1.
Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal
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Waldemar the Great, a member of the House of Ascania, was Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal from 1308 until his death. He became sole ruler of the Margraviate of Brandenburg upon the death of his cousin John V of Brandenburg-Salzwedel in 1317. Waldemar is known as the last in the line of Ascanian margraves starting with Albert the Bear in 1157, he was succeeded by his minor cousin Henry II. He was a son of Margrave Conrad of Brandenburg-Stendal and his wife Constance, Waldemar was co-regent from 1302, and succeeded as margrave upon the death of his uncle Otto IV in 1308. In 1307 Waldemar signed an agreement with the Swienca family ceding him the lands of Pomerelia, whereafter Brandenburg troops occupied Świecie, Tczew, the castle districts Schlawe and Stolp including the Swienca residence of Rügenwalde at first remained with Brandenburg. In 1312, Waldemar also waged war against Margrave Frederick I of Meissen. Frederick was captured and arrested, to regain his freedom, he had to cede the March of Lusatia as well as the towns of Torgau and Großenhain to Brandenburg and to pay a ransom of 32,000 silver Mark. In the Imperial election of 1314, Waldemar voted for the Wittelsbach candidate Louis IV against his Habsburg rival Frederick the Fair, in 1316, Waldemar again occupied Dresden until the feud with Meissen was finally brought to an end in 1317. Thereby, he provoked a large coalition of Mecklenburg, Werle, in August 1316, Waldemars troops were defeated near Gransee. According to the 1317 Treaty of Templin, the margrave had to surrender Stargard and he also had to waive the previous Pomerelian acquisitions of Schlawe and Stolp, which passed to Duke Wartislaw IV of Pomerania. In 1319 Waldemar acquired the Silesian towns of Züllichau and Schwiebus, in 1309 he married his cousin Agnes, a daughter of Margrave Hermann of Brandenburg-Salzwedel. Waldemar was the last governing member of the Brandenburg line of the Ascanian House, with the death of his cousin John V in 1317, the younger Salzwedel line of the Brandenburg margraves became extinct. From 1318 Waldemar also acted as a guardian for his minor cousin Henry II and his advance towards the Prussian lands was resumed more than 200 years later, when both Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were under the rule of the Hohenzollern dynasty. After Waldemars death, his wife Agnes secondly married Duke Otto of Brunswick-Göttingen in December 1319, when Waldemars ward Henry II died in July 1320, the Brandenburg branch of the Ascanian house died out in 1320. As a reverted fief, the margraviate fell back to the Wittelsbach king Louis IV, in 1323, he enfeoffed his eldest son Louis with Brandenburg, ignoring the claims of the Ascanian princes of Anhalt
2.
Ringsted
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Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name, Ringsted is approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Ringsted Station is the last station before trains bound for Funen and Jutland diverge from trains bound for Lolland-Falster, Ringsted is one of Denmarks busiest transit cities. The city is located in the middle of Zealand, connecting both the southern parts of Zealand as well as Funen and Jutland with the Copenhagen area. Danish Tramway Museum of Skjoldenæsholm, near Jystrup, St. Bendts Church — a Romanesque, former Benedictine, abbey church containing numerous tombs of medieval Danish royalty. Ringsted was the site of Sjællands Landsting during the Middle Ages, in 1805 it moved to Copenhagen and was renamed Østre Landsret, and is still active under this name. In 1131, Canute Lavard was killed in Haraldsted forest, leading to outbreaks of civil war, the town arms goes back to 1421. There has been discussion about what it portrays. The traditional answer is at the top the hand of God, the city officially interprets the three figures as Saint Canute Lavard, King Eric Plovpenning, and Saint Benedict of Nursia. The church was consecrated in 1170, in front of the church is the spacious town square leading to the shopping streets with shops and boutiques for every taste. Ringsted features two shopping centers named RingStedet and Ringsted Outlet Center, Ringsted also has a wide selection of cafes and restaurants, as well as two local breweries. During the summer months, a mobile tourist office is opened in the town square, jørgen Roed, painter Poul Ruders, composer P. C
3.
King of Denmark
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The Monarchy of Denmark, colloquially known as the Danish Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes not only Denmark, but the regions of Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark were already consolidated in the late 8th century, originally an elective monarchy, it became hereditary only in the 17th century during the reign of Frederick III. A decisive transition to a constitutional monarchy occurred in 1849 with the writing of the first Constitution, the current Royal House is a branch of the princely family of Glücksburg, originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the same royal house as the Norwegian and former Greek royal families. The Danish Monarchy is constitutional and as such, the role of the monarch is defined and limited by the Constitution of Denmark, the monarch is, in practice, limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, Queen Margrethe II ascended the throne on the death of her father, King Frederick IX, on 14 January 1972. On her accession, Queen Margrethe II became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375‒1412, during the Kalmar Union. Danish regnal names have traditionally alternated between Frederick and Christian, Margrethe has taken the place of a Christian, and accordingly her heir apparent is Crown Prince Frederik. The modern Kingdom of Denmark dates back to Harthacnuts son, Gorm the Old, the first King of a united Scotland was King Kenneth MacAlpin who died around 80 years before Gorm the Old was born. The Danes were united and officially Christianized in 965 CE by Harald Bluetooth, furthermore, the Jelling stones attests that Harald had also won Norway. The son of Harald, Sweyn Forkbeard, mounted a series of wars of conquest against England, the reign of Cnut represented the peak of the Danish Viking age, his North Sea Empire included Denmark, Norway, England and held strong influence over the north-eastern coast of Germany. The last monarch descended from Valdemar IV, Christopher III of Denmark, Count Christian of Oldenburg, descendant of Valdemar IVs aunt Richeza, was chosen as his successor and became the next monarch of Denmark, ruling under the name Christian I. Originally the Danish monarchy was elective, but in practice the eldest son of the monarch was elected. Later a Coronation Charter was signed by the king to restrict the powers of the Danish monarch, in 1657, during the Second Northern War, King Frederick III launched a war of revenge against Sweden which turned into a complete disaster. The war became a disaster for two reasons, Primarily, because Denmarks new powerful ally, the Netherlands, remained neutral as Denmark was the aggressor and Sweden the defender. Secondly, the Belts froze over in an occurrence during the winter of 1657-1658. In the following Treaty of Roskilde, Denmark–Norway capitulated and gave up all of Eastern Denmark, in addition to the counties of Bohuslän, but the Second Northern War was not yet over. Three months after the treaty was signed, Charles X Gustav held a council of war where he decided to simply wipe Denmark from the map
4.
Sweyn III of Denmark
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Sweyn III Grathe was the King of Denmark between 1146 and 1157, in shifting alliances with Canute V and his own cousin Valdemar I. In 1157, the three agreed a tripartition of Denmark, Sweyn attempted to kill his rivals at the peace banquet, and was subsequently defeated by Valdemar I at the Battle of Grathe Heath and killed. Sweyn was the son of Erik II the Memorable and the concubine Thunna. Sweyn travelled with Eric II to Norway in the mid-1130s, when his father fought King Niels to win the Danish throne, when Eric II died in 1137, he was succeeded by Eric III, and Sweyn was sent to the court of Conrad III of Germany. Here he befriended Conrads nephew Frederick, the later Friedrick I of Germany and he travelled to Denmark, where he and his cousin Valdemar sought to canonize Sweyns uncle and Valdemars father Canute Lavard in 1146, under protest from Archbishop Eskil of Lund in Scania. At the abdication of Eric III in 1146, Sweyn was elected king by the magnates on Zealand while Canute V was crowned by their counterparts in Jutland, for the next years, Sweyn fought a civil war against Canute for the kingship of Denmark, supported by Valdemar. Canute was supported by Archbishop Eskil, but Sweyn moved to secure Eskils loyalty by granting the Archbishop of Lund land holdings in Scania, Sweyn subsequently defeated Canute on Zealand, to confine him to Jutland. In 1147, Sweyn and Canute united to support the Wendish Crusade, as Sweyn engaged the Wends in naval battle, he received little support from Canute, and lost his flagship. The civil war was soon re-ignited, after several battles, Sweyn conquered Funen and parts of Jutland, and set Valdemar up as Duke of Schleswig. Sweyn then campaigned with Etheler von Dithmarschen against Adolf II of Holstein, Sweyn succeeded in banishing Canute in 1150, and Canutes re-entry with German troops in 1151 was also repulsed. Both Canute and Sweyn sought the support of Conrad III of Germany, in 1152, Frederick I was crowned King of Germany, and he brokered a deal in Merseburg later that year. The deal made Sweyn premier king, with Canute eligible to receive a portion of Denmark. However, Sweyn only granted Canute small holdings, breaking the agreement, in 1154, Sweyn was overthrown by an alliance between Canute and Valdemar, who was crowned Canutes co-ruler as Valdemar I. Eskil and the majority of Sweyns other supporters deserted him, Sweyn spent three years seeking support for a reconquest, and returned to Denmark in 1157 with the support of German duke Henry the Lion. This prompted the Danish magnates to force through a tripartition of the kingdom into Jutland, Zealand, Sweyn chose first, and was made the ruler of Scania. At the peace banquet in Roskilde on August 9,1157, the incident became known as the Bloodfeast of Roskilde. Valdemar escaped to Jutland, and on 23 October 1157, Sweyn and his army faced and met him at the Battle of Grathe Heath, which gave him his nickname Grathe. Sweyns army was defeated, and he was killed by peasants who caught him when his horse was sucked into a bog while he fled from the battle, in 1152, Sweyn married Adela of Meissen, daughter of Conrad, Margrave of Meissen and Luitgard of Ravenstein
5.
