(13971523) Scandinavian union that joined the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under the rule of a single monarch.
Margaret I had become regent of the three kingdoms by 1388; she chose her grandnephew Erik of Pomerania to become their king, and he was crowned at Kalmar, Swed., in 1397. Each country kept its own laws, customs, and administration. Sweden rebelled and claimed independence under Gustav I Vasa in 1523, and Norway became a Danish province in 1536.