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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

ERIC VI.

SURNAMED PLOGPENNING, OR PLOUGH-PENNY.

1241–1250.

[Sidenote: 1241.]

The late king had associated with him in the government his eldest son,

by the title of Valdemar III., and when that prince was killed in

hunting (1231), Eric, duke of Sleswic, the next son, supplied his room.

Eric therefore had been crowned, and had an active share in the

government, ten years before the death of his father. At the time he was

thus associated in the regal power, he had relinquished the duchy of

Sleswic in favour of his next brother, Abel, while Christopher and other

brothers had extensive domains conferred on them in different parts of

the kingdom. Nothing could be more unwise than such feudal concessions:

they were sure to engender quarrels, and eventually civil wars.

[Sidenote: 1241 to 1248.]

Scarcely was Eric on the throne, when he had a deadly quarrel with Abel,

duke of Sleswic, his next brother. He wished to recover some of the

territories which his father had been forced to cede, especially

Holstein: Abel, who was the guardian of the count of Holstein’s

children, resisted, on the specious plea that he was bound to defend

their interests; but his real motive, as we shall soon perceive, was a

very different one. The two brothers flew to arms; but an apparent

reconciliation was effected between them through the interference of

German and Danish friends: Abel resigned the tutorship, and ceased

therefore to be responsible for the result. But he evidently nursed a

vindictive feeling towards Eric, and he could not long refrain from

exhibiting it. He refused to do homage for Holstein, which he determined

to hold in full sovereignty. Again was the sword drawn; and though

returned for a time to the scabbard, the feeling of hatred rankled in

the duke’s heart. During this short suspension of hostilities, Eric

endeavoured to regain Lubeck, and he sent an armament into the river

Trave; but a fleet from Sweden, which had a great interest in the

protection of that city, compelled him to raise the siege. The coasts of

his kingdom were now ravaged by the combined Swedes and citizens; and at

the same time, through the influence of his perverse brother, the count

of Holstein and the archbishop of Bremen became his open enemies.

Allured by the successful example of Abel, the other brothers also

refused to do homage. Seeing that the very existence of the monarchy was

at stake, he took the field. Numerous as were his enemies, he created

more, and those more formidable than the rest,—his own bishops, who

naturally threw themselves into the party of Abel. The ravages committed

in the fraternal war were dreadful. At length the city of Sleswic being

taken by surprise, Abel fled to his allies; and when he could effect

nothing by arms, he had recourse to stratagem. He received with

eagerness the proposals of a pacification from the duke of Saxony and

the margrave of Brandenburg, who were connected with the regal family of

Denmark. The brothers met, swore friendship, and separated.

[Sidenote: 1249.]

Freed from that dreadful scourge, civil war, Eric now projected an

expedition into Livonia, to recover the territories which his father had

ceded. To defray the expenses, a tax of a silver penny was laid on every

plough in the kingdom. With much difficulty he obtained the sanction of

the states to this impost; with more difficulty still was it collected,

at least in Scania. The inhabitants of that province were fond of

rebellion: they rebelled on the present occasion; but as usual they were

subdued, punished, and made to contribute like the rest of the Danes.

The expedition arrived in Esthonia, but its details are very imperfectly

recorded in the national chronicles. They merely tell us that the

Teutonic knights acknowledged the king’s right to what he held, and to

what he might hereafter conquer from the pagans. Certainly he made no

conquests; and probably his troops were defeated by St. Alexander

Neusky, governor of Novogrod.[155]

[Sidenote: 1250.]

Eric, on his return, engaged in war with the count of Holstein, who,

conjointly, with the archbishop of Bremen and the bishop of Paderborn,

laid siege to Rendsburg. To relieve it, the king advanced at the head of

a considerable force. But his doom was at hand. Near Sleswic he was met

by Abel, who treated him with the utmost deference, with the most

obsequious respect; and so disarmed him, that in the joy of his heart he

accepted an invitation to one of the duke’s country palaces, in the

immediate vicinity of Sleswic. From that palace he was forcibly dragged

on board a boat in the Sley, taken to a solitary part of that river,

landed, allowed to make his confession, and beheaded. Heavy chains were

then fastened to his corpse, and it was thrown into the deepest part of

the river. The news was spread that he had perished by accident in the

river; but the monks who had administered to him the last offices of

religion, declared that he had been murdered,—by whose contrivance was

unknown. The body being afterwards found by some fishermen, confirmed

that declaration. It was buried in the church of the monastery. The

brethren even asserted that miracles were wrought at his tomb, and they

were believed: some years after his death he was canonized; and he is

the fifth Danish prince who has been thus deified.

ABEL.

1250–1252.

[Sidenote: 1250 to 1252.]

To obtain the reward of this fratricide, Abel sent his creatures to the

assembly of the states, convoked for the election of a new king. As

there was only suspicion, he was permitted to purge himself by his own

oath, and by the oath of twenty-four nobles, that he was innocent of the

deed. How he could find that number of men to take such an oath, may

surprise us; but we must remember that the tenor of it was that “to the

best of their belief” the accused party was not guilty of the crime. He

was therefore elected and crowned by the archbishop. By lavish gifts to

the clergy, and to the nobles who adhered to him, and by confirming his

brethren (from whom he had the most to fear) in their respective fiefs,

he stifled all murmurs. To avert war, too, which he well knew would lead

to his ruin, he surrendered to the count of Holstein the domains which

his brother had occupied, and to the Teutonic knights most of what he

yet held in Livonia. These concessions did no harm to Denmark; and some

of his other measures were decidedly good. He restored the wisest parts

of the Danish constitution, especially the annual meeting of the states;

he improved the laws; and began to redeem the crown lands, which during

the late reigns had been pledged. In short, like all usurpers, he

sacrificed to popularity, and succeeded so well that he was enabled to

raise an extraordinary impost to complete his work of redemption. In the

western parts of Sleswic, however, the collectors met with opposition,

and Abel, to punish the disobedience, marched with a body of troops. He

penetrated into a country always marshy, and now rendered more so by the

rains. Surprised by a strong party of the inhabitants, he fled, and fell

into a morass, from which the weight of his armour prevented him from

emerging. In this helpless situation he was discovered and slain.

[Sidenote: 1252.]

The mutilated corpse of Abel was left in the marsh, where it remained

for some time, and, if tradition be true, to the great annoyance of the

whole country. Abel was too great a sinner to lie peacefully in his

grave. He became a wandering spirit. Supernatural voices had so

terrified the people that they were glad to deliver the corpse to the

canons of Bremen, who honoured it with the rites of sepulture. But they

too had soon reason to regret the contiguity of the vampire: he was

frequently seen out of his tomb; and at length the corpse was

disinterred, and buried in a solitary marsh a few leagues from Gottorp.

Still there was no respite; and the inhabitants nearest to the place

removed to a distance. To this day the superstition has been perpetuated

that the murderer on a dingy horse may sometimes be seen, followed by

demon hounds, amidst the echoing of the magic horn. Leaving these wild

fancies to vulgar admiration, the Christian will scarcely fail to

acknowledge that in the death of Abel there was retribution.

Abel left three sons, the eldest of whom, Valdemar, was designed for his

successor; but the young prince, returning from the university of Paris,

was seized by the archbishop of Cologne, and detained in prison until a

ransom of 6000 silver marks was paid. Probably this act was done at the

instigation of Christopher, brother of the late king, who knew that he

alone was to be dreaded, since he had been already recognised by the

states, and his brothers were too young for the duties of government.

Besides, the dislike to Abel’s posterity was general; and Christopher

might well aspire to a throne which, after their exclusion, became his

of right. Nor was he disappointed: by the states he was immediately

elected.

CHRISTOPHER I.

1252–1259.

[Sidenote: 1252 to 1258.]

The reign of this prince was even more troubled than that of his

predecessors. Fearing a popular re-action in favour of Abel’s sons, who

were minors, he claimed the guardianship. The claim was resisted by the

house of Holstein; and to decide the contest both parties resorted to

arms. The king was defeated; and though he soon collected a larger

force, he found the number of his enemies increased. The people of

Lubeck, always hostile to Denmark, and for that same reason always the

allies of the counts of Holstein, ravaged the coasts, while those nobles

reduced Sleswic. The two margraves of Brandenburg also complained that

one of them had not received the dowry promised with his wife, Sophia,

daughter of Valdemar II.; and they joined the common league. Nor was

this all: during Abel’s reign, there had been some disputes with Sweden

and Denmark; and to allay them a conference had been covenanted between

the three kings. The death of Abel had prevented the pacification; and

Christopher, engrossed by other troubles, was unable to give them the

satisfaction required. In revenge the Norwegian arrived with a great

armament, while 5000 Swedes penetrated into the heart of the country.

