A medieval Swedish castle ruin full of tales of siege and changing hands

Hunehals, in the east of Kungsbackafjord in Halland, is a castle ruin with a long and turbulent past. It is probable that it was built by Greve Jakob of Halland 'around 1290'. In 1312, Hunehals may have come into the possession of Hertig Erik of Sweden through a grant of the castle. In 1318, it is possible the castle was recaptured by Erik after his wife Ingeborg's inheritance, but only as the start of a long and bitter struggle. Disputes continued between the Swedish and Danish forces in 1312, and again in 1327 when Hunehals was attacked by Swedish forces led by Mats Kettilmundsson.

The castle was sieged again in 1328 before being taken by Gustaf Tunasson to Fagranäs. Despite a Swedish determination to rebuild by 1328, no such effort was made. In 1366, Kungsbacka Castle was mentioned in a letter where Archbishop Niels in Lund acknowledged that Peter Eskilsson managed two farms in 'øyø'. Kungsbacka Castle was again mentioned in 1382. It is assumed that Hunehals and Kungsbacka Castle were built on the same site.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons