|1103 to 1105.|

After Eric’s death there was an interregnum of two years. He had left his son Harald governor of the realm during his absence; but the conduct of that prince was so unpopular, that when the states assembled they excluded both him and his brothers, and resolved to choose some one of his uncles. The eldest, named Sweyn, died before he could be elected. Ubbo, the next prince, refused the dignity; which then descended to Nicholas, the next in age.

|1105 to 1126.|

The long reign of this monarch was one of calamities, occasioned chiefly by his jealousy of his nephew Canute, second son of the late king. Henry king of the Obotrites, a Slavonic people who dwelt on the Baltic coast from Mecklenburg to Pomerania, was nearly connected with the royal house of Denmark, his mother being Sigritha, daughter of Sweyn II. As the Obotrites had been subdued by at least two Danish kings, and forced to embrace Christianity, they were regarded in the light of vassals. But Henry, more powerful than any of his predecessors, since he had reduced other Slavonic tribes to his yoke, would be no vassal to Denmark, though he was certainly one to Germany. He first demanded his mother’s dowry, which he asserted had never been paid; and when it was refused, invaded the southern part of Jutland. Nicholas marched against him, and was defeated. To arrest the career of the invader was reserved for Canute, who had been invested by his father with the ducal fief of Sleswic. This prince not only cleared the duchy of its invaders, but carried the war into the country of the Obotrites. Henry now sued for peace, and was thenceforth the friend of his nephew. Canute had saved Denmark from many evils; and his conduct now showed that he was no less excellent a governor than he had been a general. He exterminated the banditti, restored the empire of the laws, and caused the arts of life to flourish. His reputation gave much umbrage to the king; nor was that feeling diminished when, after the death of Henry, he was presented by the emperor Lothair with the vacant regal fief. With this augmented power he maintained tranquillity the more easily, not in his ducal fief only, but in the whole of Denmark. His eldest brother Harald, whose vices had excluded him from the throne, made many hostile irruptions into Jutland; but Eric, his next brother, was no less ready than he to protect that kingdom.

|1126 to 1132.|

The contrast between the conduct of Nicholas and of Canute made a deep impression on the Danes. On two of them, the king and his son, it was no less painful than it was deep. To hasten his destruction was the object of both. The first attempt was to accuse him of some crime in the assembly of the states; but he defended himself so powerfully, that he was unanimously absolved. Disappointed in this view, Magnus requested an interview with him, under the pretext of settling all differences amicably; and, while unsuspicious of danger, assassinated him. All Denmark was in instant commotion. The kindred of the victim hastened to the meeting of the states, and displaying his bloody garments, called for vengeance on the murderers. To escape the popular indignation, Magnus fled into Sweden; but Nicholas, who relied on the support of a party, endeavoured to brave the storm. He was, however, solemnly deposed, and Eric, the brother of Canute, elected in his stead. But he refused to comply with the decree. He collected troops, and took the field against his rival, who exhibited no less activity in his own behalf. In the civil war which followed, the bishops took part, and fought like the temporal nobles. Canute had been the vassal of Lothair, and had demanded the assistance of the empire; and that monarch collecting a small army, marched into Jutland to co-operate with Eric in avenging the death of Canute. Seeing that the junction of the emperor and Eric must be fatal to his cause, Nicholas withdrew the former from the alliance by the offer of a large sum of money, and by consenting to hold Denmark as a fief of the empire. Lothair then returned, leaving the fortune of war to decide between the two kings.

|1132 to 1134.|

The retreat of the Germans was the signal for renewed and more fierce hostilities between the rivals. With his usual perversity Harald forsook the cause of his brother Eric, to fight for Nicholas; and Magnus, who had powerful armies in Sweden, brought reinforcements to the war. Success was varied: on the deep Magnus was defeated; on the land, Eric. But some acts of more than usual barbarity perpetrated by Nicholas and Harald at Roskild, diminished the number of their supporters. Still they were enabled to make another stand on the coast near the gulf of Fodvig in Scania. Victory declared for Eric: Magnus fell in the battle; and Nicholas, with much difficulty, escaped into Jutland. Among the slain were five bishops, and sixty priests. As Magnus was dead, Nicholas declared Harald, the brother of Eric, his successor,—a declaration which did no good to his own cause. To escape the pursuit of his rival, he threw himself into Sleswic, which was better fortified than any city in the North. But this was an imprudent act: in that city the memory of Canute was idolized; and there he was massacred by some members of a fraternity of which the deceased prince had been the head. Thus fell a monarch who in the early part of his reign had afforded his subjects reason to hope that he would prove a blessing to the realm, but whose subsequent conduct had covered him with universal odium.

|1135 to 1137.|

In the reign of Eric IV., who on the death of his rival succeeded to the government of the whole kingdom, there is little for history. One of his first exploits was to put to death his brother Harald, and eleven sons of that prince. There was a twelfth, Olaf, who escaped into Sweden, and became in the sequel king of Denmark. He next pursued the Vend pirates into their stronghold of Arcona, which he took and destroyed. On his return, he applied himself with zeal to the administration of justice; and was assassinated by a Jutland chief, whose father or brother he had judicially condemned to death. This tragedy took place in the midst, not merely of his court, but of his people, while presiding over an assembly of the Jutland states.