Never had the situation of Denmark appeared so critical; but strange to

say, its safety lay in the number of its enemies, who became jealous of

each other, and of the advantages which each might secure. In this

disposition, the offer of mediators was accepted; and conditions of

peace between Christopher and his nephews were at length sanctioned. He

agreed to invest those nephews, on their reaching majority, with the

duchy of Sleswic; and they, in return, were to renounce all pretensions

to the crown. In conformity with this treaty, Valdemar, the eldest son

of Abel, was released from prison at Cologne, and invested with the

government of the duchy. The margrave of Brandenburg was appeased by the

pledge of two fortresses, until the dowry could be paid. Thus there

remained only Norway and Sweden to be pacified; and though hostilities

existed for some time, they were desultory, and were terminated by a

reconciliation. An interview with Birger, regent of Sweden, easily led

to that result; and when Hako of Norway, who had again arrived with a

formidable armament, saw that Christopher was sincerely desirous to

satisfy him, he now accepted the will for the deed, and became the

friend of the monarch.

[Sidenote: 1256, 1257.]

But the chief troubles of Christopher arose from his own prelates. Jacob

Erlandsen, bishop of Roskild, a personal friend of Innocent IV., had

imbibed the highest notions of clerical privileges. He condemned the

influence of the crown in the election of bishops, which was certainly

an evil, since royal favourites only were appointed to the rich sees.

Acting on his own principle, that bishops had no earthly superior except

the pope, he refused, when elected by the chapter of Lund to the

primacy, either to allow royal influence any weight in the election, or

to accept of confirmation at the royal hands. He next condemned some of

the provisions in the ecclesiastical law which Valdemar I. had

promulgated in Scania; and when opposed by the king, he intrigued with

the royal enemies. There can be no doubt that in his resistance to the

encroachments of the crown, not merely on the freedom of election, but

on the ecclesiastical revenues, he was abundantly justified; but the

_manner_ of his resistance was censurable; and still more so was his

league with the enemies of the king. If the primate was an archbishop,

he was also a temporal baron; nothing was more easy than to confound the

two characters; and while Christopher determined to punish him in the

latter, he chose to forget the privileges of the former. Erlandsen was

summoned before the states at Vyburg. In reply he convoked a national

council to be held at Vedel, a town in the diocese of Rypen in Jutland.

In that assembly it was decreed that if any Danish bishop were taken and

mutilated, or afflicted with any other atrocious injury, by the order,

or with the connivance of the king, or any noble, the kingdom should be

laid under an interdict, and the divine service suspended. If the same

violence were committed by any foreign prince or noble, and there were

reason to infer that it was done at the instigation of the king or any

of his council, in the diocese of that bishop there should be a

“cessatio à divinis,” and the king during a month should be bound to see

justice done: if he refused, the interdict was to be extended over the

whole kingdom. After it was laid, no ecclesiastic, under pain of

excommunication, was to celebrate any office of religion in the royal

presence. The decree was sent to Rome, and confirmed by pope Alexander

in October, 1257.

[Sidenote: 1257.]

The wrath of the king and of his nobles was roused by this bold, though

perhaps necessary, act. But the primate was of an intrepid temper, and

quite prepared to share, if necessary, the fate of our Thomas à Becket.

In the next diet a number of frivolous and two or three substantial

charges were made against him; and he begged time until the next meeting

of the states to prepare his answers. In the interim efforts were made

to reconcile the two; and they sometimes met. But Erlandsen, by

excommunicating a lady of Scania, a favourite of the king, again

rekindled the half-smothered wrath of Christopher. Repairing to Lund,

the latter held his tribunal, invited all who had any complaint against

the archbishop to appear before him, and summoned the archbishop himself

to appear and answer whatever might be urged against him. As

ecclesiastics were, by a regulation of some standing, amenable to their

own laws alone, the churchman denied the competency of the tribunal. In

revenge the king revoked the concessions of privileges, immunities, and

even of domains, made by his ancestors to the cathedral of Lund—a

strange and lawless measure, which, if sanctioned by the nation at

large, must have occasioned the entire ruin of the church. As well might

a private gentleman revoke his father’s will, and reclaim property of

which the bequest has been sanctioned by the laws of society. The

officer who served the act of revocation was excommunicated by the

primate, who had also the people on his side. Two or three of the

bishops were gained by the court; the rest adhered to their spiritual

head. Every day widened the breach between the two chief personages in

the nation. The states being convoked at Odinsey to swear allegiance to

Eric, eldest son of the king, Erlandsen refused to appear, and commanded

his suffragans also to refuse. The rage of the king was unbounded. From

the states which he now convoked at Copenhagen he obtained permission to

seize the primate with the other bishops, and imprison them. A brother

of the primate’s was the instrument of his apprehension, and he was

conveyed to a fortress in Fionia. The dean and archdeacon of Lund, with

the bishop of Rypen, were next secured; but the two spiritual peers of

Odinsey and Roskild had time to flee from the realm.

[Sidenote: 1258 to 1259.]

In his captivity the primate was treated with much rigour. What his

proud spirit could least bear was insult; if it be true, that he was

forced to wear a cap made from a fox’s skin, we may smile at what called

forth the bitter resentment of himself and the pope. The king was soon

made to repent his violence. In virtue of the ordinance of the national

council at Vedel, the fugitive bishops laid an interdict on the kingdom;

the pope espoused the cause of his church; and Jaromir, prince of Rugen,

to whose hospitality the bishop of Roskild had fled, was persuaded by

both to arm in behalf of the altar. Great was the wrath of Christopher

to see the interdict so well observed, and to hear the murmurs of his

people. How could he, alone, resist a power which had proved fatal to so

many emperors and so many kings, compared with which his was that of the

meanest vassal in his dominions? In the hope of obtaining what he called

justice, he appealed to Rome. Yet at the same time he endeavoured to

dispose his royal neighbours of Sweden and Norway in his favour. _They_,

too, had bishops, and the cause of one was the cause of all: it was a

struggle, he observed, between the rights of kings and the insolence of

their subjects. They promised to assist him in this war alike on the

pope and his own clergy, whom he was about to deprive of their

temporalities; and had already powerful armaments in motion when

intelligence reached them that he was no more.

[Sidenote: 1259.]

Whether this monarch died naturally, or through poison, is doubtful. The

suddenness of that death, and the peculiar circumstances in which he met

it, could not fail to create the suspicion, and with some minds

suspicion is truth. Even the monk whose fanaticism was said to have

occasioned the deed, has been indicated by name. In the letter, however,

which both his widow and his son addressed to the pope after this event,

no one is implicated, and the charge of poison, true or false, was

merely stated in general and indefinite terms. That he fell a victim to

poison has not been proved, still less that it was administered by a

churchman. The evidence, however, is rather indicative of a tragical

end, though the causes and the circumstances must for ever rest a

mystery.

ERIC VII.

SURNAMED GLIPPING.

1259–1286.

[Sidenote: 1259 to 1268.]

Eric, the eldest son of the king, was elected by the states; and as he

was only ten years of age at his father’s death, the regency devolved on

his mother, Margaret, daughter of Sambir, duke of Pomerania. That

princess had great courage and great prudence, and both were required in

the peculiarly difficult circumstances in which she was placed. Some of

the bishops were exiles, some in prison, but all protected by the pope,

and venerated by the people. Eric, the son of Abel, supported by the

counts of Holstein, by the prince of Rugen, and by the exiled prelates,

aspired to the throne. The interdict still remained, and consequently

the discontent of the people. And now Jaromir, prince of Rugen, and the

duke of Sleswic, accompanied by the bishop of Roskild, made a descent on

the coast of Zealand, with a formidable army. Margaret collected what

troops she was able, and hastened to meet the enemy. The battle was

disastrous to the royal party, 10,000 being left on the field. The

consequences were still more disastrous—the occupation of Zealand, and

the destruction of several towns, (among others Copenhagen, which had

recently been invested with municipal rights,) by the victors. Bornholm

was next reduced, then Scania, which remembered its primate with

gratitude; and the whole kingdom must have been subjugated by the

Slavonic prince, had not a tragical death arrested him in his career.

