Eric "XI" the Lisp and Lame Swedish: Erik Eriksson or Erik läspe och halte; Old Norse: Eiríkr Eiríksson (1216 – 2 February 1250) was king of Sweden in 1222–29 and 1234–50. Being the last ruler of the House of Eric, he stood in the shadow of a succession of powerful Jarls, especially his brother-in-law Birger Jarl, whose descendants ruled as kings after his death. Background Eric was the son of Eric X of Sweden and Richeza of Denmark. According to the chronicle Erikskrönikan, written in the early 1320s, Eric is said to have been partly lame; "King Eric was lisping in his talk / Limping was, as well, his walk". For this reason, later historians referred to him as "Erik the Lisp and Lame" which was apparently not used in his own time. Eric was born after his father, King Eric X, had already died (1216). The fifteen-year-old John I from the rival House of Sverker was hailed king by the Swedish aristocracy, while Queen Richeza returned to her Danish homeland where her brother Valdemar Sejr ruled. Eric spent his early youth in Denmark, while Valdemar championed his rights to the Swedish throne and tried to prevent the coronation of John I. Pope Honorius III ordered three North German bishops to investigate the issue in 1219, however to no avail. John I nevertheless died in 1222, whereby the House of Sverker became extinct in the male line. First reign With no dynastic rivals at hand, the six-year-old Eric was hailed as king, sometime between August 1222 and July 1223. The Archbishop Olof Basatömer supported his cause and appears to have crowned him in Strängnäs Cathedral on 31 July 1223. During the minority of the king, a council was formed, consisting of Bishop Bengt of Skara, the king's foster father Erengisle Vig, Stenar, Knut Kristinesson, and Knut Holmgersson (Knut the Tall). The two last-mentioned were second cousins of King Eric. In 1225 Eric and his realm were taken under the protection of the Pope. In the same year a brief conflict with Norway flared up, as King Håkon Håkonson made an incursion into Värmland in retaliation for support given to Håkon's Norwegian enemies. The members of the royal council were termed consiliarii (Sw., rådsherre), a term that now occurs for the first time in a Swedish context. However, the internal cohesion of the council was weak, and its members were considered