From Gorm the Old to Svend, Knud and Valdemar
There is no doubt that the historical electoral monarchy was real. Ælnoth tells that in 1078 a kind of election campaign took place between Harald and Canute: "But when the two candidates for king, Harald and Canute, he who was soon to be named Kanutus, disputed over the right to rule, Harald, both because he was the oldest and because he seemed more meek in his behavior, was elected king by the entire people and proclaimed prince of Denmark with the wish of a long and happy life".
We must believe, that the purpose of the famous elections of kings at Isøre, as recounted by Saxo and Svend Aggesen, was for the great men of Denmark to agree on one - and only one - common candidate, who would subsequently be officially hailed at Denmark's local county tings. This should prevent Denmark from being divided into smaller kingdoms.
10. The Knytlinge Kings
The Knytlings were the original royal family of Jutland, and later all Denmark. It was mainly the Norwegians and Icelanders, who called the first Danish kings Knytlings. This seems to represent an older naming tradition that quickly fell out of use in Denmark, but was remembered in Norway and Iceland.
The Knytlings are also called the Jelling dynasty.
Timeline of Danish history based on royal families - They all descend from "Hardegon, son of a certain Sweyn", who conquered at least part of Jutland around the year 917 AD as told by Adam of Bremen in the section about Bishop Hoger.
But a division of the royal line and thus the history of Denmark into some natural groups or dynasties makes the history manageable.
Moreover, it is true. One can recognize some characteristic groups, such as the early Viking kings, which I call the Knytlings, separated from the time of Sweyn Estridsen by the reign of Magnus the Good. The civil war between Svend, Knud and Valdemar separates the period of Sweyn Estridsen and his sons from the Valdemars. The kingless time naturally separates the Valdemars from Valdemar Atterdag and the union kings. The Oldenborg royal family was introduced quite undramatically, because Christian I was a descendant of Valdemar Atterdag.
The final downfall of the union with the Stockholm Bloodbath, the fall of Christian 2., the Count's Feud and the Lutheran Reformation are a very clear dividing line in history.
The ancient electoral monarchy was abolished by a coup in 1660 and replaced by the absolute monarchy. Frederik 7. abolished the absolute monarchy in 1848 and introduced the constitutional monarchy, where the real power lies with the politicians in the legislative assembly and the royal power is ceremonial, hereditary and defined by the constitution. Drawing own work.
Adam of Bremen wrote that he had his information directly from the king, Sweyn Estridsen, who - one must believe - knew his ancestors: "The Danish king, whom we must long remember, and who remembered all the deeds of the barbarians, quite as if they were written down" - "Something the famous Danish king has told to us, when I asked him about it. After Olaph, he said, the prince of the Sveons, who ruled in Denmark together with his sons, Sigerich was put in his place. And after he had ruled for a short time, Hardegon, Suein's son came from Northmannia and robbed him of the kingdom."
A little later, Adam tells of Hardecnudt Wurm. Many historians believe that a "filius" has been omitted from Adam's text, so that it should have read "Hardecnudt filius Wurm", which means Wurm, Hardecnudt's son. Which implies that Gorm was the son of Hardeknud.
The name Hardegon is very special and cannot be found again either before or after. Adam wrote from memory, and there is the possibility that -egon is a mistake, and it should have been -cnudt, which would mean that Hardegon and Hardecnudt are probably identical. Canute the Holy called himself Canute 4. in a gift letter, which indicates that Hardecnudt son of Suein was the first
Knud.
The Knytlings royal line since "Hardegon son of Sweyn". As mentioned, it is very possible - even probable - that Hardegon and Hardecnudt are identical.
A saga tells that the Knytlings descend from Regnar Lodbrog. When Harald Bluetooth in Olav Tryggveson's Saga is confronted with Guld-Harald's demand for co-kingship, it is said: "At this demand Harald became very angry and said that no man had demanded it of King Gorm, his father, that he should become half-king in Denmark, nor of his father, Horda-Knut or of Sigurd Worm-in-Eye or of Regnar Lodbrog."
Adam reports that a few years before Bishop Unni of Bremen and Hamburg died in 936 AD in Birka, he visited Denmark: "At that time Hardecnudth Wurm ruled among the Danes. He was, I must say, a terrible worm and not a little hostile to Christian people. He planned to completely eradicate the Christianity, which existed in Denmark, expel the priests of God from his country, and he even killed many of them under torture." This indicates that King Wurm is identical with Gorm the Old.
Many believe that this Northmannia, from which Hardegon alias Hardecnudt came, must have been either Norway or Normandy in France. However, historian Erik Kroman argues that Hardegon, Svend's son, came from the Norman territories in England. He points out that the names of Hardeknud and Gorm point unambiguously to the Norman kingdoms in England.
Furthermore, the legend that the Knytlings descended from Regnar Lodbrog and the Knytlings' claim to England make it likely that "Hardegon, son of Suein" and his men were returning vikings, who came from Norman territory in England.
When "Hardegon, son of Sweyn" landed on the Cimbrian Peninsula in the year 917, there were many Gothic kingdoms there, as there had probably been since the time of Arild. There was also probably a smaller kingdom called Jutland, as mentioned in "Anskar's Life" by Rimbert. Hardegon alias Hardecnudt and his successor, Gorm, conquered them all, and the entire peninsula was called Jutland from then on.
On the small Jelling Stone it says: "kurmr kunukr karthi kubl thusi aft thurui kunu sina tanmarkar but", which in modern English reads: "Gorm king made these kumlers after Thyra the wife of his, Denmark's bod".
It was originally the historian Erik Arup who was the first to translate Thyra's byname, Danebod, "tanmarkar but", to "Denmark's ornament". It was probably inspired by Svend Aggesen, who called her Decus Datie (Denmark's ornament) or Regni Decus (The Kingdom's ornament).
However, later thorough studies of Scandinavian dialects have not been able to demonstrate that "but" or "bod" meant ornament. By all accounts, "bod" means repair, replacement, improvement or healing. The meaning is still found in expressions such as "bøde garn" (repair fishing nets) or "råde bod på" (make amends).
The viking Guthrum in The Last Kingdom.
There was a tradition for kings' sons to choose their wives from other peoples and nations. Harald Bluetooth and Sweyn Forkbeard married Slavic princesses, Canute the Great married Emma of Normandy. When Thyra was bynamed "tanmarkar but", it was probably because she came from Denmark, which according to Alfred's geography consisted of most of the Danish islands and Scania with Zealand as its center. So "Denmark's bod" may have meant "the improvement from Denmark".
The sagas do not have much good to say about the Jutland king Gorm.
In Jomsvikinge Saga he is called Gorm hinn Heimski, which means Gorm home-born. In Svend Aggesen he is Gorm Løghæ, which describes a weak and passiv ruler, who lives a dissolute life. Historiæ Norwegiæ calls him Gormo Stultissimus. Saxo does, however, attribute some initiative to him, as he is described here as a cruel persecutor of Christians, who razed churches to the ground.
Queen Thyra, bynamed "Denmark's bod", on the other hand, is portrayed as intelligent and determined. In Jomsvikinge Saga it is said that she "was the wisest woman and interpreted dreams better than men." That is why she was allowed to answer her suitors herself "thi" said her father, "she is far wiser than I am."
It is easy to see that this glorification of Thyra at the expense of Gorm was originally a political strategy, which had the purpose of making Thyra something very special to the inhabitants of the eastern Denmark, where she came from. For if she was something very unique, then her sons had to be too, and this could bring them into qustion as king candidates in the eastern kingdom of Denmark.
The small Jelling stone, front and back respectively. The original location of the stone is not known for certain. In the 17th century it was in front of the church door. It says: "kurmr kunukr karthi kubl thusi aft thurui kunu sina tanmarkar but", which in modern english reads: "Gorm king made these kumlers after Thyra hustru sin Denmarks bod". Photo Jürgen Howaldt Wikipedia.
Thyra and Gorm's sons were named Knud and Harald. It is easy to see that the eldest, Knud, was named after his father's family, and the youngest, Harald, was named after his mother's family. Knud fell during a Viking raid against Ireland or England, and therefore the younger son became king in Jelling.
Olav Tryggvarsson Saga also counters the image of Gorm as an old and lethargic king: "King Gorm penetrated with his army into the kingdom in Denmark, which was called Reidgoteland, but is now called Jutland, against the king, who then ruled there, his name was Gnupa. They had some battles together, but in the end Gorm overthrew that king and took his entire kingdom. Next, Gorm went against the king, who was called Silfraskalli and had strife and battles with him, and King Gorm was always victorious, and finally he overthrew that king, then he went further up into Jutland and so under army shield he destroyed all the kings all the way south to Sli, and he also won a large kingdom in Wendland. Gorm had many battles with the Saxons, and he became the most powerful king."
King Gorm died around 958 - 964 AD and was succeeded by his son Harald.
The Roskilde Chronicle reports that his son Harald was co-king with his father for a long period: "This Gorm was Harald's father; Harald ruled the kingdom for 15 years during his father's lifetime, and after his father's death he ruled for 50 years". This would explain Gorm's nickname, "the Old", as he would then be the older of two kings. Moreover, he grew quite old by the standards of the time.
At one point, Harald, bynamed Bluetooth, succeeded in being elected king in also the eastern kingdom of Denmark, Thyra's homeland, which the merchant Ottar called Denemearce and, as Alfred's geography says, lay "both on the mainland and on the islands". Perhaps around 970 AD.
The Jelling Construction. With financial support from the A.P. Møller Foundation, the ship setting and the course of the palisades have been marked in white concrete. The white rectangles in the far end of the area represent traces of houses. In fact, the area was quite empty, as if something more had been planned that never became realized. That is the South Mound at the bottom right and the North Mound in the middle of the picture. As mentioned, no grave was ever found in the South Mound and therefore it can be assumed that both Gorm and Thyra were buried in the North Mound side by side. Photo Aarhus Cementvarefabrik.
According to dendrochronological analyses, in 968 AD Harald or his father was still working on expanding the Jelling complex with palisades, but as we know, the whole project was almost abandoned at some point, which, we can guess, must have happened because he "won all of Denmark" and therefore shifted focus to Zealand.
In most sagas he is known as Harald Gormsen. The byname Bluetooth appears for the first time in the Roskilde Chronicle. We can believe that it is due to a tooth with a root problem, which was slightly darker than the others.
In collaboration with Håkon Jarl, he also became king of Norway. This probably also happened around 970 AD.
In his time, around 979 AD, the great building works, which are the Trelleborgs, the Jelling construction, Kovirke and Ravning bridge, were carried out. The Dannevirke was reinforced and the semicircular ramparts around Hedeby and Aarhus were built. He founded the fortress Jomsborg on the southern Baltic coast, probably at the mouth of the Oder.
It is striking that no one in the sagas felt the need to praise Harald's skill in sports, his beauty and eloquence, as was otherwise common for other kings.
However, Widukind, who was his contemporary, says of Harald Bluetooth: "He was eager to listen, but slow to speak".
In 973 AD The Danes again feared an attack from the south, and the kingdoms of Jutland and Denmark were united under Thyra's son, Harald, bynamed Bluetooth.
The big Jelling stone has three sides. The runic inscription says: "King Harald ordered these tumuli to be made after Gorm his father and Thyra his mother that Harald who won all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians". Another side shows an animal fighting snakes, and the third side shows a crucifixion without a cross, which may also be reminiscent of Odin hanging in the tree. Photo Wikimedia Commons.
By Harald's time, the emperor had already control of Hedeby and the area around the city for some time.
In "Rex Saxonum Gestae" by Widukind of Korvey from the year 970 AD. It is said that Henry I the Birdcatcher fought against the Danes in the year 934 AD and forced King "Chnuba" to be baptized.
Adam tells of this: "Thus the victorious Henry determined the borders of the kingdom at Slesvig, which is today called Hedeby, he appointed a margrave and ordered that colonists from Saxony to settle there."
Emperor Otto I the Great died in May 973 AD and was succeeded by his son Otto II. Harald Bluetooth, who had now become sole king of Denmark, must have thought that now was the chance with a new and inexperienced emperor. He easily captured Hedeby, which was an old Danish town founded by King Godfred in 808 AD.
Adam reports that the Danes themselves started the war: "It was the Danes who wanted war: they killed King Otto's envoys in Heideba along with the margrave and completely destroyed the entire Saxon colony."
But the young Emperor Otto II turned against the Danes without hesitation. The imperial forces pushed up through Jutland all the way to the Limfjord off Mors. On the island of Mors a peace was concluded, which meant that Harald took Denmark from the emperor's hand, he was himself baptized together with his queen Gunhild and his little son, who was named Svein Otto after the emperor. Harald accepted that the archdiocese of Hamburg Bremen was given the right to appoint bishops in the conquered area.
Map of trelleborgs and bishoprics, where the emperor appointed bishops. Certain, probable and possible trelleborgs are marked in red. Signs of a trelleborg have also been found in Lyby in østfold in Norway, which is not shown on this map.
Adam of Bremen wrote in connection with Emperor Otto II's victory over the Danes and Harald's baptism that a document existed which proved that Otto II had owned Denmark. He told of the emperor authorizing Bishop Adeldag to appoint bishops in Denmark in the cities of Slesvig, Ribe and Aarhus.
It is striking that in the area where Archbishop Adeldag appointed bishops, there are no trelleborgs. Perhaps Harald did not have full authority over Jutland south of the Limfjord and Himmerland for a period. Own work.
However, already in the year 982 AD Otto II suffered a disastrous defeat to invading Muslims at Cotrone in southern Italy. He prepared for a new campaign, but died in Rome at a young age in 983 AD and was succeeded by his three-year-old son Otto III. This triggered internal unrest and rebellion among the Wendish peoples east of the Elbe led by Harald's father-in-law, Mistivois. Harald is said to have sided with the Wends and probably reconquered southern Jutland including Hedeby on that occasion.
Harald and his advisors must have feared that Otto would one day return from Italy and finish the job and incorporate the rest of Denmark into the empire and Christendom. Immediately after the war, he began an extensive work to make the rest of the country an impregnable hedgehog position by building trelleborgs in the areas that he still had free control over, regardless of the economic and political costs. This probably continued until news of Emperor Otto II's death in Italy reached the Nordic countries.
Only Trelleborg, Aggersborg and Fyrkat are clear examples of Viking Age ring-shaped Trelleborg-type fortresses, but several other ring ramparts have been identified in Scandinavia from the same period, which may have been of this or a very similar type.
Aerial photo of Trelleborg near Slagelse. Photo of unknown origin.
King Harald founded Jomsborg, which was a legendary fortress described in particular in the Jomsvikinge Saga and Knytlinge Saga. No trace of the castle has ever been found, but it is widely accepted that it was located in the Oder estuary on the island of Wollin or Usedom - which is today shared between Germany and Poland.
The special thing about Jomsborg was that it was home to a standing army, the Jomsvikings, which was quite unusual for the time and probably very costly.
In an electoral kingdom, a king ruled until he died, and if you wanted to get rid of him earlier, you had to actively ensure that he died. This option was used several times by, for example, the Goths in Italy. It was precisely this solution that his son Sweyn Forkbeard and the best men of the kingdom resorted to against Harald Bluetooth.
Adam of Bremen wrote that his son Sweyn Forkbeard rebelled against his father, supported by the great men of the kingdom: "In this unfortunate war, which was worse than a civil war, Harold and his people suffered defeat. He himself fled wounded from the battlefield, boarded a ship and escaped to the Slaw city of Jumme." Almost all sources agree that Harald was wounded in the battle, and his men brought him to Jomsborg, where he died of his wounds around the year 987 AD.
Saxo gives the reason for the rebellion against Harald Bluetooth: "However, those who, together with Sweyn, were in charge of the navy, had become tired and weary of Harald's rule, partly because he was favorably disposition towards Christianity, and partly because he placed unusual burdens on common people".
The nine years from Harald's death in 987 AD until Sweyn Forkbeard married Erik the Victorious' widow, perhaps around 996 AD, were a very critical period for the Knytlinge family. All of Harald's conquests were temporarily lost.
In Jomsvikinge Saga, Harald slept with a manly peasant girl on Funen named Sy-Æsa, with the result that she became pregnant. It was a well-shaped boy who was named Sweyn. Harald rejected paternity, and Palnatoke took the boy and raised him as his own. When Sweyn, as a young man, sought out his biological father, he was repeatedly turned down.
For some years after his father's death, Sweyn stayed in England and perhaps Scotland, supposedly on Viking raids. Adam of Bremen quotes Sweyn Estridsen in saying that the Swedish king Erik the Victorious had dominion over Denmark, or at least over part of the country, during this period. He writes quite unambiguously: "Heric had, he said, two kingdoms, the Danes' and the Swedes'."
Erik the Victorious died around 995 AD. Sweyn Forkbeard had his political breakthrough, when he married his widow, Sigrid the Haughty, thereby taking over Erik the Victorious' position as the dominant king of the North.
Sweyn Forkbeard's great achievement was the realization of the Knytlings' old claim to rule over England. It was a political as well as a military achievement. He managed to reconcile internal national contradictions between the original Knytlinge Kingdom in Jutland and eastern Denmark, which the merchant Ottar had called Denemearce. He reconciled with the Jomsvikings, who had been his father's faithful supporters in the civil war. He eliminated his Scandinavian rival Olav Tryggvason in the Battle of Svold. He collaborated with the Danish magnates and united their forces for the benefit of Denmark. With his marriage to Sigrid Storråde he had become stepfather to the Swedish king Olof Skotkonung, which he exploited to create good relations and security for the domestic kingdom, so that he could freely turn his attention to England.
The tribute to Queen Emma, Encomium Emmae Reginae, tells us that Sweyn was loved by everyone except his father: "The king of the Danes, I mean Sweyn, has, according to what I have experienced by truthful reports, been almost the happiest of all the kings of his time" - "Then the power of God bestowed on him such great grace that, even while he was still a child, he was loved with the most heartfelt love by everyone; only his own father could not like him, but it was not because of any fault of the boy that made him deserve this, but only envy that disturbed the relationship. When he had reached the age of youth, he grew day by day in the love of the people; but as a result of this His father's disfavor towards him also increased more and more, to the extent that he no longer secretly but quite openly sought to have him driven away from his homeland, assuring with an oath that he would not sit on the throne after himself."
