17 Facts About Anund Jacob

Anund Jacob supported the reign of his brother-in-law Yaroslav the Wise in Kievan Rus.

Anund Jacob is referred to in positive terms in German and Norse historical sources.

Anund Jacob's reign was one of the longest in Sweden during the Viking Age and Middle Ages.

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.

Snorri, on the other hand, asserts that King Olof's high-handed rule caused the Swedes to rise against him, whereby his young son Jacob was hailed as king.

Olof and Anund Jacob eventually came to an agreement: Olof was to retain his royal title for the rest of his life, but Anund Jacob would be co-ruler and govern part of the realm, and had to support the peasantry if Olof caused further trouble.

Anund Jacob continued the minting of coins in Sigtuna in Central Sweden; however, the issuing of coins was broken off later during his reign, and was only resumed by King Canute I in the late 12th century.

In fact Anund Jacob traveled with a large entourage to Kungahalla where he met Olaf for a friendly parley.

Some time later, when Cnut was away tending his English kingdom, Olaf attacked and ravaged Sjaelland, while Anund Jacob came down with a fleet from Svealand to attack Scania.

At any rate King Anund Jacob was in power again around 1030.

Anund Jacob provided him with a force of 400 skilled men, and allowed him to recruit as many men as possible from his realm.

Snorri Sturluson reports that Anund Jacob provided Olaf with pathfinders that guided him through the treacherous terrain of Dalarna to reach the then Norwegian province of Harjedalen.

Anund Jacob kept Cnut's nephew Sweyn Estridsen as a protege and supported his pretensions to the Danish throne.

In spite of that, a new war flared up between Sweyn and Harald, where Anund Jacob seems to have continued supporting Sweyn.

Anund Jacob provided military reinforcements to Yaroslav I the Wise in a battle against Mstislav of Chernigov.

Anund Jacob took tribute from the Baltic people called Semigallians or in the Yngvars saga the Baltic Seimgalir.

Anund Jacob's reign has traditionally been dated from 1022 to approximately 1050, but there is uncertainty about the year he died.