Anund Jacob
King of Sweden from 1022 until 1050 (1008-1050)
Anund Jacob, also Jakob or James (Old Norse: Ǫnundr Jakob; c. 25 July 1008/10 – c. 1050), was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have been born on 25 July, in either 1008 or 1010 as Jakob, the son of King Olof Skötkonung and Queen Estrid. Being the second Christian king of the Swedish realm, his long and partly turbulent reign saw the increasing dissemination of Christianity as well as repeated attempts to influence the balance of power in Scandinavia. Throughout his reign, he tried to subvert the rising Danish hegemony in Scandinavia by supporting the Norwegian monarchy. He also supported the reign of his brother-in-law Yaroslav the Wise in Kievan Rus. He is referred to in positive terms in German and Norse historical sources. His reign was one of the longest in Sweden during the Viking Age and Middle Ages.
Accession
The main sources for Anund Jacob's reign are the near-contemporary ecclesiastic chronicle of Adam of Bremen and several Norse histories from the 12th and 13th centuries, in particular Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Anund Jacob” is king of Sweden from 1022 until 1050 (1008-1050). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Anund, Jacob and King, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “king of Sweden from 1022 until 1050 (1008-1050)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q352133. VIAF identifies the subject as 130935164. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1008, 1050, 1022 and 1010.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Anund Jacob”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Anund Jacob primary sources, Anund Jacob archive and Anund research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Anund Jacob”?
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- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Anund Jacob” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.