Birger, but their peasant allies in Uppland lost the Battle of Sparrsätra and were punished by tightening royal taxation. The Folkung leader Holmger Knutsson, a son of Canute II, fled to Gästrikland but was captured by Eric's men and beheaded. Shortly after the defeat of the uprising, Birger was appointed Jarl of the realm. As such he oversaw a clerical meeting in Skänninge in February 1248, summoned by the papal legate William of Sabina. On behalf of Pope Innocent IV, he urged the Swedes to stick to canonic-juridical praxis as laid down by Rome. The authority of the bishops was strengthened and Sweden was increasingly incorporated in the Catholic Church. Family and heirs Eric married Queen Catherine in 1243 or 1244. She was the daughter of (Jarl) Sune Folkason of Bjälbo and an heiress of the House of Sverker. In that way the two long-competing royal houses were eventually united. Commonly, sources say that Eric was childless, but some sources claim that he had a couple of baby daughters who died. Eric XI died on 2 February 1250, and was buried in the monastery of Varnhem Abbey in Västergötland. With him the House of Eric became extinct in the male line, with the possible exception of Canute II's son Filip (d. 1251). Under these circumstances the throne went to the offspring of Birger Jarl and Ingeborg, the more since Birger was now in full control over the realm. Their eldest but still under-age son Valdemar was elected king in 1250 to succeed Eric, possibly by-passing the sons, to the extent there were such, of Ingeborg's elder sisters. Birger Jarl became the Regent, holding the true power in Sweden until his own death in 1266. Skáldatal reports that Óláfr Þórðarson was one of Eric's court skalds. References Further reading Bolin, Sture, "Erik Eriksson", Svenskt biografiskt lexikon . Harrison, Dick, Sveriges historia: medeltiden (Stockholm: Liber, 2002). Harrison, Dick, Jarlens sekel - En berättelse om 1200-talets Sverige ( Stockholm: Ordfront, 2002). Harrison, Dick, "Birger jarl och Aleksandr Nevskij", Svenska Dagbladet Blog, 1 May 2011 . Lagerqvist, Lars O.; Åberg, Nils, Litet lexikon över Sveriges regenter (Boda kyrkby: Vincent förlag, 2004). Lindström, Henrik; Lindström, Fredrik, Svitjods undergång och Sveriges födelse (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag, 2006). . Line, Philip, Kingship and State Formation in Sweden 1130-1290 (Leiden: Brill, 2007). Pipping, Rolf (ed.), Erikskrönikan (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wicksell, 1921). External links 1216 births 1250 deaths 13th-century