Saxo also says that Sweyn was far more popular than his father had been: "Just as great a hatred the people had for Harald, just as great a love they had for Sweyn, and while they had detested him, who introduced Christianity, they loved him who despised it." The women in particular were very fond of Sweyn, says Saxo, as they had collected ransom money in the form of gold and silver jewelry to free him from captivity three times. "He also showed himself grateful to the women" - "for he gave women the legal right of inheritance, which they had not had before."
Encomium writes that his men were ready to go through fire and water for his sake: "None of them, out of fear of death, would evade danger, but on the contrary, each, out of loyalty to him, would go alone against countless enemies without fear."
Sweyn Forkbeard vows to conquer England at the inheritance beer party for his father, Harald Blåtand. Drawing by Lorenz Frölich.
But Thitmar of Merseburg considered Sweyn a pure monster: "I have often been told that Angles, whose name derives from angelic or beautiful face, suffered indescribable sorrows from this cruel king of the Danes, Harald's son, Sveyn. This ruler made those who had previously been supporters of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and spiritual children of the holy father Gregory, pay a forced annual tax to these unclean dogs, and against their will gave them a large part of the country for their dwellings, after they had killed or taken captive many of its inhabitants."
Thorleifr Jarlsskjald Raudfeldarson's drapa about Sveyn Tjuguskegg reads:
Heid gave Heaven's Beam's
Chief of often Jutes'
king to in England
Swords red to dye.
In his youth, Sweyn had to struggle with Harald's rejection of paternity and the boring rumor, that his mother was in fact a simple peasant girl on Funen named Sy-Æsa and probably fierce resistance and constant slander from the clergy of the Hamburg-Bremen archbishopric.
Surely to refute all rumors that he was not of the Knytlinge lineage, he invited around 986 AD to the famous inheritance beer party for his father, Harald Bluetooth, on which occasion he swore that he would realize the Knytlings' old claim to rule also in England.
In Norway, the charismatic Olav Tryggvason had subdued Viken, which traditionally belonged to the Danish king. He had killed Jarl Håkon and expelled his sons Jarl Erik and Jarl Svend. Sweyn Forkbeard must have wanted to eliminate his rival, who also wanted to become the dominant king in the North, in a way that did not put him at odds with his stepson, Olaf Skotkonung in Sweden.
Sweyn then allied himself with Olaf Skotkonung and Erik Jarl with the intention of attacking the Norwegian king on his return journey from Venden to Norway around the year 1000 AD. They awaited Olaf Tryggvason's ship, Ormen Lange, behind the island of Svold.
After a fierce battle, Erik Earl and his men managed to clear Olav's famous ship, Ormen Lange. Olav Tryggvason jumped into the water in full armor, and no one has seen him since.
The Icelandic sagas say that the island Svold was located near Rügen, while Adam believes that "it happened in the waters between Scania and Zealand".
A Saga concludes the account of the battle of Svold: "The kings of Denmark and Sweden and Earl Erik divided Norway between them" - "The Danish king Svein got Viken alone, which he had had before, but he gave Earl Erik Rommerige and Hedemarken"
A mass grave found under St John's College, Oxford, possibly linked to the St Brice's Day massacre at St Frideswide's Church, Oxford. The 34 to 38 skeletons of young men aged 16 to 25 were found disrespectfully dumped in a ditch. They were more robust and taller than average, some bearing older scars indicating they were professional warriors. The skeletons have been radiocarbon dated to about the year 1002. Chemical analysis of the teeth has shown that they had consumed more marine protein than the typical local Oxfordshire population during their lives, and they also had a high proportion of shellfish in their diet. The skulls are mostly crushed or fractured. Osteo-archaeologist Ceri Falys believes that "you get cut marks on your forearms when you raise your weapons to defend yourself, but we have minimal evidence of this on these skeletons, it seems that whoever attacked them, it is likely that they were simply trying to run away." - "Some of the bones even show signs of charring, suggesting that these individuals may have been burned alive to some extent." The nature of the wounds suggests they were brutally butchered. Some skeletons show signs of having been stabbed multiple times shortly before death. Photo: Thames Valley Archaeological Services.
One of Æthelred the Unready's unwise decisions was his order to "kill all the Danes who were in England" on St. Brice's Day, November 13, 1002.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: "And in this year the king ordered all the Danes who were among the English people to be killed on St. Brice's Day, because the king was told that they planned to take his life and then all his advisors, and after that to have his kingdom."
Among those murdered were Sweyn Forkbeard's sister Gunhild and her husband Pallig.
Sweyn's revenge was not long in coming. The following year, 1003, Florence of Worcester records that he: "--broke into the city of Exeter through the folly, carelessness, and surrender of Hugh, a Norman earl, to whom Queen Emma had given command of Devonshire; and he sacked it, broke down the wall from the east to the west gate, and having taken great spoil, returned to his ships."
Henry of Huntingdon wrote of the year 1006: "In the sixth year the daring Sweyn again appeared off Sandwich with a strong fleet. He was followed by his three usual attendants, fire, slaughter, and plunder, and all England trembled before him, like the sound of a bundle of reeds shaken by the western wind."
Sweyn Forkbeard's final conquest of England was more a political than a military feat. It took less than half a year from the time his fleet arrived at Sandwich until Æthelred fled to Normandy and London surrendered. The campaign was conducted without a single major battle; only around London were there some minor battles.
Mass grave in Dorset in southern England, which possibly can be attributed to St. Brice's day. In 2009, in connection with the construction of a road at Weymouth in Dorset in southern England, the skeletons of about 50 young men between 18 and 25 years old were found. The heads and the rest of the skeletons were placed separately, which clearly indicates that they were decapitated. Cut marks on shoulders, arms and hands showed that the beheading had been rather chaotic, and some of the victims had tried to protect themselves with arms and hands. Also, there was no trace of textiles in the tomb, suggesting the victims were naked when they were executed. Radio-carbon analysis shows that the massacre took place in the period 970-1025. Analysis of the teeth shows that none of the men came from the British Isles, having eaten a larger quantity of marine protein in their lives than the local English population. The analysis has been compared with similar analysis from the mass grave in St. John's College, Oxford, by which it is rendered probable that those executed in Dorset had the same origin as those killed in Oxford. Photo Oxford Archæology.
William of Malmesbury wrote that the invasion of 1013-1014 was motivated by Sweyn's desire for revenge for the massacre of the Danes in 1002.
Sweyn took his fleet far inland to encamp at Gainsborough; it would have been a dangerous strategy to take the fleet so far into enemy territory without first inflicting a defeat on the forces that should have been brought against him. He could only have chosen this strategy because he was reasonably certain that there would be no significant resistance. This indicates that the agreements were already in place - and thus hostages delivered to him - before he sailed to the Humber Estuary and up the River Trent.
Sweyn Forkbeard's march south was a pure triumph. Everywhere the towns surrendered without a fight and hailed him as king. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that he "left the ships and hostages in the custody of his son Cnut."
The Domesday Book indicates that the most populous towns in England after London at this time were Winchester, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Thetford and Oxford. Except for London, all of these towns quickly surrendered to Sweyn. Four surrendered without further ado, and the other two under threat.
When Sweyn found London well defended, he was not tempted to lay a long siege, but instead turned west and received the surrender of the western leaders. After this he was acknowledged as king over all the country except London. London then surrendered without a fight.
King Æthelred fled from London to the Isle of Wight. Here he celebrated Christmas, after which he sailed to Normandy, where he received protection from his brother-in-law Duke Richard II.
Sweyn Forkbeard then returned to his ships in Gainsborough.
The shaded area indicates the areas that had shed their allegiance to Æthelred and recognized Sweyn as king in August year 1013 - just one month after Sweyn had landed. The dashed line is the Watling Street, which traditionally defines Danelaw from the Saxon area in Southern England. The young Canute were handed over responsibility for the region, while his father continued the campaign against the south. Much indicates, that everything was agreed in advance. Map from "Sweyn Forkbeards Invasions and the Danish Conquest of England 991-1017" by Ian Howard.
Sweyn Forkbeard died on 3 february 1014 in Gainsborough at the age of 51. The long saga of Olav Tryggvason tells that King Sweyn died suddenly at night in his bed: "King Sweyn died suddenly at the night in his bed, and that is the Englishmen's legend that King Edmund the Holy has killed him in the same way as Merkurius Rise killed the evil Julian"
The English myths tell that he was killed in his sleep by the holy St. Edmund, who in his time was martyred by Regnar Lodbrog's son Iver Boneless. William of Malmesbury writes about this: "so the saint struck him with a pole and killed him. Because he had been struck in his sleep, a long delay intervened before the author and manner of his death was revealed to those standing outside. The guardians of his chamber to their amazement had indeed heard a conversation between people arguing and the sound of a blow."
The Encomium Emmae tells that Sweyn's body was brought to Denmark by a certain English lady and was buried in a Trinity monastery in Denmark: "In the meantime a certain English matron had a ship prepared for her and taking the body of Sweyn, who had been buried in her country and having embalmed it and covered it with palls, she went to the sea and making a successful voyage, arrived at the ports of the Danes Sending a messenger to the two brothers, she indicated that the body of their father was there, in order that they may hasten to receive it and place it in the tomb, which he had prepared for himself. They came gladly and received the body with honour and with yet more honour placed it in the monastery, which the same king had built in honour of the Holy Trinity, in the sepulchre, which he had prepared for himself."
Sweyn Forkbeard's grave is not known, but some believe that he was buried in an early Trinity church in Slesvig, because he felt a special connection to this city. His name is mentioned on several runestones around the city. Perhaps he led the reconquest of the city around 985 AD as a young man.
Canute the Great is one of Denmark's most famous kings. He was a younger son of the king and not destined to become king. Very early on, he was confronted with the cruel reality, as many of his father's English allies turned turned against him, and he lost an entire army in England, which shaped his personality.
He achieved to become king of both England, Denmark and Norway. In some sagas, he is called Canute the Mighty, probably because one of his great virtues was, that he had the courage and will to exercise power, which is a very important characteristic for a great leader. Throughout his life, he demonstrated an uncompromising commitment to the cause of the Knytlings.
In connection with Æthelred's counter-offensive after King Sweyn's sudden death in february 1014, Canute and his English allies were completely taken by surprise by Æthelred's very rapid and determined advance directed precisely against the Danes' ships in Gainsborough. However, Canute managed to save the ships by gathering emergency crews, who rowed them out to sea and on to Denmark. But they returned to Denmark almost empty, Canute had lost an entire army, and many Danish families had lost their sons.
The entire large Danish army of Sweyn Forkbeard, who probably guarded important towns and bridges scattered across England, was left to fight for themselves without leadership, which they did until late in the summer. Äthelreth's eldest son fell in the fighting. Also the people of Lindsey near Gainsborough and his other supporters and allies in the Danelaw were left to their own fate and Æthelred's will by his flight.
The weight of the English counter-offensive consisted of mercenary troops, led by such famous generals as the Jomsviking Thorkel Høje and the Norwegian Olav Digre, the latter later to be known as Olav the Holy.
In late 1014 and early 1015, Canute was still king, but only a sort of sea king over the remnants of his father's defeated army. It was his older brother Harald, who was king of Denmark. Canute had no realistic possibility of gathering new forces that could match Æthelred's professional corps.
After the victory over the Danish army, Thorkel Høje's men, probably the Jomsvikings, were garrisoned in England in Æthelred's pay in various cities.
But the English had not forgotten their previous ruthless plundering and their murder of Archbishop Ælfheah in 1012. In the middle of the night they surprised many of Thorkel's men and massacred them, including Thorkel Høje's brother, Hemmimg.
This led to an unexpected event that gave Canute new opportunities.
Thorkil Høje came to Denmark full of icy determination to avenge his brother and so many of his men, who had fallen because of the cunning treachery of the English. He made peace with Canute and King Harald.
Then Thorkil, Harald and Canute recruited men from all over Scandinavia. Many were willing to serve under Canute and the widely renowned general, Thorkild the Tall. Far up in Sweden there are runestones that tell us that here men, who received Dane geld from Canute, are buried.
Erik Jarl from Norway joined them with a large fleet. He became one of Canute's most trusted men in England.
Barely two years after Canute had to flee Gainsborough on half-empty ships, he went ashore in England again. Unlike his father, he went directly towards Æthelred's homeland of Wessex in southern England. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle says: "King Canute came to Sandwich and then sailed immediately around Kent into Wessex until he came to the mouth of the Frome and then ravaged Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset".
Map of important battles in Canute's Conquest of England. Own work.
Edmund Ironside decided once more to ally himself with his father. He returned to London to King Æthelred, where they prepared for a siege. However, on 23 April 2016 King Æthelred died before Canute arrived.
The decisive battle between Æthelred's son Edmund Ironside and Canute took place in october 1016 at Ashingdon, southeast of Chelmsford in Essex. It is said that the battle was decided in the Danes' favour, when Eadric of Mercia fled, breaking up Edmund's line of battle.
Canute laid siege to London, but all of Æthelred's sons managed to escape. Thitmar of Merseburg says that London was now under the command of Queen Emma.
Emma feared for the lives of her sons, if Edmund Ironside became king and therefore she chose to surrender London to the Danes.
Following the advice of his men, the young Canute married the widowed Queen Emma in 1017, despite the fact that he was already married to the same age Ælfgifu, who was the daughter of ealdorman Ælfhelm of Deira, who was one of King Sweyn's most important allies.
His new marriage did not mean that he abandoned his connection to Ælfgifu, but it simply no longer had political significance. He seemed to have developed a lasting emotional bond with Ælfgifu.
Sigvat Skjald's poem about Ælfgifu and Canute:
"Ælfgifu's time
long the young man will remember,
when they at home ate the food of the ox,
and like the goats ate rind".
But the marriage to Emma was not without joy.
The Encomium Emmae tells us that the newlyweds learned to appreciate each other's company in bed: "For the king rejoiced that he had unexpectedly won the marriage bed of such a noble bride; and her joy was kindled partly by the highly excellent manhood of her husband, and partly also by the happy hope of future offspring."
Not many accounts have been handed down from England itself about Canute's reign - which we must believe indicates that he was a competent and authoritative ruler, who did not let small problems grow into big ones. He confirmed Edgar's laws.
Thitmar relates that in 1018: "King Sweyn's son, now also King of the Angles - praise be to God - killed the crew of thirty ships of pirates and thus he, who had previously been an invading enemy with his father, and a true destroyer of the country, now became its sole defender."
The viking raids and civil wars were over. Not since the time of King Edgar had the English enjoyed such peace and security. But English pride had received a wound, which refused to heal for many years afterwards. We must believe that many Englishmen cherished a deep and heartfelt hatred for the new Danish rulers.
Canute built chapels on the places, where he had fought bloody battles with the English. He founded a monastery in honour of St. Edmund, who had been cruelly killed by the sons of Regnar Lodbrog. In 1023 he had the earthly remains of Archbishop Ælfheah of Canterbury, whom Thorkil Høje's men had killed under torture, brought to Canterbury with great solemnity.
Canute vainly orders the sea not to make his feet wet. Victorian drawing, probably drawn by Raphael Tuck.
Henry of Huntingdon is the earliest source for a popular tale: "When he was at the height of his power he ordered a chair to be placed before him on the shore, as the tide was coming in, and thus seated he shouted out to the flowing sea, "You are as subject to my command as the ground on which I sit is mine; and none has ever resisted my commands with impunity. I command you, therefore, not to flow over my land, nor to begin to wet your Lord's feet and robe." The tide, however, continued to rise as usual, and lapped over his feet and legs without regard to his royal person. The king jumped up and said: "Let all know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, except he whom heaven, earth, and sea obey with eternal laws." Canute also became king of Denmark on the death of his brother Harald in 1018. He was king of Denmark for 17 years. But he was very rarely in the country. During the first decade of his rule in England, he was, as far as we know, only away from England twice, and both times in the winter months, when the risk of a successful uprising was least. Both the Norwegian king Olaf the Saint and the Swedish king Anund showed interest in the abandoned Danish kingdom.
Norway was even more neglected and abandoned by the royal power. Already in 1018, Erik Jarl's son, the young Håkon Jarl, was driven out by Olav - later bynamed "the Holy" - who then held power in Norway for the next 10 years.
Canute made Jarl Ulffoster father to Hardeknud, his minor son by Emma, and sent them both to Denmark so that Jarl Ulf could rule the country on his behalf.
As mentioned, Canute was very rarely in Denmark. The most significant events in Denmark during his reign took place in 1026, when Olav the Holy and the Swedish king Anund Jakob jointly attacked Denmark. The war culminated in the naval battle of Helgeå in Blekinge, but Saxo also tells of battles on land. It was in connection with this war, that Blekinge became part of Denmark.
The Saga of St. Olav tells that "But when they were playing chess, King Knut and Earl Ulf, the king made a big mistake; then the earl knocked a knight away from him. The king moved his piece back and said that he should play again; the earl became angry and threw the chessboard down, stood up and walked away. Then the king said: "Run now, you fearful Ulf!" The earl turned at the door and said: "You would have run further in the Helgeån, if you could. Then you did not call Ulf "the fearful one" when I came to help you, when the Swedes were beating you like dogs." According to the saga, King Canute had Jarl Ulf killed the next morning.
One might think that Canute was dissatisfied that Ulf had not confronted Olav the Holy earlier, while he was ravaging Zealand and Scania together with King Anund of Sweden. Olav summoned the peasants to a meeting and presented himself as a possible king in eastern Denmark, and the peasants listened to him patiently. Ulf had difficulty mobilizing and withdrew to the Knytlings heartland, Jutland, and awaited Canute's arrival. Canute also blamed Jarl Håkon for not being aggressive enough against Olav. Drawing by M. Meredith Williams - Illustration from The Northmen in Britain by Eleanor Means Hull from 1913.
Ulf Jarl found it difficult to rule Denmark without a king. In the Saga of Olav the Holy, Ulf says: "I and many other men and chieftains of this country have often complained to King Canute that they find it very difficult to sit in this country without a king, while the previous Danish kings thought they had enough to do with having kingship over the Danish kingdom alone; but in the past many kings ruled over this kingdom. However, it is now becoming much more difficult than it has been before, for we have hitherto managed to sit in peace from foreign chieftains; but now we ask that the king of Norway is thinking of wreaking havoc against us, and it is suspected that the king of Sweden will also prepare for that action. But King Canute is now in England."
