Jon Jarl
{{Short description|Swedish jarl (died c. 1206)}}
{{distinguish|text=Jón Jarl Sørkvisson}}
{{Infobox noble
| name = Jon Jarl
| title = Earl
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| succession = {{ill|Earl of Sweden|sv|Jarl av Sverige}}
| reign = ?–1206
| reign-type =
| predecessor = Johan Sverkersson
| successor = Knut Birgersson
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| full name =
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| styles =
| other_titles = "Terror of the Heathen"
| noble family = Possibly Sverker
| house-type =
| father =
| mother =
| birth_name = Jon
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| death_date = c. 1206
| death_place = Asknäs, Ekerö, Sweden
| burial_date =
| burial_place = Linköping Cathedral (disputed)
| occupation = Privateer
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Jon Jarl was a Swedish jarl at the end of the 12th and in the early 13th centuries. He is mentioned in Erik's Chronicle from the 1320s to have spent years fighting against Russians and Ingrians in the early Swedish–Novgorodian Wars.
According to 15th-century historian Ericus Olai, he was murdered at his home in Asknäs in Ekerö parish by the Lake Mälaren in 1206, allegedly by Russian pirates.{{Cite book |last=Line |first=Ph |url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789047419839/Bej.9789004155787.i-700_015.xml |title=Appendix 1. Families And Their Landholdings |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-474-1983-9 |language=en |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004155787.i-700.77}}
According to Erik's Chronicle, Jon Jarl was a Swedish earl in the east tasked with the protection of the kingdom against Russians and Ingrians. Sven Tunberg considers it likely that the earl belonged to the Sverker family and that he was King Sverker the Younger's "Finnish earl" for nine years.[http://kulturarvsdata.se/raa/dokumentation/cae0766d-149a-48bf-a27c-85aee00e9981 Siege of Sigtuna 1187, by Adolf Schück, Fornvännen 215-219]
Death according to ''Erik's Chronicle''
According to Erik's Chronicle, after being away for nine years, Jon Jarl was killed on his farm at Askanäs on Ekerö by Karelian or Russian pirates the same night that he returned from a crusade between Ingrians and Russians.
The Chronicle states:
:Thz er swa sant som jak her læss
:Jon jerl ward dræpin i askaness
Jon's wife fled across the bay to Hundhamra (i.e. Norsborg), and gathered a mob to kill the perpetrators.
They caught up and fought them off at "Eesta skär" (i.e. {{ill|Estbröte|sv|Estbröte}}, a high islet in the fairway between Ekerö and {{ill|Johannesdal|sv|Johannesdal}}, in the southwest of Stockholm).
How accurately the chronicle reproduces the actual sequence of events is unclear.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}
Tombstone
No historical evidence on the jarl exists, although he may be the "Johannes Dux" who is shown on an undated tombstone also labelled "Terror of the heathens" Linköping Cathedral.{{Cite web |title=Jon jarl - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=12185 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=sok.riksarkivet.se}}
{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| title = Earl of Sweden
| years = ?-1206
| with =
| before = Johan Sverkersson
| after = Knut Birgersson
}}
{{S-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarl, Jon}}
Category:12th-century Swedish nobility
Category:13th-century Swedish people
Category:Date of birth unknown
{{Sweden-bio-stub}}