Ericus Olai: sources and methods of the Swedish historian from the 15th century

Abstract

The article is devoted to Ericus Olai, the 15th century theologian and historian, and his “Chronica regni Gothorum", the history of Sweden from primordial times to the second half of the 15th century. The author demonstrates that Ericus Olai, processing the information derived from ancient sources, wanted to praise Sweden and its spiritual center Uppsala. He attempted to stress the following: 1) the necessity of cooperation between the spiritual and the temporal authority; 2) the importance of Sweden's independence; 3) the need of taking care of the people; 4) the political role of aristocracy. The appendix contains the Russian translation of selected passages from “Chronica regni Gothorum" carried out by the author of the article.