This was a heavy loss to the ecclesiastical party; but the bishop of

Roskild confirmed the censure, and denied Christian burial to the dead

of the royal party. Jutland only remained faithful to the latter. Yet

Margaret was not dismayed: notwithstanding the interdict and the

absolute prohibition issued alike by the primate and the bishop of

Roskild, she caused her son to be crowned. To soothe in some degree the

animosity of the former, she released him and all the churchmen; but he

would not compromise what he deemed his duty; he refused all overtures

from her, and retired into Sweden to await the decision of Rome. For

this conduct he has been much censured by modern historians. They

should, however, remember that he could not do otherwise: the decision

was no longer in his hands, but in those of the pope, to whom it had

been carried by the appeal of both parties. Alexander IV. was dead; and

Urban IV., who was raised to the dignity, took cognizance of the cause.

He condemned the primate, and ordered him to resign his archbishopric

into the hands of two ecclesiastical commissioners whom he nominated for

that purpose. Erlandsen obeyed; but, hearing that Clement IV. had

succeeded to Urban, he hastened to Rome to plead for himself. Clement

did not confirm the judgment of his predecessor; he took up the case _de

novo_, and sent a legate to examine on the spot into the circumstances

of the dispute, and to decide according to justice. Erecting his

tribunal at Sleswic, the papal functionary cited the king and the

queen-mother to appear before him; but they refused on the plea that

Sleswic was unfavourable to them. The plea was a frivolous one, and

devised only to cover their determination not to acknowledge the

competency of the judges. Apprehensive for their safety in a city which

depended on the king, the legate and the bishops repaired to Lubeck,

whence they excommunicated Eric, his mother, and all who had refused to

obey the citation. The primate retired to Rome, where he remained about

seven years; and during that period, the interdict remained in full

force.

[Sidenote: 1261 to 1264.]

While these events were passing, others occurred of still greater moment

to the queen and her son. On the death of Valdemar (1257), eldest son of

Abel, who had been transferred from the dungeons of Cologne to the ducal

palace of Sleswic, and who left no issue, the succession was claimed by

Eric, the next brother. Abel, who then reigned, had refused to invest

him, and he had therefore thrown himself into the arms of his kinsmen,

the counts of Holstein, and by their aid had entered on the

administration of the duchy. Unable to dispossess him, Margaret proposed

to recognise him, provided he would acknowledge that he held the fief by

the pure favour of the crown, and not by any right of inheritance. But

in every European country except Scandinavia fiefs had long been

hereditary: they had become allodial property; and Eric refused to

sanction a condition which must have proved fatal to the hopes of his

family. To chastise him, the queen and her son marched towards the

south; but on the plains of Sleswic they were signally defeated. Flight

did not save them from the power of their enemies: they were overtaken

and consigned to imprisonment—the former at Hamburg, in the charge of

the counts of Holstein, the latter in the fortress of Norburg, subject

to duke Eric. There both might have remained to the close of life (for

the bishop and the people were equally disaffected), had not Albert of

Anhalt, who had married the princess Mechtilda, sister of the king,

interfered in their behalf. The queen was soon released (1263), and

enabled to resume the administration: the king was confided to the

guardianship of John, margrave of Brandenburg, also connected by the

ties of blood with the royal family. It was at length agreed that he

should be enlarged, on the condition of his marrying Agnes, daughter of

the margrave, whose dowry, 6000 marks, was to be placed against his

ransom. Returning to his capital (1264), he was now old enough to assume

the reins of government.

[Sidenote: 1272 to 1275.]

In 1272 died Eric, duke of Sleswic—an event which again disturbed the

tranquillity of the country. He left two sons, Valdemar and Eric, both

minors. To the guardianship a claim was put in by the king, and another

by the counts of Holstein. Both parties flew to arms, and at first the

counts had the advantage; but seeing the royal forces augmented, they

consented to resign the trust into the royal hands, on the condition of

his investing the eldest with the duchy when arrived at the due age.

Eric now celebrated his marriage with Agnes of Brandenburg; and he had

also the satisfaction to see the convocation of a general council, (that

of Lyons, 1274,) destined to remove the interdict from his kingdom. He

was, however, enjoined not merely to receive the primate into his

friendship, but to pay him 15,000 marks by way of indemnification. This

may appear a large sum, and it has been censured by historians. They

forget, however, to tell us that during the long absence of the

archbishop, he had been receiving the revenues of the see—an amount many

times greater than the indemnification. The following year (1275), a

national council held at Lund finished the work of reconciling the king

with the church.

[Sidenote: 1280 to 1286.]

But if Eric was thus at peace with his spiritual, he was often in

disputes with his temporal, barons, on whose rights he was always ready

to encroach. Notwithstanding his treaty with the counts of Holstein, he

endeavoured to evade the investiture of Sleswic in favour of Valdemar.

Both parties, however, were equally to blame; for when Valdemar was

invested, he claimed other domains in Frisia, on the plea that they

belonged to his paternal uncle. When this was refused, he leagued

himself with the enemies of Denmark: the plot was discovered, and he was

imprisoned while at Eric’s court. But his detention was of short

duration; and at the intercession of his allies, he was enlarged, after

subscribing some conditions which more clearly established the authority

of the crown over the fief. Still, if one enemy was vanquished, others

remained, and to some of them, or rather to his own vices, the king fell

a victim. To the count of Halland he had been oppressive: he had

deprived him of his domains, and if report were true, dishonoured the

wife during the husband’s absence. Revenge was sworn, and the oath was

kept. One night, after hunting, he was murdered asleep at a rural

village in Jutland. The king’s chamberlain was privy to the design: it

was he who guided the assassins (all in masks) to the bed. They

subsequently fled to Norway, by the king of which they were protected

against the vengeance of Eric’s family.

Thus ended a reign of troubles, most of which cannot with any justice be

imputed to the monarch. Yet his own vices added greatly to his

misfortunes. After his peace with the church, when moderation might have

been expected from him, he frequently seized the church tithes, and

applied to his own use the produce arising from the monastic domains.

With his nobles he was no less severe; and more than once (especially in

1262) he was in danger of being driven from the realm by their united

arms. Eric promulgated the code, called _Birkerett_, to the provisions

of which we shall allude on a future occasion.

ERIC VIII.

SURNAMED MŒNVED.[156]

1286–1319.

[Sidenote: 1286 to 1308.]

At his father’s death Eric was only twelve years of age. A guardian and

regent was therefore necessary; and the post was demanded by Valdemar,

duke of Sleswic, the nearest male kinsman of Eric. The queen-mother,

Agnes of Brandenburg, willing but afraid to refuse, at length recognised

his claim. There could not have been a better choice: he forgot the

wrongs of his family in his new duties. In the first assembly which he

convoked, he called for vengeance on the murderers of the late king.

They were in alarm; and to escape the consequence, they entered into a

plot, the object of which was to seize the young king, and detain him as

a hostage, until their pardon should be declared by the states. That

plot did not escape the vigilance of the regent, who took measures to

disconcert it; and also, at the same time, caused a commission to be

appointed, with power to inquire into the circumstances of Eric

Glipping’s death. That commission consisted of Otho of Brandenburg,

brother of the queen-mother; of Vicislas, prince of Rugen; of the counts

of Holstein, and of twenty-seven Danish nobles. The result was a verdict

of wilful murder against James, count of Halland, Stig, marshal of the

court, and seven others. Condemned to perpetual banishment, they

repaired to the court of the Norwegian king, then at war with Denmark,

by whom they were hospitably received. Assisted by him they were enabled

to visit the northern parts of their fief, and to commit, during many

years, considerable depredations. That the Norwegian monarch should thus

become the ally of murderers—the murderers, too, of a brother king—might

surprise us, if we did not remember that he and his father had long

applied, but applied in vain, for satisfaction on points, the justice of

which had never been denied. One of them was, that the dowry of his

mother, Ingeburga, a Danish princess, had never been paid. At the head

of a considerable fleet, he himself soon followed the regicides, and

devastated the coasts. To no proposals of peace would he listen, unless

the regicides were pardoned—for such was his engagement with them. This

war raged until 1308, when peace was restored in the treaty of

Copenhagen. The chief condition was, that in compensation for his

mother’s dowry, the Norwegian monarch should hold northern Halland as a

fief from Eric of Denmark. In regard to the regicides, it was

stipulated, that some should be allowed to return and enjoy their

property, but that the more guilty should never revisit the realm. Yet,

even to them a permission during three years was given to dispose of

their lands and personal substance.

[Sidenote: 1292 to 1299.]