Jarl Ulf arranged for the now eight-year-old Hardeknud to be hastily celebrated as king of Denmark.
When Canute came to Denmark, he became very angry, when he heard that the young Hardeknud had been proclaimed king of Denmark, but he postponed the matter until after the battle against Olav and Anund.
After the Battle of Helgeå, Canute had Ulf Jarl killed, either in the church in Roskilde, as Olav the Holy's Saga describes, or at a feast in the same city as Saxo describes it.
Canute appointed Svend, his minor son by Ælfgifu, as king of Norway in 1030, but his mother made most of the decisions. However, the Norwegians regretted that they had killed Olav the Holy in the Battle of Stiklestad and brought Olav's 10-year-old son, Magnus, home from Novgorod and made him king, with the result that Ælfgifu and her son had to flee the country in 1035.
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle for the year 1035 writes: "This year died king Canute; and Harold, his son, succeeded to the kingdom. He departed at Shaftesbury, on the 2. before the Ides of November; and they bore him thence to Winchester, and there they buried him." - "in the old minster. He was the king of all England very close to twenty winters." Ides denotes the middle of the month, so he may have died on November 13, 1035.
Harthacnut was the chosen prince, the hope of the Knytlinges family. He was the only son of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy. He became king of Denmark after his father in 1035, while the English preferred his half-brother, Harald Harefoot. Only after Harald's death did Hardacnut come to England and take over the kingship there. But only for a short time, as he died suddenly at a very young age.
When he was about seven years old, he had been sent to Denmark by his parents together with his foster father, Ulf Jarl, who was to rule the country on Canute's behalf.
Portrait of Hardeknud. This is an artistic representation. No detailed description of what he looked like has been preserved. However, his father, Canute the Great, "was fair-skinned", so Hardeknud may have been so too. Canute was also described as "large in stature", which his son may have been as well. Two figures in a drawing in the Encomium Emmæ Reginae depict Hardeknud and his half-brother Edward. One of them appears to have fair, curly hair and beard, so we can assume it is Hardeknud, as Edward the Confessor is nowhere shown with fair, curly hair. Furthermore, on the Bayeux Tapestry, Edward is shown with smooth, dark hair and a beard. Photo pictify.
Ulf Jarl was liked by everyone as a cheerful and outgoing man. He was brave and determined. The little Hardeknud must have admired him as a father figure and wanted to be like him.
But when Hardeknud was about eight years old, King Canute had Ulf Jarl killed in Roskilde for reasons that are not entirely clear. But probably because Ulf had the little Hardeknud proclaimed king of the Danish lands - to solve problems of discontent that had arisen due to King Canute's constant and long absence from Denmark.
It must have been quite traumatic for an 8-year-old boy to witness a man whom he admired and looked up to being killed by his father.
When Hardeknud became king of Denmark in 1035 upon his father's death, he was challenged by Olav the Saint's son, Magnus the Good, who claimed Denmark.
The English nobles appointed Hardeknud king of England after Ælfgifu's eldest son, Harald Harefoot died in 1040.
When Hardeknud had become king of England, he invited his half-brother, Edward, who was in exile in Normandy, to return to England and made him co-king. Edward was Emma's son by Æthelred the Unready. This was to prove a fatal decision for the Knytlings, for Hardeknud died shortly afterwards, and Edward then automatically became sole king with the byname The Confessor.
This was a completely opposite policy to that followed by his father, Canute the Great. He had uncompromisingly and mercilessly persecuted and, if possible, exterminated all princes of Æthelred's lineage. However, he was naturally inhibited by the fact that Alfred and Edward were sons of Emma.
Because of this invitation, the Knytlings lost the England they had fought so hard to win, and Hardeknud became the last Danish king in the country.
Harthacnut's reign did not last long. Already in 1042, at the age of 24, he died suddenly while attending a wedding near London - literally with the beaker in his hand.
At this time, Magnus the Good had long held power in Denmark.
Magnus was the son of Olav the Holy by one of his maids. At birth, Sigvat Skjald gave him the name Magnus after the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, in Latin Carolus Magnus.
The Danish kingdom had been neglected due to Canute's constant absence.
The Danes loved Magnus. He was young, brave and generous and the son of a saint. In the Battle of Lyrskov Heath in 1043 against the Wends, he showed his will to defend the country, and thereby won the love of the people, especially the Jutlanders. Saxo reports that "he turned his weapons against the foreign enemy instead of against the domestic one, and thought no longer of himself, but only of the common good".
The English monk Ælnoth arrived in Odense only 50 years later and at that time the memory of the civil war between Magnus and Sweyn Estridsen was still alive. He wrote: "After many hostile incursions and bloody clashes between Magnus, the leader of the Northerners and the Westerners, and Sweyn, bynamed Magnus, the leader of the Easterners and the Southerners."
Sweyn Estridsen won the civil war. But Saxo Grammaticus, who lived 150 years later, could still write of the "contempt they had for the new king," and "the love with which they embraced his predecessor."
Magister Øystein Ekroll indicates the place, where he believes Magnus the Good rests under the floor of Nidaros Cathedral, apparently the only preserved Norwegian royal tomb from the Middle Ages. øystein Ekroll is the first amanuensis at Nidaros Cathedral's restoration work, which he has worked on since 1992. He has done a great deal of work to find the burial places of the Norwegian medieval kings. Photo Aftenposten.
Harald Hardråde's Saga tells of Magnus that: "He was a man of medium height, with regular and fair features, blond hair, eloquent and wise, haughty and very generous, a good warrior and very brave with arms and victorious; he was the friendliest of all kings, so that both friends and enemies praised him."
Adam of Bremen was a contemporary, and he had personally spoken with Sweyn Estridsen, who must have known how Magnus died. But Adam simply writes: "Magnus ruled at that time over both kingdoms, both the Danes and the Norwegians; Jacob still ruled in Sweden. With support from him and Tuf Jarl, Sweyn expelled Magnus from Denmark. Magnus renewed the war, but died on board the ships." Adam gives no details.
11. Sweyn Estridsen and his sons
Sweyn Estridsen is one of Denmark's great kings. In the chaotic time after the death of Canute the Great and all his sons - during the time when Christianity was really gaining ground - he united Denmark through long and grueling battles against Magnus the Good and Harald Hardrada.
Sweyn Estridsen was succeeded by five of his sons in order of age, one after the other. Erik Emune and Erik Lam were not strictly speaking sons of Svend. But Erik Emune was the son of Erik Ejegod, and Erik Lam was the son of Ragnhild, who was a daughter of Erik Ejegod. Own work.
He was the son of Ulf Jarl and Canute the Great's sister, Estrid, and thus Canute's nephew. In Danish sources he bears the name of his royal mother, while the Icelanders call him Svend Ulfssøn after his father. Some say he took his mother's name because she was the most distinguished, others say he avoided his father's name because Canute had him killed as a traitor.
Sweyn ruled Denmark for 29 years from 1047 until his death in 1076. Everything indicates that he eventually became a beloved and respected king. Perhaps he was particularly popular with the women, as he had a very large number of children with many different mistresses. Five of his sons became kings after him, one after the other, which testifies to the respect and love that the Danes felt for him.
He sought to become king of England after the death of his cousin, Hardeknud, which failed - due to opposition from Godwin Earl, and because Hardeknud, while still alive, had elevated Edward the Confessor to royal dignity as co-king.
Detail on altarpiece from Tamdrup Church near Horsens from around 1040 exhibited at the National Museum. An adoring figure on Jesus' left side is believed to represent Sweyn Estridsen. Photo Kim Bach Wikipedia..
Sweyn was a friendly, intelligent and knowledgeable man, who never missed an opportunity to hear news from travelers.
Adam of Bremen says: "During the Archbishop's last lifetime I came to Bremen; there I heard talk of this king's wisdom, and soon I made up my mind to travel to him. I was, like all his guests, received very graciously".
Magnus the Good's Saga says something similar: "Sweyn Ulvsøn was the most beautiful man; he was very big and strong, a great athlete and very wise; it was the saying of all men, who knew him that he had all the qualities that adorn a good chieftain."
When Sweyn Estridsen's grave in Roskilde Cathedral was opened in 1911, anatomical studies showed that he was a tall and powerfully built man, who was between 50 and 70 years old when he died. He had a large, long-skulled head. The canine tooth in the left lower mouth is unusually large and at the same time strongly protruding, almost like a fang. The right hip and thigh bone showed that the king was lame, perhaps after a blow or cut. According to modern methods, his height was estimated to have been 173-176 cm.
Although Sweyn lost most of his battles - but won the wars - he was personally brave. Harald Harderade's Saga reports that Sweyn and Harald met in the battle in Lofofjord (which is said to be also called Lagefjord) is probably a place in southern Halland: "King Sweyn did not flee until his ship was completely cleared".
Men, who desire the love of women more than others, have a good appetite for life, and this often also includes an appetite for food. This is precisely, what Adam blames Sweyn for: "The Danish King, who often came to him, when he stayed at Ejder, and who then carefully memorized and faithfully preserved in his memory everything that the archbishop brought out for him from the holy scriptures, with the exception of what concerned the palate and love of women. These, the sins of his countrymen, the king could not be persuaded to let go of."
All of Sweyn Estridsen's known sons, including those, who did not become kings. In various sources - Adam of Bremen (A), Saxo (S), Knytlinge Saga (K), Albert of Aachen (Al) - a total of 17 sons of Sweyn are mentioned. This is probably inaccurate, but there is no doubt that there were many. These sons are just those who grew up and left an imprint on history. In those days there must also have been more meek types, who were not suitable as leaders, and many who died in childhood.
Contemporaries must have remembered Canute the Great, who had three promising sons, who all died young. This could be countered if the king had many children - preferably sons - with several women. Own work.
Adam did not believe that this was a true Christian life, but Sweyn could not help it - he believed - for such an unusual desire for women's love came from genetically determined inclinations: "The excellent Danish king suffered from no other fault than an immense inclination for women. I do not think that the fault lay with himself, but had its root in his people."
William of Malmesbury tells that Sweyn was originally king of Denmark, lost two battles and yet won the war: "A Sweyn, undoubtedly of the most exalted character, was then made king of the Danes. When his reign had flourished for several years, Magnus, king of the Norwegians, with the consent of some of the Danes - expelled him by force and subjected the country to his will. Sweyn, thus expelled, went to the king of Sweden and with his help gathered Swedes, Vandals and Goths, he returned to regain the kingdom: But because of of the Danish efforts connected with Magnus's reign he experienced a repetition of his former misfortune. This Avas(?) a great and memorable battle between the barbarian peoples: on no other occasion have the Danes experienced more difficult conflicts or happier success." - "And then Sweyn also fled, but soon after, on Magnus's death, he received his kingdom in its entirety."
We - with the historian J.G.F Ræder - can believe that Sweyn initially took charge of the government of Denmark. After he had learned of Hardeknud's death, he went to England as quickly as possible - to claim the kingship there, since he was a nephew of Canute the Great and thus at least as relevant a royal subject as Edward.
Sweyn Estridsen and Harald Hardrada ravage Zealand. Drawing by Wilhelm Wetlesen Wikipedia.
By the time of Sweyn's arrival in England in 1043, however, Edward had already been crowned king of all England on 3. April. Hardeknud had already elevated him to the royal dignity as co-king, when he was alive, and he was also supported by the powerful Earl Godwin. According to Adam, Sweyn had to make do with a promise that he would be considered for the throne of England upon Edward's death, even if he left sons.
In the Life of Edward the Confessor, which was written down more than twenty years later, it is said that the king of the Danes came to King Edward with a number of advisors and accepted him as their overlord. This agreement was confirmed by oaths and the exchange of hostages.
What they agreed upon is not known in detail, but when Sweyn a few years later asked for help against Magnus, the agreement proved worthless.
Florence of Worcester records for the year 1047: "Sweyn king of Denmark sent ambassadors to Edward, king of England, requesting that he would send a fleet to join him against Magnus, king of Norway. Then Earl Godwin advised the king to send at least fifty ships, full of soldiers, but when Earl Leofric and all the people protested against his proposal, he refused to send them."
Furthermore, when Edward the Confessor later in 1066 did indeed die - even without sons - Sweyn was not considered as his successor. Earl Godwin's son, Harold, was hastily crowned as King of England - which angered Duke William of Normandy.
However, when Sweyn returned from England to Denmark in 1043, he found that the saint-king's son, Magnus, had seized power throughout the country, followed by a jubilant crowd of newly converted Danes.
Magnus the Good's Saga confirms that Sweyn immediately afterwards traveled to Sweden without attempting resistance to Magnus: "But when Sweyn received news of his expedition, he did not trust his fighting forces, but went away from the country up to Sweden to his kinsman, the Swedish king nund."
Harald Hårderåde's Saga tells that Sweyn and Harald Hardrade met in Sigtuna and formed an alliance: "There Harald met Sweyn Ulfssøn," - "at their meeting they embraced each other in a friendly way." - "Sweyn and Harald entered into a noble alliance with each other." - "Thereupon Harald and Sweyn procured ships, and soon a great army was gathered for them, and when all this army was ready, they sailed down to Denmark." Which must be the army of "Swedes, Vandals and Goths" that William of Malmesbury mentions.
The expedition that now followed in the spring of 1046 was a complete plundering expedition, Zealand and Funen were terribly devastated with fire and sword, it is especially reported that Roskilde was burned down. The historian J.G.F. Ræder suggests that it was Harald in particular, who was responsible for all this destruction, as he was accustomed to such methods from his time as leader of the Væring Guard in its battles against Muslims and Bulgarians. It was at this time that the citizens of Roskilde sank in the fjord five ships as a blockade.
It has been suggested that it was on this occasion that Harald Hardrada was disqualified as a future Danish king. Sweyn, on the other hand, had his supporters in these very regions and could not afford such brutal behavior.
According to the Norwegian Tjodrek Munk, they succeeded on that occasion in subduing most of Denmark.
But then Magnus managed to persuade his uncle to side with him. Magnus accepted Harald as Norwegian co-king in exchange for half of the treasures that Harald had brought from Constantinople. Now it was Sweyn's turn to have problems.
Sweyn sent messengers to England and Edward the Confessor for help, but did not receive it.
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 1047 writes: " - and Magnus won Denmark". And for the year 1048 the same source says: "And Sweyn also sent hither and asked for help against Magnus, King of Norway; That fifty ships should be sent to his aid. But this did not seem advisable to all men: and it was so prevented by Magnus having a great naval force. And he drove out Sweyn and won the country with many killings. And the Danes paid him much money and acknowledged him as king. And in the same year Magnus died."
Magnus' messenger meets Sweyn Estridsen at the border with Sweden and tells him that Magnus is dead and on his deathbed pointed to him as king of Denmark. Sweyn then exclaimed: "Now so help me God, that I shall never again in my days turn my back on Denmark." Drawing by Wilhelm Wetlesen in the Heimskringla National Edition.
Luck smiled on Sweyn in the end. Magnus died on his ship, as is told above about Magnus the Good. The people of Trøndelag gave up fighting and sailed home with Magnus' body. We must believe that Harald also immediately sailed home to Norway to secure his rule after Magnus' death. This is also what Florence of Worcester writes for the year 1048: "Sweyn regained Denmark and Harold Harfager, son of Siward, king of Norway and brother of St. Olaf on his mother's side and paternal uncle of King Magnus, returned to Norway."
In 1069 - three years after William the Conqueror's victory at Hastings - Sweyn sent his brother Earl Asbjørn, Earl Thorkild and his sons Harald and Knud to England to help the English drive out the Normans, Florence of Worcester tells us:
They"arrived from Denmark with two hundred and forty ships and landed at the mouth of the Humber River, where they were met by Edgar Etheling, Earl Waltheof, Marlesweyn and many others with a fleet which they had collected" - "The Normans, who manned the forts, set fire to the adjoining houses, fearing that they could be used by the Danes to fill the moats, and the spreading flames destroyed the whole city together with St. Peter's Monastery. But they were immediately punished for this by divine retribution; for on the Monday the Danish fleet arrived before the city was completely burned down, and the forts were stormed the same day and they killed more than three thousand of the Normans (the life of William Malet and his wife and two children with very few others being spared). The ships set off laden with plunder."
Some historians believe that the reason the Danish force did not confront the Normans seriously was that the English rebels had been defeated even before they arrived.
The following year Sweyn himself was on his way to England. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle for the year 1070 tells us that in this year William ordered the wealth of all the English monasteries to be brought to his treasury. But King Sweyn personally led a decisive expedition to England to forestall William and save the treasures of the English Church from the Norman conquerors.
King Sweyn Estridsen died of illness at the royal estate in Søderup west of åbenrå in 1076 at the age of about 58.
He was succeeded as king of Denmark by his eldest son Harald Hen who reigned until 1080. The royal house's website states that he was his father's co-king already two years before his death.
Ælnoth says that Sweyn Estridsen had plans for each of his sons: "Some of them he put to the study of divine science, others he handed over to noblemen, so that they could be educated each in his own place." He put Harald and Canute at the head of fleets, which he sent to England. A son named Magnus, he sent to Rome so that he could be anointed as king there; but, as Adam tells it, he died on the way.
The Isefjord where the leading fleet gathered for the election of king at Isøre in 1074 - probably off Rørvig (marked with a red dot). Harald was elected in competition with his younger brother Knud, that Knud who later received the byname "the Holy". From Google Map.
King Sweyn must certainly have been aware of the danger, that his many ambitious and gifted sons could pose to the peace of the kingdom after his death.
William of Malmesbury writes: "Sweyn, when he was near the end of his life, bound all the inhabitants with an oath that since he had fourteen sons, they should give the kingdom to each of them in succession, as long as the problem persisted. At his death his son Harold succeeded him for three years.". Wilhelm does not elaborate on the order, but the historian Ræder believes that it was by age.
Robert of Elgin further tightened the conditions. He added that whoever acted against the adopted law "should be punished with eternal damnation, and the sons had to confirm the law with a sacred oath."
The role of the Danish king in the ancient electoral monarchy is reminiscent of the role of the American president in the United States. However, the Danish kings were elected for life. As the USA is divided into states, Denmark consisted of original "lands", originally each with their own tings and their own laws. The king traveled around and judged on tings in difficult cases. Like modern American presidential candidates, the king candidates competed fiercely with each other.