There were candidates for the crown,—1. Canute the son of Magnus, and consequently grandson of Nicholas; 2. Sweyn, a natural son of Eric IV.; 3.Valdemar, the son of Canute king of the Obotrites, who had been murdered by Magnus, and who in 1170 was canonized, like the martyr of that name who had ruled over Denmark. The bias of the assembly was evidently in favour of Valdemar; but as both he and the two other candidates were of tender years, the choice fell on a grandson of Eric the Good by a daughter.

|1137 to 1147.|

The surname of this king will sufficiently explain his character. He was indeed one of the most pacific of men. Yet he was compelled to fight for his crown; for Olaf, the only son of Harald that had escaped the bloody proscriptions of Eric Emund, appeared at the head of a considerable force, and claimed it. That if hereditary right only was to be consulted, the claim was a valid one, is certain, for he was the only representative of his father, the eldest son of Eric the Good. But the Danish throne was elective; and though the claim was confined to one family, little regard was paid to primogeniture. After many alternations of fortune, Olaf was vanquished and slain (1143). But Eric himself was conquered by the Slavonic pirates of the Baltic, who, though so frequently humbled (if any credit is to be placed in the national historians), soon re-appeared in numbers formidable enough to alarm the kingdom. This check, and the consequent decline of his reputation in the eyes of a warlike people, induced him soon afterwards to resign the crown, and to profess as monk in the cloister of Odinsey.

|1147.|

On the retirement of Eric the Lamb, the three princes who had before been rejected on account of their youth were again candidates. Valdemar being deemed still too young, the choice was restricted to the other two. Unfortunately for the interests of order both were elected,—Sweyn by the Lands Thing of Scania and Zealand, Canute by the people of Jutland.

|1147 to 1157.|

That the division of the sovereignty would inevitably lead to civil war might have been foreseen by the blindest. It was a long and a bloody one, which, though suspended for a time through the efforts of the pope, who wished all Christendom to arm against the infidels, burst out with renewed fury. Adzer, archbishop of Lund, led the Danish host against the pagans of the Baltic; but the expedition was inglorious; and the remnant which returned from it embraced one of the two parties. The fortunes of both varied; but when Valdemar, the favourite of the nation, joined Sweyn, the advantage was on the side of that king, who gained at least three battles over his rival. At one time Canute was driven from the realm, and forced to seek shelter at the court of the emperor Conrad III. But tranquillity was not the result of his retirement. The Wendish pirates, not satisfied with having defeated the archbishop, and incited by the agitated state of the public mind, ravaged the coasts both of Jutland and of the isles. Finding their king and nobles unable to protect them, the people entered into armed fraternities, which were consecrated by religion. They not only defended their own coasts, but equipped vessels to cruise in the Baltic, and to surprise such of the pagan ships as they might find detached from the rest. In a few years twenty-two of these vessels took above eighty of the enemy’s. Still these were partial, isolated effects, which had little influence over the general mass of misery. When Canute returned as the vassal of the empire, the civil war again raged. Frederic Barbarossa, as the lord paramount, now interfered, and meeting the two parties, decreed that while the title of king of Denmark should be left to the victorious Sweyn, Canute should reign over Zealand as a fief of the Danish crown. This award satisfied neither party, and least of all the nation, which was indignant with both of them for sacrificing its independence to the emperor. Sweyn refused to cede Zealand to his rival; and the civil war was about to recommence, when Valdemar, to whose valour Sweyn owed every thing, prevailed on the one to give and the other to accept, in lieu of that island, certain domains in Jutland and Scania. Peace therefore was procured for the moment; but it was a hollow peace, which the accident of an hour might break.

|1152 to 1156.|

The advantage which Sweyn had gained by the aid of Valdemar he lost by his misconduct. He adopted the German costume; imitated the German manners; expressed much contempt for every thing Danish as in the highest degree barbarous; seldom appeared at the national Thing; restored the old judicial ordeal of duel; became luxurious; and levied high contributions on his people. A disastrous expedition into Sweden made him despised as well as hated; and on his return into Scania, he was assailed by the yellings of the infuriated populace. Something worse than this result would have been experienced by him, had not a chief, named Tycho, one of the most influential in the province, rescued him from his position. When at liberty, he allowed his licentious followers to plunder the inhabitants. Many he put to death; and among them was the brave man who had saved him from their fury. This atrocious ingratitude lost him the favour of Valdemar, who passed over to the side of Canute, and cemented the alliance by marrying the sister of that prince. It was now the object of Sweyn to seize both princes, either openly or by stratagem; but they were on their guard; and each was always surrounded by armed attendants. At length he was vanquished, and forced to seek a temporary asylum in Saxony. But he obtained succour from the duke of that province, and from the archbishop of Bremen, who could never forgive the Danes for forcing the abolition of his jurisdiction over the North, and allied himself with the Slavonic pirates, who were always ready to join any party that offered them plunder. At the head of these forces he returned, and compelled the people to receive him as their king. Again Valdemar and Canute marched against him; but the former, pitying the sufferings of the people, offered his mediation, and tranquillity was for the moment reestablished. The chief condition of this treaty was, that the kingdom should be divided into three sovereignties; that Sweyn should have Scania, Canute the isles, and Valdemar Jutland, in addition to his duchy of Sleswic. The whole people abandoned themselves to joy, and Sweyn pretending to join in it, gave a magnificent entertainment to his brother kings in the castle of Roskilda. But at that very festival, he ordered both to be assassinated. Canute fell; but Valdemar, who defended himself courageously, escaped into Jutland.