This long war was not the only trouble of Eric. Like his two

predecessors, he was embroiled with the church. To Grandt, a dignitary

of Roskild, he was hostile, for reasons apparently which had no

foundation. When that dignitary was elected to the see of Lund, he

refused, like Erlandsen, either to solicit or to accept the royal

confirmation; and he hastened to Rome to obtain that of the pope. On his

return, he was arrested by Christopher, the king’s brother, and treated

with remarkable severity. His property was seized; he was made to

exchange his pontifical robes for the meanest rags; he was fastened to

the back of a worn-out horse; and in this state led, amidst the jeers of

the royal dependants, to the fortress of Helsinburg. He was soon

transferred to the castle of Soeburg, where an unwholesome dungeon,

heavy fetters, and meagre fare awaited him. The same treatment was

inflicted on Lange, another dignitary of Lund; but he had the good

fortune to escape and to reach Boniface VIII. at Avignon (1295). Some

time afterwards, Grandt himself was so lucky as to escape, and repair to

Bornholm, where he was received as a martyr. He too arrived at Avignon,

and was welcomed by the pope, who observed, with much truth, that there

were many saints that had suffered less for the church than archbishop

Grandt. The dispute between the king and the church was examined at

Rome, by a commission of cardinals. The award was a severe one for the

king; it sentenced him to pay the archbishop, by way of indemnification,

49,000 silver marks; and until the money was paid, not only was his

kingdom to remain under an interdict (it had been subject to one ever

since the archbishop was seized), but he himself was to be

excommunicated, and also his brother Christopher, the instrument of that

arrest. When the king evinced no disposition to pay the money, the papal

legate who had been dispatched to Denmark for the occasion, sequestered

a portion of the royal revenues in Scania. This measure Eric could feel;

and he threw himself on the mercy of the pope. Boniface so far relaxed

from his severity as to allow the archbishop to resign his see of Lund,

and to abate the indemnification to 10,000 marks. Grandt subsequently

became archbishop of Bremen, while the papal legate succeeded to the

primacy of Denmark.

[Sidenote: 1299 to 1319.]

But the whole of Eric’s reign was not disastrous. Lubeck and the baron

of Rostock sued for his protection, and paid him for it: he obtained

from the latter some augmentation of his territory, and from other

German powers a large sum of money. Tranquillity, however, for any long

period, he was not to enjoy. One of his worst domestic enemies was his

brother Christopher, who leagued himself with the kings of Sweden,

Norway, and other enemies of the realm. As a punishment, seeing that

leniency had no result, Eric occupied his domains. He fled to Wratislas,

duke of Pomerania, who espoused his cause; so did the counts of Holstein

and some other princes. In 1317, peace was made, but Christopher was not

restored. Two years afterwards, the king paid the debt of nature,

leaving his kingdom plunged in debt, occasioned by his efforts to

contend with his misfortunes. He had more discernment than some of his

predecessors. He encouraged the rising municipalities, to some of which

he granted charters, analogous to those which existed in Germany. To

commerce he was a benefactor; and he was useful to the judicial

administration by the compilation of a code (in six books), called the

Law of Zealand. He did more; he made a collection of such public acts as

might throw light on the national history.[157] Of his offspring, none

survived him; one at least, on whom his hopes were placed, met a

tragical but accidental death; and grief led his queen to the cloister,

where she died a few months before him. There was nobody therefore to

succeed him but his turbulent brother Christopher, then in Sweden, whom

he advised the states to remove from the succession.

[Sidenote: 1319.]

But Christopher was not to be so easily deprived of what he regarded as

his birthright; and when he heard that he should have a rival in Eric

duke of Sleswic, he commenced his intrigues, and pushed his warlike

preparations with a vigour that showed his determination to attain his

object. The promises which he made to the nobles, the clergy, and the

municipalities, were exceedingly lavish, and must, if executed, have

changed the government into an aristocratic republic. Few of these had

he the slightest intention of fulfilling; and as most were never

fulfilled, we will not enumerate them. They answered his purpose, for he

was elected by the states, and at the same time his eldest son Eric was

joined with him in the government.

CHRISTOPHER II.

1320–1334.

[Sidenote: 1320 to 1323.]

Though Christopher was thus placed on the throne, to be soon found that

to maintain himself on it, while an active rival was striving to unseat

him, was no easy matter. He therefore began to lavish grants on his

nobles so as to plunge the crown in new difficulties, and to threaten

the dismemberment of the monarchy. To the church he showed great

deference: he bore, without complaint, the postponement of his

coronation until it suited the convenience of the primate to return from

abroad; and he engaged never to violate the privileges which had been

usurped. But he had also need of foreign allies, and to procure them he

evinced the same disregard of the public interests. To Wratislas, duke

of Rugen, he confirmed the investiture of that fief, with some other

domains. To Henry of Mecklenburg, who held Rostock in pledge, in

consideration of money advanced to the late king, he granted that

territory in perpetuity, as a fief of the Danish crown. With Gerard,

count of Holstein (then count of Rendsburg), he entered into a closer

treaty, by which each engaged to assist the other, whenever required,

with all the disposable force at his command. The cession of so many

fiefs within and without Denmark Proper, could not but have fatal

consequences. Not less fatal was the custom of assigning, until payment

was made, whole islands and provinces, in return either for personal

services, or advances of money.

[Sidenote: 1324 to 1325.]

What all men might have foreseen soon arrived. Though Christopher was

never to impose any tax without consent of the nobles, and never, in any

circumstances, to require a tax from the church, his necessities were so

great that he soon laid a new and extraordinary impost on both orders of

the state. The nobles were to pay one tenth of their annual revenues;

the clergy in an equal proportion; the people still more. Suddenly one

universal cry of resistance arose from every part of the kingdom. The

archbishop boldly declared that he would resist to the last; that if the

king did not keep his promises made at his accession, no more would the

church or the nobles keep _theirs_; that they should consider themselves

absolved from their allegiance. Christopher bent to the influence which

he could not resist; but he had already exasperated his people, and his

relinquishment of the impost did not restore them to good humour. His

next measure was not only censurable, but in the highest degree unjust:

it was to recover by force of arms the islands, provinces, and domains,

which had been pledged, without paying any portion of the debt. In these

days it may appear almost incredible that the whole of Scania, nearly

one third of the kingdom, was thus held by one noble. The creditors,

thus deprived of their rights, naturally combined to obtain justice by

force. They were aided by all that were discontented, and by not a few

who had no cause for dissatisfaction, but who hoped to benefit by a

change. Scania and Zealand were laid waste by fire and sword. From two

of his enemies, viz. the archbishop of Lund, and Eric duke of Sleswic,

he was released by death; but the latter event, from which he expected

so much advantage, had baneful consequences. Eric left a young boy,

Valdemar. Who was to be the tutor? To obtain the post, Christopher

invaded Sleswic. But he found a competitor in the very ally on whom he

had so much relied, Gerard of Holstein, who has been styled the Great,

and who, as the maternal uncle of Valdemar, had equal right to the

trust. In the midst of his successes, after reducing most of the duchy,

he was defeated by this count, and compelled to retire.

[Sidenote: 1325.]

Many of Christopher’s disaffected subjects had been silent through fear:

now that he was vanquished, he was assailed by one universal complaint.

The nobles demanded their fiefs, the creditors their money, the people a

removal of taxation; and all bitterly complained of his breach of faith,

though that breach was the unavoidable result of his position. Revolt

became general; and when the states met he was solemnly deposed, the

reason assigned for this measure being “the intolerable abuse which he

had made of his authority.” When Christopher received this intelligence,

he was in Zealand with his son; at the same time he learned that count

Gerard was advancing. To repel the invader Eric marched with the

disposable troops; but he was defeated, betrayed into the hands of his

enemies, and consigned to a dungeon. With the loss of that son, his

colleague on the throne, he lost all hope of present resistance; and

with two younger sons he precipitately left the kingdom. At Rostock he

procured aid from Henry of Mecklenburg and some Vandalic princes, and

returned to struggle for his rights. He reduced a fortress, but this

success did not render the states more favourable; they persisted in

their resolution to elect another sovereign. Besieged and taken by

Gerard, he was allowed to retire into Germany. He made another attempt,

with equal want of success, was again taken, and again set free, on the

condition of his retiring to Rostock.

[Sidenote: 1326 to 1328.]

The states assembled at Nyburg to elect a king made choice of Valdemar,

duke of Sleswic, still a minor,—the chief cause, no doubt, of his

election, since there must be a regency, and the most powerful might

hope to participate in the public spoils. Gerard was the head of the

regency: half a dozen other nobles were joined with him, and all were

eager to derive the utmost advantage from a tenure of dignity which must

evidently be brief. Gerard obtained the duchy of Sleswic, in perpetuity.