Canute VI of Denmark
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Canute VI was King of Denmark. Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk, Canute VI was proclaimed King of Denmark, first as co-regent in 1170 and as sole ruler in 1182 at the Urnehoved Assembly and subsequently at the other assemblies throughout Denmark. He immediately faced a peasant uprising in Skåne, the peasants refused to pay Bishop Absalons tithe. They met at the Skåne Assembly and chose Harald Skreng, one of Canute friends to represent them to the king to plead their case, the king refused to hear Skreng out and began to gather an army to teach the peasants their place. Before the king could muster his army, the nobles of Halland and Skåne cobbled together their own army, Canute arrived with his army and proceeded to teach the peasants a lesson with fire and sword. Canute was so relentless that Bishop Absalon begged the king to desist, emperor Frederick Barbarossa had compelled Canutes father to acknowledge him as overlord, and in 1184 Barbarossa sent a messenger to Canute requiring him to acknowledge the emperor as his liege. Canute failed to respond, so the emperor sent a second messenger threatening the emperors wrath if Canute failed to acknowledge his liege lord, Bishop Absalon replied to the messenger on behalf of Canute. Canute is as free a king as the emperor and he has as much right to Denmark as the emperor has to the Holy Roman Empire, and so the emperor should expect no allegiance from this place. The emperor flew into a rage when he received Canutes reply, Duke Bogislaw, recognizing a great opportunity quickly gathered 500 ships. The first notice of the invasion came from Chief Jærmer of Rügen who sailed to Zealand to give warning. The king was in Jutland, and so it was left to Bishop Absalon to order every available ship from Zealand, Funen, Absalon sailed for Rügen with his fleet and waited for Bugislaw to show up. When the enemy failed to appear, Absalon sent out scouts to bring word when the Pomeranian fleet arrived and he ordered his men to go ashore so he could celebrate mass on Second Easter Day. In the middle of services, one of the scouts ran into the church shouting that the enemy had been sighted through the fog, now will I let my sword sing the mass to the praise of God. Exclaimed Absalon as he set aside the altar implements, the Danish fleet weighed anchor and sailed through the fog toward the Pomeranians. Bugislaws fleet saw nothing of the Danes until they were enough to hear their war cries. Fear swept through the Pomeranians, and they tried to row away, the men panicked and began jumping from ship to ship which caused eight of them to flounder. The Danes threw themselves onto the ships to plunder them when Absalon shouted that they should leave the goods, few complied and with just seven ships, Absalon routed the entire Pomeranian fleet, capturing 35 enemy ships. Absalon sent Bugislaws own great tent to Canute, who was still in Jutland, with Bugislaws defeat the emperor gave up, for a time, his attempt to rule Denmark
6.
Magnus I of Sweden
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King Magnus III of Sweden, in Swedish Magnus Ladulås, was at times in error called Magnus I. Magnus I, was a Danish duke who ruled Gothenland in southern Sweden from the 1120s to c and his status as ruler of Sweden was disputed in his own time, but today he is recognized as one of the historical Swedish monarchs. Snorri Sturlason gives him the epithet Magnus the Strong, Magnus was the son of King Niels I of Denmark and Margaret Fredkulla, the second or eldest daughter of King Inge the Elder of Sweden. His elder brother Inge was killed in an accident, leaving Magnus as the sole heir to Niels. He grew up to be a tall and strong young man, the chronicles give different opinions about his character, depending on their political preferences. The near-contemporary Roskilde Chronicle calls him merry and generous and a lover of firmness in character, Saxo Grammaticus, on the other hand, says that he was well endowed by nature but still a violent brute. When Margarets first cousin King Inge the Younger died at a time in the 1120s. The Svear, on their part, had selected Ragnvald Knaphövde, according to the brief chronicle incorporated in the Westrogothic law, Ragnvald showed disrespect towards the Geats by not giving hostages when riding his tour of installation. In retaliation, Ragnvald was murdered by the Geatish population, an event sometimes dated to c, at his death, according to Saxo, power was transferred to Magnus. Magnus is not mentioned as King in the Westrogothic law, nor in any Swedish king-list, the law-speaker of Västergötland, Karl of Edsvära, governed his province around this time and is occasionally known in the sources as jarl or even king. The few sources from this period indicate that Christianity was still not implemented everywhere, the Bishop of Uppsala, Siwardus, was appointed by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in 1123, but forced to flee by pagans in 1130. Another bishop, Henry, was appointed in Sigtuna by the Danish Archbishop Asser. The alterations also indicate the clerical rivalry between Hamburg-Bremen and the Danish archbishopric, the still insufficiently Christianized Swedes henceforth saw him as a temple defiler who had robbed the gods. Around 1127, Magnus married Richeza, daughter of Boleslaw III of Poland, the couple had two sons, Knud and Niels. In 1130, Magnus backed Boleslaw III in conquering Rügen, the Polish forces together with a Danish fleet compelled the Rani to recognize Polish rule over the island. In 1131, Magnus had his cousin and potential rival for the Danish throne, Canute Lavard, murdered, after this deed he had to return to Gothenland, where he was still recognised as king. Though he was backed by Niels, Magnus found himself in a civil war against Lavards half-brother Eric Emune. The civil war weakened Magnuss position in Sweden, the Swedes chose a landowner from Östergötland, Sverker I, to be their king
7.
Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein
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Schleswig is a town in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg and it has a population of about 27,000, the main industries being leather and food processing. It takes its name from the Schlei, an inlet of the Baltic sea at the end of which it sits, Schleswig or Slesvig therefore means bay of the Schlei. The urban area ranges from 0 to 20 m above sea level, the nearest major cities are Flensburg, Husum and Kiel. Autobahn 7 runs immediately west of the city, highways 76 and 77 end in Schleswig and B201 runs to the north of the town. Schleswig station is a stop for InterCity and Intercity-Express trains and is on the Hamburg–Neumünster–Flensburg, the climate is humid and maritime. The annual mean temperature is 8 °C and precipitation averages 925 mm, the Viking settlement of Hedeby, located south of the modern town, was first mentioned in 804. It was a settlement in the Baltic region, dominating the area for more than 200 years. In 1050, following several destructions, the population was moved to the shore of the Schlei. In 1066 Hedeby was finally destroyed, and Schleswig remained as a part of the Danish kingdom, in 1544, Gottorf Castle became the residence of the local rulers. The dukes of Gottorf were vassals of the Danish kings and ruled much of present-day Schleswig-Holstein. In 1721, when the Great Northern War ended, the dukes of Gottorf lost their power, after the Second Schleswig War, Schleswig was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia
8.
Vordingborg Castle
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The Vordingborg Castle ruins are located in the town of Vordingborg, Denmark and are the towns most famous attraction. The castle was built in 1175 by King King Valdemar I as a defensive castle and his half-brother built another castle in a remote location, which is now Copenhagen. King Valdemar II similarly used the castle for expansion into the Baltic, and in 1241 it was where he created the legal system. By the time of King Valdemar IV, the castle had nine towers, the castle was the birthplace of Queen Margaret I, daughter of King Valdemar IV, in 1353. Large parts of the castle were demolished after the Swedish wars had ended, in order to construct a palace for Prince George, the prince never took up residence, and the palace too was demolished in the 18th century. Three manors were constructed nearby, including Iselingen, which became a place for many leading artists and scientists during the 1800s. Today Vordingborg Castle is a ruin, although parts of the fourteenth century ring walls remain, the only fully preserved part of the castle, the 26 meter tall Goose Tower, is the symbol of the city. The name comes from the golden goose that perches on top of the towers spire, although legend has it that Valdemar Atterdag used the symbol to taunt the Hanseatic League, the truth is the goose was first erected in 1871. The tower was transferred into the national trust on December 24,1808, next to the castle is a botanical garden and also a museum. A larger museum is planned which will include information on all of Denmarks historical castles, excavations of the castle ruins continue. Regular archaeological digs take place here, many of the finds are displayed in the exhibition at the Danish Castle Centre. In 2004, the National Bank of Denmark issued a 20 DKK commemorative coin for the tower, list of castles and palaces in Denmark Tourism in Denmark Museums website
9.
Vordingborg
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Vordingborg is an old ferry town in Vordingborg Municipality in Denmark. It has an urban area population of 11,843. These satellite towns have evolved during the last decades, due to three large estates surrounding Vordingborg and therefore prevented a collective development of the town, Vordingborg Municipality has a population of 46,000. Long term head coach of the Danish national football team, Morten Olsen, was born in Vordingborg, on January 1,2007 the old Vordingborg municipality was, as the result of Kommunalreformen, merged with Langebæk, Møn, and Præstø municipalities to form an enlarged Vordingborg municipality. Vordingborg is situated 37 km from Nykøbing Falster, roughly 50 km from Gedser, the town is situated on the island of Zealand and is linked to the island of Falster with Farø Bridges and Storstrøm Bridge. Vordingborg Municipality is home to 9,500 jobs, companies headquartered in Vordingborg include Vordingborg Køkkener, a kitchen manufacturer. Udbetaling Danmark, an institution under ARP, has one of its five regional centres in the town. The ruins of Vordingborg Castle, the old castle which was built around 1364, is the towns most famous attraction. The only fully remaining part of the castle, the 26 meter tall Goose Tower, is the symbol of the city and it is the largest of King Valdemar Atterdags nine main castle towers. The name comes from the golden goose perched on top of the towers spire, legend has it that Valdemar Atterdag used the symbol to taunt the Hanseatic League. The current goose was put there in 1871 and it is not certain what was on top of the tower before 1871 and maybe it was just a weather vane made of gold. The tower was transferred into the national trust on December 24,1808, a historic garden is also located on the site of the ruin. Vordingborg is the home of the South Zealand Museum, the city holds an annual festival, Vordingborg Fest Week in July. The Vordingborg Transmitter is one of the tallest towers in Denmark, the Danish Army operates a barracks facility on the edge of town, known as Vordingborg Kaserne. Margaret I of Denmark, monarch Peter_Andreas_Heiberg, author N. F. S, media related to Vordingborg at Wikimedia Commons Official site of Vordingborg
10.