|1156 to 1157.|

The reputation of Valdemar, and above all his words, easily induced the people to espouse his cause. Pursued by his active enemy, he was constrained to fight before his preparations were completed. The result, however, was indecisive. In a subsequent and more general action, near Viburg, Sweyn was defeated and compelled to flee. He was eagerly pursued by the victors, who overtook him in a morass, from which the weight of his armour prevented him from emerging; and he was immediately beheaded. Never did the Danes suffer more than under this unworthy prince. Enfeebled at home, degraded abroad, without government or security for either person or substance, they were sunk even in their own estimation. But for these disasters they could only blame themselves; they were the inevitable results of their own folly in dividing the monarchy.

|1157 to 1169.|

Never was the joy of people greater than that of the Danes when Valdemar, whose talents had been tried on so many occasions, succeeded to the undivided throne. They had need of an enlightened, a patriotic, an active, a firm governor to rescue them from anarchy at home, and humiliation abroad. One of his most urgent objects was to secure his coasts against the pagan rovers. In his first expedition, however, he effected little; his armament was inadequate to the undertaking. In the second, he subdued most of the isle of Rugen, and obtained great plunder. In the third, he had for his ally Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony; and both princes overran the maritime coasts of the Baltic, dictating such terms as they pleased. But such expeditions had never any permanent effect. If the pagans submitted, or fled, scarcely was their victor beyond the confines of their territory, than they recommenced their lawless career. It was so with Valdemar; it had been so with the most valiant of his predecessors. Five or six armaments in succession had only the temporary result we have mentioned. He saw that unless he entirely destroyed their strongholds, cut in pieces their gods, and converted them sincerely to Christianity, no peace was to be expected from them. With these intentions, in 1169, he led another armament against the isle of Rugen, and assailed Arcona. It was situated on the northern extremity of the island, and so defended by nature and art as to be thought impregnable. To the inhabitants Christianity had been announced; but no sooner were the visitors departed, than they reverted to their idolatry, and expelled the missionaries. To their gigantic idol, Svantovit, they offered human sacrifices, and believed a Christian to be the most acceptable of all. The high-priest had unbounded power over them. He was the interpreter of the idol’s will; he was the great augur; he prophesied; nobody but him could approach the deity. The treasures laid at the idol’s feet from most parts of the Slavonic world were immense. Then there was a fine white horse, which the high-priest only could approach; and in it the spirit of the deity often resided. The animal was believed to undertake immense journeys every night, while sleep oppressed mortals. Three hundred chosen warriors formed a guard of honour to the idol; they too brought all which they took in war to the sanctuary. There was a prestige connected with the temple; it was regarded as the palladium not of the island merely, but of Slavonic freedom; and all approach to it was carefully guarded. Waldemar was not dismayed. He pushed with vigour the siege of Arcona; and was about to carry it by assault, when his two military churchmen, Absalom bishop of Roskild, and Eskil archbishop of Lund, advised him to spare the idolaters upon the following conditions: that they would deliver him their idol with all the treasure; that they would release, without ransom, all their Christian slaves; that all would embrace, and with constancy, the gospel of Christ; that the lands now belonging to their priests should be transferred to the support of Christian churches; that, whenever required, they would serve in the armies of the king; that they would pay him an annual tribute. Hostages being given for the performance of these stipulations, the invaders entered the temple, and proceeded to destroy Svantovit, under the eyes of a multitude of pagans, who expected every moment to see a dreadful miracle. The idol was so large, that they could not at once hurl it to the ground, lest it should fall on some one, and the pagans be enabled to boast of its having revenged itself. They broke it in pieces; and the wood was cut up into logs for the fires of the camp. Great was the amazement of the spectators to witness this tameness on the part of so potent a god; and they could only account for it by inferring that Christ was still more powerful. The temple was next burnt; and so were three others, all with idols. The numerous garrisons of the island were made to capitulate; the victors returned to Denmark in triumph; and missionaries were sent to instruct the inhabitants in the doctrines and duties of Christianity. At the instance of bishop Absalom, the island was annexed to the diocese of Roskild. This was a glorious and it was an enduring conquest; a fierce people were converted into harmonised subjects, and piracy lost its great support.