Count John of Holstein was invested with the islands of Laland, Falster,

and Femeren. Canute Porse, who by Christopher had been created duke of

North Halland, and who yet had been one of the first to desert that

unfortunate king, was confirmed in the fief in addition to South

Halland: it was no longer to be revocable, but descend to his posterity.

The archbishop of Lunden obtained Bornholm; another noble had Colding

and Rypen; a third, Langeland and Arroe; in short, the whole country was

parcelled out into petty principalities, which, though feudally subject

to the crown, would be virtually so many sovereignties. These measures

could not fail to displease all who had any love for their country: a

dozen tyrants were more tyrannical, more rapacious than one; and pity

began to be felt for the absent Christopher. That prince was not

inactive in his retirement at Rostock. By the most lavish promises he

obtained succours of men and money from some of his allies; and many of

his own nobles, among whom were the primate and the bishops, engaged to

join him as soon as he landed in Denmark. He did land, and was joined by

the bishops of Aarhus and Rypen, by many nobles, and enabled to obtain

some advantages over the regents. But he had not learned wisdom by

adversity. One of his allies, count John of Holstein, he converted into

a deadly enemy; and he offended the church by arresting the bishop of

Borglum. The prelate escaped by corrupting his guard, and hastened to

Rome to add the pope to the other enemies of Christopher. The kingdom

was immediately placed under an interdict.

[Sidenote: 1329 to 1331.]

In this emergency, Christopher endeavoured to prevent his expulsion from

the realm by resorting to the same means of bribery that he had before

adopted. To pacify count John, he ceded to him Zealand and part of

Scania, in addition to Laland and Falster, which he still held. By

grants equally prodigal, and equally ruinous to the state, he

endeavoured to secure the aid of other nobles. So well did he succeed,

that Gerard, abandoned by many supporters, sued for peace. The articles

were signed at Rypen in 1330. Valdemar was sent back to Sleswic; but the

reversion to the duchy was secured to Gerard in the event of Valdemar’s

dying without heirs male. As this was merely a future and contingent

advantage, Fionia was placed in his hands until Sleswic should become

his by inheritance; and for that island he was to become the vassal of

the Danish crown. Nor was this all: he was to hold the whole of Jutland

by way of pledge until reimbursed for the expenses of the war, which he

estimated at forty thousand marks.

[Sidenote: 1331 to 1332.]

This tranquillity was of short duration. The two counts, Gerard and

John, quarrelled; and Christopher, instead of remaining neuter, espoused

the cause of the latter. He was defeated by Gerard; and the greater part

of Jutland withdrew from him to swell the cause of the victor. His only

resource was now to throw himself on the generosity of the other, who

professed his willingness to make peace in return for one hundred

thousand marks; and until that sum (immense for those days) were paid,

he was to hold Jutland. The two counts also treated with each other,

John surrendering to Gerard one half of the debt on Fionia; and they

agreed to guarantee each other in the acquisitions which they had made,

that is, in the dismemberment of the realm. At the same time Scania

escaped for a season from the sceptre of the Danish kings. That province

had passed into the hands of John, count of Holstein, through the

inability of the crown to discharge the loans which had been borrowed on

it. Holstein collectors therefore overran it to collect the revenues

claimed by the representative of the creditors. They were even more

unpopular than those of the king had been; and the natives not

unfrequently arose to massacre them. Three hundred were at one time put

to death in the cathedral of Lund. To escape chastisement the

inhabitants looked, not to Christopher, who was helpless as an infant,

and whom they distrusted, but to Magnus king of Sweden. Him they

proposed to recognise as their sovereign, on the condition of his

defending them against the counts of Holstein. It is almost needless to

add that Magnus joyfully availed himself of the opportunity of obtaining

a province which was geographically within the limits of his kingdom,

and which had always been an object of desire to his predecessors. He

received the homage of the whole country, and sent forces to defend it.

Instead of drawing the sword to recover it, John sold his interest in

it, and all claim to its government or revenues, for thirty-four

thousand marks—a sum which Magnus readily paid him. The latter had now a

double right to the province—that of voluntary submission, and that of

purchase.

[Sidenote: 1332, 1333.]

In the last year of Christopher’s life, two of his nobles, in the view

of obtaining the favour of the Holstein family, entered into a plot for

his assassination. They set fire to his house, seized him as he was

escaping, and bore him to a fortress in the isle of Laland, which

belonged to count John. That nobleman, however, no longer feared a

prince who had fallen into universal contempt, and whose cause was

hopeless. He therefore ordered him to be released. The following year

Christopher died a natural death, after the most disastrous reign in the

annals of the kingdom.—By his wife Euphemia, daughter of Bogislas, duke

of Pomerania, he had three sons and three daughters. Eric, the eldest,

preceded him to the tomb; Otho ultimately became a knight of the

Teutonic order; Valdemar, after a short interregnum, succeeded him. Of

his daughters two died in youth; but the eldest, Margaret, was married

to Ludovic of Brandenburg, son of the emperor Ludovic of Bavaria.

INTERREGNUM.

1333–1340.

[Sidenote: 1333, 1334.]

The two counts of Holstein, who had thus partitioned the kingdom between

them, consulted how they might perpetuate their usurpation. The best

mode was to delay as long as possible the election of a new monarch; to

exclude the two sons of the late king from the succession; and, when an

election could no longer be avoided, to procure the union of the

suffrages in favour of some prince whom they might control. In any case

as their sway might and probably must be brief, their interest lay in

deriving the utmost advantage in the shortest possible time from their

position. Hence their rapacity, which their armies enabled them to

exercise with impunity.

[Sidenote: 1334 to 1340.]

Under no circumstances would the domination of strangers have been long

borne without execration: that of rapacious strangers was doubly

galling. The murmurs which arose on every side emboldened the two sons

of Christopher to strive for his inheritance. But they entered the field

before their preparations were sufficiently matured. Otho, with a

handful of troops supplied by his brother-in-law the margrave of

Brandenburg, landed in Jutland. He evidently relied on the popular

indignation entertained towards the two usurpers; but he overlooked

their means, their military talents, and the ascendancy which years of

success had given. He was vanquished, and committed to close

confinement, from which he did not escape for many years. To avert

another invasion by excluding the sons from all hope to the succession,

Gerard turned towards Valdemar, duke of Sleswic, who had been placed on

the throne during Christopher’s exile. If the duke succeeded, the duchy

became the inheritance of count Gerard; but he would not wait for

probabilities. In return for his promised aid, Valdemar, in a solemn

treaty, agreed to surrender that province _immediately_; and if he did

not obtain the object of his ambition, he was to receive Jutland in lieu

of it. The rights of Gerard over that peninsula, in virtue of the one

hundred thousand marks which he claimed from the crown, have been

mentioned: these rights therefore he might transfer. In the midst of the

negotiation prince Valdemar prepared to return and conquer, or to share

the fate of his brother Otho. The people were almost universally

favourable to him; and his arrival was expected with impatience. When

the Jutlanders heard of the treaty which consigned them to Valdemar of

Sleswic, they no longer waited for their prince, but openly revolted.

Gerard was compelled to retreat, but only to return with ten thousand

German auxiliaries; and with these he laid waste the peninsula. His

fate, however, was at hand. A Jutland noble, with fifty accomplices

only, resolved to rid his country of a tyrant. Hastening to Randers,

where the count lay with four thousand men, at midnight, he disarmed the

guard, penetrated into the bedchamber of the regent, murdered him, and

escaped before the army was aware of the deed.

[Sidenote: 1340.]

Thus perished Gerard, surnamed the Great, a prince of great talents, and

of greater ambition. With him perished the grandeur of his house. His

sons had not his personal qualities, and they could not maintain

themselves in the position in which he left them. Emboldened by the

event, the states met, and declared the absent Valdemar, the third son

of Christopher (Otho was still in confinement), heir to the throne. The

act of election was sent to that prince in spite of the care taken by

the counts of Holstein to prevent all intercourse between the country

and the exile. Valdemar received it at the court of the emperor, Ludovic

of Bavaria; and that monarch immediately enjoined his son, the margrave,

to facilitate the return of his brother-in-law. Under the imperial

sanction, there was a conference at Spandau. It was there agreed that

Otho should receive his liberty on the condition of his resigning all

claims to the crown. The new king engaged to marry Hedwige, sister of

Valdemar, duke of Sleswic, whose dowry of 24,000 marks was to be

deducted from the 100,000 claimed by the sons of count Gerard. Until the

rest were paid, Fionia and a part of Jutland were to remain in the hands

of the counts. The king was not to protect the murderers of the late

count. There were some other conditions of much less moment—all dictated

by the necessity of sacrificing much to obtain a greater advantage. This

treaty having been solemnly ratified, Valdemar returned to Denmark, and

ascended the throne without opposition.