We can believe that the famous royal election at Isøre - as Saxo and Svend Aggesen tell about - took place while Sweyn was still alive and had the purpose of appointing a co-king from among his sons, who would later become sole king after Sweyn's expected death, just as Sweyn had seen it happen in England between Hardeknud and Edward the Confessor in his youth. The chosen one was probably then legally acclaimed at all the the tings of the lands. The unusual procedure was to ensure continuity, peace and the unity of the country by having the same king elected throughout the country.
According to Ælnoth, a kind of election campaign took place between Harald and Canute: "But when the two candidates for king, Harald and Canute, who would soon be named Kanutus, disputed over the right to rule, Harald, both because he was the oldest and because he was considered more meek in his behavior, was elected king by the entire people and proclaimed prince of Denmark with the wish for a long and happy life.".
The chieftains of Denmark chose Harald over Canute because they did not like overly confident and activist kings, whom they feared would introduce a multitude of new and costly laws, regulations and large projects - which was also what Canute did when he later became king.
Harald Hen won the country's chieftains over to him because he promised to comply with "Harald's Laws". We note that Ælnoth does not directly write that this Harald gave the laws, but only that he confirmed them: "After Harald had come into possession of the ancestral power, he made it his duty to greatly accommodate the wishes of the people and not only to select for them the laws and legal regulations that they could wish for, but also with his royal authority to establish those he had selected for the observance of his descendants. Therefore, the Danes have to this day, whenever they have chosen or wanted to choose a king, made a demand of him that he should observe the laws that Harald had confirmed, and they still praise and extol him as the father of peace and public freedom because of the laws he granted them."
The English chronicler, Radulfus Niger, who was quite well informed about Danish affairs, reports as follows: "After Sweyn, Harald became king in Denmark; he confirmed law and right rule, as a "other Harald had determined."
Drawing of a medieval Thing by Olaus Magnus from 1531. The members of the Ting, the so-called stokkemen, sit on a stok, which is a wooden plank, and listen to the explanations of those present. This is, as far as is known, the only contemporary depiction of a Nordic Ting. Olaus Magnus was a Catholic archbishop in Östergötland in Sweden, who was also an ethnologist and cartographer. After the Reformation, he fled first to Danzig and later to Venice and Rome. During his exile, he wrote the highly imaginative work "Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus" about the history of the Nordic peoples.
We must believe that the second Harald, to whom Radulfus refers, must have been Sweyn Forkbeard's eldest son, Harald Svendsøn, as a third Harald - bynamed Bluetooth - was deposed by a rebellion.
Throughout his reign, Harald Hen had to defend his position against his many talented and ambitious brothers. Like his contemporary, the Norwegian king, Olaf Kyrre, whose byname means the peaceful one, he was a peace-loving king, who did not wage major wars against other peoples.
Svend Aggesen explains Harald's nickname, Hen, as his "softness of will". It is assumed that Hen means a soft stone, a grindstone. Knytlinge Saga reports that his brother and successor Canute the Holy, in connection with his attempt to be elected as a king at the Viborg Ting, said: "You Danish rewarded my brother Harald for the leniency and gentleness he showed you, by calling him Harald Hen, and giving him that name to mock him; but now I shall reward you for the fact that you so badly repaid his kindness, for I shall now be to you a boulder that is hard to the core."
King Harald Hen diedon 17 April 1080 and was buried in Dalby Church in Scania.
There is very little information about how Knud became king. Only Saxo writes "When he(Harald Hen) had died, Canute was called back(from the Viking expedition in the Baltics) and ascended the throne with the consent of his brothers".
Canute the Holy in the coat of arms of the city of Odense. He is standing over a lily - and a lily can also be seen on the banner he holds in his right hand. The lily has been a characteristic of Odense since the Middle Ages. It is said to have been used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and the Trinity. When you look at the symbol - three leaves linked together to form a whole - it seems most likely that it represents the Trinity. You should also consider the historical circumstances under which the symbol originated, namely among the Franks in battle against other migratory peoples. The Franks were Catholics and believed in the Trinity, while the Goths and Burgundians were Arian Christians and believed that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were separate entities, and the Father stood above the Son, which supports that the lily symbolizes the Trinity. This fits with the fact that Odense in the Middle Ages was a religious city - originally the center for the worship of Odin. Five orders of monks and nuns had their monasteries in the city, and it still contains four medieval churches. Own photo.
Supported by some of his numerous brothers, he may well simply have seized power with the military means at his disposal from his Viking expedition, claiming that he wanted to restore the decayed administration of justice and respect for the clergy, justified by his own fervent Christian faith.
Saxo wrote only a hundred years later: "When he noticed that the force of the old laws had been weakened and destroyed as a result of the arrogance of the great men, he tried with all his might to reintroduce the old discipline, issued the strictest orders that the laws should be carefully watched over, and restored the decayed and destroyed administration of justice to its former customs and order."
We can probably assume that "the old discipline" deviates from "Harald's laws".
Since he mentions that he did all this despite "the arrogance of the great men", it is implied that he was in opposition to these great men, who, after all, arranged the election of Harald Hen ved Isøre.
In addition to military strength, Canute based much of his power on the clergy - as Saxo wrote: "He brought religion back into honor and respect and showed great vigilance to the clergy. When he saw that the coarse and unenlightened common people did not have the proper reverence for the bishops, and he did not want those who held such a high dignity to be considered equal to laymen, he was so thoughtful as to issue a regulation that gave them a place among the chieftains, and he even gave them the first place among the great men of the kingdom, as if they were princes, so that the honor that fell to them could correspond to their dignity."
Overall, there is much in his governance that is reminiscent of a fundamentalist theocracy.
Everything tells us that Canute had many royal personality traits. He was intelligent, determined, brave, eloquent and skilled in arms, and he did not hesitate with great plans. But it is difficult to deny that all this was thwarted by a contempt for the people he was appointed to rule. He cared little or nothing for inherited law and custom, as Ælnoth is honest enough to tell us.
When it came to women and the temptations of the table, Knud was completely different from his father, Sweyn Estridsen, who had a great weakness for these things.
Ælnoth describes Knud as an ascetic type: "Also on the ordinary and special fast days and every Friday of the week, when he sat at the royal table, and his guests thought that he enjoyed wine or mead, he drank the pure water, something that only his faithful servants knew and He who sees in secret. And the precious dishes at the royal meal he simply brought to his mouth, but then had these partly carried to his men sitting with him, partly distributed and sent to the poor, while he himself only ate dry bread with salt on it."
Ælnoth places great emphasis on telling that Knud was faithful to his queen Edel, he: "did not care about the unchaste embrace of mistresses, but was content with her marriage alone, as Jesus Christ and his angels can testify that."
Ælnoth tells that Canute allowed himself to be whipped by his chaplains as penance for the sins of his youth - "and in the fervor of his piety he bowed so deeply to the divine grace that - what may seem incredible to some - he did not even refuse to receive from them the blows of physical punishment when they were alone present, so that only God and the angels, who know his secrets, were witnesses to it."
It is believed that the Leding fleet gathered in Krik Vig north of the Thyborøn Canal near the town of Vestervig in 1085. As you can see, Olaf and the other messengers had quite a long way to travel to Slesvig, which Ælnoth calls Hedeby, and back again. Photo Google Map.
According to Ælnoth, Canute decided to attack England because the English had asked him for help: they "decided to call for help from foreigners, since their enemies had in their cunning providence left them no one, who could be their leader or guide to regain their freedom."
There are several different accounts of what happened in connection with the gathering of the Leding fleet in the Limfjord at Vestervig in 1085. But we must place the most emphasis on the English monk in Odense, Ælnoth, who wrote the history of Canute the Holy about 40 years after the events. According to his own statement, he had his information from both men and women, who knew the events from their own lifetime: "But what I have learned from the stories of trustworthy people of both sexes and both classes about the deeds of the pious prince and God-loving martyr, I have now, with the eager support of the monks who serve Jesus Christ and the glorious victor in the same place as me, handed over to the memory of posterity."
However, Ælnoth says, the king did not come to Vestervig because he was busy with important negotiations in Hedeby. He does not address the subject of the negotiations.
In Vestervig, the fleet's crews became impatient: "Thus the people here also became impatient and complained that this waiting and hesitation during the stay on the beach was of little use to the domestic cause"
"Influenced by their constant noise and prolonged shouting, the navy's chiefs decided" - "to send a messenger to the king and present the complaints of the fully prepared leding fleet to the king's ears." The king's brother Oluf was chosen as the messenger.
Oluf arrived in Slesvig, and here Canute showed signs of failing judgment, partly by further prolonging the time and partly by - after some time - putting the messenger in chains. Ælnoth says: "He came to the king with his retinue, presented the army's mission and presented in an eloquent speech the reasons for the complaints. But the king, who saw through the matter with his sharp eye, sent - after having dragged out the negotiations for a long time - his aforementioned brother in custody to Flanders to the noble duke of the Westland region, Robert."
Although Saxo is very biased in favor of Canute, he has moral problems with Canute's decision to put Oluf in chains: "The king ordered his warriors to bind him as one, who was convinced and unable to bring anything to his defense. However, they refused adding such undue insult to a man of royal birth."
After the insistent pleas of his advisors, Canute - apparently still in Slesvig - gave in and finally allowed the fleet to return home.
Ælnoth clearly writes that Canute gave the fleet permission to return home in exchange for their promise to show up again the following year. All sources other than Ælnoth, however, say that the fleet was disbanded against Canute's will, and that he therefore fined them all for neglecting their military duty, and that it was the collection of these fines that triggered the rebellion in 1086. This provides a tempting logical thread in the story, but, if we trust Ælnoth, it is not true.
In the late summer of 1085, when the military army in the Limfjord had been disbanded, he issued a flurry of new religious directives that almost transformed Denmark into a priestly state.
Ælnoth says: "When the army had returned to its own, the godly prince, as before, threw himself eagerly upon his pious endeavors. He sought to increase the people's reverence for the divine service, he expanded the rights of the clergy. By a royal proclamation, which also contained penal provisions, he determined the observance of the fast days and the lawful fasts, as they are otherwise observed everywhere in the world."
Canute the Holy's escape route in 1086. He probably crossed the Limfjord at Aalborg. The historian Hans Olrik believes that he held ting in two counties before he came to Børglum. Near Børglum he visited the rebels' meeting place, "Pontus cornicus" or Kragestrand. He then fled to Aggersborg. At night he was rowed across the Limfjord, after which he continued to Viborg. When he did not find loyal supporters there, he chose to go to Slesvig - most likely by the ancient army route. But he could not feel safe here either. Ælnoth writes explicitly that he then sailed to Funen; he does not say where on Funen he went ashore, for that matter he could have sailed all the way to Odense. If he landed in Assens and from there travelled to Odense, he could rest on Canute's resting place without it being too much of a detour. Own work. Photo Google Map.
The rebellion came because of these new religious decrees, and the hated "nefgjald" tax, that he wanted to collect.
There are two different accounts of how the rebellion began and developed, namely Ælnoth's account and Knytlinge Saga. Hans Olrik states that the only thing they have in common is, that it began in Vendsyssel. I will mainly stick to Ælnoth's account.
The king stayed in Børlum to "follow and investigate ting cases". The dissatisfied Vendelbo people met for consultation at a place called "Kragestrand, where the whole crowd of injustice gathered together with poisoned minds and arms. There they held assemblies and consultations both day and night."
"Then the king decides a day on which he himself will see to their meetings, and then on this day he steps with his men into the assembly of the crowd; but when he noticed the defiance and stubbornness of the crowd, he withdrew to the place where his men were, to consider the matter." Knud then decided to leave Børglum in silence, most likely at night.
He now fled west towards Harald Bluetooth's old Viking castle, Aggersborg, and accommodated the majority of his retinue in the royal place there.
When the rebels found out that Knud had fled from Børglum, they immediately began the pursuit: "But as soon as the king's escape became widely known, the robbers rushed in droves into the royal palaces, threw the king's men out of the houses, searched and examined everything with greedy glances and robbed everything they could." - "The whole assembled crowd sets off, strengthened in their wicked counsel," - "some pursue the king's trail on foot, others on horseback."
The crowd immediately attacked the royal palace "some they drag naked from their beds, others they hang outside the doors, still others they throw into the water."
While his men were being massacred, Canute and a few others managed to cross the Limfjord, probably at night: "So far only the king and his men had crossed the stream away from this tumult of battle".
Canute then came to Viborg with the men he still had. He tried to find loyal subjects, who would support him, but in vain.
Granite font in Nørre Lyndelse Church on Funen. A ruler with a stern and determined expression on his face sits on a chair with his right hand on the sword, and in his left hand he holds a lily, which we believe represents the Trinity, the true Catholic faith. Photo Lennart Larsen in Danmarkshistorien by Palle Lauring..
From Viborg, Canute and his few men fled south towards Slesvig, probably along the ancient army road, apparently pursued by the rebels, who were steadily growing in number as they moved through the country. He apparently found no loyal subjects anywhere, who would support him: "From here he went with his people without a fight to the port city by the fjord called Sli, in order to go by sea to Funen with his retinue, who were exhausted from the long flight through the country."
"Passio" expresses itself very vividly and leaves no doubt that it was the entire people who spontaneously rose up against Canute, not only a few scheming magnates: " - and day by day larger armies flocked; the storm of rebellion, roaring and snorting, followed the holy king's trail right to the city called Slesvig."
From Slesvig, Canute and his men sailed to Funen.
But he did not find any supporters on Funen either. The Funen residents were clearly determined to chase him out of the country or kill him. Ælnoth wrote: " - then, as soon as the king's arrival had been rumored, there went out messengers both day and night in all directions; the common people gather in large numbers and lay down unjust counsels in unison; and with all possible zeal and haste they agree that they too will drive the godly prince out of their land or - yes, it is a sin to even mention it - wipe him out from the number of the living."
It is often stated that it was the Jutes, who caught up with and killed Canute in Odense. But that is not, what Ælnoth writes about the events in Odense: " then, as soon as the king's arrival had been rumored, there went out messengers both day and night in all directions; the common people gather in large numbers and lay down unjust counsels in unison;" which undeniably points to the Funen people as the ones primarily responsible.
It was the people as a whole, who rose up against King Canute in 1086 because of his demands for the hated "nefgjald" tax, payment of tithes and the barrage of other religious decrees that he issued after the dissolution of the leding army in 1085.
At sunset, Canute, his brother Benedict and seventeen courtiers went to the nearby Church of St. Alban the Martyr, ostensibly to hear vespers, but according to many historians to prepare their defense. Canute must have known that this was the end, and he preferred to die before the altar in the church that he himself had built, and which housed at least some of the mortal remains of the saints St. Alban and St. Oswald, whom he had brought back from England on one of his expeditions: "But when the time for vespers drew near, the pious hero went to the nearby church, which was dedicated to the precious martyr Alban, to hear the vespers and to commend himself and his people to the Lord, the creator of the whole world."
Everyone knew that the rebels were far too many; it is said: "The others sought refuge wherever they could find it, and took care to save their earthly lives."
Canute the Holy in the crypt in St. Knud's Church in Odense Own photo.
According to Ælnoth, Canute was killed by a spear thrown through a window that struck him in the side, as Jesus was wounded in the side by a spear when he hung on the cross. But analysis of the skeleton in Odense has shown that he died from "a violent stab or blow to the right side of the abdomen on the sacrum just below the lower back".
It is said that the rebels found Canute's brother, Benedikt, badly wounded, but still alive. They then killed him "with a thousand wounds and dismembered to pieces", because "no one should claim innocence in the wicked crime". They did not want anyone to be able to evade responsibility afterwards by saying that it was the others, who did it.
But such a demand that everyone should be responsible and take part in the murder would have been even more relevant in the case of killing Canute himself. Therefore we must believe that what the rebels did to Benedict, they did to an even greater extent to Canute; namely, they dismembered him beyond recognition with swords, axes and with what "each one had found closest to hand". It must not have been easy for the monks to identify the body after the battle.
The election of a new king in 1086 fell quite naturally on the leader of the opposition to Canute, namely his younger brother, Oluf, who was the border earl in Slesvig. King Oluf would later be bynamed Hunger.
However, there was the problem that Oluf was held prisoner in Flanders by Duke Robert, who was the father-in-law of the murdered King Canute.
Saxo tells how Canute and Oluf's little brother, Niels, agreed to give himself as a hostage in Oluf's place: "In order to get him back so that he could take over the kingdom, they had to agree to pay a sum of money and to give Niels, who was both his and Canute's brother, as a hostage for his release. It was no small testament to brotherly love." The money was quickly raised: "However, the Danes competed to raise the money that was to be paid for the hostage to return, and to pay the agreed sum."
The duke had no political or religious motives for demanding a ransom; he had simply by a stroke of luck gotten a king into his power, and he wanted to make the most of it.
Ælnoth says nothing about how Oluf was released from captivity so that he could take care of his royal duties.
Knytlinge Saga is the only source that tells something about how Oluf looked like, true or false: "Olaf Svendsøn was of the same age as King Knud; he was a small man and very ugly in appearance, eloquent, and a great warrior."
The all-dominating event during Oluf's reign was a very serious and prolonged famine. Svend Aggesen writes: "Upon his (Canute's) death, his brother Ole came to rule in Denmark. Under him it was that the most severe famine broke out in the country, so that he was bynamed: Hunger."
Priests and monks preached incessantly that the crop failure was the people's own fault, as it was God's punishment for having killed the holy king.
Saxo writes very dramatically: "In the spring and summer the strong heat scorched all the crops in the fields, and in the autumn it rained so heavily that what had grown in low-lying or similar places was destroyed as a result of the constant flooding caused by the downpours;" - "and the fields, which were completely flooded, were as wide and extensive as entire lakes." - "Yes, the farmers even had to sail around in boats in the flooded fields and collect the individual pieces of corn that drifted on the water, and then they dried the rotten crumbs that remained of them in ovens, ground them and made porridge from them, because they were not good for bread. The result of this was that such a famine occurred that the majority of the country's people died from lack of food."
But not all Danes were convinced that the famine was God's punishment for the murder of Canute. The Roskilde Chronicle, which is friendly towards Oluf, only mentions that under his successor the good years suddenly came: "After his death his brother Erik the Good followed him on the throne. Immediately the hated famine ceased, and God's punishment departed from the people. But whether this abundance came for Erik's sake, and the previous famine for Olaf's sake, that must be decided by Him, who knows everything before it happens, and who arranges everything when and as He wills; for neither of them deserved the lot they received."