|1169 to 1175.|

But with this vigorous effort, piracy was not extirpated: on the contrary, the Danish coasts were themselves ravaged the following year by the Slavonians. This disaster was owing to the anger of Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, who had sent a contingent to the corps of Valdemar. He had probably not expected the reduction of Rugen; he certainly was jealous of his ally’s success; and, to provoke a breach, he demanded half of the treasures, of the captives, of the hostages, and of the tribute stipulated to be paid. There was probably some justice in the demand; but the king refused to comply with it, and Henry, in great anger, informed the Slavonians that they might consider themselves at liberty to inflict whatever injuries they could on the Danes. How this prince had acquired so great an ascendency over these people; how they came to call themselves his vassals, is one of those problems which history cannot solve. There must have been treaties, and marriages, and conquests, which chroniclers have omitted. The fact of his ascendency is indisputable. “He was the only prince on earth,” says Helmold, “that could put a bridle into the mouth of that ferocious people, and direct it at his pleasure.” The vast restless tribes, from Courland to Mecklenburgh, wanted only this stimulus to rise; and they did rise, in numbers too formidable to be resisted. Valdemar and his ministers suffered the tide to roll on: they had the mortification to witness its ravages on their shores; but when it had spent a portion of its fury, they raised an armament, cleared their shores, passed into the Baltic, and, after some advantages, carried the war into the Vandalic territories.^[151] But what salutary impression could be made on a people who, at the approach of an enemy, plunged, with their substance, into the impenetrable recesses of their forests, and returned the moment that enemy retired? Jomsberg, indeed, one of the most flourishing maritime cities in Europe, was taken, and its great treasures became the prize of the victors; but the place had been taken before by Canute the Great in 1010, and Magnus the Good in 1044. No sooner was it demolished, than it began to rise from its ruins. Valdemar therefore perceived that, as he could not exterminate these numerous tribes, who often acted in a general confederation, and were always ready to descend upon his coasts, his only hope was in the friendly interference of the Saxon duke. He therefore met that sovereign, conceded all his demands, and had the satisfaction to see Henry issue his mandate, that the Danish coasts should no longer be molested. For some years they were not; but a very precarious surety was that which depended on the will of another person—a person who might, at any moment, change his policy, or whose influence might be destroyed by death.

The two prelates whose names we have mentioned, Eskil and Absalom, had great influence over the king, and over all the affairs of the realm. They were ministers of state as well as bishops, and able generals no less than ministers. Eskil had been educated at Hildesheim, one of the best schools in Germany at that period. His first preferment was a stall in the cathedral of Lund; and he rose through the gradations of the hierarchy to the see of Roskild, and lastly to the archbishopric of Lund, with the primacy of the North. The Danish kings soon found that the church had succeeded to more than the authority of the ancient pontiffs. Under the old system there was not a distinct priesthood; any chief of his clan—any at least who could trace his descent to the deified heroes of the North—could sacrifice. But now all the offices of religion were reserved to a body which, from its indissoluble unity, its vast possessions, its exclusive privileges, its favour with the pope, and its sanctity in the eyes of the people, was nearly irresistible. Eskil, while bishop of Roskild, contended with Eric Emund for the rights of his church—not with spiritual arms merely, but with the temporal sword. Being defeated, he was condemned to pay a fine of twenty pounds of gold. This hostility to the royal will did not prevent Eric’s successor from procuring his elevation to the archiepiscopal throne of Lund. In the civil wars between Eric the Lamb and Olaf the son of Harald, he adhered to his lawful sovereign, and was consequently expelled from his see; but on the restoration of the royal authority, he also was restored. In those battles between Sweyn and Canute, the predecessor of Valdemar, he for some time fought valiantly for the former; but, like Valdemar, he turned to the latter, for whom he drew the sword with equal valour. At one time he was a prisoner, but was released through the interposition of his friends, and, above all, through the sanctity of his character, which rendered him amenable only to the pope. It was soon his lot to dispute with Valdemar, on the question of the schism which divided the church. He declared for Alexander, and in so doing acted in concert with the whole Christian world, except Germany, or rather the German emperor, Frederic Barbarossa, who espoused the cause of Victor. Valdemar, influenced by the emperor, followed the same party, and so did Absalom, the friend of the king. For this adhesion Absalom was excommunicated by his metropolitan; but, aided by the king, he resisted: recourse was had to arms, to try which pope had the better right to the tiara; and the result being unfortunate to Eskil, he was compelled to retire into Sweden. At length he sued for pardon, and obtained it, on the condition of his returning into the royal hands some of the domains which the prodigality of former kings had bestowed on the church of Lund. Some time afterwards he resigned his dignity, and retired to the monastery of Clairvaux, in France. To that retirement he gave the preference, from his intimacy with St. Bernard. He had founded in Denmark five monasteries of the same order (that of St. Benedict reformed); and, notwithstanding his martial prowess, he was regarded by the inmates of Clairvaux as half a saint, especially after his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He died in 1181.

|1175 to 1179.|

The successor of Eskil in the primacy was bishop Absalom. This churchman, a native of Zealand, and descended from one of the noblest families in Denmark, was the most warlike prelate of the age. His attachment to Roskild was such, that he at first refused the dignity, notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of the electors, and the commands of the king. He would not separate from a people with whom he had been so long acquainted; and to hold both sees was contrary to the canons. When entreaties and rewards were equally ineffectual, application was made to the pope, who commanded him, under ecclesiastical penalties, to assume the primacy, with the legatine authority, and at the same time to hold the see of Roskild. He therefore submitted, and undertook the multitude of affairs rendered necessary by so many posts—chief minister of state, general, admiral, judge, bishop, archbishop, legate: how he found time for all his duties may well surprise us. His military talents were of a high order; and his arms were not suffered to rust after his elevation. He had often assisted to subdue the Wend pirates; and against them he would now defend his flock, on the more exposed coasts of his diocese. For this purpose he caused rude huts to be erected on various parts of the coast; and leaving his palace to his clergy, he resided in one or the other of these, according to the exigencies of the occasion. Day and night he was ready to repel any attack of the pirates on his humble flock. Neither the wintry storm, nor the extreme cold, could prevent him from cruising off the coast in search of the enemy. He was even known to leave the altar when danger approached, and to wield the sword with an arm which few lay nobles could equal. Thus, he was one Palm Sunday informed that the pirates had disembarked, and were ravaging the district. Throwing aside his mitre, his crosier, and his pontifical vestments, he hastily assumed his armour, summoned his household dependents, marched to the spot, and compelled them to retire with great loss to their ships. But if he was thus martial, he was by no means inattentive to the duties of his station. He was an active bishop, and a generous patron of letters. By him Sweyn Aggesen and Saxo Grammaticus were enabled to write their respective histories. He paid great attention to the school which Eskil had founded; and, in the distribution of church patronage (and his was immense), he always gave the preference to the men, who, cæteris paribus, excelled in literature. Hence he exercised a much greater influence than his predecessor over the destinies of the kingdom. In the Thing his voice was always heard with respect; he was a stout advocate for the national independence; and his ascendency alike over the sovereign and nobles frequently enabled him to restore peace when other means of reconciliation were wanting. Nor must we omit to state, that to him the city of Copenhagen owes its origin. In 1168 it was a mere fishing village. The bishop erected a fortress on the spot as a defence against the sea-rovers, and in it placed a strong garrison. The security afforded by the place attracted many settlers to it; it rose into wealth and population, and by Valdemar was annexed to the see of Roskild, to remain dependent on an authority which had called it into existence. By the successors of Absalom it was endowed with a municipal charter, and its privileges confirmed by the crown.