St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted
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St. Bendts is a church in Ringsted, Denmark, which was originally part of a Benedictine monastery that burnt down in the 18th century. Built in the Romanesque style, it is the oldest brick church in Scandinavia and it is considered to be one of Denmarks architecturally finest churches. Furthermore, it is of historical interest as it is first Royal church in Denmark and it houses the tombs of many of Denmarks earlier monarchs. The church was dedicated to St. Mary. In 1157, Saint Canute Lavards bones were moved into a new chapel in the church with the approval of St. Canutes son, many miracles were said to have occurred there and the church immediately became a popular site for pilgrimages. With the funds raised from the pilgrims and thanks to Valdemars royal patronage, Valdemar had from the beginning designed the church for the Danish monarchy. The church formed the wing of a large monastery, probably built at the same time as the church. The architectural style indicates Lombard influence, possibly because the Benedictines brought Lombard builders to Denmark, the structure is cross-shaped with a central tower, typical of Romanesque architecture. There were, however, some modifications in the Gothic style such as the vaults, replacing the original flat ceiling. For centuries, the served as the monastery church, it was only after the Reformation that in 1571 it became a normal parish church. A fire in 1806 destroyed the monastery and damaged the church, as a result, the western wall was pulled down and replaced with an Empire style facade. The brickwork of the outer walls was covered with cement. Large-scale restoration work was carried out between 1899 and 1910 by the Danish architect H. B, storck who set out to restore the church to its former Romanesque style. It was the first time such extensive restoration work had been carried out in Denmark, the church took on its old appearance with new Romanesque windows in the nave. A pyramid-shaped spire was added to the tower, the cement was removed from the outer walls revealing the churchs original red brickwork. As the church houses the tomb of Valdemar the Great, it is of historical significance to Denmark. Since St. Canutes relics were enshrined in a chapel behind the high altar, indeed, from 1182 to 1341 all the Danish kings and queens were buried in St. Bendts. Apart from Valdemar the Great, they included Canute VI, Valdemar II, Eric VI and it is second only to Roskilde Cathedral for the number of royal Danish tombs it contains
11.
Sophia of Minsk
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Sophia of Minsk was a Danish medieval queen consort as the spouse of King Valdemar I of Denmark, and later a landgravine of Thuringia. Sophia was the daughter of Richeza of Poland, Dowager Queen of Sweden, several speculations have been put forward as to exactly who her father was, but his identity is still uncertain. It is guessed to have been Prince Volodar of Minsk or Prince Vladimir of Halicz, most probably it was Volodar of Minsk, who united the principalities of Minsk, Polotsk, and Hrodna under his rule, and had military interests in the Baltic region. Sophia was the half-sister of Canute V of Denmark, after her mothers marriage to the Swedish king, she followed her to Sweden and was raised at the Swedish court. She was betrothed to Valdemar in 1154 as a form of alliance between Denmark and Sweden, as she had no property in Denmark, she was promised 1/8 of Canutes estates. She left Sweden and arrived in Denmark at the time of the engagement and she was married to Valdemar in Viborg in 1157, three years later. Sophia is described as beautiful, dominant and cruel, according to myth, she murdered Valdemars mistress Tove and injured his sister Kirsten, but this is not confirmed. Sophia received a proposal from, and married, Louis III, Landgrave of Thuringia in about 1184, and was escorted to the border by her son and she was repudiated in 1190 and returned to Denmark. Sophia married Valdemar I of Denmark, and they had the children, Sophia, married Siegfried III, Count of Weimar-Orlamünde King Canute VI of Denmark Maria. Ingeborg, married King Philip II of France, Richeza of Denmark, married King Eric X of Sweden. After Valdemars death, Sophia remarried to Landgrave Louis III of Thuringia and this article is partially based on its equivalent on Swedish wiki Dansk biografisk Lexikon / XVI. Skarpenberg - Sveistrup Sophie of Polotzk thepeerage. com
12.
Valdemar II of Denmark
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Valdemar II, called Valdemar the Victorious or Valdemar the Conqueror, was the King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. The nickname Sejr is an invention and was not used during the Kings own lifetime. He was the son of King Valdemar I and Sophia Valadarsdattir, a daughter of Richeza of Poland. When Valdemars father died, young Valdemar was only twelve years old and he was named Duke of Southern Jutland, represented by the regent Bishop Valdemar Knudsen. Bishop Valdemar was a man and disguised his own ambitions as young Valdemars. When in 1192 Bishop Valdemar was named Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, his plot to overthrow King Canute VI with the help of German nobility, Duke Valdemar realized the threat Bishop Valdemar presented. He invited the archbishop to meet him in Aabenraa in 1192, then the bishop fled to Swedish Norway to avoid arrest. The following year Bishop Valdemar organised - supported by the Hohenstaufens - a fleet of 35 ships and harried the coasts of Denmark, in 1193 King Canute VI of Denmark captured him. Bishop Valdemar stayed in captivity in Nordborg and then in the tower at Søborg Castle on Zealand until 1206, Bishop Valdemar was released upon the initiative of the Danish Queen Dagmar and Pope Innocent III and after swearing to never interfere again in Danish affairs. Young Valdemar faced another threat from Count Adolph of Rendsburg, Adolph tried to stir up other German counts to take southern Jutland from Denmark to assist Bishop Valdemars plot to take the throne. With the bishop in prison, Duke Valdemar went after Count Adolph and with his own troop levies march south and he defeated and captured the count in the Battle of Stellau in 1201 and sent him to sit in a cell next to Bishop Valdemar. Two years later Duke Valdemar let Count Adolph buy his way out of due to an illness by ceding all of Schleswig north of the Elbe to Valdemar. In November 1202, Duke Valdemars elder brother, King Canute VI died unexpectedly at the age of 40, Duke Valdemar was subsequently proclaimed king at the Jutland Assembly. The nearby Holy Roman Empire was torn by civil war due to having two rivals contesting for its throne, Otto IV, House of Guelf, and King Philip, Valdemar II allied himself with Otto IV against Phillip. In 1203 Valdemar invaded and conquered Lybeck and Holstein, adding them to the controlled by Denmark. In 1204 he attempted to influence the outcome of the Norwegian succession by leading a Danish fleet and army to Viken in Norway in support of Erling Steinvegg and this resulted in the second Bagler War which lasted until 1208. The question of the Norwegian succession was settled and the Norwegian king owed allegiance to the king of Denmark. The German King Philip, recognised Valdemar as the legitimate Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Valdemar II and the fled capitulars protested to Pope Innocent III, who first wanted to research the case
13.
Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France
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Ingeborg of Denmark was a French queen by marriage to Philip II of France. She was a daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark and Sofia of Minsk, Ingeborg was married to Philip II Augustus of France on 15 August 1193 after the death of Philips first wife Isabelle of Hainaut. Her marriage brought a dowry from her brother Knut VI. Stephen of Tournai described her as kind, young of age. At the marriage, she was renamed Isambour, on the day after his marriage to Ingeborg, King Philip changed his mind, and attempted to send her back to Denmark. Outraged, Ingeborg fled to a convent in Soissons, from where she protested to Pope Celestine III, contemporary Canon law stated that a man and a woman could not marry if they shared an ancestor within the last seven generations. The council therefore declared the marriage void, Ingeborg protested again and the Danes sent a delegation to meet Pope Celestine. They convinced him that the family tree was false but the pope merely declared the annulment invalid. Ingeborg spent the next 20 years in imprisonment in various French castles. In one stage she spent more than a decade in the castle of Étampes southwest of Paris and her brother Knud VI and his advisers continually worked against the annulment. Contemporary sources also indicate that many of Philips advisers in France supported Ingeborg, possibly he also wanted more allies against the rival Angevin dynasty. As a dowry, he had asked the support of Danish fleet for a year, Knud VI, Ingeborgs brother, agreed only to a dowry of 10.000 silver marks. Marriage had been negotiated through Philips adviser Bernard of Vincennes and Guillaume, Pope Celestine defended the Queen, but was able to do little for her. Indeed, Philip asked Pope Celestine III for an annulment on the grounds of non-consummation “per maleficium, Philip had not reckoned with Ingeborg, however, she insisted that the marriage had been consummated, and that she was his wife and the rightful Queen of France. The Franco-Danish churchman William of Paris intervened in the case of Philip Augustus who was attempting to repudiate Ingeborg, Philip married Agnes of Merania, a German heiress, in June 1196. However, in 1198, new Pope Innocent III declared that new marriage was void because the previous marriage was still valid. He ordered Philip to dismiss Agnes and take Ingeborg back, Ingeborg had written to him, stating abuse and isolation and claiming thoughts of suicide because of harsh treatment. Philips response was to lock Ingeborg away in the chateau of Étampes, locked up in a tower, Ingeborg was a prisoner
14.
Richeza of Denmark
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Richeza of Denmark was a medieval Queen consort of Sweden, spouse of King Eric X and mother of King Eric XI. Richeza was a daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophia of Minsk and she received her first name, originally a Lotharingian-Burgundian female name, in honor of her maternal grandmother, the late Richeza of Poland. That was why Richeza, sister of the then reigning Valdemar II of Denmark, was married to Eric, Queen Richeza bore exclusively daughters as long as her spouse was alive. Dowager Queen Richeza was pregnant at the time and then gave birth to her surviving son. The family of King Eric X, however, was driven to exile from Sweden as the House of Sverker heir, John I of Sweden, was elected king there, to succeed Richezas husband. It was in Denmark that Richeza herself died, without seeing her sons accession to the throne, while nothing is concretely known about her person, the occurrence of the name Rikissa among her descendants may indicate that she was well-liked
15.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
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House of Estridsen
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The House of Estridsen, sometimes called the Estridsen or Estrith Dynasty, was the dynasty that provided the Kings of Denmark from 1047 to 1412. The dynasty is named after its ancestor Estrid Svendsdatter, the dynasty is sometimes called the Ulfinger, after Estrids husband, Ulf the Earl. Their family coat of arms became the coat of arms of Denmark, the reliable ancestry traces no earlier than Ulfs own father, the obscure Thorgil Sprakling. The dynasty reached its peak with the Kalmar Union, when its members reigned as kings of Denmark, Norway, the dynasty came to end in 1412 with the death of its last member Queen Margaret I. All of the subsequent monarchs of Denmarks were cognatic descendants of the House of Estridsen, agneta Agnes, founding Abbess of St
17.