The Roskilde Chronicle expresses itself far less dramatically on the whole. Here one gets the impression that the farmers used the bad times as an excuse to do what they had always done, namely slaughter and eat the worn-out horses, which the priests had forbidden.
Saxo also claims that it was only in Denmark that there was bad weather: "But in the neighboring countries there was plenty of grain, so it was obvious that it was the individual people who were to be punished, and not a general plague of the country."
However, it has been proven that there were problems with bad weather in several countries in Northern Europe. As many as three English chronicles tell of an agricultural crisis in England during Oluf's reign in Denmark.
For example, William of Malmesbury writes for the period 1092-1100: "In his sixth year there was such a downpour of rain and such incessant showers that no one could ever remember."
The Swedish King Domalde on the offer bench. Sacrifices of kings have a certain tradition in the Nordic countries. Illustration by Erik Werenskiold in the Heimskringla National Edition.
Therefore, the monks' and priests' incessant propaganda that the famine only affected Denmark and was God's punishment for the Danes having killed the holy king was completely untrue. But the Danish peasants could not have known anything about the conditions in other countries.
King Oluf died in 1095. It is not known where he is buried, but he is recorded in Lund Cathedral's Necrologium, which is a list of the deceased, who are to be commemorated in the church.
Oluf's death is shrouded in mystery. It is difficult to ignore that Saxo more than suggests that his death was a sacrificial death: "When he willingly gave himself up to save the country from misfortune and asked that everyone's suffering might fall on his head alone. Then he sacrificed his life for his countrymen." Which must be understood as meaning that he voluntarily sacrificed himself to the higher powers - presumably the Christian God - to save his people. As Jesus voluntarily sacrificed himself on the cross to save humanity.
But when Erik Ejegod ascended the throne, times became completely different. Ælnoth says that "soon after he was elevated to the throne, it was as if times had completely changed. The richness of the crop smiled upon the farmer, goods and prosperity grew to abundance, and everyone could enjoy security and peace as in the days of Solomon.". Therefore, Erik was bynamed Ejegod, Egode or simply the Good.
Ælnoth states that Erik Ejegod was elected by the army, an election that probably took place in the same way as the elections of his brothers, Harald Hen and Oluf Hunger but possibly not Canute the Holy: "By the choice of the whole army, under the applause of the people."
The use of this procedure for king election is confirmed by Saxo's later description of one of the last surviving sons of Sweyn Estridsen, who made an effort to become elected king after it became known that Erik had died on Cyprus: "Sweyn, who came second in age to Erik, was so determined to become king, trusting in his age, that he did not consider it necessary to wait for the general election, but summoned the ting in Viborg and allowed himself to be elected by a single part of the country only." However, he died on the way to Viborg.
The Danes executed the pirates that the citizens of Julin had handed over to them by cutting open their bellies and pulling out their intestines. Drawing by Louis Moe.
The Ryd Kloster Chronicle tells us that after Erik ascended the throne, the harvest was so abundant that grain prices fell dramatically: "When he became king, the land immediately became so fertile that a small bushel of grain was not worth more than 2 pence in current coin."
King Erik was big and strong, a head taller than other men. Saxo writes: "he was a head taller than all others, and his agility matched his height."
He is praised everywhere for his generosity. Knytlinge Saga writes: "He was generous with money both towards the chiefs and towards his friends, and distributed large sums to all those who came to him, and especially to those who visited him from afar; he also gave much to the poor."
Erik Ejegod was a strong-willed and authoritative king with a far more winning nature than the confrontational and aggressive Canute the Holy. Furthermore, he was an excellent speaker, Saxo says: "He also had the most glorious voice and spoke at the Ting not only with great eloquence, but also so loudly and clearly that he could be heard clearly, not only by those who stood close by, but also by those who stood far away. Moreover, in order to win the favor of the common people, he had the custom of concluding his speeches at the Tings by ordering the men, when they returned home, to greet their wives and children as well as their servants from him with a promise that he would see to that everyone got his due, for in terms of doing justice and fairness, he said, he had the same obligation to everyone."
King Erik's two greatest achievements were that he managed to have his murdered brother, Canute the Holy, declared a Catholic saint, and he succeeded in obtaining the Pope's permission to establish a Nordic archbishopric in Lund and thereby detach the Danish church from the archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen. Asser, whom Oluf had appointed bishop of Lund, became the first archbishop of the Nordic countries.
Erik Ejegod was the first Danish king to combat piracy by attacking the pirates' haunts in Venden.
Saxo describes how "The youth of Denmark then attacked Julin and besieged it, so that the people of Julin were finally forced to hand over all the pirates, who were within the city walls, and also paid a sum of money."
The Danes let the pirates suffer a cruel death: "They first tied them to stakes with their hands tied behind their backs, then slit their stomachs open and pulled out the lower part of their exposed intestines, wrapped them around the stakes and did not stop this torture until the entrails were completely pulled out of their bellies, and the cruel robber souls breathed their last."
Through his son Knud, who was bynamed Lavard, Erik Ejegod became the ancestor of all later Danish kings, which undoubtedly contributed to his fame.
As we know, Erik Ejegod's father, Sveyn Estridsen, had at least 17 sons with various noble women, none of whom was the queen. Erik also had several mistresses, but he became king relatively late in his life, and therefore could not quite match his father.
Most sources have no reservations about Erik's many mistresses, they simply list that Erik had sons with this and women. Only Saxo believes that it was morally reprehensible: "He was not content with having intercourse with his wife, but kept concubines, although fate had been so kind to him as to grant him a wife, who distinguished herself both in beauty and virtue."
Saxo reports very laconically: "Erik had three sons, Harald, Knud and Erik, of whom he is said to have fathered the first with a concubine, the second in his marriage and the third with another man's wife."
The Roskilde Chronicle mentions a daughter named Ragnhild, who married a man named Hakon the Norwegian, who through his mother Sunniva was a great-grandson of Magnus the Good. Ragnhild and Hakon had a son named Erik Lam, who became king of Denmark - more on that later.
In 1103, Erik Ejegod proclaimed at the tings, that he intended to go to "The Holy Land, where the Savior had walked".
The musician plays for King Erik. Drawing by Louis Moe.
According to Saxo, the reason was that a musician's magical songs drove him so mad that he went berserk and killed four of his own men: "Finally the courtiers overwhelmed him by having his men throw blankets over him from all sides, and thus, at great risk to them all, they finally got a hold of him.
Saxo continues: "Then the king decided that his son Harald (Kesja), who had reached an age and maturity suitable for such a position, should be in charge of the government in his absence."
It sounds very innocent, but basically it was a breach of the oath that Sweyn Estridsen's sons had sworn, namely that they would succeed each other in order of age, since there were still sons of Sweyn Estridsen alive who were younger than himself, namely Swend, Ubbe and Niels.
King Erik and his queen Bodil traveled on the Russian rivers to Constantinople, where he visited the Scandinavians in the Væringe guard and was received by the emperor.
But when he reached Cyprus "the King was attacked by a fever, and when he felt that his last hour was near, he asked that his body might be buried at the capital there on the island" says Saxo. King Erik died on 10 July 1103.
It appears from Anders Sørensen Vedel's reading around 1600 of a now lost version of Robert of Ely's account of the saint Knud Lavard, that Knud's mother, Queen Bodil, after the death of her husband continued to the Holy Land, where she died on the Mount of Olives and was buried in the Valley of Josaphat.
Next, Niels was elected king of Denmark in 1104, because he was the eldest of Svend Estridsen's many sons, who were still alive.
Saxo explicitly states that Niels was elected at the Isøre Ting: "A general county council was now held at Isøre, and the crown was awarded to Ubbe, because he was the oldest. Niels, who was thought to be regrettable about this, approved the choice of the Thing with great satisfaction, for it had always been the custom among Sweyn Estridsen's sons that they succeeded each other on the throne as following age, so that it was inherited from the older to the younger."
But Ubbe refused to take on the kingship: "Ubbe, however, did not have great thoughts about his own ability, and in recognition of his poor abilities he arguet against taking such a heavy burden on his shoulders and assured that his brother, who was much more clever, was the most worthy to take over this office." The nobles then elected Niels as king, and he was probably subsequently hailed according to old custom at the county tings.
Niels was the fifth of Sweyn Estridsen's sons to be elected king. It was Svend Aggesen who called him Niels the Old: "Now followed his brother Niels, who was often called the Old, because he had sat on the throne of Denmark for over 30 years."
Left: A granite head found in Ribe, which probably depicts King Niels. During excavations at Ribe Cathedral, the Museum of Southwestern Jutland found a head of granite measuring 21*20 cm in layers from around 1150. It has been subjected to rough treatment, the nose has been broken off and the head has been broken loose from a larger context. The sculpture was almost new, when it ended up in the waste layer. This is therefore a deliberate desecration, which rules out the head representing Jesus or other holy persons. It is a king with a crown adorned with an equal-armed cross and precious stones. It probably adorned the first stone church, which was completed in 1134, the same year as the Battle of Fodevig and the murder of King Niels in Slesvig. After Erik Emune took power, it may not have been popular to exhibit a figure depicting King Niels. King Niels has the typical hanging moustache, as does the king on the sculpture above the Cat's Head Door at Ribe Cathedral. It seems to have been popular in the 12th century.
Right: The American wrestler Hulk Logan with his typical drooping mustache.
Photo Southwest Jutland Museums and Pinterest.
Niels ruled Denmark for 30 years, from 1104 to 1134, most of the time in peace, freedom and prosperity. But in January 1131 all hell broke loose.
Niels' son, Magnus the Strong, killed Erik Ejegod's son, Knud Lavard, in Haraldsted Forest on Zealand. Both Magnus and Knud were promising young men, loved by the people. The killing started the civil war that would effectively last for 26 years, until Knud Lavard's son took the throne in 1157 as Valdemar the Great.
It was the civil war that opened the country to the ravages of the Slaws also called Wends, whereby many small islands were depopulated and thousands of Danes were abducted as slaves.
The Roskilde Chronicle characterizes Niels as a mild and docile personality, who was not suitable for kingship: "When his death (Erik Ejegods) was rumored, the Danes took his brother Nils as king; he was a good-natured and simple-minded man, but by no means fit to rule". It is followed up by Knud Lavard's Saint Vita: "He completely overshadowed the weak king Nils".
One can say that King Niels should have finished Knud Lavard's dual role as Danish border earl and imperial duke at the same time from the start, and not waited until the problem had grown large. Niels was probably somewhat soft-hearted, just like his famous father, Sweyn Estridsen.
Erik Ejegod's three sons. Harald Kesja was the eldest. Knud Lavard was born within marriage, which became increasingly important throughout the Middle Ages. Erik Emune was born to a less distinguished mistress. The nobles pushed all three aside in favor of Niels and the principle that Sweyn Estridsen's sons should inherit the throne according to age. Own work.
But, he must be judged by his deeds. Niels ruled Denmark for 30 years, the first 29 of which were mainly in peace, freedom and prosperity.
Saxo, who wrote his famous History of Denmark just half a century later, says that both his own father and grandfather had served as warriors under the murdered Knud Lavard's son, Valdemar the Great. Yet, he does not condemn Niels as a weak or bad king. On the contrary, he praises King Niels' kindness and selflessness: "When Niels had come to the throne, it was so far from him falling into arrogance, that he did not give up any of his former kindness, but in all ways continued to behave as he had been accustomed to until now, for he did not let his mind be changed by the success he had, and did not want to have words to ease his nature according to his luck in life, but rather to ease his happiness according to his nature. In order not to burden the country with a costly court and great expenses, he was content with a daily guard of only six or seven men just to be safe from thieves and robbers, and the splendor he displayed as king did not exceed what corresponded to the size of his court."
Also Ælnoth, who was a contemporary of King Niels, praises his kindness, wisdom and patience: "As yours highness' gentleness is the insolent, the foolish and the insane to disgust, thus it is honored by every right-thinking and right-acting man, not only in external praise, but also with right awe, in that he with tact and discretion takes into account both the present and the future."
King Niels had a strong physique. He actively participated in the battle of Fodevig in 1134. This year he must have been about 65 years old, and he was still able to ride and carry weapons.
Another very important person in the fateful events of the first half of the 12th century was Knud Lavard, Erik Ejegod's son with his queen Bodil.
Knud Lavard was summoned to the Ting for having wrongfully appropriated king's name. When King Niels arrived at the Ting, Knud received him respectfully in the German manner by going to meet him without a cloak and reverently holding his stirrup for him. Drawing by Louis Moe.
At some point during Niels' reign - many historians agree that it was in 1113 - the Danish army suffered a humiliating defeat to a Wendish army led by Henrik Godskalksøn in a battle at Lütke on the Baltic coast between Kiel and Lübeck, because the border earl in Slesvig had accepted a bribe and did not come with the cavalry as he had been ordered. Earl Ejlif was deposed and convicted of treason.
But now King Niels lacked an earl in Slesvig to guard Denmark's southern border. After some time, the choice fell on his nephew Knud, who must have been about 18-19 years old at the time.
Knud was the border earl in Slesvig for about 26 years, until his death in 1141 in Haraldsted Forest on Zealand.
Helmold's Vender Krønike, Chronica Sclavorum, tells us that Knud created peace in the country: "And the peace-loving man began by bringing peace to the country, and he removed wandering men. He did especially much good to the people of Slesvig. But it happened that some robbers were caught out on the heath between the Sli and the Eider, and they were brought before Knud. When he had sentenced them to be hanged, one of them, who wanted to save his life, shouted that he was related to him, and was a descendant of Danish kings. To him Knud said that it would truly be shameful to treat our relative as we treat others. We must exalt him above the others. And he commanded that they should hang him from a high ship's mast."
Knud was fond of unconventional strategies, titles and clothing. He preferred to use the German title, duke, instead of the old Danish title, jarl. He explained to King Niels: "My men call me Lavard or lord, not king". Lavard has the same meaning as the English "lord", it means lord or bread giver.
South of Slesvig and the Ejder lived the Wendish tribe Abodritte led by King Henrik Godskalkson. He was the son of King Godskalk and Sweyn Estridsen's daughter Sigrid. Henrik Godskalksøn was thus Knud Lavard's cousin. Henrik claimed that he had not received his maternal inheritance, and demanded that it be paid out by King Niels. For this reason, his pirate ships constantly threatened the Danish coasts. Saxo writes: "The land between the Elbe and Slesvig was ravaged by Henrik so much that it lay completely uncultivated."
But after some time the cousins came to an understanding and Henry Godskalkson appointed Knud as his successor as king of the Obodrites.
In his Chronicle of the Slaws, however, Helmold reminds us that Wenden was an imperial fief, and that the ruler there had to swear allegiance to the Emperor: "Then he sought out Emperor Lothar and bought the kingdom of the Obodrites for a lot of money, all the power that Henrik had had. And the emperor placed a crown on his head to make him king of the Obodrites, and showed him great honor." Saxo tells something similar.
Henrik Skadelår mocks Knud Lavard's attire at Magnus and Richitza's wedding at Riberhus. Saxo relates that when Niels' son, Magnus the Strong, held a wedding with the Polish princess Richitza at Riberhus, Knud had an exchange of words with his cousin Henrik Skadelår: "When Knud arrived there dressed in Saxon fashion and more splendid than anyone else, Henrik, who could not stand foreign splendor, looked askance at him and made fun of him. Purple clothes did not protect against swords, he said, to which Knud replied that they protected just as well as a lambskin jacket". Drawing by Louis Moe.
Knud Lavard thus had two masters, of whom only one was the Danish king - the other was the emperor. It must have been this that offended Magnus the Strong and his conspirators and led to the fateful murder in Haraldsted Forest.
As the eldest of Erik Ejegod's sons, Harald Kesja had been married royally, namely to Ragnhild Magnusdatter, daughter of the Norwegian king Magnus Barefoot. Already during his father's lifetime he had built a castle north of Roskilde called Haraldsborg. Here he lived with his wife, many mistresses, twelve sons, an unknown number of daughters and a large amount of goods that he had collected from near and far.
Knud Lavard's other brother, Erik Emune, gathered his spoils in a dilapidated castle called Arnakke, perhaps south of Holbæk: "The spoils he made, he brought to a mean and dilapidated place called Arnakke." writes Saxo.
However, when the king of Sweden died, the Goths dared to choose Niels' son, Magnus the Strong, as their new king. The Swedes declared Magnus's election invalid, declaring that the Goths had no right to choose their own kings, and they appointed a new king. Saxo writes: "This one was immediately killed by the Goths, and on his death the rule passed to Magnus".
Knud argued to King Niels that his position as king of the Abodrites was quite similar to Magnus' position as king of the Goths.
However, Knud held his position as a fief of the Emperor, while Magnus held his position only by the Goths' own choice, and he had not sworn allegiance to the king of the Swedes, on the contrary, he had achieved his position in spite of the king of the Swedes.
The murder of Knud Lavard in Haraldsted Forest. Illustration from Danmarks Historie i Billeder fra 1898.
Svend Aggesen wrote a few years after the events: "We also saw this here, when Knud's nephew, Magnus, without regard to blood relationship, entered into a conspiracy with Henrik Skadelår, Ubbe, Hagen and some others; he had a meeting with them in a hall, as if it were a friendly matter of state, and there he conceived the abominable plan to murder Knud. To that end, he invited Knud to meet without witnesses in the forest near Haraldsted."
Magnus arranged a meeting with Knud in a deserted place, namely Haraldsted Forest. The conspirators broke out from their hiding places and killed him. It was January 7, 1131
Knud Lavard's brothers, Erik Emune and Harald Kesja, as well as Hagen Jyde and Skjalm Hvide's sons, displayed Knud's bloody and pierced robe on the Ting: "They displayed his bloody robe to the common people. Niels and Magnus stayed away from the Ting," writes Saxo. "When knud's brothers had both lamented their brother's death at the Thing, the common people were so moved by their sorrowful speech that they publicly passed sentence on the one, who had shed his innocent blood, and declared the murderer of the pious Lord an outlaw."
King Niels had to promise to sever all ties with his son: "He was only allowed to defend himself on the condition that he swore to avoid all intercourse with Magnus, banish him not only from the court, but also from the kingdom, and not let him return until the people gave him permission to do so."