VALDEMAR III.

SURNAMED ATTERDAG.

1340–1375.

[Sidenote: 1340.]

When this prince ascended the throne, the prospect before him was

gloomy: there was no monarchy; there were no revenues. Scania and

Holland were in the hands of the Swedes; Fionia and Jutland were

forcibly held by the counts of Holstein; Zealand and Laland obeyed

another chief; and the rest of the isles had each its ruler who regarded

it as his own estate to be inherited by his children. Even these were

not the worst evils. The anarchy of so many years had caused the laws to

be forgotten; the feeble were every where a prey to the strong; the poor

were at war with the rich, the native with the foreigner; and nobody

thought either of obedience to authority, or of paying the contributions

rendered necessary by the wants of society.

[Sidenote: 1340 to 1344.]

The two first objects of Valdemar were to make the laws respected, and

to recover, one by one, by conquest or treaty, the domains which had

been alienated. Without the former there could be no security; without

the latter there could be no prosperity. To make the judges respected,

he himself administered justice. Not for days only but for weeks and

months in succession, he thus presided in the tribunals, both in the

cities and in the rural towns. At the same time, he caused most of the

nobles in whose vicinity he happened to be, to produce their titles to

the domains which they held; and when these were not valid, he resumed

the fiefs. Against Ingeborga, widow of duke Albert Porse, to whose

rapacity we have already alluded, he instituted a suit, and recovered

two lordships from her; but in the very court of justice he had his

armed men—a proof that the judgment would be in his favour, and, in

spite of all opposition, enforced. The firm demeanour of the monarch had

a good effect on his people, who rose against their foreign oppressors,

while the latter defended themselves with their accustomed valour. This

desultory warfare raged for many years.

[Sidenote: 1344.]

The recovery of several domains by justice, or force of arms encouraged

the king to persevere in his efforts. But there were some parties

against whom neither would avail—who were too powerful for either, and

before them he could appear with money only. Where should he obtain it?

He looked to Magnus, king of Sweden, who did not feel quite secure in

the possession of Scania, and from whom he obtained 49,000 marks as the

condition of for ever ceding that province to the northern kingdom. That

one so patriotic as Valdemar should thus sanction the ruinous

dismemberment of the monarchy, may well surprise us. But probably he

reasoned thus:—“If the province _be_ lost, let that loss be

counterbalanced by other acquisitions: if it be not finally lost,—if

circumstances should arise favourable to my recovering it,—let the

fortune of war decide whether the purchase-money is to be returned or

not.” Of that money he made a good use: he redeemed from count John of

Holstein the isle of Falster, with many domains and castles in other

parts; soon too he redeemed Vordengburg and the whole isle of Laland. By

this means he increased his own power in the same degree that he

weakened that of his enemies. There must, however, have been some

concert between the two parties, since he received no molestation in his

financial proceedings, and especially since in 1345 he was able to leave

the kingdom to settle the affairs of Esthonia.

[Sidenote: 1345 to 1348.]

In that country there was a revolt of the whole servile population

against their lords, of whom most were Germans. The grand master of the

Teutonic knights being requested to succour the local feudatories,

consented to do so; but from his measures it was evident that he aimed

at supplanting the Danish monarch. Valdemar sailed to the coast; but on

his arrival he found that a truce had been signed between his own

governors and the other party. From thence he proceeded to the Holy

Land—probably in consequence of some vow—and this circumstance proves

that his kingdom must have been in a more secure state than the

chroniclers of the age would have us believe. By the pope he is said to

have been censured for presuming to visit the holy places without the

licence of the apostolic see. His absence, however, must have been

short; for in the following year (1346) he was again in Esthonia. His

motive for this second expedition may be inferred from the result; he

sold that province to the Teutonic knights for 19,000 marks. This act

has been much censured by historians; but to us it appears a wise one.

The expense of maintaining that distant possession was greater than it

was worth: troops could not be spared for it when every disposable man

was required at home; and the money was necessary to pay some

importunate demands, and to redeem another portion of the national

domains. Well was that money employed; it enabled him to recover all the

fortresses in Jutland and Zealand that had not been previously redeemed.

In exchange for other possessions, he received from the counts of

Holstein one half of Fionia and the town of Nyburg. This circumstance

confirms what we have just mentioned—that the intervals of war were

neither so frequent nor so long as those of peace; that he lived with

the counts and his other rivals on terms much less hostile than from the

strict language of the chroniclers we should be justified in believing.

[Sidenote: 1348 to 1350.]

Another opportunity of replenishing his empty treasury was opened to

Valdemar in the aid which he afforded to his brother-in-law the margrave

of Brandenburg, son of the emperor Ludovic of Bavaria. For that aid he

received the annual tribute which the city of Lubeck paid to the

margrave’s family for the protection (or advocacy, as it was called

during the middle ages) afforded by that family to the commerce of the

inhabitants.

[Sidenote: 1351 to 1357.]

On his return to Denmark the king proceeded with as much zeal as before

in the reforms he had meditated. Rigour was required, and he employed

it; but it converted into enemies all whose evil deeds he chastised.

This was the most formidable of the obstacles which impeded his career

of improvement. A whole generation of anarchy had rendered the nobles

impatient of all restraint; they sighed for their former impunity; and

they hated a ruler who in the administration of the laws made no

distinction between them and the meanest artisan. To humble this tyrant

as they considered him, they renewed their alliance with the counts of

Holstein; but it led to nothing at this time: these nobles had yet no

need to renew the war with the king. Four years afterwards, however (in

1357), they joined the Jutland nobility, and the king, who marched to

repel them, was defeated. But the check was of short duration; for in a

few weeks he was the victor in his turn—Adolf, one of the counts, being

left dead on the field. This was a useful victory: it enabled Valdemar

to seize the other half of Fionia without payment of the mortgage. The

following year he subdued Langeland, Alfen, Femeren. The second of them,

which belonged to the duke of Sleswic he subsequently restored, security

being given that the inhabitants would remain neutral in the contest

between him and the house of Holstein. With that house, however, peace

was soon made; but these alternations of war and peace are perpetual at

this period.

[Sidenote: 1357 to 1360.]

If Valdemar had ceded to Sweden the important province of Scania, he had

done so either unwillingly, or with the resolution of recovering it

whenever the opportunity should occur. That opportunity at length

presented itself, and in a manner different from his anticipations. King

Magnus became so unpopular, that he was compelled to resign the throne

in favour of his son Eric. To regain it, he solicited aid from Valdemar;

but the latter would promise none unless Scania were restored. The

condition was a hard one; but the prize in view was of more importance;

and in a treaty (1359) Magnus conceded the demand. At the same time, to

draw closer the alliance between them, Margaret, daughter of Valdemar,

then only six years old, was affianced to Hako king of Norway, another

son of Magnus. In accordance with this treaty, Valdemar invaded Scania;

and in a short time reduced most of the fortresses. From this career of

conquest, however, he was recalled, for a moment, by an invasion of

Femeren. The invaders were the counts of Holstein, the duke of

Mecklenburg, and many nobles of Jutland, who were resolute in hastening

the downfall of a stern master. This was a diversion effected by the

counts to save Scania, in the preservation of which to the Swedish crown

they had an interest. They were the allies of Eric, who had rebelled

against his father Magnus; and their sister Elizabeth, in lieu of the

Danish princess, was intended for Hako. The advantage lay with the king,

who having forced his enemies to disband, returned to Scania, which he

wholly seized. This he did without much difficulty, owing to a

revolution in the internal state of Sweden. Eric, who had been

associated with Magnus in the government, who was hostile to every thing

Danish, who was the close ally of the counts of Holstein, fell a victim,

we are told, to his own mother’s ambition. Magnus therefore resumed the

sole direction of affairs, and the Danish interest again predominated.

He was indeed enjoined by the states to defend Scania; but though he

marched towards that province, he made no effort to arrest the progress

of the Danes. On the contrary, he entered into a new alliance with them,

and the projected union between Margaret and Hako was confirmed.

[Sidenote: 1360 to 1363.]