Canute Lavard
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Canute Lavard was a Danish prince. Later he was the first Duke of Schleswig and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a German vassal, a position leading towards the double position of Southern Jutland. Canute Lavard was also the ancestor of the Valdemarian Kings and of their subsequent royal line and he was killed by his cousin Magnus, who saw him as a rival to the Danish throne, and was canonized in 1170. Canute was the legitimate son of Eric I of Denmark and Boedil Thurgotsdatter. He grew up in close contact with the family of Hvide. In 1115, his uncle, King Niels of Denmark, placed him in charge of the Duchy of Schleswig in order to put an end to the attacks of the Slavic Obotrites. During the next fifteen years, he fulfilled his duty of establishing peace in the area so well that he was titled Duke of Holstein. He seems to have been the first member of the Danish royal family who was attracted by the ideals and habits of medieval Germany. Whether these suspicions were just or not is impossible to say, both Niels and his son, Magnus the Strong, seem to have been alarmed by Canutes recognition by the emperor. On 7 January 1131, Canute was trapped in the Haraldsted Forest near Ringsted in Zealand, Ringsted Abbey, one of the earliest Benedictine houses in Denmark, became the initial resting place of Canute Lavard. In 1157, Canute Lavards remains were moved into a new chapel at St. Bendts Church in Ringsted, a chapel was erected at the site of his death during medieval times but disappeared after the Reformation. The ruins were rediscovered in 1883, in 1902 a memorial in the form of a 4-metre crucifix was erected near the site of the death of Canute Lavard. After the death of Canute Lavard, the Obotrite lands were partitioned between Pribislav and Niklot, both chiefs of the Obotrites, some sources consider the death of Canute to be a murder committed by Magnus, some attribute it to Niels himself. The death provoked a war that intermittently lasted until 1157. The fate of Canute and his son’s victory formed the background for his canonisation in 1170 and his feast day is celebrated on the day of his death, January 7. Canute Lavard was married to Ingeborg of Kiev, daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev and they had four children, Margaret, married Stig Hvitaledr Christina, married Magnus IV of Norway Catherine, married Prislav, son of Niclot, prince of Obotrites Valdemar I of Denmark Susanne Schurr. Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John The Penguin Dictionary of Saints
18.
Monarchy of Denmark
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The Monarchy of Denmark, colloquially known as the Danish Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes not only Denmark, but the regions of Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark were already consolidated in the late 8th century, originally an elective monarchy, it became hereditary only in the 17th century during the reign of Frederick III. A decisive transition to a constitutional monarchy occurred in 1849 with the writing of the first Constitution, the current Royal House is a branch of the princely family of Glücksburg, originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the same royal house as the Norwegian and former Greek royal families. The Danish Monarchy is constitutional and as such, the role of the monarch is defined and limited by the Constitution of Denmark, the monarch is, in practice, limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, Queen Margrethe II ascended the throne on the death of her father, King Frederick IX, on 14 January 1972. On her accession, Queen Margrethe II became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375‒1412, during the Kalmar Union. Danish regnal names have traditionally alternated between Frederick and Christian, Margrethe has taken the place of a Christian, and accordingly her heir apparent is Crown Prince Frederik. The modern Kingdom of Denmark dates back to Harthacnuts son, Gorm the Old, the first King of a united Scotland was King Kenneth MacAlpin who died around 80 years before Gorm the Old was born. The Danes were united and officially Christianized in 965 CE by Harald Bluetooth, furthermore, the Jelling stones attests that Harald had also won Norway. The son of Harald, Sweyn Forkbeard, mounted a series of wars of conquest against England, the reign of Cnut represented the peak of the Danish Viking age, his North Sea Empire included Denmark, Norway, England and held strong influence over the north-eastern coast of Germany. The last monarch descended from Valdemar IV, Christopher III of Denmark, Count Christian of Oldenburg, descendant of Valdemar IVs aunt Richeza, was chosen as his successor and became the next monarch of Denmark, ruling under the name Christian I. Originally the Danish monarchy was elective, but in practice the eldest son of the monarch was elected. Later a Coronation Charter was signed by the king to restrict the powers of the Danish monarch, in 1657, during the Second Northern War, King Frederick III launched a war of revenge against Sweden which turned into a complete disaster. The war became a disaster for two reasons, Primarily, because Denmarks new powerful ally, the Netherlands, remained neutral as Denmark was the aggressor and Sweden the defender. Secondly, the Belts froze over in an occurrence during the winter of 1657-1658. In the following Treaty of Roskilde, Denmark–Norway capitulated and gave up all of Eastern Denmark, in addition to the counties of Bohuslän, but the Second Northern War was not yet over. Three months after the treaty was signed, Charles X Gustav held a council of war where he decided to simply wipe Denmark from the map
19.
Danish language
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There are also minor Danish-speaking communities in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, around 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their home language. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of printing, a language was developed which was based on the educated Copenhagen dialect. It spread through use in the system and administration though German. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though there are variants of the standard language. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative, Danish has a very large vowel inventory comprising 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong and weak conjugations and inflections, nouns and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. As in English, Danish only has remnants of a case system, particularly in the pronouns. Its syntax is V2, with the verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch, other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language, Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where there are no sharp dividing lines between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas, West Danish, Insular Danish, and East Danish. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish, both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each others languages. By the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language was called the Danish tongue, or Norse language. Norse was written in the alphabet, first with the elder futhark. From the 7th century the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway
20.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
21.
Eric I of Denmark
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Eric I, also known as Eric the Good, was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of Sweyn II, Eric was born in the town of Slangerup in North Zealand. During the rule of his half-brother Canute IV he was a supporter of the king. Eric remained at the farm instead of accompanying Canute IV to St Albans priory in Odense where Canute IV was killed. Eric talked his way off the farm and fled to Zealand then fled to Scania which was part of Denmark at the time, Olaf I Hunger was elected King of Denmark, but his reign was short. At last Eric was elected as a king at the several landsting assemblies in 1095, Eric was well liked by the people and the famines that had plagued Denmark during Olaf Hungers reign ceased. For many it seemed a sign from God that Eric was the king for Denmark. Medieval chroniclers, such as Saxo Grammaticus, and myths portrayed Eric a “strapping fellow” appealing to the common people and he could keep his place when four men tried their best to move him. Eric was a speaker, people went out of their way to hear him. After a ting assembly concluded, he went about the neighborhood greeting men, women and children at their homesteads and he had a reputation as a loud man who liked parties and who led a rather dissipated private life. Though a presumed supporter of a centralized royal power, he seems to have behaved like a diplomat avoiding any clash with the magnates. He had a reputation for being ruthless to robbers and pirates, on a visit to the Pope in Rome he obtained canonization for his late brother, Canute IV, and an archbishopric for Denmark, instead of being under the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. Bishop Asser then became the first Archbishop of Lund, King Eric announced at the Viborg assembly that he had decided to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The cause, according to Danmarks Riges Krønike, was the murder of four of his own men while drunk at a feast in his own hall, despite the pleadings of his subjects, he would not be deterred. Eric appointed his son, Harald Kesja, and Bishop Asser as regents, Eric and Boedil and a large company traveled through Russia to Constantinople where he was a guest of the emperor. While there, he became ill, but took ship for Cyprus anyway and he died at Paphos, Cyprus in July 1103. The queen had him buried there and he was the first king to go on pilgrimage after Jerusalem was conquered during the First Crusade. Queen Boedil also became ill, but made it to Jerusalem where she died and she was buried at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Valley of Josaphat
22.
Mstislav I of Kiev
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Mstislav I Vladimirovich the Great was the Grand Prince of Kiev, the eldest son of Vladimir II Monomakh by Gytha of Wessex. He figures prominently in the Norse Sagas under the name Harald, taken to allude to his grandfather, as his fathers future successor, Mstislav reigned in Novgorod the Great from 1088–93 and from 1095–1117. Thereafter he was Monomakhs co-ruler in Belgorod Kievsky, and inherited the Kievan throne after his death and he built numerous churches in Novgorod, of which St. Nicholas Cathedral and the cathedral of St Anthony Cloister survive to the present day. Later, he would also erect important churches in Kiev, notably his family sepulchre at Berestovo, mstislavs life was spent in constant warfare with Cumans, Estonians, Lithuanians, and the princedom of Polotsk. In 1096, he defeated his uncle Oleg of Chernigov on the Koloksha River, Mstislav was the last ruler of united Rus, and upon his death, as the chronicler put it, the land of Rus was torn apart. In 1095, Mstislav wed Princess Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden, daughter of King Inge I of Sweden and their children were, Vladimir III Mstislavich Euphrosyne of Kiev, married King Géza II of Hungary in 1146. Through Euphrosyne, Mstislav is an ancestor of both Philippa of Hainault and King Edward III of England, hence of all subsequent English and British monarchs. Through his mother Gytha, he is part of a link between Harold II of England and the line of English kings founded by William the Conqueror. List of Ukrainian rulers List of Russian rulers List of people known as The Great His listing in Medieval lands by Charles Cawley
23.
Vladimir II Monomakh
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For the cruiser see Russian cruiser Vladimir Monomakh, for the submarine see Russian submarine Vladimir Monomakh Vladimir II Monomakh reigned as Grand Prince of Kievan Rus from 1113 to 1125. He was the son of Vsevolod I and Anastasia, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, contemporary Byzantine naming practice allowed the adoption of a maternal surname if the mothers family was perceived to be of a more exalted origin than that of the father. Eupraxia of Kiev, a half-sister of Vladimir, became notorious all over Europe for her divorce from the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV on the grounds that he had attempted a mass on her naked body. In his famous Instruction to his own children, Monomakh mentions that he conducted 83 military campaigns and 19 times made peace with the Polovtsi, since that time, Vladimir and Oleg were bitter enemies who would often engage in internecine wars. The enmity continued among their children and more distant posterity, from 1094, his chief patrimony was the southern town of Pereyaslav, although he also controlled Rostov, Suzdal, and other northern provinces. In these lands he founded several towns, notably his namesake, Vladimir, in order to unite the princes of Rus in their struggle against the Great Steppe, Vladimir initiated three princely congresses, the most important being held at Lyubech in 1097 and Dolobsk in 1103. In 1107 he defeated Boniak, a Cuman khan who led an invasion on Kievan Rus, when Sviatopolk II died in 1113, the Kievan populace revolted and summoned Vladimir to the capital. The same year he entered Kiev to the delight of the crowd. As may be seen from his Instruction, he promulgated a number of reforms in order to allay the social tensions in the capital and these years saw the last flowering of Ancient Rus, which was torn apart 10 years after his death. Vladimir Monomakh is buried in the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, succeeding generations often referred to his reign as the golden age of that city. Some sources cite his first wife as Gytha of Wessex, illegitimate daughter of Harold of England who had fallen at Hastings in 1066 and of Edith Swannesha. Problems exist in that none of the sources citing this are contemporary, married Leon Diogenes, a pretender to the throne of the Byzantine Empire who claimed to be a son of Romanos IV and who rose to the rank of khan of the Cumans in Ossetia. Vladimirs second wife, Eufimia, is considered to have been a Byzantine noblewoman, the Primary Chronicle and the Testament of Vladimir Monomakh record her date of death as 7 May 1107. However the Chronicle does not mention her name and this marriage produced at least six children, Roman, Prince of Volhynia Eufemia of Kiev. Married Vsevolod Davidovich, Prince of Gorodno and her husband was a son of David Igorevich, Prince of Volhynia. Yuri, later known as Yuri Dolgoruki, vladimirs third marriage is thought to have been to a daughter of Aepa Ocenevich, Khan of the Cumans. Her people belonged to the Kipchaks, a confederation of pastoralists, however the Primary Chronicle identifies Aepa as father-in-law to Yuri Dolgoruki, with Vladimir negotiating the marriage in name of his son. Whether father and son married sisters or the identity of intended groom was misidentified remains unclear, List of Ukrainian rulers List of Russian rulers Council of Liubech Kazhdan, Alexander
24.