|1176 to 1179.|

There was but one circumstance to diminish the popularity of Valdemar and his archbishop. The latter, a strenuous advocate of all ecclesiastical privileges, persuaded the former to enforce the collection of tithes even by the sword. The ascendency of their characters, and the services which both had rendered to the country, averted mischiefs, that would have followed had any other persons acted with equal rigour in regard to that obnoxious impost. Both thought that resistance to this impost was double guilt—rebellion and impiety,—and on this belief they acted. But they had other reasons for severity. The Scanians, who most distinguished themselves by their hostility to the impost, were also unfriendly to bishops, and still more to clerical celibacy. Nor were they satisfied with remonstrances; they flew to arms, and the archbishop was compelled to retire. But he retired only to collect an armed force; and being joined by the king, he returned to the province. As both were lenient, they tried what could be effected by negotiation. But the insurgents were impracticable: probably they believed that both were afraid of them; and they persisted in their rebellion, until they were routed with great loss. Their only resource was to throw themselves on the king’s mercy, and they were readily pardoned. Still they refused to pay the tithes; and as Valdemar dreaded greater evils, he prevailed on the archbishop to suspend the collection until the minds of his flock were more accessible to reason.

|1166 to 1177.|

Long before the death of Valdemar, the states of the kingdom, grateful for the services which he was every day rendering to his people, at the perpetual risk of his own life, declared his son Canute his successor. In 1177 the young prince was joined in the administration.

|1180.|

The transactions of Valdemar with the sovereigns of Norway will be noticed in the chapter devoted to the history of that kingdom. Those with the empire were of a more complicated and not less interesting character. It was the object of Conrad III. and of Frederic Barbarossa, to make both him and his kingdom entirely dependent on the empire. To the latter this object was of greater importance, since in his perpetual disputes with the spiritual head of Christendom he wanted all the support that could be obtained. As little could be effected by embassy, he had at least two interviews with Valdemar, who was accompanied by Absalom. On the first occasion Frederic rather forced than persuaded him into an act of homage. There are writers who contend that this homage was rendered only for the conquests which the king had made on the Baltic coast, or at most for the duchy of Sleswic. The contrary, however, is apparent from written instruments. On another occasion the emperor had need of Valdemar’s aid against the duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion; and the king conducted that aid in person. Arriving with his fleet at Lubeck, his majestic presence won the admiration of the German princes. From the emperor he received many favours, and the question of homage for the kingdom of Denmark was this time waived. We are not told why Valdemar so readily abandoned the Saxon duke (whose daughter was the wife of his son Canute) for the emperor; but interest was probably the chief motive. Flattered by the proposal of a two-fold matrimonial alliance between his family and that of Hohenstauffen, he left the unfortunate Henry to his fate. These alliances, however, were not solemnised, owing to the youth of the parties, and still more to the heavy sum demanded by Frederic as dowry.

|1182.|

On his return to his own dominions, Valdemar was preparing for another expedition against the Slavonians,—probably to reduce them under his sceptre, and to obtain the same ascendency over them as Henry the Lion had possessed—when death surprised him in Zealand, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Never was monarch more lamented; he was indeed a great and a good one. As a conqueror, and a conqueror over savage enemies, whose humiliation was necessary to the repose of the kingdom, he was celebrated throughout Europe. But he was also a legislator. Three different codes emanated from his authority:—the law of Scania, which was founded on the ancient customs of the inhabitants, was also amplified by new provisions, rendered necessary by an improved state of society. Such as were essentially pagan were rejected; others, pagan in their origin, were easily made applicable to Christian times. This code was published in two parts,—the ecclesiastical and the civil—the former in 1162, the latter in the following year. 2. The Zealand law or code was also founded on the unwritten observances of the inhabitants; which observances were altered, modified, curtailed, or amplified, according to the actual necessities of the period. They were published in 1171, and were also divided into two portions—the civil and the ecclesiastical. These codes, with the addition of the Jutland law, which was added by Valdemar II. form the basis of the present law of Denmark. From the reign of this able monarch, the rights of all classes in the community were more clearly defined. But those of the agricultural class were not improved by the change of circumstances. Prior to Valdemar’s reign even the peasants attended the provincial Thing in arms. They exercised the right of suffrage which they had derived from their pagan ancestors, with as much freedom as the noble. But when feudality made such progress in the kingdom; when compelled to exchange their allodial for vassalitic lands, and to march at the bidding of their temporal or ecclesiastical chief, they lost their noble independence. Yet from evil comes good. Many of them had been unruly subjects; if unable to carry any thing by clamour, they had used their arms with better effect, and through their numerical superiority, they had too often prevailed on the calm wisdom of the old chiefs. Now they were no longer allowed to appear in arms, and the change was a blessing.