But after some time, Saxo says: " - Niels sent people over" (to Gotland) "to bring Magnus home and thus, driven by impious love, renewed the intercourse with him that he had sworn off." This, Erik and Harald believed, gave him: "Lot and share in the murder, since he broke his oath, and they now passed the same sentence on him as on his son."
Soon the fighting was in full swing. Erik Emune went to Jutland with an uncommitted Zealand peasant army, which was quickly defeated. Saxo says that Erik Emune wrote to Emperor Lothar and invited him to take part in the civil war.
The ruins of Knud Lavard's chapel are located five kilometers north of Ringsted in Haraldsted and were excavated during an archaeological excavation in 1883. It was built around 1150. The spring that sprang up at the site of his murder has not been found. Photo Wikimedia Commons.
The emperor followed the call and moved north with his army, but was stopped at Dannevirke: "Magnus, however, had gotten ahead of both enemies by carefully fortifying the rampart and manning the gates with strong guards. After a few days, Niels arrived with a large army of Jutes and occupied the northern side of the rampart with it. It was such a large military force that the emperor was afraid to engage it in battle, and he did not dare to use Erik's fleet to send his men over to the city," says Saxo.
The emperor now betrayed Erik Emune: "whom he had promised constant and reliable assistance, and concluded an agreement with the enemy chieftains that he would lift the siege in return for Magnus swearing allegiance and loyalty to the Roman Empire."
Harald Kesja switched sides to Magnus and Niels, who: "whom secretly lured him with promises."
Niels, Magnus and Harald invaded Zealand and thereby brought the war into Erik's territory, as a large part of the people already supported them. They defeated Erik in a battle at Værebro in 1133 in North Zealand. The Roskilde Chronicle writes: "But in the 3rd year King Nils went to Sælland with 100 ships, and since the largest part of the people, together with Bishop Peder, were Nils's good, Erik had to flee at the first clash, after it had come to battle at Værebro."
Eventually Erik Emune completely lost his foothold in Denmark, and he fled to King Magnus in Norway with his family. Saxo writes: "Erik was defeated by him in a great battle at Værebro and, trusting in the brotherhood that existed between them, resorted to King Magnus along with his wife, who had once been queen of Norway, and his little son Svein, whom he had fathered with a lover. Magnus immediately received him courteously and hospitably, but soon proved false and deceitful."
But King Niels offered the Norwegian king Magnus money to kill Erik Emune: "However, Niels decided to get rid of his fellow suitor by cunning and offered King Magnus in Norway money to kill him. Magnus, who was more greedy for money than any other man, was transformed from Erik's guest friend into his enemy."
The most important battles in the first part of the Danish Civil War 1131-1134. Onsild Bro must have been a port town on the east side of Jutland, perhaps Vonsild near Kolding or Onsild near Hobro. Own work.
But, says Saxo, King Magnus' queen, Christine, who was Knud Lavard's underage daughter, revealed the plan to his uncle Erik.
He sent word to his friends on Lolland, who sent a ship on a certain day. On the agreed day, Erik and a priest got the jailers drunk: "Since he knew that the Norwegians' greatest pleasure is to drink heavily, he thought he could fool his guards by getting them drunk."
When the jailers had fallen into a sound sleep, Erik broke a hole in the outer wall of his room and, together with his family and some servants, fled down to the beach. Here he found a number of ships, which he had drilled holes in the bottom.
Erik Emune sailed to Lolland: "But Erik sailed to his faithful Lolland, where he had Ubbe, whom Niels had appointed as governor of the small islands, seized and hanged, thus giving clear evidence that he had returned."
Like a Robin Hood, he stole the provisions that had been gathered for King Niels' Christmas feast, which was planned to be held in Scania: " - before he had arrived there, he went over to Scania and seized everything that had been prepared for the King's feast."
The following summer in the fateful year 1134, King Niels issued a proclamation throughout the country, including Scania, probably with the intention of finally cleaning up Scania. The army went ashore at "a bay, which is commonly called Fodevig". The Roskilde Chronicle tells: "Second Whitsunday (Second Pentecost) then the crews went ashore carelessly, and without arranging their affairs wisely; Erik threw himself against them with his army and inflicted an indescribable and irreparable loss on all of Denmark."
Niels' old-fashioned leding army was completely crushed and run over by an army of horsemen, which - according to several historians - numbered around 300 men. We can think that the large leding army was attacked during the embarkation before it had fully organized themselves. "Only Magnus, who, together with a small group of brave men, refused to flee, attacked the enemy and tried to drive him back, while the others turned their backs." - "Finally, after he (Magnus) had fought valiantly and killed a multitude of enemies, he fell on top of the heap of corpses he had piled up around him, together with Bishop Peter of Roskilde, and followed him into death." The rest of the army fled in panic towards the ships.
The Roskilde Chronicle bursts into tears over the disaster at Fodevig: "Erik threw himself against them with his army and inflicted an indescribable and irreparable loss on all of Denmark. Woe to that cruel year and that bitter day, the day of death, the day of darkness, full of lamentation, heavy with weeping! Woe to that day when Magnus is killed, the flower of Denmark is broken; he, the most beautiful among the young, brave, and strong, a happy giver, wise, and a lover of steadfastness; Magnus is killed, and with him chieftains and 5 bishops, namely: Peter from Roskilde, Thore from Ribe, Ketil from Vestervig, and Henrik, who had been driven from Sweden. - Adelbert from Slesvig received an incurable wound in the battle, and lived barely a year and a half afterwards. A sixth bishop, namely Eskil, Erik had had killed in the church two years before this battle, while he was conducting the morning service."
Then one can consider how Erik's cavalry came from. It must have cost a lot of money to hire such an army, and just a few months earlier Erik had sneaked through like Robin Hood and stolen the food that had been collected for King Niels' Christmas feast. Furthermore, when Niels planned to hold his Christmas feast in Scania, he must have thought that this part of the country was safe and rallied behind him, just as the rest of Denmark did. What had made the Scanians turn away from him?
A cavalry army of 300 men or something like that could only come from one place, namely from the emperor, and it must also have been associated with quite unusual costs to sail such an army from Northern Germany to Scania.
After having been King Niels' faithful ally for almost 30 years, Archbishop Asser in his old age had suddenly turned against him in 1134 and instead chose to blow new life into the last smoldering embers of Erik Emune's failed rebellion against King Niels.
The Scanian peasants had until then apparently been quite satisfied with Niels and Magnus' victories in the civil war, but Asser's authority as an extraordinary man of God roused them to renewed battle against King Niels. It is highly probable that it was the great fortune of the archbishopric that paid for the cavalry that miraculously appeared on the battlefield of Fodevig, wherever it came from.
King Niels was not a man who broke down sobbing in adversity. After the battle of Fodevig, he managed to board a ship and sail to Zealand. The Roskilde Chronicle reports: "When he next came over to Sælland, he tried to inspire courage in his people as best he could."
"Then he went to Jutland and put Harald over half of the kingdom, honoring him with the title of king," continues the Roskilde Chronicle, which is confirmed by all other sources. "Then he was shamefully betrayed by the Slesvigers, although promise of safe conduct had been given and confirmed by oath, he was treacherously killed in the city of Slesvig together with the nobles he still had left, on June 25 in the aforementioned year, in the 31st year of his reign."
King Niels' bodyguard. As Rolf Krake's warriors and as Knud's guard in Odense, they defended their king to the last. Drawing Louis Moe. .
Saxo and partly the Roskilde Chronicle actually tell us that Niels wanted to negotiate - probably with the aim of ending the war. Why not really believe that? After all, it had been Niels' leadership style for 30 years to create peace and reconciliation and give everyone their due. This is what his opponents call weakness: "Then he asked the Slesvigers, who had long been angry with him because of the misdeeds Magnus had committed, to make peace with him, for he was very keen to turn them friendly against him again."
Erik Emune was probably beyond pedagogical reach, but Niels may have thought that there was a possibility of negotiating with another center of rebellion, namely the Slesvig citizens.
Both the Knytlinge Saga and Svein Aggesen confirm that the Slesvigers lured King Niels into the city with false promises: "Niels lost the battle; he had lost his son and heir, and now took refuge on a ship to Slesvig, where he was treacherously murdered by the citizens, although they had received him within their walls."
King Niels was killed by the citizens of Slesvig in Torvegade the day after Midsummer Day in 1134. As Rolf Krake's warriors and Canute the Holy's guard in Odense, his bodyguard fought to the last man for their king.
It is known that King Niels is buried in Slesvig Cathedral, but the location of the grave is not known.
Next, Erik Emune became king of Denmark.
There is very little information about how Erik was elected king. It is said that he was paid homage in Skåne at Lerbækshøjen near Lund. There is no mention of any assembly at Isøre or formal tribute at other county councils. One can imagine that the Roskilde Chronicle's Latin expression "rex tyrannus" covers that he simply took power, supported by his warriors.
As a king, he was close to evil personified. The Roskilde Chronicle says: "he cleared all obstacles from his path and tolerated no equals, let alone superiors; arrogant, inflated, great in evil, terrible in all his actions, he advanced like lightning, robbed despite cries and sighs from people, who he could think owned something, and distributed the plundered goods among greedy and malicious people."
Erik had his brother Harald Kesja killed along with 11 of his sons. Svend Aggesen writes: "also his eleven brothers, some of whom were adults, some still only small, he had them all murdered."
Relief in Sønder Kirkeby Church on Lolland. The man on the left is a local nobleman named Toste, perhaps the church's builder. In front is the church's priest named Konrad; he carries the mass and altar chalice. Photo Lennart Larsen National Museum's Online Collections.
Knytlinge Saga states that Erik had a bad relationship with King Niels at an early age: "King Nikolaus was not very fond of King Erik's second son, Erik"
He was given the byname Emune. This means the unforgettable, the eternally remembered. Knytlinge Saga says that "because many thought that they would late overcome the cruelty they had endured from him, he was therefore called Erik Emun or the always remembered".
Others called him by the byname Harefoot. Helmold's Vender Chronicle describes that he waged a kind of guerrilla war against Magnus: "Then he assumed the name of king and began to fall upon Magnus and engage in bloody battles with him one time after another; but he lost and had to flee. That is why Herik also received the byname Hasenvoth, which means Hare's Foot, because he was always on the run."
Erik was energetic and resourceful and certainly not afraid to make unpopular decisions. He had throwing machines produced for the first time in Denmark, and with the help of these he conquered Harald Kesja's castle, Haraldsborg, on Zealand. In Slesvig he resisted attacks from all of Denmarks leding until the harsh winter made the attackers give up. He captured the castle of Arkona on the Rügen by draining the castle's well and thereby forcing the defenders to surrender.
Erik was eloquent, according to the Roskilde Chronicle, but full of lies: "Erik was younger than Harald and far more eloquent than the latter; a shameful man, full of rage and lies."
This is confirmed by Saxo, who believed that he did not always stick to the truth: "For the rest, he had the custom of praising himself so strongly about his brave exploits that he sometimes exceeded the limits of the truth."
After the murder of Knud Lavard in 1131 in Haraldsted Forest, Harald Kesja and probably his adult sons participated in the subsequent rebellion together with Erik Emune and other nobles. After all, it was his brother, who had been murdered.
But at some point during the civil war, Harald Kesja switched sides and went over to King Niels. It seems, however, that two of his adult sons, the brave Bjørn Jernside and his brother Erik the Deacon, remained loyal to Erik.
In the Battle of Vonsild Bridge - near Hobro or Kolding - Erik Emune was almost captured, but was saved by Bjørn Ironside, and Aggesen's father, Aage, who held the enemy back on a bridge, thereby giving Erik the opportunity to escape to his ship.
After the loss of his only son, Magnus the Strong, in the Battle of Fodevig, King Niels appointed Harald Kesja as co-king: "Then he went to Jutland and put Harald over half of the Kingdom, honoring him with the title of king," says the Roskilde Chronicle, which is confirmed by Saxo. This was an important reason for Erik's anger against Harald and his sons, because he wanted to be king himself and tolerated no rivals.
One of Harald Kesja's twelve sons fell in the Battle of Fodevig. The Roskilde Chronicle writes: "The twelfth son, Magnus, had fallen in the battle in Scania."
It came to Erik Emune's knowledge that Bjørn Ironside and Erik Deacon had received a message from their father. Saxo says: "There came secretly messengers to them at night from their father, and they kept quiet about what the messengers had told them." - "When they were asked what it was that the messengers had told them from their father, they said that he had asked them for advice about what he should do now, and that they had advised him to flee to Norway." - "Erik ordered that they be kept in the strictest custody at the castle in Slesvig."
When Erik visited the castle at Slesvig on a later occasion "the two young people appeared before him laden with chains, threw themselves humbly at his feet, assured him of their innocence and begged him to release them from their prison." - "and when Erik was greatly pleased, he began to weep over their miserable condition and promised to set them free because they had spoken the truth."
But, Saxo continues, when Erik became sober the next day, he chose to break his promise: "When Kristjern (the leader of the Jutland rebellion against Niels, whom Erik had freed from prison after the victory) had heard this from the courtiers, he met Erik, when he went to the chapel that early morning, and mocked him because the day before, prompted by drunkenness, he had been too generous and had given his enemies the Kingdom of Denmark" - "Harald's sons would think more of the fact, that he had kept them in prison, than of the fact that he had released them, and that he would get shame for having set them free," - "now that he had sobered up, he did not hesitate to break the rod on the leniency he had shown when he was drunk, was not ashamed to abandon his mercy, when he was prompted to cruelty, and let them be drowned, whom he had given hope that they would keep their lives".
The murder of Bjørn Ironside and his brother by drowning is confirmed by both Svend Aggesen and the Roskilde Chronicle, the latter writes: "Erik had let drown Bjørn and Erik the Deacon at the castle that lies at the entrance to the fjord at Slesvig years before his father's death"
But it was to get even worse. An icy winter night Erik Emune surprised the newly elected co-king, Harald Kesja, and his sons in a village in Jutland.
Erik Emune lets his ships pull over the ice. Drawing Louis Moe.
"However, Harald (Kesja) Eriksson had returned to Jutland and had been crowned King at the Urne Thing," Saxo tells. "When Erik asked this information, he had his ships pulled over the ice - the water was frozen - into the open sea and sailed secretly to Jutland. At night he surprised Harald and those of his sons, who were still alive in Skibetorp, and at dawn he had him dragged out of his bedchamber and killed without regard to the fact that he was his brother."
The Roskilde Chronicle, which was written around 1140, a few years after the events, reports more details about Erik's monstrous murder of his brother and most of the rest of his sons: "Having accomplished all this, Erik went to Scania and spent Christmas there. Harald, however, stayed in Jutland and was supported by a great many Jutes. When Erik heard this, he suddenly came over to Sælland, and in a severe frost he set out from here in great haste on a ship to Jutland; the following night he caught his unsuspecting brother along with his children and wife in a town called Skiping; Erik had him killed by the executioners, and his head was buried by the village people from that town in the farthest corner of the churchyard. Erik was bragged much of his brother's death; he had his sons brought to Scania and kept them there in chains until the month of August".
"Then he made evil plans with the Scanians and sent them to an island called Suer, where he had them all killed and the bodies thrown into one and the same grave. Their names are these: Sivard, Erik, Sven, Nils, Harald, Benedict, Mistivint and Knud."
But one of the sons escaped: "But Olaf had, when his father and brothers were captured, mixed himself among the beggars and pilgrims, and so he managed, wearing some of their clothes, to escape and reach the Swedish king Sverker, to whom he pleaded for help."
Svend Aggesen, who also wrote a few years after the events, wrote compassionately about the victims: " - and not only this, but also his eleven brothers, some of whom were adults, Some still only small, he had them all murdered. That's how badly he related to his father!"
The reason why Erik did not kill the children on the spot was probably that even at that time such a massacre must have been hard for the Danes to accept. He wanted to let them disappear unnoticed. That's why it had to take place on the island of Suer without witnesses, who knows - probably at night.
Already at that time the Wends took advantage of the Danish civil war to ravage and plunder everywhere along the coasts and on small islands and abduct thousands of Danes as slaves.
In the following year, 1136, Erik led the army against Wends. But his attack on Arkona could not at all compare to the Wends' attack on Denmark in strength and cruelty. Knytlinge Saga writes: "It was a year after the fall of King Nikolaus that Harald Kesia was killed, but the year after that King Erik went with his army to Vindland, and ravaged there far and wide, and caused great destruction. He conquered the city of Arkun, which was inhabited by pagans. King Erik did not leave the city until all the pagans who had not been killed had converted to Christianity, and the king had all the people in the city converted to Christianity." - "But as soon as the king was gone from there, they again rejected Christianity, and thereafter maintained sacrifices and pagan customs."
King Erik also made a campaign against Norway. Knytlinge Saga says that he "then went after Magnus Blinde's instigation with the Danish army to Norway, and had a very considerable army." - "The king burned the city of Oslo and also Halvard's Church;" - "The Danes immediately fled to the ships, and put away, and then went back to Denmark, and it is a common saying that such bad attack with such a large army to the kingdom of another king has never been done."
After only three years as king, Erik Emune was killed by a man called Sorte Ploug while he was judging at a ting in South Jutland. The date is quite well attested in the gift books from Lund - Saturday 18 September 1137 - but there is disagreement about the place.
Sven Aggesen states that the murder took place at Urnehoved Land Ting: "for there was one named Ploug, commonly called Sorte-Ploug, who felled the King with his lance at Urnehoved Ting, where he stood in the crowd of his warriors." Sven Aggesen was connected to Erik Emune through his father and grandfather. He is probably the best source.
The murder of the king was not an impulsive act. Ploug prepared thoroughly.
Knytlinge Saga tells: "But when King Erik was in the south of Jutland, he was having a negotiation with the farmers, and when Ploug heard about this, he went to a priest and asked him to prepare him. "Why do you want this?" asked the priest, "I don't think you are sick." Then Plov said: "Do as I say, otherwise I will kill you!". "Why do you ask this?" asked the priest further. Plov said that he would not inform him about it, and that it did not concern him. Then the priest gave him the Holy Communion. Then he took a finger ring from his hand, gave it to the priest, and asked him for forgiveness for having threatened him."
