The individual who succeeded in uniting the three was a woman--Margaret Valdemarsdottir.
A glance at the years immediately preceding her reign reveals the enormity of her accomplishment. Early in the 14th century, Norway and Sweden were joined into one kingdom under Magnus Eriksson. Magnus was three years old, and the only available heir, when his grandfather, Norway's King Haakon V, died in 1319. The boy's father, Swedish prince Erik Magnusson, had died in prison at the hands of his uncle King Birger of Sweden. Thus, when Birger was forced out of his kingdom by dissident nobles, three-year-old Magnus became king of both Norway and Sweden. His mother Ingebjorg exerted great influence over the affairs of her son, and her plans to enlarge the combined kingdom included designs on Denmark. But the war she provoked with the Danes proved to be so costly to Norway that a popular noble, Erling Vidkunnsson, was made viceroy and ruled Norway until Magnus Eriksson came of age in 1332.
Four years later, in 1336, King Magnus married Blanca of Namur, and by 1340, they had two sons. Erik, the elder, was elected king of Sweden in 1344; the younger son, Haakon (VI), became king of Norway.
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