Albrecht, Duke of Mecklenburg (born c 1318, died in Schwerin 18.2.1379), was a feudal lord in Northern Germany, in the shores of the Baltic Sea. He reigned as the head of the House of Mecklenburg, and since 1350's his princely seat was located in Schwerin. The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainlands of Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and the Danish islands. ... Ducal House of Mecklenburg A North German Princely dynasty Origins Lords of the vend tribe Obotrites Claims to Swedish throne The Dukes of Mecklenburg pursued from 14th century a claim to inheritance in Sweden: The Duke of Mecklenburg was a descendant and the heir of two women whom legends tied... Schwerin is a town in northern Germany. ...

Albrecht was born as the second, but finally the eldest surviving, son of Duke Henry II of Mecklenburg (c 1266-1329), lord of Stargard (Starij Gorod), of the old Vendic princely clan of the Obotrites, and his second wife Princess Anna of Saxony-Wittenberg (d 1327), of the Princely Ascanian House. The Wends are partly a term by some held equivalent to Vandals through a latinized form of Wendland, and partly a German abbreviation (also often used in English) for some Slavic people from north-central Europe. ... The Obotrites (sometimes Abodrites, Obodrites) were a group of Slavic peoples who had in the 6th century settled in the regions later known as Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein in what is now north-eastern Germany. ... With an area of 18,400 sq. ...

Duke Albert succeeded his father as Reigning Prince (or Lord) of Mecklenburg in 1329. He was also deeply interested in obtaining some power in Scandinavia, e.g fiefs or income. The Holy Roman Emperor elevated Mecklenburg as Duchy 8 July 1347, through which (togerher with his younger brother) he became the 1st Duke of Mecklenburg. Mecklenburg, located in Northern Germany, was a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire, then divided, and after 1815 two Grand Duchies, then a state, and now part of the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. ...

10 April 1336 he married a kinswoman, a Scandinavian heiress Euphemia of Sweden and Norway (born 1317 and died 1370). Her father was Eric of Sweden (murdered 1318), Duke of Sudermannia and of Halland, second son of King Magnus I of Sweden, and her mother was Princess Ingeborg of Norway (1301-c 1360), the heiress and the only legitimate daughter of King Haakon V of Norway. Euphemia's brother Magnus II of Sweden was at the time King of both Norway and of Sweden. Eufemia Ericsdotter, Duchess Consort of Mecklenburg, was born as a heiress of Sweden and of Norway, in 1317, and died sometime in 1370. ... The third seal of the City of Stockholm, depicting the crowned head of Eric the Saint, attested for the first time in 1376. ... Magnus II of Sweden (1240-1290), often called Ladulås: Barnlock, was king of Sweden from 1275/1280 until his death in 1290. ... Haakon V Magnusson (1270 - May 8, 1319) was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319. ... Sigillum ad causas for Magnus II of Sweden Magnus II Ericson, Magnus VII of Norway, (1316–December 1, 1377), King of Sweden, Norway, and Terra Scania, son of Duke Eric and Ingeborg, daughter of Haakon V of Norway. ...

Through the marriage, Albrecht gained a position in Sweden, using his wife's hereditary estates etc. The duke participated in internal politics of Scandinavia. Later, Albert got the nickname "Fox of Mecklenburg" from Swedes, to reflect his intrigues as well as avarice.

Albert arranged his eldest son, the future Henry III of Mecklenburg, to marry the eldest daughter and potential heiress of King Waldemar IV of Denmark. Prince Henry married Ingeborg of Denmark sometime around 1362, and their infant son was soon offered as Heir to Denmark, in which pursuit the Mecklenburgs then faced the contrary interests of Waldemar's youngest daughter, Queen Margaret of Norway, the future ruler of the Kalmar Union. Valdemar Atterdag (c. ... The Kalmar Union (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish: Kalmarunionen) was a series of personal unions (1397–1520) that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single monarch. ...

His brother-in-law King Magnus was drawn into grave difficulties beginning from 1350's. Mighty nobles attempted to curb the concentration of royal power, and firstly put Magnus's own elder son Eric as rival king in Sweden. After young Eric's death, Albert's second son and namesake became nobility party's next puppet claimant.

Duke Albert was deeply involved in making his son king in Sweden, and pursued towards becoming himself the real power behind the throne. Younger Albert deposed his uncle from the Swedish throne, and ascend as King Albert of Sweden. Albert of Sweden (or Albrecht von Mecklenburg in German or Albrekt av Mecklenburg in Swedish) was born in 1338 and became king of Sweden in 1363. ...

Already in Albert's and Eufemia's lifetime it was easy to see that her genealogical position was to become a pivotal point to many future claims to the Scandinavian thrones.

When his firts wife died, Duke Albrecht married secondly, countess Adelheid of Hohenstein (d 1380), daughter of count Ulrich of Hohenstein. That marriage apparently was childless.

Duke Albert had five surviving children born of the marriage with Euphemia: sons Henry, Albert and Magnus, as well as daughters Ingeborg and Anna. For his issue, see the pertinent genealogical section in Euphemia of Sweden. Eufemia Ericsdotter, Duchess Consort of Mecklenburg, was born as a heiress of Sweden and of Norway, in 1317, and died sometime in 1370. ...

Already based on his very own ancestry, Albert felt himself entitled to pursue for inheritance in Sweden: He was a descendant and the heir of two women whom legends tied to Swedish royal houses as daughters of kings.

• Albert's father's paternal great-grandmother, a Scandinavian noblewoman named Christina, who was the wife of Henry Borwin II of Mecklenburg (d 1226), was claimed at least by later tradition to have been a daughter of King Sverker II of Sweden. (However, Swedish sources attest that king Sverker II had a son, John, and one daughter, Helena, who married a Swedish nobleman. No further children seem to be attested in sources close to Sweden of that time.) Christina was the mother of John I of Mecklenburg, whose son was Henry I of Mecklenburg.
• Albert's father's maternal grandmother, a Scandinavian noblewoman named Marianna, who was the first wife of Duke Barnim I of Pomerania (d 1278), lord of Wolgast, was claimed to have been a daughter of King Eric X of Sweden and his wife Richeza of Denmark. (However, sources of the time are scarce, and there is not much attestation of marriages, fates and precise names of those slighted daughters of Eric X.) Marianna had given birth to an only surviving child, daughter named Anastasia of Pomerania, who then became the wife of Henry I of Mecklenburg (d 1302) and mother of Henry II.

The Sverker dynasty had long been extinct, having lost the throne ultimately to Eric XI. The male dynasty of Eric X was also now extinct, and his other daughters had been sidestepped by Birger Jarl, the husband of his (possibly youngest) daughter, Ingeborg, who took care to secure the kingship to his own sons. Duke Albert helped the said legends of his foremothers' Swedish royalty to embellish and spread, and used them as pretexts for the royal aspirations. Sverker the younger Karlsson or Sverker den yngre Karlsson in Swedish (born c. ... Erik X ( c 1180 – 1216), Erik Knutsson (Eric son of Canute) was the King of Sweden between 1208 and 1216. ... The house of St Eric was one of the two noble families, dynasties, which rivalled for the kingship of Sweden between 1150 and 1220. ... Birger Jarl Statue of Birger jarl in Stockholm Birger Jarl  listen? or Earl Birger, (1210 – 1266), Swedish statesman, full name Birger Magnusson of Bjälbo, son of Magnus Minnesköld of Bjälbo and Ingrid Ylva, nephew to the Earl Birger Brosa, and the most famous member of the ancient noble family of...