Another testimony to his thorough preparations was that his spearhead was protected by a sheath. The saga says: "Then Plov went to the Thing; he had in his hand a large spear, on the blade of which was a wooden sheath, he turned the tip downwards. He asked permission to go to the King, and said that he had an errand for him. He had no other weapon than the spear, and when he got there, he stepped on the sheath of the spear blade, and then he stabbed the spear through the King, giving him a mortal wound. Plov stabbed so hard that the King fell forward, as the stab went through him." His spear tip was probably sharpened as sharp as a razor blade, and therefore it was necessary to protect it with a wooden sheath.
Erik Lam defends Erik Emune's dead body. When Sorte Ploug killed Erik Emune, Erik Lam was the only one of Erik's men, who did not flee. Drawing Louis Moe.
Everything happened very quickly, causing confusion and panic: "There was then a great rush, and people did not pay close attention to who the perpetrator was, for it happened in the blink of an eye," the saga continues.
Saxo says that after the murder, Ploug shouted to the assembly "that he had killed the King, and urged the common people to kill his warriors." This shows that Erik was generally hated - probably especially in Jutland - and it could well be expected that the common people would follow Ploug's brave example.
Next, Erik Emune's comrade-in-arms, Erik Lam, was elected king in 1137. The Roskilde Chronicle says: "When Erik had now died thus and was buried in Ribe, the great men of the country came together and chose Erik the Third as king, a sister's son of the said Erik."
Erik Lam had been Erik Emune's trusted man, who had followed him through thick and thin throughout the civil war. Some even state that he led the cavalry army that made the difference at Fodevig. During his reign, he loyally upheld all of Erik Emune's decisions, and he ended his reign by recommending Erik Emune's son, Svend, to become the new king.
Svend Aggesen writes that King Erik had a "honey-like gentleness in his personality", which gave him the byname "Lam".
The Roskilde Chronicle writes of him that he was "more simple than befitted royal dignity".
Saxo only has contempt for his expeditions against the Wends: "But he did not show the same bravery in war outside the Kingdom as he had shown in the wars he waged within its borders. The expeditions he made against the Wends aroused their laughter more than they terrified them, for everything he undertook was so loose and dull that one would not believe that it was a man, who had arranged it."
The big problem during Erik the Lam's reign was Harald Kesja's only surviving son, Olaf, who from his place of residence in Scania demanded: "His inheritance, his ancestral estate, which his uncle had confiscated during the civil war."
Saxo continues: "Erik referred to the old law in connection with this demand, that whoever commits a crime against the kingdom must have his property confiscated as punishment. His father had fought in Denmark with foreign warriors and was therefore subject to the punishment stipulated by the law."
Here King Erik was guilty of gross hypocrisy. He had probably himself led the army of German horsemen that made the decisive move at Fodevig.
"Olaf seized with great zeal the opportunity that thus offered itself to raise a rebellion." - "and was no longer content with demanding his ancestral inheritance, but claimed the entire kingdom."
Olaf had the support and sympathy of the Scanians. and they elected him king at the Arnedal Thing.
But after some easy victories, Olaf became careless and overconfident: "Then, as if he had completely crushed his fellow suitor in the last battle and robbed him of all power, he left his weapons in Lund and walked around fearlessly, completely unarmed."
Bishop Rike and his assistents barricade themselves in the village of Ramløse in North Zealand. Drawing by Louis Moe.
Then he committed a serious mistake. He "seized not only the King's but also the Archbishop's estate, and remembering that this was now the second time Eskild had defied him, he did - to add to Eskild's displeasure - a man also named Eskild as Archbishop in his place."
Olaf carried the war over to Zealand, where Erik's forces were led by a bishop named Rike. Oluf got word that the bishop was staying in the village of Ramløse, surrounded his headquarters and killed him.
The bishops of the time were very militarily active, and one might think it was quite fair that Olaf killed one of them, that can happen in war.
But that's not how the piano played: "When the Pope heard about it, he most strictly excommunicated Olaf and gave all bishops throughout Europe the power and authority to excommunicate him as well."
We remember that Erik Emune and Erik Lam killed five bishops in the Battle of Fodevig, and this had no consequences for them with the Pope. But Olaf had done something much worse, namely that "without regard to the church he seized not only the king's but also the archdiocese's property." In doing so he had come into conflict with the powerful Catholic Church and therefore lost supporters and followers, and this brought him closer to defeat.
The Necrologium Lundense contains the announcement that Harald Kesja's son, Olaf, died during an uprising in Erik's third year of reign.
As mentioned, Saxo has only scorn for Erik Lam's fumbling efforts against the Wends: "He followed the advice of the meanest wretch when it came to disbanding the army, and often he sent the fleet home because the workers cried out that they wanted to go home. As a result of this cowardice of his, the barbarians became so arrogant that they not only despised him when he was outside the Kingdom, but even made incursions into the Kingdom when he was "at home."
Erik Lam is the only Danish king who voluntarily abdicated, apart from Queen Margrete in recent times.
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Saxo describes what happened: "When some years had passed, he noticed in Zealand that he had developed a fever, and he then went over to Funen, from where he came from, to give up the life there, where he had seen the light of day. When he doubted that he could recover from his illness, he wanted to take care of his soul, since he could do nothing for his body, and exchanged the royal robe for a monk's robe, for it is believed of those, who are knowledgeable in the holy scriptures, that there is no more powerful way to atone for one's sins than to become a monk. Then he summoned his warriors and solemnly renounced the throne."
10. Svend, Knud and Valdemar
The problem with Erik Lam's death in 1146 was that there were three royal princes who were candidates to be elected king. They were Svend, son of Erik Emune, Knud, son of Magnus the Strong and Valdemar, son of Knud Lavard, the latter of whom however was quite young at the time.
The murder of Knud Lavard back in 1131 in Haraldsted Forest started a civil war that actually lasted for 26 years. With Erik Lam's death in 1146, the smoldering enmity flared up, and the fighting lasted for almost 11 more years until the Battle of Grathe Heath in 1157, where Erik Emune's son, Svend, fell, and Valdemar then became sole king of Denmark. After his death, Svend was bynamed Grathe after the place where he fell.
Saxo says that Svend was elected in Zealand and Scania, but not without protests. A man named Olaf Stam objected that it was wrong to elect a separate king only for Zealand, he believed that the previous procedure should be followed, which was that the great men from the whole kingdom gathered in a central place and nominated a common candidate: "When Erik was dead, the people could not agree on whom to elect as king, for Knud Magnusson eagerly sought election in Jutland and Svend Erikssøn in Zealand, and the one was favored for his grandfather's, the other for his father's merits."
While Svend was now courting the votes of the Zealanders and most of them were also willing to vote for him, there was a man named Olaf, with the family namenamed Stam, who eagerly held on to what had been the custom from ancient times, and cursed anyone who gave Swend the title of king, and himself too, in case he accepted it, for he could not agree, he said that in that matter the whole kingdom was being foreclosed authority, or that a man was granted royal dignity, without the entire common people of the Kingdom having solemnly given their memory to it."
The implacability in the civil war between Svend, Knud and Valdemar was a natural consequence of Erik Emune's many misdeeds and in particular his brutal murder of his brother, Harald Kesja, and 11 of his 12 sons. The Jutes in particular remembered that they had just solemnly chosen Harald Kesja as their king, and then Erik Emune came unexpectedly on a cold winter night and killed him and his many sons with the greatest brutality.
The Wends constantly robbed and plundered along the Danish coasts, and Helmold's Slave Chronicle has only scorn for the Danish chaos: "In these three the Danes had fresh king-subjects, on which they could be constantly kept in exercise, so that they would not get out of the habit of fighting and thereby, finally, become degenerate. For it is only in civil wars that they show strength."
Portrait of Svend Grathe on a coin. He is clean-shaven and has curly hair. He calls himself "Rex Sveno", which is also what he is called somewhere in Helmold. Photo Bruun Rasmussen.
The eastern part of Denmark, which had supported Erik Emune to some extent, preferred his son, Svend, who was later given the byname Grathe, while Jutland, which had supported King Niels and his son Magnus, preferred Magnus' son Knud.
Svend Grathe had all the qualities of a good king. He was a skilled military leader, he listened to his advisors and felt sympathy for ordinary people. Unlike his rivals, Knud and Valdemar, he constantly fought against the country's external enemies, the Wends. But his tragedy was that he had the wrong father. The great men of Denmark would not in the long run accept a son of a brother murderer, regardless of his good intentions and many talents.
Knud had the right father, namely the much-loved Magnus the Strong, who fell at Fodevig. But he was a cautious and anxious personality, which made him unsuitable as a leader.
Valdemar was only 15 years old in 1146 and first took part in the war on Svend's side around 1150 at the age of 18-19. Saxo says: "Some time later, Holy Knud's son Valdemar, who had only now reached the age of war, joined Svend to learn the art of war under him; for he did not care to have anything to do with Knud, because his father had acted so badly against Knud the Duke."
Svend did not hesitate to make Valdemar Duke of Slesvig, as his father had been. Admittedly, there was already a duke in Slesvig whom Knud had appointed. It was Knud Henrikson, a son of Henry Skadelår. As one might expect, a dispute arose between the two dukes, in which Valdemar gradually gained the upper hand, probably thanks to the love of the Slesvigians for his father. This gave Svend a foothold in southern Jutland.
But Knud allied himself with Count Adolf of Holstein, thereby putting Svend's and Valdemar's new possession of Slesvig in danger, as it was now threatened from both the north and the south.
Helmold says: "The two kings fought each to attach our count to them and sent envoys with gifts. The count liked Knud best and called him for a conversation and became his vassal. When this happened, Svend became angry, and with an armed group he went into the land of the Wagrians and set Oldenborg on fire."
Svend was about to cross the Ejder to attack Count Adolf in his homeland, but was attacked during the crossing and the Holstenians took many of his men prisoner. It was not until 1150 that he managed to get sufficient funds to ransom his men.
In 1151 Svend advanced through Jutland, and strangely enough he managed to get the citizens of Viborg to his side. Saxo says: "he made the Viborg citizens take up arms for him by promising them freedom from all royal taxes."
Knud advanced on Viborg with a large army, that he had gathered in the rest of Jutland, and they met in "The First Battle of Viborg" somewhere quite near Viborg. Since Knud's people later fled into the city, we must believe that it was quite near Viborg, most likely within the area of the modern city.
Coin with portrait of Knud Magnussen, It says Cnudt Rex. Perhaps he - like his father - was a physically large man. Photo Wikipedia Commons.
The old warrior, Saxo, is very interested in military tactics. He believes that Knud had the largest army, and would have won if he had used the cavalry in the right way: "He would undoubtedly have won if he had not followed the advice of his friends and let his horsemen dismount to fight on foot. His nobles believed that, considering that in previous battles they had always had bad luck with the cavalry, they wanted to deprive the cowards of the opportunity to flee and by taking their horses away from them, force them to fight."
Svend had done little else in his adult life except wage war, and he could immediately see that here he had a chance to win: "Svend had never before harbored greater distrust of his luck, but when he saw that his enemies of their own accord abstained from what they should have used in battle, his discouragement was transformed into the most joyful hope. He knew well, that when they had no cavalry, they would only move slowly from place to place."
Svend's horsemen surrounded Knud's army and exhausted them with constant small attacks: Saxo says: "Terrified by all these attacks from different sides and worn out by constantly having to defend themselves against all these flank attacks, they finally became so tired and exhausted that, against all military custom, they sat down to rest in the midst of the heat of the battle."
Finally, Knud's army completely disintegrated and Svend took a large number of prisoners. It was on that occasion that he ransomed all but two prisoners or simply released them on condition that they swore allegiance to him.
After the defeat, Knud traveled to Sweden, where his mother had remarried, and then he spent a long time abroad.
Svend fortified Viborg with ramparts.
While Knud traveled abroad to gather support to continue the civil war, Svend fought against the Wends. Saxo says: "Things were now bad in every way in Denmark, for within the borders of the Kingdom the civil war raged, and outside them the pirates did all sorts of harm. In order to subdue them, Svend repeatedly fought the Wends in their own country, but without much success."
Viborg's fortifications under Svend Grathe. Approximate course of Viborg's fortifications in the early Middle Ages inspired by Sven Kåe and Hans Krongård Kristensen. Photo own work with Google Maps.
A few years later, Knud appeared in Jutland at the head of a German mercenary army placed at his disposal by Archbishop Hartvig of Hamburg. Knud's old warriors flocked to him, ignoring the promise they had made upon their earlier release from captivity, namely that they would not fight against Svend.
When Svend received news of Knud's return, he decided to entrench himself in Viborg. Saxo says: "And he went to Viborg, which he had recently let fortified, and decided to endure a siege there. To pay the costs, he ravaged their property there, which had defectet to Knud, and used the spoils he made to support his soldiers."
Thus the stage was set for "The Second Battle of Viborg".
However, having learned from his bad experiences from his last time, Knud camped with his army some distance from Viborg without directly besieging the city. Apparently it was a kind of economic warfare - which Reagan would later use against the Soviet Union - as Knud speculated that Svend would not have enough money in the long run to pay for the army that was necessary to defend the city: "He therefore camped far from it to wait until his rival, when it dragged on, would starve and then either shamefully flee or recklessly join a battle." Apparently Knud had access to more abundant financial resources than Svend.
Before long Svend could see the bottom of his money chest, and he realized that he had to take the initiative: "When Svend had now exhausted all his funds, since a lot was spent on pay for the soldiers in the city, and saw no way to drag out the war any longer, he thought he had to risk something, even though it was dangerous, and secretly made the long way to the enemy's camp at night and came across it in morning, when people, who had no idea, were at mass."
Saxo describes Knud's people taking flight: "They were anxious and afraid as a result of the previous defeats they had suffered; they could not forget them, and they were still discouraged. To such an extent had the adversity they had suffered taken away their courage, that almost all their bravery was blown away, so that they could not stand against the enemy, but, ldulled as they were, from the overwhelming anxiety they were seized by, they were still easy to chase away."
Knud's German mercenaries were also forced to retreat: "The Germans, on the other hand, who were more accustomed to war and knew how to control their horses, regularly teased the victors by turning and charging at them and retreated so cleverly that their escape was in order. The bravest of them, Folrad, fell in that battle."
However, most of the Germans and many of Knud's men were killed: "The others who had fled by daylight did not get away well, for they stayed overnight in a town, where they were seized by their pursuers and killed in their houses. The victors had made an agreement that they would not spare any of the vanquished, partly because they hated the Germans, and partly because those whom they had taken prisoner in the last battle and allowed to ransom themselves had again shown hostility towards them."
Knud fled to Saxony.
Meanwhile, Svend was not passive in the fight against the Wends: "In several places on the coast, which were well fortified by nature, he built redoubts for the protection of the farmers." He built fortresses on both sides of the Great Belt, most likely at Nyborg and Korsør.
Langelands Museum has carried out excavations on the Guldborg fortress and in the Borrebjerg refuge. At Guldborg, evidence was found of a dramatic slaughter of at least 25 men, women and children. It could be shown that most of the dead had been left where they fell for a very long time, perhaps more than a year. During a later clean-up, the bones had been unceremoniously shoveled together. Together with the remains of the fallen's belongings and other waste, the scattered bones had been used as fill in a slightly sunken access road through the burnt-out gate and at the burnt-out palisades. Similar finds were made at Borrebjerg. The youngest coin found was minted under Erik Emune. The massacre at Guldborg can therefore have taken place at the earliest in the late 1130s, but should probably be placed more precisely between 1140 and 1150.
The findings are generally interpreted as follows: Langeland's Christian Danish residents have sought refuge together in the castle at Guldborg, they were attacked by a large group of Wendish pirates. The pirates slaughtered the defenders. Since Langeland was then completely deserted, the bodies are allowed to lie for many months, perhaps a year, before people come to the site again, who use the scattered bones to fill in some holes along with other waste.
This is clearly a very unsatisfactory explanation. The Danes of the Middle Ages were deeply religious Christians, and it was unthinkable that they would not bury their killed compatriots in consecrated ground. Another explanation can be put forward that fits better with the findings: After several years of pirate attacks, Langeland was more or less deserted. Some Wendish families sought a new home on the almost deserted island. Some Christian Danish men, probably Svend and his men, decided that it was too much. First the Wends came as pirates and killed and expelled the Christian Danish residents, and then they came as pagan Wendish settlers and took possession of the land. They decided to organize a "endlösung" and surrounded the castles of Guldborg and Borrebjerg and killed all the Wends. They did not worry about looting. The bodies were allowed to lie where they fell. Photo own work.
Funen has always been a fertile and rich island, and this has undoubtedly attracted the Wendish pirates like a magnet. Svend and his men made a great effort to defend Funen. Saxo says: "He fought them on Funen, where the Danes fought with great bravery and felled so many of them that most of his warriors had the skin torn off their hands, so that their fingers were stuck in the bloody flesh, so the sword hilts had gnawed them." We will see later that Svend received the support and loyalty of the people of Funen for his efforts.
On Lolland and Falster there are many village names of Wendish origin, which testify to the fact that the original Danish population was displaced, wiped out and replaced by Wendish settlers. But on Funen there is not a single village name of Wendish origin, although Saxo writes "On Funen there were also only a few inhabitants left", which shows that the Wends did not succeed in creating permanent settlements on this island and nearby islands. The Funen people can most likely thank Svend Grathe for that.
But Knud had not given up. Saxo says: "However, Knud, with the few people, who had followed him into exile, went to Little-Frisland", which is also called Ditmarsken, which belonged to Denmark.
Just as Svend had promised the citizens of Viborg tax exemption if they went over to him, so Knud promised the Ditmarsken tax relief if they would support him. Saxo says: "When Knud now asked the people there for help, they were all very willing to give it to him, for he promised them relief in terms of the tax and debt they had hitherto had to settle, and determined to achieve this, the Frisians were tempted by a small advantage to take on a great burden." - "First they built a fortress on the Mildefloden, so that he could have his place of residence there."
When the news that Knud had returned reached Svend, he gathered the Jutland cavalry and the fleet of eastern Denmark. According to ancient custom, Svend had some ships towed overland from Slesvig to the Ejder. "From there he marched with his army towards the newly built city, which was well protected by marshes and a river called Mildne".
Svend's advisor Peder Thorstensøn recommended that he withdrew all warriors to the camp and let them prepare to resist an attack, but for now to hold back and do nothing.
