In the leading Swedish television news show Rapport on June 6, 2005, Swedish sixteenth century king Gustav I Vasa was referred to as the first king of a unified Swedish kingdom. This statement is astonishing to the historian. It was made in an effort to explain why the day of his election has been made Sweden’s national day. The article gives an account of an exchange of e-mail between the author and the editorial staff of the news show. The author points out that the statement made in the show not only is incorrect, but furthermore has the effect of cutting out several centuries of Swedish history, thus making it less comprehensible. The editors of the news show persist in their opinion that Gustav Vasa was in fact the first king of Sweden, referring to informants at the National Museum of Cultural History (Nordiska museet). The fact that such a point of view can be upheld by a leading Swedish news show does seem to reflect the weakened position of medieval history within the field of historical study in Sweden, which is pointed out by Auður Magnúsdóttir in Historisk tidskrift 2005, no. 2. When academic historians withdraw from the medieval era, regarding it as less relevant for later Swedish history, the space vacated by them is occupied by ignorance and myth. This development is further accentuated by the reduced space for medieval history in the Swedish gymnasieskola (high school).