Magnus had again need of his ally’s assistance against his rebellious

subjects. The inhabitants of Wisby, capital of the isle of Gothland,

refused to pay the impost which he had laid upon them; and Valdemar, in

obedience to his wish, sailed to chastise them. Wisby was one of the

greatest ports in Europe; it was the magazine where the merchandise of

the Baltic was kept. Of this much belonged to the Hanse Towns,

especially to Lubeck. Immense was the booty which the Danish monarch

seized in that town; but why he should plunder the subjects of his ally

for his own benefit, is not easy to be explained. Whatever were his own

reasons, he soon repented of his violence. The Swedes, indignant with

their monarch whom they knew to have been the occasion of the disaster,

shut him up in a fortress, called Hako of Norway to aid them, and

declared war against Denmark. To obtain more assistance, they entered

into alliance with the enemies of Denmark,—with the counts of Holstein,

with the duke of Mecklenburg, and with the Hanse Towns, which were

justly exasperated at the plunder of Wisby. The confederated powers put

their armaments in motion, and soon reduced Copenhagen. Helsingburg in

Scania was besieged, but Valdemar raised the siege and defeated the

allied fleet with great loss. Vordingburg was next assailed, but with no

better success; and other disasters soon rendered the allies anxious for

peace, which was concluded at Lubeck in 1363. But it was of short

continuance. There was a general meeting of deputies from all the towns

of the Hanseatic League, above seventy in number; and the result of

their deliberations was a new war. It was indeed evident, that unless

that body secured the free transit of merchandise, there must be an end

to all mercantile enterprise, and the worst days of piracy must be

restored. Two armaments were soon equipped; and the number of assailants

was increased by the adhesion of Denmark’s hereditary enemies. Valdemar,

terrified, had recourse to negociations. Adolf, count of Holstein, he

detached from the league by investing him with the isle of Femeren. The

Hanse Towns he propitiated by commercial privileges. A truce was

accordingly made, and the king was left to resume his intrigues in the

North.

[Sidenote: 1362 to 1363.]

After the imprisonment of Magnus, who, however, was soon allowed to

share in the government, Hako was the only hope of the Swedes: they

crowned him in 1362, and then urged him to marry the sister of the

counts of Holstein. But the breach of the contract between Margaret and

Hako could not be so easily dissolved: it had been written and sealed

with the necessary formalities, and under the sanction of an oath. Yet

the Swedish states, regardless of these circumstances, sent an

ambassador to Holstein to perform the marriage ceremony by proxy. It was

celebrated with much pomp; and, soon afterwards, the new queen of Norway

and Sweden embarked for her destination. The intelligence was a blow to

Valdemar; but fortune enabled him to recover from it. A tempest cast the

bride on the Danish coast; and she was conducted to the court, where the

most flattering reception awaited her. A succession of feasts and

entertainments blinded her for some time to the designs of Valdemar; but

at length she perceived that with all the humour so studiously paid her,

she was little better than a prisoner. But little did she suspect the

deep game that was playing. During her stay at the court, which was

protracted for many weeks, Hako was induced to visit the country and to

solemnize his marriage with the princess Margaret. Great was the joy of

the Danes at this event, and no less great the mortification of that

numerous party in Sweden, which had prosecuted the alliance with

Holstein. As Margaret was still very young, the marriage was not

consummated for three years afterwards. But the advantage was gained;

and Elizabeth, in despair, took the veil in a Swedish monastery.

[Sidenote: 1363.]

This marriage deserves especial consideration from one circumstance;—it

led to the union of the crowns between Denmark and Norway,—a union which

has continued unbroken to our own days. For a considerable period too it

occasioned a junction of the three kingdoms which constitute

Scandinavia. Many obstacles, however, intervened, before it could be

effected; and indeed there was no hope of such a result at the time of

its celebration. So indignant were the Swedes at it, that they declared

the throne vacant, and elected Albert of Mecklenburg to rule over them.

Hako, like his father, therefore, lost the crown; but these

circumstances can be detailed only in the chapter devoted to Swedish

history.

[Sidenote: 1364, 1365.]

The next year was passed by Valdemar abroad, in Germany, Poland,

Hungary, Italy, and France. Why he should abandon the kingdom at so

critical a period has exercised the ingenuity of historians; but none of

their conjectures are satisfactory; and his motions must remain shrouded

in mystery. On his return, after an absence of ten months, he found his

own kingdom as tranquil as Sweden was stormy. In the latter there were

two parties—that which adhered to Magnus and Hako, and that which had

invited Albert to ascend the throne. The former, numerically inferior,

had obtained succour from Norway and Denmark, and, with this aid, had

made an irruption into the provinces which held for Albert. A battle

ensued, in which Magnus was made prisoner; but Hako, though desperately

wounded, contrived to escape. But Valdemar recruited his party; and by

his arms, no less than his intrigues, reduced Albert to such perplexity,

that he was compelled, whatever the price, to propitiate the formidable

Dane. Overtures were accordingly made to Valdemar by the kinsmen of

Albert; and he received them with eagerness. They were, however,

delusive; not one of the promises made was executed, or intended to be

executed.

[Sidenote: 1367 to 1370.]

The influence of Albert, and of his connections, proved more disastrous

to Valdemar than he could have expected. His own subjects, especially

those of Jutland, who were in league with the counts of Holstein, again

broke out into open rebellion. They were aided by the king of Sweden

(Albert), by the duke of Mecklenburg, by the Hanse Towns, and by other

enemies of Denmark. The most extraordinary circumstance is, that at this

very period, when the monarchy was menaced within and from without,

Valdemar again left the kingdom to pass several months abroad! Was his

intention to interest the emperor and the pope in his behalf? Such has

been the opinion of writers. Others, again, have attributed his

departure to a formidable conspiracy, the object of which was darkly

seen by him. The subject must remain in mystery. The hypothesis of a

conspiracy, however, derives some confirmation from the fact, that after

his departure the Hanseatic Towns, the counts of Holstein, and Albert of

Sweden, made simultaneous attacks on different parts of the kingdom, and

with some degree of success. In 1370, however, the minister to whom

Valdemar had confided the affairs of the realm made peace with all the

enemies of Denmark.

[Sidenote: 1370 to 1375.]

The same year Valdemar returned, and the same year too witnessed the

extinction of the ducal line of Sleswic, which, as we have before

related, originated in Abel, king of Denmark. To recover the duchy was

the object of Valdemar, long before duke Henry’s death; and when that

event arrived, his measures were so well taken, that in a few weeks most

of the fortresses were in his possession. But the counts of Holstein

urged their claim, in virtue of the agreement between their father,

Gerard, and the duke of that period. They did not, however, immediately

proceed to hostilities, nor was it their fortune to measure swords with

Valdemar, while busily occupied in the internal reforms which he had so

long contemplated, he saw that war was inevitable; and in this

apprehension he besought pope Gregory XI. to interfere in his behalf—to

teach his subjects obedience, and his enemies moderation. The pope, in

his reply, professed his willingness to espouse the royal cause; but

before his interference could be availing, Valdemar was no more. He died

through his confidence in a quack, whose medicines he took. By his

queen, Hedwige, he had six children, four of whom preceded him to the

tomb. The survivors were two daughters—Ingeburga, married to Henry duke

of Mecklenburg, and the celebrated Margaret, afterwards queen of the

North.

[Sidenote: 1375.]

Valdemar was the first Danish monarch that styled himself king of the

_Goths_. The assumption was occasioned, either by the conquests which he

made in Gothland (they were very temporary), or by the diversions which

Albert, to preserve his alliance, proposed to make, and, in fact, did

make, in that province.

OLAF III.

1376–1387.

[Sidenote: 1375, 1376.]

With Valdemar III. ended the male line of the dynasty founded by Sweyn,

the nephew of Canute the Great. Who was to succeed him? As we have

before related, he left two daughters only; viz. Ingeburga, wife of

Henry, duke of Mecklenburg, and Margaret, the consort of Hako, king of

Norway. As there was no example in the North of female succession, the

electors must turn either to some collateral branch of the family, or to

the sons of those princesses,—unless indeed they did what they might

easily have done, and what many indeed professed to do, viz. make choice

of a foreign house. The greater number, however, decided for preserving

the sceptre in the ancient house, and without regard to the collateral

branches. The choice therefore rested between the issue of Ingeburga and

that of Margaret; viz. between Albert of Mecklenburg, and Olaf of

Norway. The former was the eldest daughter, and Albert was much older

than Olaf, yet merely a child; but the feeling of the states seemed to

run in favour of the latter. In the first assembly nothing was effected;

in the interval between it and the convocation of the next, Margaret was

not inactive. Her intrigues, her presents, her promises, and above all

the fact that Olaf was the heir of the Norwegian throne, and

consequently that there would be a union of the two kingdoms, determined

the question in his favour. In this decision too, dislike of Sweden had

some share; for Albert was nearly connected with the king who had been

elected the successor of Magnus. On this occasion, there was no general

meeting of the states; and those of each province voted separately.

