After his death at the age of 17 his mother Margrethe united the three Scandinavian kingdoms in personal union under one crown, in the Kalmar Union.
As Cnut ruled several Scandinavian kingdoms in addition to England, power at the highest level was delegated to such strongmen.
In the 15th century its students numbered much more than a thousand, and its influence extended to Scotland and the Scandinavian kingdoms.
For comparison with the 3000 Swedish ships, the leidang fleets of the Scandinavian kingdoms numbered around 300 ships each during the Viking Age.
The ancient payments of Peter's Pence, which had been granted to the popes by early monarchs, were received from England, the Scandinavian kingdoms and Poland.
Marriages of medieval counts of Oldenburg had paved the way for their heirs to become kings of various Scandinavian kingdoms.
The one bright side of this gloomy and sordid period was the rapprochement between the Scandinavian kingdoms during the revolutionary wars.
The three Scandinavian kingdoms were united in 1397 in the Kalmar Union by Queen Margaret I of Denmark.
Gustavus regarded the Scandinavian kingdoms as the two chief pillars on which the Evangelical religion reposed.
Thereafter, the Scandinavian kingdoms evolved into normal states trading with other European states and only occasionally indulging in wars, rather than constantly raiding.