Absalon
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Absalon or Axel was a Danish archbishop and statesman, who was the Bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and Archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and churchfather of Denmark in the half of the 12th century. He combined the ideals of Gregorian Reform ideals with loyal support of a strong monarchical power, Absalon was born into the powerful Hvide clan, and owned great land possessions. He endowed several church institutions, most prominently his familys Sorø Abbey and he was granted lands by the crown, and built the first fortification of the city that evolved into modern-day Copenhagen. His titles were passed on to his nephews Anders Sunesen and Peder Sunesen and he died in 1201, and was interred at Sorø Abbey. Absalon was born around 1128 near Sorø, Zealand, due to a name which is unusual in Denmark, it is speculated that he was christened on the Danish Absalon name day, October 30. He was the son of Asser Rig, a magnate of the Hvide clan from Fjenneslev on Zealand and he was also a kinsman of Archbishop Eskil of Lund. He grew up at the castle of his father, and was brought up alongside his older brother Esbern Snare and the young prince Valdemar, who later became King Valdemar I of Denmark. During the civil war following the death of Eric III of Denmark in 1146, Absalon travelled abroad to study theology in Paris, at Paris, he was influenced by the Gregorian Reform ideals of churchly independence from Monarchical rule. He also befriended the canon William of Æbelholt at the Abbey of St Genevieve and he was a guest at following Roskilde banquet given in 1157 by Sweyn to his rivals Canute V and Valdemar. Both Absalon and Valdemar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of Sweyn on this occasion, Absalon probably did not take part in the following battle of Grathe Heath in 1157, in which Sweyn was defeated and slain and led to Valdemar ascending the Danish throne. On Good Friday 1158, bishop Asser of Roskilde died, and Absalon was eventually elected bishop of Roskilde on Zealand with the help of Valdemar, Absalon was a close counsellor of Valdemar, and chief promoter of the Danish crusades against the Wends. During the Danish civil war, Denmark had been open to coastal raids by the Wends and it was Absalons intention to clear the Baltic Sea of the Wendish pirates who inhabited its southern littoral zone which was later called Pomerania. The pirates had raided the Danish coasts during the war of Sweyn III, Canute V. Absalon formed a fleet, built coastal defenses, and led several campaigns against the Wends. He even advocated forgiving the earlier enemies of Valdemar, which helped stabilize Denmark internally, the first expedition against the Wends that was conducted by Absalon in person, set out in 1160. These expeditions were successful, but brought no lasting victories, what started out as mere retribution, eventually evolved into full-fledged campaigns of expansion with religious motives. In 1164 began twenty years of crusades against the Wends, sometimes with the help of German duke Henry the Lion, in 1168 the chief Wendish fortress at Arkona in Rügen, containing the sanctuary of their god Svantevit, was conquered
25.
Eric III of Denmark
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Eric III Lamb was the King of Denmark from 1137 until 1146. He was the grandson of Eric I of Denmark and the nephew of Eric II of Denmark and he abdicated in 1146, as the first and only Danish monarch to do so. His succession led to a period of war between Sweyn III, Canute V, and Valdemar I. His mother was Ragnhild, the daughter of King Eric I, and his father the nobleman Hakon Sunnivasson, a great-grandson of King Magnus the Good of Norway and Denmark. Eric was the nephew of Eric II of Denmark, fighting for him at the decisive Battle of Fotevik in 1134, not much is known of Erics kingship. Contemporary chroniclers highly disagree about the personality of this king, Eric had to fight for his kingship against his cousin Olaf Haraldsen, sometimes called Olaf II. Olaf established a base of power in Scania in 1139 and tried to conquer the throne from there, during the civil wars, the Wends raided the Danish coasts and sounds without much Danish resistance. Eric supported Magnus the Blind and Sigurd Slembe in the Norwegian civil war and he worked to aggrandize the church, especially St. Canutes Abbey in Odense, and had a close relationship with bishop Eskil of Roskilde. In 1143, he married Lutgard of Salzwedel, daughter of Rudolf I, Eric and Lutgard were married by Rudolfs son Hartwig, then Provost of Bremen Cathedral, in 1143 or 1144. In 1146, Eric abdicated, as the only Danish king in history and he entered St. Canutes Abbey where died there on 27 August 1146, and was buried at the cloister. His abdication has been explained as being rooted either in his realization of his inability to govern, or an illness which ultimately killed him. This is taken to either reference the Lamb of God as he was seen as a man, as describing his mildhearted and generous nature, or indicating a weak. He married Lutgard of Salzwedel in 1144, which indicated an increasing German influence on Denmark and he and Lutgard did not have any children, though Eric fathered a son, Magnus, out of wedlock. After Eric died, Lutgard married Herman II of Winzenburg, media related to Eric III of Denmark at Wikimedia Commons
26.
Eric II of Denmark
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Eric II the Memorable was king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137. Eric was a son of Eric I of Denmark, who ruled Denmark from 1095 to 1103. Eric the Memorable rebelled against his uncle Niels of Denmark, and was declared king in 1134 and he punished his adversaries severely, and rewarded his supporters handsomely. He was killed by a subject in 1137 and was succeeded by his nephew Eric III of Denmark. Eric was born around 1090, to King Eric I of Denmark and he was given some Danish isles by his half-brother Canute Lavard, and was jarl of Møn, Lolland, and Falster. When Lavard was murdered in 1131, Eric joined his half-brother Harald Kesja in a rebellion against the responsible king Niels of Denmark, Eric was elected Danish Antiking in Scania in April 1131, which prompted Kesja to support Niels in jealousy. Erics army lost several battles against Niels and his son Magnus the Strong, including Jelling in Jutland in 1131 and Værbro on Zealand and his retreat earned him the nickname Harefoot. Eric unsuccessfully tried to convince Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor to support his bid for kingship and he returned to Scania in 1134, where Archbishop Asser of Lund joined his cause, and Lothair eventually supported him as well. In 1134, he defeated king Niels entire army at the Battle of Fotevik in Scania, with the help of German mounted mercenaries. Eric was proclaimed king at Scanias landsting assembly at St Libers Hill, with the resounding victory at Fotevik, Eric was given the nickname the Memorable to replace Harefoot. Kesja returned to Denmark, and was proclaimed king at Urnehoved landsting in Schleswig, Eric chased him down and killed Kesja and his sons, of whom only Olaf Haraldsen escaped with his life. He then sought to consolidate and legitimize his rule and he gave titles and privileges to his supporters, and proclaimed Assers nephew as Bishop Eskil of Roskilde. He initiated the process of getting his half-brother Canute Lavard canonized, Eric wanted to establish the divine right of kings, and canonizing Canute would support his claim on the throne. Canute was finally canonized in 1170, Eric was known as a harsh king to his enemies. In the summer of 1136, Eric undertook a crusade against the population on the Baltic island of Rügen. He ordered his men to dig a canal between the city and the rest of the island, the canal had the effect of drying up the spring which supplied Arkona with drinking water. He joined Magnus for a campaign in Norway, where he managed to burn down Oslo. When he learned that Eskil had raised the nobles of Zealand against him, Eric raced north to put down the rebellion spread rapidly across Funen and Jutland
27.
Canute V of Denmark
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Canute V Magnussen was a King of Denmark from 1146 to 1157, as co-regent in shifting alliances with his Sweyn III and Valdemar I. Canute was killed at the so-called Bloodfeast of Roskilde in 1157, nothing certain is known about his person and character. Canute was born around 1129, the son of King Niels son Magnus I of Sweden, in the following years, Canute tried in vain to defeat Sweyn III on Zealand for complete control over Denmark. In 1147, Canute and Sweyn united to undertake the Wendish Crusade, Sweyn and his cousin Duke Valdemar, the son of Canute Lavard, defeated Canute in Jutland in 1150, and Canute fled to his father-in-law Sverker I of Sweden. Canute attempted a number of reconquests, all of them unsuccessful, the resulting compromise of 1152, which was supported by Valdemar, made Canute the inferior co-regent of Sweyn. However, Sweyn decided not to effectuate the deal Canute now formed an alliance with Valdemar and Sverker, Sweyn fled Denmark in 1154, and Canute struck a deal with Valdemar, making him his co-ruler under the name Valdemar I. Canute was a king to Valdemar, and after Sweyns re-entry into Denmark. Sweyn, Canute, and Valdemar were set up as co-rulers, during the peace banquet in Roskilde on 9 August 1157, later known as the Bloodfeast of Roskilde, Sweyn attempted to kill both Canute and Valdemar. Canute was allegedly killed by one of Sweyns warriors, canutes half-sister Sofia of Minsk married Valdemar, who avenged him the same year by killing Sweyn at the Battle of Grathe Heath to win Denmark for himself. Not more than a year before his death, Canute married Princess Helen of Sweden, but they had no children
28.
