Växjö

Växjö lies among the lakes of Värend in southern Småland. It became a bishop's seat in the late 1160s, and its cathedral grew from a stone church dedicated to St Sigfrid and John the Baptist. The cult of Sigfrid, revered as the city's patron, was closely connected with the diocese's foundation. A hospital of the Holy Ghost was recorded in 1318, and King Magnus Eriksson granted the town its charter in 1342.

A Franciscan monastery was founded in 1485, while the cathedral school, established in the fourteenth century, became a gymnasium in 1643. During the Dacke War, Nils Dacke and his followers held Växjö from the summer of 1542 until after the New Year. Their base at nearby Kronoberg Castle stood on Lake Helgasjön. War and fire repeatedly afflicted the town, including fires in 1570, 1612 and 1658; further blazes followed in the eighteenth century.