Avaskär is a village, with chapel and cemetery, in Kristianopel parish in eastern

Blekinge Blekinge () is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second-smallest provin ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The city is mentioned first in 1350 and existed until 1600, when the city together with Lyckå lost its city charter in favor of the newly fortress city

Kristianopel Kristianopel () is a village in Karlskrona Municipality in the southeastern Swedish region of Blekinge. In 2015 it had a population of 88. History of the town Flint finds have been made at the site, which indicates that there have been Stone Ag ...

. During the 14th century, the Danes re-conquered Blekinge. Avaskär's history is not very well known since the King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag, Valdemar Christoffersen or Waldemar (24 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance wars under previous rul ...

(1320–137) is said to have destroyed all the documents from this period. During the Middle Ages, Avaskär was one of Denmark's smallest cities, located only six kilometers from the Swedish border. The city suffered from numerous depredations and fires during the regular Swedish-Danish wars of the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1451, King

Charles VIII of Sweden Karl Knutsson Bonde ( 1408–1470), also known as Charles VIII and called Charles I in Norwegian contexts, was King of Sweden (1448–1457, 1464–1465 and 1467–1470) and King of Norway (1449–1450). He rose in Swedish politics beca ...

(1408-1470) and King

Christian I of Denmark Christian I ''(Christiern I)'' (February 1426 – 21 May 1481) was a German noble and Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), King of Norway, Norway (1450–1481) and King of Sweden, Sweden (1457 ...

(1426–1481) met in Avaskär to resolve a conflict. Denmark and Sweden had been at war since 1449 over which country had the right to

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. No significant resolve was reached as a result of this meeting. During the Nordic Seven Years' War, the town was burned down by Swedes on 15 September 1563. The city was rebuilt, but its heyday was over. In 1598,

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

(1566–1632) arrived with his fleet to Avaskär and traveled from there to

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

to assert his right to the throne of Sweden (see

War against Sigismund The war against Sigismund () was a war between Duke Charles, later known as King Charles IX of Sweden, and Sigismund III Vasa, Sigismund, who was at the time the king of both Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611), Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Co ...

). The following year, King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

decided to found a better fortified town named Kristianopel, and the name Avaskär receded from history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avaskar Populated places in Karlskrona Municipality