III of Denmark|Frederick III]]. Though the [[monarchy of Norway]] was originally hereditary, it too became elective in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Candidates had to be of royal blood, but the kingship was elected by a council of noblemen, rather than automatically passing to the eldest son. In 1905 [[Haakon VII of Norway|Prince Carl]] was elected King of the newly independent Norway by the [[Storting]] after [[1905 Norwegian monarchy referendum|a referendum]] resolved in favor of monarchy.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The Scandinavian kingdoms were united under the Danish crown by [[Margaret I of Denmark]] in 1389, but many of her successors had the united kingdoms split up as Sweden elected a different king than Denmark and Norway upon succession. The election was usually contested through a Danish invasion of Sweden until [[Christian II of Denmark]] after his reconquest of Sweden had many of those voting against him executed in the [[Stockholm Bloodbath]] (1520), which ended much of the support for the Danish king on the Swedish throne.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 1810, the Swedish [[Riksdag of the Estates|Riksdag]] elected the French Marshall and [[Principality of Pontecorvo#Princes of Pontecorvo|Prince of Pontecorvo]] [[Jean Bernadotte]] to be the new [[Crown Prince]], since it was apparent that the Swedish branch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp would die with the childless King [[Charles XIII of Sweden|Charles XIII]]. Bernadotte eventually ascended the throne as [[Charles XIV John of Sweden]] and founded the still current [[House of Bernadotte]]. In this case the elective aspect in the choice of Monarch was especially prominent, since Bernadotte had been a French commoner with no previous connection to Sweden and not the most remote of dynastic claims to the Swedish throne – his being chosen derived solely from urgent political and military considerations of the crisis time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}