Niels, King of Denmark
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Niels was the King of Denmark from 1104 to 1134. Niels succeeded his brother Eric Evergood and is presumed to have been the youngest son of King Sweyn II Estridson, King Niels actively supported the canonization of Canute IV the Holy and supported his son Magnus I of Sweden by killing the potential successor Knud Lavard. His secular rule was supported by the clergy, Niels was killed in an ensuing civil war, and his successor was Eric II Emune. Niels was born around 1063, married in 1105, and died in 1134 and his parents were King Sweyn II Estridson and an unknown concubine. Four of Niels brothers ascended the throne before him and he is first mentioned in history in 1086 when he was sent to replace his brother, King Olaf I, in the town of Flanders. When his brother Eric Evergood died in July 1103 during a pilgrimage, Niels and he married Margaret Fredkulla, the daughter of Inge I of Sweden. She was believed to have wielded considerable influence during his reign, during the majority of Niels reign, the country had internal peace. The contemporary Chronicon Roskildense describes him as mild and forthcoming, though not a competent ruler and he carried through reforms of his personal hird retinue, separating it into a military and an administrative branch responsible for tax collection. He placed family members as his jarls, including his son-in-law Jarl Ubbe and his nephews Eric and Canute Lavard, however, it is likely he did not win the full support of the magnates on Zealand. He also campaigned against the Wends in alliance with Poland, in 1125, Niels son Magnus was named King of Sweden as Magnus I. His wife, Margaret, died in 1128 or 1129, and his son, after 26 years of internal peace, conflict erupted between Magnus and his cousin Canute Lavard. Canute was popular in the Duchy of Schleswig where he was jarl and was seen as a successor to Niels. On 7 January 1131, Magnus slew Canute near Haraldsted just north of Ringsted, Niels initially condemned Magnus but eventually supported him, and a civil war ensued between Niels and the supporters of Canutes half-brother, Eric. Niels had his strongest base of support in Jutland, and the also supported him. Eric made little progress in Denmark and moved on to the battle for Scania in 1134, Niels and Magnus landed at Fotevik Bay in Scania in June 1134 seeking to deal Eric a decisive defeat. At the Battle of Fotevik on 4 June 1134, Niels, Niels escaped, while Magnus was slain. Niels sought refuge with Holy Roman Emperor Lothar III of Germany, Niels ventured into the former city of Canute Lavard on 25 June 1134, despite warnings. Should I fear tanners and shoemakers and he was greeted by the clergy, but he and his vanguard were slain before they could reach the royal palace as the townspeople turned against him
29.
Jutland
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Jutland, also known as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula, is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and the northern portion of Germany. The names are derived from the Jutes and the Cimbri, respectively, jutlands terrain is relatively flat, with open lands, heaths, plains and peat bogs in the west and a more elevated and slightly hilly terrain in the east. Jutland is a peninsula bounded by the North Sea to the west, the Skagerrak to the north, geographically and historically, Jutland comprises the regions of South Jutland, West Jutland, East Jutland and North Jutland. There are several subdivisions and regional names, some of which are still occasionally encountered today. They include Nørrejyllland, Sydvestjylland, Nordvestjylland and Slesvig, historically, Jutland was regulated by the Law Code of Jutland. This civic code covered the Jutland Peninsula from the north of the River Eider to Funen as well as the North Jutlandic Island. The Danish part of Jutland is currently divided into three regions, North Denmark Region, Central Denmark Region and Region of Southern Denmark. These three regions have an area of 29,775 km2, a population of 2,599,104. The northernmost part of Jutland is separated from the mainland by the Limfjord and this area is called the North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy or simply Jutland north of the Limfjord, it is only partly co-terminous with the North Jutland region. Inhabitants of Als would agree to be South Jutlanders, but not necessarily Jutlanders, the Danish Wadden Sea Islands and the German North Frisian Islands stretch along the southwest coast of Jutland in the German Bight. Jutland has historically been one of the three lands of Denmark, the two being Scania and Zealand. Before that, according to Ptolemy, Jutland or the Cimbric Chersonese was the home of Teutons, Cimbri, many Angles, Saxons and Jutes migrated from Continental Europe to Great Britain starting in c.450 AD. The Angles themselves gave their name to the new emerging kingdoms called England and this is thought by some to be related to the invasion of Europe by the Huns from Asia. Saxons and Frisii migrated to the region in the part of the Christian era. Old Saxony was later on referred to as Holstein, during the First World War, the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea west of Jutland was one of the largest naval battles in history. In this pitched battle, the British Royal Navy engaged the Imperial German Navy, the British fleet sustained greater losses, but remained in control of the North Sea, so in strategic terms, most historians regard Jutland either as a British victory or as indecisive. The distinctive Jutish dialects differ substantially from standard Danish, especially West Jutlandic, dialect usage, although in decline, is better preserved in Jutland than in eastern Denmark, and Jutlander speech remains a stereotype among many Copenhageners and eastern Danes. Administratively, Danish Jutland comprises three of Denmarks five regions, namely the Region Nordjylland, Region Midtjylland and the half of Region of Southern Denmark
30.
Duchy of Schleswig
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The region is also called Sleswick in English. Roman sources place the homeland of the Jute tribe north of the river Eider and that of the Angles to its south, who in turn abutted the neighbouring Saxons. During the early Viking Age, Haithabu - Scandinavias biggest trading centre - was located in this region and its construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737, has been interpreted as an indication of the emergence of a unified Danish state. In May 1931 scientists of the National Museum of Denmark announced the finding of eighteen Viking graves with the remains of eighteen men in them, the discovery came during excavations in Schleswig. The skeletons indicated that the men were bigger proportioned than twentieth-century Danish men, each of the graves was laid out from east to west. Researchers surmised that the bodies were entombed in wooden coffins originally, towards the end of the Early Middle Ages, Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries. The southern boundary of Denmark in the region of the Eider River, the Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne, by which the border was established at the Eider. During the 10th century there were wars between East Francia and Denmark. In 1027, Conrad II and Canute the Great again settled their mutual border at the Eider. In 1115, king Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard - a son of his predecessor Eric I - Earl of Schleswig, in the 1230s, Southern Jutland was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen, Canutes great-grandson, a younger son of Valdemar II of Denmark. Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire. The title Duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the kings of Norway who were also regularly elected kings of Denmark simultaneously. This was an anomaly – a king holding a ducal title, the title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the kings sons. Between 1544 and 1713/20 the ducal reign had become a condominium, with the royal House of Oldenburg, a third branch in the condominium, the short-lived House of Haderslev, was already extinct in 1580 by the time of John the Elder. On the west coast the Danish diocese of Ribe stopped about 5 km north of the present border and this line corresponds remarkably well with the present border. In the 17th century a series of wars between Denmark and Sweden—which Denmark lost—devastated the region economically, however the nobility responded with a new agricultural system that restored prosperity. In the period 1600 to 1800 the region experienced the growth of manorialism of the common in the rye-growing regions of eastern Germany
31.
Battle of Grathe Heath
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The Battle of Grathe Heath was fought in 1157 between the Danish armies of Valdemar I and his rival for the Danish throne, Sweyn III. Valdemars forces won the battle, and Sweyn III was slain while attempting to flee, the battle of Grathe Heath on 23 October 1157 marked the end of a civil war between Sweyn III, Canute V and Valdemar I the Great, all contenders for the Danish throne. After Eric III of Denmark had abdicated in 1146, Sweyn III, son of Eric Emune, was declared king of Zealand and Scania, while Canute, son of king Magnus, became king of Jutland. Canute made several attempts to conquer Zealand, but was driven off and fled to Germany, in 1152, a battle was fought at Gedebæk, close to Viborg. Canute lost and appealed to the German king, Frederic I Barbarossa, here, Frederic confirmed Sweyns rights of kingship, and Sweyn swore fealty to him. The nobles of Denmark were getting worried about the growing German influence, Valdemar, having at first joined Sweyn, who had made him duke of Schleswig, changed sides and was betrothed to Canutes half-sister Sophie. Both Canute and Sweyn were hailed as kings at the Landsting in Viborg in 1154, the three contenders agreed to share power, so that Valdemar would rule Jutland, Canute would rule the islands of Zealand and Funen, and Sweyn would rule Scania. Then a reconciling feast was agreed upon, and it was held in Roskilde 9 August 1157, but, according to Saxo Grammaticus, Sweyn ordered his men to kill the two other kings. Canute was slain, but Valdemar, though wounded, managed to turn over some great candlesticks and escape in the following fire and he fled out in the darkness and managed to return to Jutland. People flocked to Valdemars banner when Sweyns treachery was revealed, Sweyn landed at Grenå, but his fleet was destroyed by a combination of force and guile. Sweyn marched upon Randers and Valdemar retreated to the side of the Gudenå river. At the end of September Valdemar felt that he was enough to face Sweyns army. The battle was short, but vicious, Sweyn failed to locate Valdemars main force, and was suddenly attacked with such force that he fled his army. He blundered into the areas at one end of the Hauge Lake. Shortly afterwards, he was captured and killed with an axe, according to tradition, after his death, Sweyn was nicknamed Grathe, after the place where he lost both his crown and his life. Valdemar, having outlived all his rival pretenders, became the sole King of Denmark and he reorganized and rebuilt war-torn Denmark. Thor Lange has put up a cross at the site of the battle
32.