Jutland, with its three orders, viz. the nobles, the clergy, the

burghers and rich peasants, set the example. It was followed by Scania;

and the rest, constrained by their preponderating influence, joined with

them.

[Sidenote: 1376.]

The promises of the queen to which we have alluded were not dissimilar

from those which Christopher II. had made. In the name of her son (he

was but five years of age), she guaranteed to the clergy all their

rights, immunities, and privileges. No benefice should be held by a

layman. No foreigner should become a dignitary. No bishop or any other

ecclesiastic should be arrested, exiled, or deprived of his revenues,

without the previous sentence of an ecclesiastical judge only. Abbots,

friars, and rectors, were to be dependent only on the bishop, their

lawful superior. The nobles and not the crown were to receive the fines

inflicted on the rural inhabitants within their respective districts by

any secular judge, when those fines fell below a certain amount,

according to the custom of the province: in some provinces the maximum

was three, in others nine marks; when it exceeded three or nine, it went

indisputably to the crown. The king was to undertake no war without the

consent of his senators, the prelates, and some nobles of the realm. No

man in holy orders should be invested with any temporal employment. No

man should be executed unless he had been judicially convicted, or

caught _flagrante delicto_ in some matter worthy of death. Even if he

had been sentenced by the tribunals, one month and a day should be

allowed him to flee from the kingdom! The peasants should not be

compelled to repair the royal palaces, without the sanction of the

senate. The king should not build on any other domain than his own,

without the consent of the owner. The property of no man should be

confiscated, even judicially, unless he were proved guilty of high

treason, or had borne arms against his country. Foreign merchants might

trade freely throughout the kingdom, and should be subject to no other

tax or impost than such as were already sanctioned by custom. The great

assizes should, according to ancient custom, be held annually on the

feast of St. John the Baptist. No officer of justice should cite any one

before a foreign tribunal—that of Norway, for instance—but every man

should be amenable to the local jurisdiction alone.

[Sidenote: 1376.]

Such were the chief provisions of the capitulation between Margaret and

the people. They have been severely condemned by the national

historians, as trenching on the just prerogatives of the crown. But

surely they do not all merit the censure. Some of them are in the

highest degree salutary. That indeed which allowed the nobles to enjoy

the fines levied on their vassals, or more correctly freemen (subject,

however, to many vassalitic obligations), was censurable; but it was

common in most other countries where feudal tribunals existed. Two or

three of those which concerned the clergy are also reprehensible; but

they were sanctioned by the canon law, and were as obligatory in other

places as in Denmark. The greatest defect of this capitulation is that

too much influence was left to the nobles. But how should Margaret be

condemned for sacrificing to the aristocracy, when aristocratic

privileges were predominant every where else?

[Sidenote: 1376 to 1380.]

The election of Olaf could not fail to exasperate the party of Albert.

The head of the house of Mecklenburg called in the emperor Charles IV.

to interfere in behalf of his grandson: he flew to arms, and persuaded

his son Albert, king of Sweden, to join him; and he brought the courts

of Holstein into the same league. These counts, in the event of Albert’s

succession, were to have Sleswic, Alfen, and Langeland. On her part,

Margaret was not idle. She too obtained allies, among whom were the

dukes of Pomerania, the hereditary enemies of the Mecklenburg family.

The result justified her policy. A formidable armament sailed against

the coasts, and she was prepared to meet it. The elements, however,

fought for her: the armament was dispersed or destroyed; and the enemy

consented that the great subjects of dispute should be laid before

arbitrators. This was to acknowledge Olaf _de facto_ sovereign of

Denmark, whatever the concessions expected from him in return. Whether

this arbitration ever took place is not very clear: there are no records

of it; yet there is some reason to suspect that it did, and that from

the period in question the house of Mecklenburg was excepted from all

homage for the lordship of Rostock. What confirms the inference is, that

for some years the realm was undisturbed by foreign enemies, and the

regent left at liberty to pursue her course of policy. That course was a

judicious one. She drew closer the connection between Denmark and the

Hanseatic Towns; she courted the clergy; she was gracious to the barons;

she endeavoured to remove all subjects of discord, and to bind all

orders of the people to her government.

[Sidenote: 1380 to 1386.]

In 1380, Hako, the husband of Margaret, who was greatly her senior, paid

the debt of nature. Olaf therefore, still a child, became king of

Norway. But Hako was also the rightful heir to the Swedish throne, and

these rights Margaret determined to secure in favour of their legitimate

heir, her son. This indeed was the great, the constant, object of her

policy: she had united two kingdoms, and she would now add a third. The

mortification of the Swedish king was great. He feared lest the strength

of the two hostile kingdoms should be consolidated, and become fatal to

himself. To avert this result, he had recourse to hostilities, during

the absence of Olaf and his mother in Norway (1381). Though he effected

some mischief, he made little impression on that country. Two years

afterwards, he made a second attempt, but was compelled to retreat. In

1385, both Olaf and his mother repaired thither to confirm the people in

their fidelity, and to gain their attachment by such marks of favour as

sovereigns can bestow.

[Sidenote: 1386.]

In regard to the counts of Holstein, Margaret had more trouble than with

Albert of Sweden, or the prince of Mecklenburg. These counts, as we have

often intimated, looked to Sleswic as their lawful inheritance; nor had

they relinquished their hope of succession after the reversion of the

fief to the crown through the default of issue in Henry the late duke.

To the surprise of many, count Gerard, grandson of the celebrated prince

of that name, was formally invested by Olaf with that important fief. In

dismembering (for the act was no better) so important a limb of the

Danish body, there was certainly much impolicy; but the act is neither

so surprising nor so censurable as some historians assert. In fact there

are strong reasons for it. Gerard, the representative of his house, had,

according to feudal law, a good claim to the succession. Its justice,

therefore, would have weight, not merely with the allies of his house,

but with all Germany. Policy, however, more than justice, influenced the

queen-mother in this important step. Was it nothing to separate the

interests of the Holstein count from those of the Mecklenburg dukes? She

well knew the efforts which Albert of Sweden had made, and was making,

to secure the active assistance of the former. Besides, most of her

subjects, and all her noble subjects, looked upon the count as hardly

used by his exclusion from his birthright; and they were not without

apprehension that, if left as a precedent, it might operate to their own

disadvantage. But the strongest of all reason is, that the count was

already _de facto_ duke of Sleswic. Soon after the death of Valdemar

III., he had, with the aid of his allies, occupied it by force; and as

the people were attached to his government, who was to dispossess him?

Certainly to do so was not in the power of the queen-mother, or of her

son. But though the standard—the ordinary symbol of infeudation—was

delivered by Olaf to the count, and homage done in return, no

letters-patent were expedited on the occasion. Why? Because there was a

dispute as to the conditions of the tenure by which the fief was to be

held. Gerard wished to hold it on the same footing as his celebrated

ancestor, viz. without the obligation of military service; but from that

wish Margaret dissented. The subject, therefore, was left undecided, and

it gave rise, as we shall perceive in the ensuing volume, to much

effusion of blood. Connected with this count Gerard is one circumstance

worthy of notice: his sister Hedwige married Theodric count of

Oldenburg; and from that union sprung Christian I., king of Denmark,

founder of the illustrious family which now sits on the throne.

[Sidenote: 1387.]

One year after this important investiture, Olaf, whose constitution had

always been feeble, paid the debt of nature. As he was only in his

seventeenth year, he left no issue, and indeed was never married. Again,

therefore, was the male line extinct; and Margaret only could rule,

unless (what nobody contemplated) a foreign house should be called to

the succession. The queen-mother had so obvious an interest in the

event, that by some people she was suspected of having quietly removed

her son to reign in his place. The suspicion, indeed, was an absurd one:

there was not the shadow of a foundation for it; but it suited popular

credulity; and it enabled, as we shall hereafter show, a false Olaf to

deceive a considerable portion of the multitude. The Franciscans contend

that the king, influenced by piety alone, relinquished his worldly

grandeur, and retired to a house of their order in Italy, where he died

in all the odour of sanctity.

By this monarch’s decease Margaret became sovereign of both Denmark and

Norway; and from this period down to the nineteenth century, both crowns

were united on the same brow. Henceforth the fortunes of both are

inseparable. Our next care must be to give a summary of Norwegian events

prior to this union.

------------------------------------------------------------------------