Svante is the shortening for the Swedish male first name Svantepolk. It originates from Slavic ancestors of first prominent Svantes in Sweden. The Slavic languages have the name which is rendered as Sviatopolk in Russian, Swiãtopôłk in Kashubian, Świętopełk in Polish and

Svatopluk Svatopluk (in modern Czech) or Svätopluk (in modern Slovak) is a Slavic given name. It may refer to: People *Svatopluk I of Moravia (c. 840–894), prince of Great Moravia from 870/871 to 894 * Svätopluk II (died c. 906), a son of Svatopluk I, pr ...

/Svätopluk in Czech and Slovakian. Also Svjatopluk and so forth in other renditions. In the latter half of the 13th century, Svantepolk of Viby (d 1310), a lord of

high nobility Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duk ...

, settled in Sweden. His mother had been a Pomeranian lady whose first name and precise origin is not known to us, but who is indicated to have come from the ducal family of

Pomerelia Pomerelia,, la, Pomerellia, Pomerania, pl, Pomerelia (rarely used) also known as Eastern Pomerania,, csb, Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô Vistula Pomerania, prior to World War II also known as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pome ...

. Svantepolk's father was Canute, Duke of Revalia, a bastard son of king

Valdemar II of Denmark Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophia ...

with a high-born Swedish lady Helena, daughter of Earl Guttorm. The name was presumably given to Svantepolk as namesake of some maternal relative of Slavic princely dynasties. Svantepolk's brother Eric, Duke of Halland, had got a traditionally Scandinavian first name. Svantepolk became

justiciar (lagman) A lawspeaker or lawman (Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic: , Faroese: ''løgmaður'', Finnish: ''laamanni'', kl, inatsitinuk) is a unique Scandinavi ...

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English ...

and a wealthy and remarkable lord in Sweden. His wife was Benedicta, granddaughter of king Sverker II of Sweden. Svantepolk and Benedicta's daughters married lords of Swedish high nobility and became ancestresses of several Swedish noble families, bringing substantial dowries. Lord Svantepolk, with royal ancestry and rights to ducal dignity of Halland, Blekinge and Revalia, was a valued ancestor, well-remembered in his noble Swedish descendants' pedigrees and family lore. The name Svante was given to many descendants. * Svante Bosson (Sture), uncle of the regent Svante (see below) * Svante, Regent of Sweden (1460–1512), leader of the Swedish government between 1504 and 1512 * Svante Sture, Count of Stegeholm (1517–67), his grandson *

Svante Arrhenius Svante August Arrhenius ( , ; 19 February 1859 – 2 October 1927) was a Swedish scientist. Originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, Arrhenius was one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. He received the N ...

a Swedish chemist * Svante Stenbock (1578–1632) * Svante Bielke,

Lord High Chancellor of Sweden The Lord High Chancellor ( sv, Rikskansler), literally ''Chancellor of the Realm'', was a prominent and influential office in Sweden, from 1538 until 1799, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The office holder was a member of the Pri ...

1602-1609 * Svante Larsson Sparre, Governor of Uppland 1649-1652 * Svante Banér (1584–1628) * Svante Svantesson Banér (1624–74), Governor of Uppland 1652-54

See also