Svetovid
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Svetovid, Svantovit or Sventovit is a Slavic deity of war, fertility and abundance primarily venerated on the island of Rügen into the 12th century. He is often considered a local Rugian variant of the pan-Slavic god Perun, sometimes referred to as Beli Vid, Svetovid is often depicted with a sword or bow in one hand and a drinking horn in the other. Other important symbols included the horse, which were kept in his temple. Svetovid is associated with war and divination and depicted as a god with two heads looking forward and two back. Each face had a specific colour, the northern face of this totem was white, the western, red, the southern, black and the eastern, green. Boris Rybakov argued for identification of the faces with the gods Perun, Svarog, Lada, joined together, they see all four sides of the world. This gave rise to an etymology of the name of the god as world-seer. However, the forms Sventevith and Zvantewith show that the name derives from the word svętъ, meaning saint, the second stem is sometimes reconstructed as vit=lord, ruler, winner. The name recorded in chronicles of contemporary Christian monks is Svantevit, dawning One, implying either a connection with the Morning Star or with the Sun itself. The original name of the island Rügen or Danish Rygen at the Baltic Sea was Rujan, the autochthonous inhabitants of the island were the Slavic tribe, the Rujani, whose name was cognate with the islands, thus translating as people from Rujan. After the destruction and/or assimilation of the Rujani by the Danes, in 1168, according to various chronicles, the temple at Jaromarsburg contained a giant wooden statue of Svantevit depicting him with four heads and a horn of abundance. Each year the horn was filled with fresh mead, the temple was also the seat of an oracle in which the chief priest predicted the future of his tribe by observing the behaviour of a white horse identified with Svantevit and casting dice. The temple also contained the treasury of the tribe and was defended by a group of 300 mounted warriors which formed the core of the armed forces. Some interpretations claim that Svetovit was another name for Radegast, while states that he was a fake god. According to an interpretation, Svantevit was a Rugian counterpart of the pan-Slavic Perun. In Croatia, on the island of Brač, the highest peak is called Vids Mountain, in the Dinaric Alps there is a peak called Suvid and a Church of St. Vid. Among the Serbs, the cult of Svetovid is partially preserved through the Feast of St. Vitus, Vidovdan, a devotee of this god, in the story, is called Boleslav Arkonsky – a name evidently derived from the above-mentioned temple at Arkona. Demiurge The Slav Epic Vidovdan Svetovit from Zbrucz Archeological Museum in Kraków - Poland actual Svetovit monument - galleries from polish cities Svetovit figure discovered in Wolin - Poland
33.
Cape Arkona
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Cape Arkona is a 45-metre-high cape on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It forms the tip of the Wittow peninsula, just a few north of the Jasmund National Park. On the cape there are two lighthouses, a tower, two military bunker complexes, the Slavic temple fortress of Jaromarsburg and several tourist buildings. Because of its geology and the weathering that occurs here, there are frequent coastal collapses, Cape Arkona is often referred to as the northernmost point of Rügen, which is not true. Approximately one kilometre to the north-west, there is a point on the steep coast, known as the Gellort, directly at the foot of the Gellort is a 165-ton glacial erratic boulder known as the Siebenschneiderstein. The cape offers a view of the island, both from land or sea. The smaller of the two lighthouses was built of brick in 1826/27 based on plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and taken into service in 1828 and it is 19.3 metres high and has a focal height of 60 m above sea level. The rooms of the tower are used as operating and storage rooms. It is also called the Schinkelturm, on 31 March 1905 it was taken out of service. It is the second oldest lighthouse on the German Baltic Sea coast after the Travemünde Lighthouse, the largest tower was built in 1901/02 right next to the old tower and entered service on 1 April 1905. It is 35 metres high and has a height of 75 m above NN. It is made of brick and stands on a granite base. For 90 years its light source was two arc lamps, but they were replaced in 1995 by a Metal-halide lamp and this, combined with the rotating triple optics, emits 3 flashes every 17 seconds. The old naval navigation tower was built in 1927 of brick, the foundations of the associated radio operating facility inside the ramparts have survived to this day. The technical facilities of the tower were destroyed, however. In the old lighthouse, there is now a museum and a branch of the registry office, marriages may be commemorated here on a small plaque in the ground in front of the tower. The navigation tower is used as an art museum and studio, on each tower there is a viewing platform from which there are unobstructed views of Rügen and especially the peninsula of Wittow. In clear weather you can see as far as the Danish island of Møn
34.
Als (island)
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Als is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. Als lies to the east of the Jutland peninsula, across from the Danish town of Sønderborg, covering an area of 321 km2, the island has a total population of 51,322 as of 1 January 2010. It is administered as part of the Sønderborg Municipality as of 1 January 2007, to the north and east of the island are the waters of the Little Belt, to the south is Flensborg Fjord, and to the west is Als Fjord and Als Strait. Ferry services are run from the town of Hardeshøj on the island to Ballebro on the Jutland mainland, Als is a fertile island with a thriving pig breeding industry. The island was known for its fruit orchards, some of which are still in operation. The west coast of the island has many bays and coves, Stegsvig, Sandvig, Ketting Nor, Lille Hav, Augstenborg Fjord, Kær Vig, Hørup Hav, on the east coast along the Little Belt lies the 7 km2 Northern Forest, and Lake Nordborg. The former municipality of Nordborg is the home of Danfoss, Denmarks largest industrial company, there are many archeological finds that show the island has been inhabited from the late Stone Age. From the Bronze Age comes the Hjortspring Boat, during the Middle Ages the island come under the influence of a number of noblemen, each of which ruled over their portion of the island, and its citizens. King Christian IIIs son, Duke John, came in possession of the island as a titular Duchy, the island was again divided into several smaller Duchies later on, but this venture failed eventually. The palace, and the town consequently, received the name in honor of Ernests wife Auguste, the palace became the chief seat of their line which used the name Augustenborg as its branch name. Later a Danish king made the head of that line specifically Duke of Augustenborg and they grew in relative prominence in late 18th century, and the Duke of Augustenborg became the dominating person on the island. He left on March 18,1848, in 1864 the Battle of Als took place there. In 1870 Als was fortified by Prussia, under the two wars over which nation would rule the island, and the following period under Prussian and German rule, the islands population was largely Danish. In 1920 Als returned to Danish rule following a referendum, after 1920 Als has been marked by growing industry, especially after 1945 when Danfoss grew into an international corporation. The Augustenburg line died out in the 20th century, the town of Sønderborg is home to Sønderborg Castle and Sandbjerg Estate. Sønderborg castle is located in the centre of the town, and houses a museum focusing on the history, Sandbjerg Estate, which had belonged for many years to the Dukes of Sønderborg, and then to the Reventlow family, was donated to Aarhus University in 1954. The islands Augustenborg Palace has been converted into a hospital, there is an exhibit about the castle, the town and its ducal history in the buildings entryway. The castle church is open to the public in the summertime, list of islands of Denmark Schleswig-Holstein Question
35.
Wends
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Wends is a historical name for the West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where. In the Middle Ages the term Wends often referred to Western Slavs living within the Holy Roman Empire, mieszko I, the first historical ruler of Poland, also appeared as Dagome, King of the Wends. The name has survived in Finnic languages denoting Russia. According to one theory, Germanic peoples first applied this name to the ancient Veneti, and then after the period they transferred it to their new neighbours. The Germans in the south used the term Winde instead of Wende and applied it, just as the Germans in the north, to Slavs they had contact with, following the 8th century, the Frankish kings and their successors organised nearly all Wendish land into marches. This process later turned into the series of crusades, by the 12th century, all Wendish lands had become part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the Ostsiedlung, which reached its peak in the 12th to 14th centuries, due to the process of assimilation following German settlement, many Slavs west of the Oder adopted the German culture and language. Only some rural communities which did not have an admixture with Germans. With the gradual decline of the use of these local Slavic tongues, some sources claim that in the 13th century there were actual historic people called Wends or Vends living as far as northern Latvia around the city of Wenden. Henry of Livonia in his 13th-century Latin chronicle described a tribe called the Vindi, today, only one group of Wends still exists, the Lusatian Sorbs in present-day eastern Germany. The term Wends derived from the Roman-era people called in Latin Veneti, Venedi or Venethi and this people was mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy as inhabiting the Baltic coast. There they assimilated the remaining Germanic population that had not left the area in the Migration period. Their German neighbours adapted the term they had been using for peoples east of the River Elbe before to the Slavs, calling them Wends as they called the Venedi before and probably the Vandals also. In his late sixth century work History of Armenia, Movses Khorenatsi mentions their raids into the lands named Vanand after them and their tribal names were derived from local place names, sometimes adopting the Germanic tradition. Settlements were secured by round burghs made of wood and clay, some tribes unified into larger, duchy-like units. For example, the Obotrites evolved from the unification of the Holstein, the Lutici were an alliance of tribes living between Obotrites and Pomeranians. They did not unify under a duke, but remained independent and their leaders met in the temple of Rethra
36.
Pomerania
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Pomerania is a region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. The name derives from the Slavic po more, meaning by the sea, Pomerania stretches roughly from the Recknitz river in the west to the Vistula river in the east. The largest Pomeranian islands are Rügen, Usedom/Uznam and Wolin, the largest Pomeranian city is Gdańsk, or, when using a narrower definition of the region, Szczecin. Outside its urban areas, Pomerania is characterized by farmland, dotted with lakes, forests. The region was affected by post–World War I and II border and population shifts. Pomerania is the area along the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea between the rivers Recknitz in the west and Vistula in the east and it formerly reached perhaps as far south as the Noteć river, but since the 13th century its southern boundary has been placed further north. Most of the region is coastal lowland, being part of the North European Plain, but its southern, hilly parts belong to the Baltic Ridge, within this ridge, a chain of moraine-dammed lakes constitutes the Pomeranian Lake District. The soil is rather poor, sometimes sandy or marshy. The western coastline is jagged, with many peninsulas and islands enclosing numerous bays, Łebsko and several other lakes were formerly bays, but have been cut off from the sea. The easternmost coastline along the Gdańsk Bay and Vistula Lagoon, has the Hel peninsula, the Pomeranian region has the following administrative divisions, Hither Pomerania in northeastern Germany, stretching from the Recknitz river to the Oder–Neisse line. This region is part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The southernmost part of historical Vorpommern is now in Brandenburg, while its eastern parts are now in Poland. Vorpommern comprises the regions inhabited by Slavic tribes Rugians and Volinians, otherwise the Principality of Rügen. The West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland, stretching from the Oder–Neisse line to the Wieprza river, the Pomeranian Voivodeship, with similar borders to Pomerelia, stretching from the Wieprza river to the Vistula delta in the vicinity of Gdańsk. The northern half of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, comprising most of Chełmno Land, the bulk of Farther Pomerania is included within the modern West Pomeranian Voivodeship, but its easternmost parts now constitute the northwest of Pomeranian Voivodeship. Parts of Pomerania and surrounding regions have constituted a euroregion since 1995, the Pomerania euroregion comprises Hither Pomerania and Uckermark in Germany, West Pomerania in Poland, and Scania in Sweden. Pomerania was first mentioned in a document of 1046, referring to a Zemuzil dux Bomeranorum. Pomerania is mentioned repeatedly in the chronicles of Adam of Bremen, the term West Pomerania is ambiguous, since it may refer to either Hither Pomerania or to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship
37.