|1182.|

This prince had been crowned in his father’s lifetime and from his fourteenth year had been admitted to a share in the government. His accession therefore to the undivided sovereignty was expected to pass without opposition. But the people of Scania elected another sovereign—Harald, a grandson of prince Magnus. The contest, however, was short lived; they were reduced, and their ruler compelled to flee into Sweden.

|1182 to 1189.|

The reign of this monarch was one of conquest and of prosperity. Soon after his accession, Absalom the archbishop led an armament against Bogislas duke of Pomerania, who exhibited ill-will to Denmark and her vassals, and obtained a complete victory over the enemy. During the two following years the warlike operations continued, and Bogislas at length was compelled to throw himself on the royal mercy. Besides offering a large quantity of gold, he did homage for all his possessions to Canute. The two dukes of Mecklenburgh were also reduced, and acknowledged fealty to him. The submission of two such provinces, which had been dependent on Henry the Lion, and had subsequently acknowledged the superiority of the empire, filled the king with so much pleasure, that he assumed the title of king of the Vandals. To this title he had, in his opinion, a two-fold claim: first, in virtue of the investiture of his ancestor, Canute duke of Sleswic, with the royal fief of the Obotrites^[152]; and, secondly, in virtue of his present conquests.

|1183 to 1188.|

To assume the feudal supremacy over these regions was a blow struck at the authority of the emperor Frederic Barbarossa. Between these potentates there was a misunderstanding from the very commencement of Canute’s reign. Frederic invited him to his court under the pretext of drawing more closely the amicable bonds which had been formed between him and Valdemar; but as the king suspected that this was only a lure to enforce the payment of homage, he evaded compliance. It soon appeared that such was indeed the intention; for he was formally summoned to visit the diet for that purpose. A second refusal to attend so exasperated Frederic that he threatened to confer the fief of Denmark on some other vassal. The king replied, that before he could give it, he must first take it. All negotiation being useless, the emperor offered the greatest insult to the majesty of Denmark, by sending back to her own country the sister of Canute, who had been betrothed to his second son, the duke of Swabia. From this moment the breach was irreparable; and the king turned with more zeal to the cause of his father-in-law Henry the Lion.

|1191 to 1202.|

The next three years were years of tranquillity for the realm; but its peace was now disturbed by a bishop and a member of the royal family. Valdemar, a bastard son of Canute V., held the see of Sleswic. In addition, the king had conferred on him the government of the duchy until Valdemar, the king’s brother, for whom the fief was destined, reached an age fit to govern. When that age arrived, the prince was knighted, and at the same time invested with the duchy, of which he hastened to take possession. The bishop had tasted the sweets of power, and he was deeply hurt at its withdrawal: from that moment he became the enemy of the king. Determined on revenge, he entered into alliance with all whom he knew to be hostile to Canute; and, among others, with Adolf of Schawenburg, count of Holstein. When his preparations were matured, he threw off the mask, declaring that his right to the Danish throne was as good as the king’s, and demanding a share of the sovereignty. Passing into Norway, which at that time was not on friendly terms with Denmark, he obtained supplies, returned to the latter kingdom, and assumed the royal title. At the same period another army, led by the count of Holstein, marched towards the Eyder to support his views. To Canute it was evident that their operations could not be long sustained; that the invaders would soon be in want of provisions, and disperse of themselves. Instead therefore of risking an action, he quietly watched the motions of the bishop. The result justified his policy; the treasures of Valdemar were speedily exhausted; his mercenaries disappeared; he threw himself on the royal mercy; but was conducted a close prisoner to a strong fortress in Zealand (1194). Adolf yet remained; the king marched against him, and forced him to sue for peace. But that peace was of short duration. The count being required to do homage to Canute for some of the domains which he had obtained by the deposition of Henry the Lion, refused to acknowledge any other superior than the emperor; and to fortify himself against the vengeance of the king, he entered into an alliance with the margrave of Brandenburg, whose territory adjoined the Vandalic dominions of the Dane, and who had an interest in preventing any further augmentation in that quarter. To assail both, Canute sent an armament to the northern coast of the Baltic; and as the venerable Absalom was now too old and too infirm for active warfare, the bishop of Roskild was invested with the command. The result was not very favourable to the king. Two years afterwards, however, he took the field in person, and forced Adolf to accept terms of peace: the chief were, that Dithmarsh, with the strong fortress of Ratzburg, should be ceded to Denmark (1200). But in this, as on the former occasion, tranquillity was of short duration. Adolf again quarrelled with his ally; and Valdemar, the king’s brother, invaded Holstein. The result was favourable to the Danish arms: Adolf, who had thrown himself into Hamburg, was compelled to leave it, and to witness the fall of Lubeck, which was feudally subject to him. Most of Holstein was now reduced; and the duke having, in the king’s name, received the homage of the towns and nobles, returned to Sleswic. No sooner had he left the province, than the count re-appeared; but it was only to be made prisoner, and conveyed in triumph to one of the Danish fortresses. The king himself soon appeared amidst his new subjects; and at Lubeck he received the homage of the great vassals of Holstein, Dithmarsh, Stormar, Ratzburg, Schwerin, and other lordships, which were now subject to him, but which he could not incorporate with the monarchy, because they were dependencies of the empire, and for them he must himself do homage to the chief of that empire. This was a proud day for Denmark; but that pride was much alloyed by the sudden death of Canute, in the very flower of his age.

