King of Sweden (c. 1105–1118) of the Stenkil dynasty, who ruled jointly with his brother Inge the Younger in the obscure last years of their house.
Philip Halstensson was king of Sweden in the early twelfth century, one of the last rulers of the Stenkil dynasty. A son of Halsten Stenkilsson and nephew of Inge the Elder, he came to the throne on his uncle's death and ruled jointly with his brother, Inge the Younger.
His reign is among the most obscure in Swedish history, poorly documented and modest in achievement, falling in the shadowy period before the great struggle between the houses of Sverker and Erik. He died around 1118, leaving his brother Inge the Younger to rule on as the last of their line.
Philip was born about 1080, a son of Halsten Stenkilsson, who had briefly been king, and a grandson of King Stenkil, founder of the dynasty. His uncle Inge the Elder was the dominant figure of the family, a long-reigning and vigorous Christian king; Philip and his brother Inge the Younger grew up as the heirs of that line.
On the death of Inge the Elder, the two brothers succeeded together to the Swedish throne.
Almost nothing survives from which to reconstruct Philip's character; he belongs to the deepest obscurity of the early Swedish monarchy, a king known little more than by name and lineage. The sparse sources record no great deeds, no wars, and no lawmaking that can be securely attributed to him.
What can be said is that he ruled, in the manner of his family, as one of a pair of royal brothers rather than as a sole king — a shared kingship that suggests a realm still loosely organised, in which authority was held collectively by a ruling kin rather than concentrated in one man. He is a figure defined almost entirely by his place in the dynasty, the elder of the last two Stenkil kings, remembered chiefly because his line was about to end.
Philip and Inge the Younger ruled Sweden together, continuing the Christian kingship their uncle and grandfather had built up against the still-strong pagan traditions of the Svear. The joint rule of brothers was characteristic of the early Swedish monarchy, in which the kingship was often shared and the realm loosely held.
Philip's part in this reign left little mark on the record. He died around 1118, after which his brother Inge the Younger continued to rule alone until the extinction of their dynasty.
Philip died around 1118 and was, by tradition, buried at Vreta Abbey, where a later monument commemorates him alongside his brother. Inge the Younger reigned on as the last king of the Stenkil line.
Philip Halstensson is remembered as one of the last, and least known, kings of the Stenkil dynasty — a figure of the obscure dawn of the Swedish monarchy. With the death of his brother Inge the Younger a few years later, their house ended, and Sweden passed into the long and violent alternation between the rival royal houses of Sverker and Erik that would dominate the following century.