Baltic Sea
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The Baltic Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic countries, and the North European Plain. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, the sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. The Baltic Sea is connected by waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal. Traffic history Historically, the Kingdom of Denmark collected Sound Dues from ships at the border between the ocean and the land-locked Baltic Sea and they were collected in the Øresund at Kronborg castle near Helsingør, in the Great Belt at Nyborg. In the Little Belt, the site of intake was moved to Fredericia, the narrowest part of Little Belt is the Middelfart Sund near Middelfart. Oceanography Geographers widely agree that the physical border of the Baltic is a line drawn through the southern Danish islands, Drogden-Sill. The Drogden Sill is situated north of Køge Bugt and connects Dragør in the south of Copenhagen to Malmö, it is used by the Øresund Bridge, including the Drogden Tunnel. By this definition, the Danish Straits are part of the entrance, but the Bay of Mecklenburg, another usual border is the line between Falsterbo, Sweden and Stevns Klint, Denmark, as this is the southern border of Øresund. Its also the border between the shallow southern Øresund and notably deeper water, hydrography and biology Drogden Sill sets a limit to Øresund and Darss Sill, and a limit to the Belt Sea. The shallow sills are obstacles to the flow of salt water from the Kattegat into the basins around Bornholm. The Kattegat and the southwestern Baltic Sea are well oxygenated and have a rich biology, the remainder of the Sea is brackish, poor in oxygen and in species. While Tacitus called it Mare Suebicum after the Germanic people called the Suebi, the origin of the latter name is speculative. Adam of Bremen himself compared the sea with a belt, stating that it is so named because it stretches through the land as a belt and he might also have been influenced by the name of a legendary island mentioned in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder. Pliny mentions an island named Baltia with reference to accounts of Pytheas and it is possible that Pliny refers to an island named Basilia in On the Ocean by Pytheas. Baltia also might be derived from belt and mean near belt of sea, meanwhile, others have suggested that the name of the island originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhel meaning white, fair. This root and its meaning were retained in both Lithuanian and Latvian. On this basis, a related hypothesis holds that the name originated from this Indo-European root via a Baltic language such as Lithuanian, yet another explanation is that the name originally meant enclosed sea, bay as opposed to open sea. Some Swedish historians believe the name derives from the god Balder of Nordic mythology, in the Middle Ages the sea was known by variety of names
38.
Richeza of Poland, Queen of Sweden
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Richeza of Poland, a member of the House of Piast, was queen of Sweden and princess of Minsk through her three marriages. Richeza was the daughter of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland, by his second wife, tradition describes her as unusually beautiful. The Polish ruler Bolesław III Wrymouth entered in an alliance with King Niels of Denmark against Wartislaw I, in order to seal this alliance, a marriage was arranged between Bolesław IIIs daughter Richeza with Niels eldest son, Crown Prince Magnus. The wedding took place in Ribe around 1127 and was celebrated with pomp, Richeza bore her husband two sons, Knud in 1129 and Niels in 1130. As one of the heirs of his maternal grandfather King Inge I and he was recognized King of Götaland or parts thereof by the Geats in c.1129 after the death of his mothers cousin King Inge II. Then Richeza became Queen consort of Sweden, however, Magnus rule was not accepted by the Svear, another tribe to the north of the Geats, who vetoed him and elected Ragnvald Knaphövde as the new King. According to the chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, Ragnvald was murdered by supporters of Magnus, however, there soon appeared another contender for the throne, Sverker I, who had his power base in Östergötland. Richeza and her husband had their base in Denmark rather than Sweden, alarmed by the popularity and Imperial support of his cousin Knud Lavard, Duke of Schleswig, both Magnus and his father King Niels acted against Knud, who was murdered by Magnus on 7 January 1131. Meanwhile, Sverker I finally made the Swedes abandon Magnus in c,1132, when he was busy with the civil war in Denmark, he then unified the country under his rule. Niels was defeated in the Battle of Fotevik, and also lost his son Magnus who was slain during the battle, Niels escaped to Schleswig, where he was killed by the citizens. Now a widow, Richeza returned to Poland, apparently leaving her two sons behind in Denmark, once in Poland, Duke Bolesław III arranged a new marriage for his daughter. On 18 June 1136, Richeza married a member of the Rurikid dynasty, Volodar Glebovich, Prince of Minsk and Hrodno, the union was made in order to seal the alliance of Minsk and Poland against Denmark and the powerful Monomakh Kievan dynasty. During this marriage, Richeza gave birth to three children, two sons, Vladimir and Vasilko, and a daughter, Sophia, born ca. Around 1145, the advantages of the Polish-Minsk union began to disappear after the Monomach dynasty lost its hegemony among the Rurikid ruling branches. Likely this was the cause of the dissolution of the marriage of Richeza, Richeza returned again to Poland, this time with her daughter Sophia, but left her two sons behind with her former husband. Volodar never remarried and died around 1186 and she moved to Denmark when her son Knud or Canute V was enthroned in 1146. 1148, Queen Ulvhild Håkansdotter, Sverker Is wife and Richezas old stepmother-in-law, soon afterwards, the widowed King married Richeza, who arrived in Sweden with her daughter Sophia. The King likely married her with support from Richezas first husbands allies in Götaland, the union produced one son, Bulizlaus or Burislev, who was named after his Polish maternal grandfather
39.
Roskilde
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Roskilde, located 30 km west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand, is the main city in Roskilde Municipality. With a population of 50,046, the city is a business and educational centre for the region, Roskilde is governed by the administrative council of Roskilde Municipality. Roskilde has a history, dating from the pre-Christian Viking Age. Its UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral, now housing 39 tombs of the Danish monarchs, was completed in 1275, among the largest private sector employers today are the IT firm BEC and GPI, specializing in plastics. The Risø research facility is becoming a major employer, extending interest in sustainable energy to the clean technology sphere. The local university, founded in 1972, the historic Cathedral School, Roskilde has a large local hospital which has been expanded and modernized since it was opened in 1855. It is now active in the research sphere. The Sankt Hans psychiatric hospital serves the Capital Region with specialized facilities for forensic psychiatry, the cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum, which contains the well-preserved remains of five 11th-century ships, attract more than 100,000 visitors annually. The city is home to the FC Roskilde football club play in the Danish 1st Division, the Roskilde Vikings RK rugby club. In the 1970s, the city benefited from the opening of the university, Roskilde has the oldest operational railway station in Denmark, with connections across Zealand as well as with Falster, Lolland, and Jutland. The local airport opened in 1973, mainly serving light aircraft for business use, from the 11th century until 1443, it was the capital of Denmark. By the Middle Ages, with the support of kings and bishops, the Saxo Grammaticus and other early sources associate the name Roskilde with the legendary King Roar who possibly lived there in the 6th century. According to Adam of Bremen and the Saxo Grammaticus, Roskilde was founded in the 980s by Harald Bluetooth, on high ground above the harbour, he built a wooden church consecrated to the Holy Trinity as well as a royal residence nearby. Although no traces of buildings have been discovered, in 1997 archaeologists found the remains of Viking ships in the Isefjord. At the time, there were two churches in the area, St Jørgensbjerg, an early stone church, and a wooden church discovered under todays St Ibs Church. Harald was buried in the church he had built on the site of todays Roskilde Cathedral. In 1020, King Canute elevated Roskilde to a bishopric, giving it high national status, absalon, the Danish bishop, had a brick church built on the site of Haralds church in 1170. Todays cathedral was completed in 1275 after five of Absalons successors had contributed to its construction, as a result of Absalons influence, many other churches were built in the vicinity, making Roskilde the most important town in Zealand
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Philip II of France
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Philip II, known as Philip Augustus, was King of France from 1180 to 1223, a member of the House of Capet. Philips predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France. The son of King Louis VII and his wife, Adèle of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné God-given because he was the first son of Louis VII. Philip was given the nickname Augustus by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the Crown lands of France so remarkably, the military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward. Philip did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals, Philip transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns to free themselves from seigniorial authority and he built a great wall around Paris, re-organized the French government and brought financial stability to his country. Philip was born in Gonesse on 21 August 1165 and he spent much of the following night attempting to find his way out, but to no avail. Exhausted by cold, hunger and fatigue, he was discovered by a peasant carrying a charcoal burner. His father went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket to pray for Philips recovery and was told that his son had indeed recovered, however, on his way back to Paris, he suffered a stroke. In declining health, Louis VII had his 14-year-old son crowned and anointed as king at Rheims on 1 November 1179 by the Archbishop Guillaume aux Blanches Mains. He was married on 28 April 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders, who brought the County of Artois as her dowry. From the time of his coronation, all power was transferred to Philip. Eventually, Louis died on 18 September 1180, while the royal demesne had increased under Philip I and Louis VI, it had diminished slightly under Louis VII. In April 1182, partially to enrich the French crown, Philip expelled all Jews from the demesne, Philips eldest son Louis was born on 5 September 1187 and inherited the County of Artois in 1190, when his mother Isabelle died. The main source of funding for Philips army was from the royal demesne, in times of conflict, he could immediately call up 250 knights,250 horse sergeants,100 mounted crossbowmen,133 crossbowmen on foot,2,000 foot sergeants, and 300 mercenaries. Towards the end of his reign, the king could muster some 3,000 knights,9,000 sergeants,6,000 urban militiamen, using his increased revenues, Philip was the first Capetian king to build a French navy actively. By 1215, his fleet could carry a total of 7,000 men, within two years, his fleet included 10 large ships and many smaller ones. In 1181, Philip began a war with Philip, Count of Flanders, over the Vermandois, which King Philip claimed as his wifes dowry, finally the Count of Flanders invaded France, ravaging the whole district between the Somme and the Oise before penetrating as far as Dammartin
Media related to Valdemar I of Denmark at Wikimedia Commons