The flourishing state of Denmark under this prince is well described by Arnold of Lubeck. He alludes to its vast commerce, to its ceaseless activity, to its constantly increasing wealth, to its improvements in the arts of life, to its military reputation, to its zeal for learning. Many Danish youths, he informs us, were annually sent to study at Paris, where they distinguished themselves in philosophy, law, and theology. Many became admirable canonists; many subtle didacticians. The visits of young Danes to the capital of France may be explained by the union of Ingeberg, sister of Canute, with Philip Augustus. That union indeed was for many years an unhappy one; she was dismissed to make way for a concubine; until the monarch was compelled by the pope to receive her back to his palace.

|1201.|

Towards the close of Canute’s reign died archbishop Absalom, who had held the see of Roskild since 1158, and the primacy since 1178.

|1202.|

As Canute VI. died without heirs male, the choice of the states fell on his brother Valdemar, duke of Sleswic, who, as we have just related, had given some proofs of military talent.

Having fomented the troubles of Norway in revenge for the aid given to bishop Valdemar, and exacted an annual tribute from Erling, whom he had opposed to Guthrum^[153], the Danish king departed on a more distant expedition,—against the pagans of Livonia. It was attended, however, with no great success: the best that can be said of it is, that it was not disastrous. A subsequent expedition into Sweden was more unfortunate: he was signally defeated; but peace was made on terms sufficiently honourable. About the same time the national arms regained their former lustre by the conquest of Eastern Pomerania, the duke of which did homage to Valdemar.

|1205 to 1218.|

From the prison to which he had been consigned by Canute VI. the bishop of Sleswic was no inattentive spectator of events. He longed for revenge; but he must first recover his liberty. In this view he applied to the pope, to the archbishop of Lund, to many prelates of Denmark, and even to the queen, and interested them so far in his behalf, that Valdemar, at their intercession, agreed to release him, on the condition of his never again entering Denmark, or any other place where he might give umbrage to the state. Of these conditions the pope was a guarantee, and he repaired to Bologna; but that city he soon left to urge his interests with the chapter of Bremen, some members of which showed a disposition to elect him. The king immediately complained to Innocent III. that Bremen was, of all cities, that where the bishop, if elected, would be most likely to injure him; and the pope, admitting the justice of the plea, commanded the prelate to desist from aspiring to the vacant dignity. That command he disregarded. Philip of Swabia, now head of the empire, was hostile to the Danish king: from him the bishop readily obtained troops, and with them hastened to Bremen, where he was soon elected. But Burkard, the other candidate, being favoured by the chapter of Hamburg, which had a voice in the election equal to that of Bremen, also assumed the archiepiscopal dignity, and obtained troops from the Danish king. What confirmed the triumph of the latter was the suspension of bishop Valdemar by the pope, and the death of his patron Philip. Otho, the new emperor, concurred with the pope and with Valdemar in expelling the bishop from Bremen. But on the death of Burkard, bishop Valdemar was introduced to the see, with the full concurrence of the emperor. In revenge, the Danish king espoused the interests of Frederic II. king of Naples, in opposition to those of Otho. For this service the grateful Frederic ceded to the Danish crown the conquests which Valdemar and his predecessor, Canute VI., had made in the empire and in Slavonia. But the letters-patent containing this cession (dated from Metz in 1214) could have no validity, since Otho was yet obeyed by a considerable portion of the empire. Still the cession was a triumph. Not less so was the excommunication of Otho and of archbishop Valdemar by the pope. The first soon died; the latter, succeeded by the bishop of Osnaburg, retired to a monastery, and was for ever dead to the world.

|1219 to 1223.|

Freed from the cares which had so long distracted him, the king again turned his eyes towards Livonia. His former successes in that region had not corresponded with his preparations: the bishop of Riga was persecuted alike by the pagan inhabitants and the Greek Christians: the glory of vindicating the true faith was no slight one in his estimation; but the ambition of reigning over the whole maritime coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to Livonia, was a still greater inducement for undertaking a new expedition. Never had Denmark equipped so great an armament as that which now left her ports. The Esthonians, against whom his attacks were chiefly directed, prepared to receive him, but they were defeated; a new city, Revel, was built, to awe the province; and a Christian bishop made it his metropolis. The advantages resulting from this conquest were almost neutralised by the hostility of the bishop of Riga, who regarded his new brother as an intruder on his own domain. He claimed the greater part of Esthonia as a part of his jurisdiction, and he sent his missionaries through it to reclaim it from idolatry. On the other hand, the archbishop of Lund, in behalf of his royal master, prohibited those missionaries from labouring in their vocation, and sent those of his own country and his own church to oppose them. It will scarcely be credited by modern readers—though the fact seems indisputable—that the Danes actually hung an Esthonian prince for no other crime than that he had received baptism at the hands of the bishop of Riga’s dependents. What were the motives—shrewd though pagan—to infer from this and similar facts other than this—that the god of the Danes was not the god of the Germans? The pope and the emperor declared for the Danish king, in opposition to the complaints, the remonstrances, of the bishop. At length Valdemar, of his own accord, abated much of his pretensions, and allowed a portion of the disputed territory to be ceded to the bishop, and to the Christian knights whom that bishop had taken into his service.