Little Friesland or Ditmarsken is located south of the mouth of the Eider River in the North Sea along the coast down to the Elbe. At times during this part of history, the area belonged to the Danish king. Photo Wikipedia.
Saxo says: "The Frisians, who did not know this, hastily crossed the river with their entire fighting force, believing that the king inside the camp was not prepared to receive them, and their entire army then attacked the enemy with greater boldness than wisdom, determined to surprise him."
But the Frisians met unexpected resistance and counterattacks. Some fled into the swamps, pursued by horsemen who took advantage of the crossings that Svend's men had prepared with the collected branches, and many fleeing were killed.
Finally, the people of the city surrendered and became Svend's prisoners, but he released them all, including his father's murderer, Sorte Ploug. Saxo writes: "The townspeople, who were completely overcome by their many wounds and fatigue, since they could never find time to rest and tend to their wounds, and who received no help, now gave up hope and surrendered to the king. He proved to be far more faithful and lenient towards them than they had thought he would be, and even to Ploug, who had killed his father, Erik, he showed special mercy, for he did not punish his father's murderer."
However, Knud had already fled back to Germany and the emperor.
Knud went to "Germany and asked Frederick, who had recently become Roman Emperor, for help, promising that he would take Denmark as a fief under him," Saxo tells us, "The emperor, who was both by nature an extremely cunning man and also extremely eager to expand his dominion, was determined to subjugate such a large foreign kingdom and under the guise of friendship invited Svend to a conversation."
In his youth, Svend had served in Emperor Conrad's bodyguard together with Frederick, who later became emperor with the byname Barbarossa. Saxo says: "Under the guise of friendship, he invited Svend to a conversation, reminding him that they were old friends and comrades in arms." Svend was invited to negotiations in the city of Merseburg.
The emperor's plan was to use the civil war to subjugate Denmark. Saxo says: "Finally, the condition was set that he should submit to the Emperor as his sheriff, and Knud would then have Zealand as a fief under him in return for renouncing his claim to royal power and authority. If Svend would not agree to this, the Emperor would support Knud and send a fully equipped army into Denmark with him."
Saxo continues: "Svend, who realized that under such difficult circumstances he would either have to expose himself to danger or give in, pretended, as he agreed to it, but in order not to completely cut himself off from the opportunity to break the agreement, when he returned home, he made a reservation with regard to the many estates he had inherited from his father in Zealand."
Saxo continues: "When Svend, who had Knud with him, had returned home to Denmark, he immediately sent the Emperor a letter in which he frankly accused him of having betrayed him, refused him all obedience and declared that he did not intend to keep the agreement he had made with him, since he had been forced by fraud to accept terms that no Danish king had ever agreed to."
Svend and Valdemar now met and agreed to offer Knud - not Zealand as a fief - but instead a similarly large area "divided into three parts of the country, some in Jutland, some in Zealand and some in Scania, as he assumed that it would weaken his power that his fief was thus divided." Valdemar guaranteed the settlement and Knud accepted.
The Swedish common people flee from Svend's army. Drawing by Louis Moe.
Finally, Svend was recognized as the sole king of Denmark and could enjoy his dignity in peace, at least in peace from rivals. The Wends were still ravaging the Danish islands and coasts.
But Svend's unsuccessful attack on Sweden was in all probability a contributing factor to the ruin of his reputation among the Danish nobles.
The reason, or pretext, was that the Swedish prince Hans had abducted the wife and sister of the governor of Halland, Karl. Saxo tells "Captivated by their beauty, he kidnapped them and carried them off to Sweden to satisfy his lust. He is said to have acted so shamefully towards them that he forced them to have intercourse with him alternately every other night, and thus violated these chaste women by practicing the most hideous immorality towards them without regard to the fact that one of them was a married wife and the other a respectable widow."
The villain, Prince Hans, was quickly killed by Swedish peasants, the Swedish king Sverker begged for peace, and a papal envoy tried in vain to dissuade Svend from his continued intention of waging war against Sweden. But nothing helped.
He postponed the campaign as he wanted to wage war in the winter to avoid: "difficult winding detours" and would "make shortcuts over the frozen swamps".
But it was a long way from Scania to Sweden proper around Mälern through Småland and Götaland in snow and icy cold.
The Danes met only scattered and half-hearted resistance, but they could not endure the cold. They "also suffered from this harsh weather, could not lie in camp at night and not keep watch; some of them lit fires, others sought shelter, more afraid of the cold air than of swords and spears, and thought more about defending themselves against the cold than against the enemies." The horses died from the cold, difficult roads and lack of fodder. Many of his men sneaked away and headed home. The campaign collapsed completely.
It was at this time that Valdemar changed side.
Due to Svend's political weakening, new hope sprouted in Knud's camp. Saxo says: "Knud's advisors also thought that he should try to get Valdemar to divorce from Svend before he started a war with him, and that he should try to win Valdemar's friendship by becoming a brother-in-law to him. To achieve this, every time they spoke to Valdemar, they deliberately praised Knud's half-sister Sofia for her extraordinary beauty."
Magnus the Strong married the Polish princess Richitza and together they had Knud. Magnus fell at Fodevig, and Richitza then married Prince Volodar (or Vladimir) of Minsk, from which marriage she had Sofia. Therefore, Sophie was Knud's half-sister.
Sophie and Valdemar later had eight children together, so we must believe that it was love.
But at first Valdemar downplayed his interest. Saxo says: "Valdemar said that the virgin's poverty was an obstacle to his being able to marry her, because her father was a Russian, so there were no estates at all that she would inherit in Denmark."
But when Knud promised to give her a third of his ancestral inheritance as a dowry, Valdemar was persuaded, and he became engaged to her and "entrusted a married woman named Bodil to take care of her upbringing until she reached manhood."
It must have been fantastic news in Denmark. The fatal civil war was originally triggered by Knud's father, Magnus the Strong, killing Valdemar's father, Knud Lavard. With varying degrees of intensity, the war had raged for about 25 years and claimed thousands of lives. A romantic connection between the two families in the civil war must have truly given hope for reconciliation and peace.
Memorial stone for Svend Grathe in Karlslunde between Copenhagen and Køge. The text reads: "Svend Grathe and Radulf defeated the Wends at Karlslunde 1155". Photo Morten Dahlin on Facebook.
It was Svend's father, Erik Emune, who rose to the position of king by taking up the cause of the murdered Knud Lavard and the then unborn Valdemar, a cause that his son Svend had, so to speak, inherited. Svend must have felt the rug being pulled out from under him.
It was Valdemar and Knud who revived the civil war by having themselves crowned kings at the Viborg Ting in 1154, which was a clear declaration of war against the established king, namely Svend.
The kings met for negotiations in "Sundby, a village by the sea, and here they negotiated all day. Finally they came to an agreement, and at bedtime the king returned to Roskilde."
But it was still Svend who defended Denmark. He was the king that the enemies feared. On this very day in 1155, Zealand was attacked by an unusually large Wendish fleet. Saxo says: "Since they had already ravaged all the fields, they passed by all the places where there was no booty to get, and intended to take Roskilde by surprise." - "Now they had also heard from their scouts that everything was quiet in the city, and that the king was far away."
But Svend was there, and there was a complete massacre of the Wends. Saxo tells: "A few of them reached the shore and swam out to their ships, some, who were too eager to seek salvation in flight, ran blindly by fear into the water and drowned en masse" - "The Wends, who fled at full speed and were so eager to get to safety from the enemy's swords that in womanlike fear they threw their horses over a cliff and perished, so that they had to lose their lives among the stones with mutilated bodies."
Knud and Valdemar began the hostilities. Saxo writes: "When Svend, after his people had sworn allegiance to him, had returned to Zealand, he was soon attacked by his rivals with the Jutland fleet."
Svend also invited Eskil and the Scanian leding army to join him in Roskilde and decided to await the enemy's attack in this city.
However, similarly to the second battle of Viborg, he had problems supplying the large army he had gathered in Roskilde. Saxo says: "When food supplies ran short, he sold several of the royal estates to provide food for his people."
As with the second battle of Viborg, the enemy had not surrounded Roskilde. They were simply waiting nearby for Svend to run out of money. Knytlinge Saga says: "When they were in Lyngby in Valby Herred".
Therefore, one must believe that Svend - despite his good will, all his talents and many victories - was not supported by the majority of the Danish nobles. Nothing personal - but they just did not want a son of Erik Emune as king.
It was probably the case that Svend could not take the offensive, as he did in Viborg, because the enemy was too numerically superior to him, so he entrenched himself in Roskilde. Furthermore, Knud and Valdemar must have had completely superior financial resources, since they could afford to wait with such a large army and thereby exhaust Svend financially. This suggests that an overwhelming majority of Danish nobles had only accepted Svend for lack of better.
Reconstruction of Roskilde's fortifications under Svend Grathe as best the author can, according to the Roskilde Museum's description: "The rampart went all the way around the current city center. From the Røde Port, which was located where Hestetorvet turns into Algade towards what we today call the Røde Port, it went south towards the railway station (Sankt Peder Sogn) along the east side of Hestetorvet. Just east of the station building it turned west and followed the current Jernbanegade (formerly Smedegade). On this stretch, the rampart formed the southern boundary of Vor Frue and Skt. Nicolai Parishes, and at the outlet of Hersegade there was a south gate (later towards Køge). Where Jernbanegade to the northwest runs into Ringstedgade (here there was also a gate), the rampart curved north and followed the two roads that are named after it: Borgediget (western boundary of Skt. Budolfi Parish) and (after Budolfi Port at the outlet of Støden) Byvolden (western boundary of Skt. Mortens Parish). Where Skt. Claravej begins today, the rampart turned east and formed the northern boundary of Skt. Hans Parish. The rampart ran along what is now Birke Alle and Bellevuesti on the boundary between Provstevænget and Byparken, where it can still be seen in the terrain. Somewhere along this stretch, probably at Tuttesti, there was a smaller gate to the north, giving access to the harbour. The large gate to the north was located where Skt. Olsgade turns into Frederiksborgvej. From here the rampart went straight east as the northern boundary of Skt. Olai Parish, across what is now Folkepark (where there are also traces of it in the terrain), where it swung southwards towards Røde Port at Hestetorvet through what is now Sortebrødrestræde." However, the author had to ignore the information about: "The large gate to the north was located where Skt. Olsgade turns into Frederiksborgvej" as this would give the rampart an illogical course in relation to the other information. Photo own work on Google Maps inspired by Roskilde Museum.
Svend gave up without a fight. Saxo writes: "When the greater part of the army had already escaped, the King planned to flee and set off in great haste on the road to Falster with the rest of the warriors, without even his advisors having any idea what his intention was in moving so far from the city." When his men found out that they were fleeing, they tried to persuade him to fight: "It would also be the greatest shame and disgrace to flee before they had fought, and voluntarily leave the victory to an enemy they could overcome."
But Svend just didn't want to go on anymore, they couldn't make him give up his plan.
Svend's warriors decided to take up the fight against the enemy without him. They waited a long time, but no enemies came. Saxo says: "The Jutes thought that Svend's retreat was a stratagem, and therefore, for fear of ambush, thought it best to advance slowly."
Finally, Peder Thorstensøn suggested that they should disband the army and go their separate ways: "Finally, Peder urged them to disband the army and see how to save themselves, each to his own home, for it was exceedingly foolish, he said, to fight when one had no leader."
Saxo believes that Svend then stayed for three years with his father-in-law, Margrave Conrad of Meissen, until the latter died.
Perhaps in 1156Svend decided to return to Denmark: "After Svend had spent three years in exile with his father-in-law, the latter died, and he then gave the Duke of Saxony, Henry, hostage and promised him a large sum of money if he could help him return to the Kingdom."
"The duke then agreed to the offered payment, advanced to Dannevirke with a large army, passed by bribing the gatekeeper and then besieged Slesvig, which he taxed with fire," Saxo continues. "There Svend plundered a foreign fleet and took a quantity of Russian goods, which he gave to the soldiers as pay, whereby he not only kept the many foreigners away for the future, but also caused the magnificent merchant city to sink to a small, insignificant village."
The Saxons plundered uninhibitedly up through Jutland and "and those, who had previously promised Svend help, would not give him any assistance, when he came with foreign warriors, so that they would not be accused of having helped a foreign military force against their homeland."
However, the Saxons received information that a very large army was gathered against them, and therefore they decided to return to Germany very quickly. Saxo writes: "The road they had traveled for half a year, when they came, they now did in three days."
Svend sailed over to Funen, which had just been subjected to a very big Wendish attack. The Funen people had not forgotten his previous efforts against the Wends on Funen. He was received as a true king, who returs. Saxo writes: "The Funen people showed such a burning zeal to protect and serve him, that men and women flocked to him in droves from all over to fight for him, considering it a meritorious deed to help the King's fallen causes back on their feet against those, who had seized the Kingdom."
Knud and Valdemar gathered "the entire remaining Kingdom's fighting force by land and sea against the Funen people". But they preferred negotiation.
Valdemar rode to Odense "to bathe". He was received by Svend "with a solemn procession of clerks, who came to meet him with the shrines of the saints."
Saxo writes: "Svend then led him himself into St. Albani's Church, and none of their advisors other than Absalon were allowed to follow him." Absalon was Saxo's superior, and therefore we must believe that, what he reports about the conversation in Odense is essentially true.
Svend began the conversation: "An evil fate has hitherto envied me your friendship, Valdemar."
After this, Svend completely put his fate in Valdemar's hands: "In trust of your loving heart, I now make you a peacemaker on my behalf. I will be satisfied with the lot you will assign me, for I have gone through so much misfortune in foreign lands that I would rather live as a lowly and poor man in my fatherland than to be condemned to exile again."
Valdemar and Svend talk together in Albani Church in Odense. Drawing by Louis Moe.
Svend assured that he was not planning any fraud "as he had no need to provide for his own or his children's interests. He himself was so ill, he said, that he could hardly have another year to live, and he had no sons, for whom he should seek to obtain the Kingdom."
As agreed, Svend, Knud and Valdemar met on Lolland together with the entire Danish nobility. Svend invited Valdemar to a new confidential conversation in private, to which Valdemar agreed: "- and they then spoke together and called together the nobility for the next day."
This means that Valdemar had now had two long confidential conversations with Svend, in which Knud did not participate. One can imagine that they talked about how the cake should be cut. In any case, it must have aroused suspicion in an anxious person like Knud.
Saxo says: On the Nobility Day "Svend, with Knud's consent, made Valdemar an arbitrator and declared that whatever he decided, he would agree to. Valdemar then decided that all three of them should have the name of king, and divided the entire kingdom into three parts, of which one was Jutland, which was both large and had a population corresponding to its size, Zealand and Funen the second and Scania with its associated regions the third. As the one, who had made the division, he had the right to choose first, and he chose Jutland and then gave Svend permission to choose. In order not to be squeezed between his two fellow kings, Svend chose Scania, and the islands that the others had passed over in their choices thus fell to Knud."
When they had concluded this agreement, Knud and Valdemar went to Roskilde. Zealand had fallen to Knud and he wanted to prepare the banquet, which in history would be called The Blood Feast in Roskilde
The kings were sitting in the same room. The tables were removed and they sat and drank and talked about this and that. Svend boasted that he was a master in chess, it had been his main pleasure during his exile abroad. But a table could not be found for the game. A German singer entertained with a song about Svend's escape and wandering abroad, they asked him to be quiet about this, but Svend said that he had no objection to him singing about his sufferings, since they were now over.
Svend retired to his bedroom.
Knud grabbed Valdemar by the arm and gave him a kiss. Here we give the floor to Knytlinge Saga: "King Valdemar did not look away from the board, but asked: "Why are you so gentle, brother-in-law?" King Knud replied: "You will soon find out."
Saxo has no doubt that it was Svend, who was the villain. He says: "Those whom he had given this task immediately went with drawn swords to attack Knud and Valdemar. Valdemar, however, quickly jumped up from his seat, wrapped his cloak around his hand and not only used it to cushion the blows aimed at his head, but also gave Ditlev, who was rushing at him violently, such a blow to the chest that he fell to the ground."
Knud was killed and Valdemar wounded, but with the help of Esbern Snare he managed to escape to Jutland. Svend immediately assumed authority as king of Zealand, and his orders were followed.
But now the trust was broken and further negotiation was impossible.
Svend ordered leding in Scania and Zealand and gathered ships on Funen and Zealand.
Valdemar wanted to be sure of his supporters in Jutland. Saxo says: "Valdemar, who estimated that it was uncertain, what the outcome of the battle would be, hurried back to Viborg, where he celebrated his wedding, partly to make it easier for those, who had fought for Knud to come over to him, and partly so that the enemies would not be able to rob his beautiful fiancee of her chastity."
Swend went ashore at Djurså, which we must believe is near Grenå. From here he sent horsemen towards Viborg, whose citizens had previously supported him. Valdemar then sent two men, named Saxe and Buris to the enemy fleet at Djurså. They succeeded in persuading the Zealanders to abandon Svend and sail home. The Funenians, on the other hand, did not want to abandon their king. Saxo says: "The Funenians, on the other hand, for whom consideration for the king had more to say than consideration for what some individuals said, did not heed their admonitions."
The Grathe stone on Grathe Heath. According to local tradition, Svend Grathe was buried, where he fell, and a chapel was later built on the site, which was, however, demolished in connection with the Lutheran Reformation. The skeleton of a tall man with a split skull has previously been found here. In 1892, the poet Thor Lange had a stone cross the Grathe stone erected on the site, where the chapel used to be. The cross was designed by architect Valdemar Koch. Wikipedia by Kim Konnerup.
The armies met on October 23, 1157 at Grathe Heath northwest of Hauge Lake between Silkeborg and Viborg.
Men flocked to Valdemar from all over. There was never any doubt about his victory, " for his army had now become so large that not a tenth of his people could see where the banners stood."
Some peasants who were out for booty took Svend prisoner, completely exhausted: "for his strength failed him to such an extent that he could not even drag himself away, when he leaned on others."
Saxo says: "Finally, however, they recognized him, and out of respect for his royal dignity they put him on a horse, whereupon he asked them to take him to Valdemar" - "but at the same time one of the peasants suddenly jumped on him and chopped off his head with his axe."
It must have been King Valdemar, who out of respect for Svend had a chapel built on the spot, where he fell. Actually, in the same way that he had a chapel built in Haraldsted Forest, where his father, Knud Lavard, fell.