|1223.|

At this period Denmark was at the summit of her glory. Her descent was more rapid than her rise. There are few instances in all history where that descent is so remarkable. The occasion of this change was a man insignificant in himself, and in his influence. Among the vassals whom Valdemar had acquired by his successes over the count of Holstein, was Henry count of Schwerin. In granting to Henry the investiture of the lordship, Valdemar had demanded the hand of the count’s sister for his natural son Nicholas, whom he had created count of Upper Halland, and, as a dowry, one half of the castle of Schwerin with the dependencies. Whether this stipulation was sanctioned by the count, we know not; but we know that Valdemar had forcibly occupied a portion of the lordship, and conferred it on that son. This was an injustice, and deeply was it revenged. Count Henry repaired to the Danish court, showed great obsequiousness, won the confidence of the king, and one night while encamped in the wood after a hard day’s hunting, he caused both Valdemar and his eldest son to be surprised, carried on board a vessel, conveyed to the Mecklenburg coast, and confined in the strong castle of Schwerin! All Europe was in surprise at an event which resembled a tale of knight errantry more than a fact—that the obscure, the powerless count Henry should thus seize the greatest monarch of the North, and cast him like a common felon into a dungeon.

|1223 to 1226.|

That all Denmark did not rise as one man, and hasten to release its monarch, may, to modern readers, seem extraordinary. But had it done so, we know not what the result might have been. If those were days of chivalry, they were also days of gross perfidy: as an army approached Schwerin, he would have been transferred to some more distant fortress until he had acceded to all the terms demanded from him. Many were the princely nobles who were ready to share in the responsibility of the act, provided they might also share in its advantages; even the emperor Frederic was inclined to imitate the example of his predecessor in regard to Richard Plantagenet. More ruinous to Denmark was the captivity of Valdemar, than that of Richard to England. We shall not detail the negotiations which, during three years, agitated the realm; but the reverses experienced by the Danish arms may be noticed. The new conquests north of the Elbe were lost. Livonia and Esthonia were freed from dependence on the crown. The Slavonic provinces of Pomerania asserted their independence. Lubeck and also Dithmarsh showed a disposition to escape from the yoke. At length the menaces of the pope, and still more the gifts distributed among the leading actors in this strange proceeding, led to the monarch’s release. The conditions were that 45,000 marks of fine silver should be paid for his ransom, with all the gold and ornaments which the queen possessed, and complete habiliments for 100 knights; that forty Danes, including two sons of the king, should remain as hostages; that all the domains between the Elbe and the Eyder should be ceded to the empire; that all the Slavonic conquests should be renounced except the isle of Rugen; that Valdemar should swear never to attempt the reconquest of the territories now abandoned.

|1226 to 1238.|

On his return to his own states, Valdemar applied to the pope to be released from the oath he had taken, and for the restoration of his hostages; promising that if the application were successful, he would join the crusade. In vain did the pope interfere; beyond the release from his oath, he obtained no advantage. There were too many interested in the cause of count Henry to leave him thus exposed to regal or papal vengeance. Adolf of Schawenburg, Albert duke of Saxony, the archbishop of Bremen, the prince of Werle—all had profited by the spoil, and all had troops ready to defend their usurpations. In great wrath Valdemar took the field; but his good fortune had left him for ever; and after many fruitless, however ruinous, efforts, he was compelled to make peace with his enemies, and to pay money for the ransom of his hostages. The loss of Lubeck and of all Dithmarsh grieved him more perhaps than the rest; for Lubeck was already a rich and a populous city, the centre of a large commerce. Equally fruitless were his endeavours to recover the Slavonic provinces. They were in the power of the bishop of Riga, and of the Teutonic knights, who could always depend on the favour of the pope and that of the emperor. Revel and a small district of Livonia were at length restored to him.

|1238 to 1241.|

During the rest of his life, Valdemar applied himself to the internal administration. He caused a survey to be made of the whole kingdom; and of this important document the greater part still remains. There were eight bishoprics, subdivided into parishes, and into Styreshavne or maritime districts, each district to furnish a certain number of men, and each see a certain number of ships, whenever required by the public service. North Jutland had four of these sees—Rypen, Aarhus, Viborg, Borglum, which together supplied 450 vessels. South Jutland, or Sleswic, one see, was divided into 130 of these districts, each to furnish a vessel. Fionia, Laland, and Langeland, forming the diocese of Odinsey, were rated at 100. Zealand, Moen, Falster, and Rugen, which formed the see of Roskild, were rated at 120; Scania, Holland, and Bleking, subject to the archbishop of Lund, contributed 150.

|1240.|

As a legislator, Valdemar ranks high in the Danish annals. In 1240, he promulgated what is termed the Jutland law^[154], but which he intended for the whole kingdom. The attachment, however, of the Scanias and Zealands to their unwritten customs, inclined them to receive this code as supplementary only. To it we shall revert in the chapter appropriated to northern jurisprudence.